Top 10 SpongeBob SquarePants Episodes with the Most Wasted Potential

In the years of Spongebob's airing, the show has ended up with tons of episodes considered good if not masterpieces by audiences. On the other hand, some episodes (especially after the 2004 movie was released) have received backlash or mixed reviews. Some of those episodes had the potential to be good, but ended up being wasted causing them to have either been bad to mediocre, or good but could've been done better.
So, this is not an ordered list about which episodes are the worst, but which episodes could have been better than how they turned out to be.
The Top Ten
1 SpongeBob You're Fired

This is probably the biggest disappointment on this list. The idea of Spongebob getting fired and has to job hop is not bad on paper and is a matter of fact interesting especially for a 20 minute long episode. However, Spongebob had to be fired because of one NICKEL? Yeah, one little nickel is TOTALLY worth releasing your best employee who brings in tons of bucks from many customers due to his great cooking. Not only is that selfish, that doesn't make any sense at all. There couldn't have been a more legit reason to fire Spongebob (such as getting carried away about karate with Sandy which results in the Krusty Krab being destroyed)? After that, the next scenes of the episode turned out be flat out boring. The scenes with Spongebob and Patrick carrying out activities while being unemployed are too long and seem to only exist as filler. Even the job-hopping part was not any different than the beginning of the episode. All those bosses were unlikable and no different than Mr. Krabs, as they fire Spongebob all just for making a different dish than they expected which they haven't even sold to their customers yet. Yet they later decide in the last minute they want Spongebob back due to how good his food was. The only good part I can think of was when Squidward saved Spongebob from those bosses and brought him back to the Krusty Krab, since Mr. Krabs doesn't how to cook which causes the customers to leave. I call that karma for Mr. Krabs, realizing how essential Spongebob was and what his desire over a tiny coin cost him. Other than that, the rest of the episode was terrible and a huge disappointment. Overall good concept, but poor execution that greatly hurt this episode. What would've improved would be a better reason for Spongebob to get fired and have more interesting scenes opposed to having too many boring fillers.
2/10

2 House Fancy House Fancy is the first season 6 episode from the TV series “Spongebob Squarepants”. In this episode, Squidward tries to make his house fancy so he could beat his rival at making a fancy house and Spongebob comes along to help... read more

Squidward converting his house to be luxury in order to beat Squilliam is not bad on paper. However, what hurts this episode is the amount of fillers. For example, I don't see what was necessary about including a scene of Patrick going inside Squidward's house and destroying his (living) toilet, which was not even funny. Also, I know a lot of people had said this, but I couldn't agree with them more about it. That toenail scene was graphic too to watch for a show like this, so I feel like omitting that scene would've improved the episode. It's not a bad episode, but I feel like this could've been done better by having less fillers and especially omitting that toenail scene.
7/10

3 Pet Sitter Pat

I'll say it again, this is not a bad idea. Patrick entrusted in a task to babysit Gary while Spongebob visits his Grandma was good on paper. However, the way it was executed was absolutely terrible. It would have been way better if the episode didn't revolve around Patrick torturing Gary. Patrick may have been very obnoxious in Yours Mine and Mine, but at least he was just an infantile jerk in that episode. Here, Patrick was nothing more than a complete psychopath in this episode. I get that Patrick is dimwitted, but his stupidity shouldn't be used to the point where it makes him act like an inconsiderate jerk or even a madman. What kind of person uses a torch as a bath for a pet? Now I will say the ending was decent, but it still did not make up for the lethal experiences Patrick put Gary through, and he gets no repercussions for his actions. This would've been a better episode if Patrick was less inconsiderate and less psychotic towards Gary.
1/10

4 Shuffleboarding

While I did think this episode was funny, it was a bit out of character for SpongeBob to arrest citizens for stupid reasons. Plus, the ending where Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy get blamed for SpongeBob and Patrick's wrongdoings gave me a bitter taste, akin to how in 'Tom and Jerry' Jerry mostly wins even if he started the fight at the start. It could have been funny if SpongeBob and Patrick had gotten arrested for "arresting too many people". Since a similar idea for this episode was already done in 'Sandy's Rocket', as Holden Fanatic stated, I have an idea for what this episode could have been about instead of what we got. It could be about SpongeBob and Patrick trying to stop villains while Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are injured. It could be interesting if Squidward, Sandy, and Mr. Krabs joined them.

5 Tentacle Vision

I've already made my review on this episode, but I will recap my thoughts on this episode, and narrow it down. This episode was supposed to be about Squidward getting a TV show because his favorite show got cancelled. That was an interesting idea to begin with, combined with fact it could've been another opportunity for Squidward to be happy. But, it was poorly executed in this episode. The beginning of the episode when we have got an idea what the episode was gonna be about was one of the few things I liked about it. I was even interested to know what Squidward Chat would've been about. Then everything went downhill when Spongebob and Patrick barged into Squidward's house while was airing his TV show, and to make matters worse when everyone else followed their suit. However, I will say that although it did ruin the episode, it could've been sort of made up if those characters got repercussions for their actions. But no, it instead turned out to be Squidward the one being thrown out of the show while the others are running the show now. There could've been a better use of the "Squidward getting a TV show" story other than everyone being an un-remorseful selfish prick taking over Squidward's show unprovoked and then they get away scot-free. Or, at least give the characters some sort of repercussion and have them feel remorse for what they did.
3/10

6 Truth or Square SpongeBob's Truth or Square is a 2009 made-for-television comedy special and an hour-long episode of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants

This was supposed to be an anniversary special, and what do we get as a form as a celebration? A boring near hour lasting "special." Spongebob, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and Patrick end up getting stuck in the freezer so they have to find a way out through the vents. Ok I guess it's not a bad story, but the majority of this episode comprises of filler that have completely nothing to do with the story which make the episode boring. By fillers, I'm especially talking about all those Patchy the Pirate scenes that last way too long and take attention off the main storyline. Some flashback scenes were interesting though; one being an explanation of how Spongebob moved into Bikini Bottom. Overall this could've been better if there was way less fillers.
5.5/10

7 Plankton's Regular

I'm surprised SpongeBob didn't side with Plankton. He's usually nice with him and I thought he would have been happy for him to have one costumer. Mr. Krabs was a real jerk in this episode and deserved to eat chum after this episode. An idea for how this episode could have ended: Nad is revealed to actually like chum and criticises Mr. Krabs for trying to steal Plankton's chum formula. (Mr. Krabs was no better than Plankton in this episode now that I think about it) Plankton calls the police an they arrest Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob the end.

8 Krab Borg
9 All That Glitters

This is yet again another bad episode with a good concept. I could not forget about how irritating and obnoxious Spongebob was in this episode. I don't mind Spongebob crying about his spatula destroyed considering how long he used it. But how excessive he was doing it got annoying very fast. What I also didn't like was the part where Spongebob was forced to give away everything including his pants, where he's naked throughout most of the episode all just to get this one of a kind robotic spatula. To make matters worse, it was all done in vain since the spatula didn't want to cook "disgusting" krabby patties so it ran away. I should also mention the huge amount of fillers such as the ones that revolve around Spongebob crying like a big baby for minutes. But I will also mention the scene where Spongebob sees his original spatula (that is apparently alive) on a wheelchair which came along with long flashbacks of the memories with Spongebob and his spatula. There is another episode known as Evil Spatula with the same idea later throughout series, but was actually great and executed way better than this garbage.
2/10

10 A Pal for Gary

An episode of Gary making a new friend could've been so wholesome. But because it's Season 7 of course someone had to be tormented for no reason

The Contenders
11 Squid Wood

Another bad on episode on this list, yet with a good concept. It was interesting and understandable for Spongebob to make his own version of Squidward. However, what did most of the episode consist of instead? Squidward's entire life being stolen by this miniature puppet, such as his jokes being used, his job be taken, and having better dance moves. I couldn't blame Squidward anymore why he was torturing mini-Squid. Although he at least went away at the end, but that's all to be replaced by mini-Spongebob. It's not a bad idea but there could've been a better use of it than consisting of Squidward's life being stolen.
4/10

12 I Was a Teenage Gary
13 One Coarse Meal

Instead of focusing the episode on Mr. Krabs torturing Plankton by pretending to be Pearl to the point where he's traumatized and almost commits suicide they should have had Mr. Krabs dress up as Pearl only when Plankton tries to steal the Krabby Patty formula before finding out that Krabs was only pretending to be Pearl to keep him from stealing the formula then uses Krabs worst fear against him.

14 Just One Bite
15 Krusty Love
16 Stuck in the Wringer
17 Great Snail Race

This is a good episode don't get me wrong but I feel like it could've been better. The story about training Gary to win the snail race against Squidward's snail (Snellie) along with Patrick's "snail" (Rocky) was pretty good. What hurt the episode though was how unlikable Spongebob was. Spongebob shouldn't have been so harsh on training Gary even when he was exhausted to the point he cannot race. Albeit he at least regretted everything and apologized to Gary when he was badly injured in the race. But how could Spongebob have not noticed there was something wrong Gary when his symptoms of exhaustion made it pretty obvious? However, it was at least made up with a heartwarming moment, where Snellie gave up winning the race to help Gary out. To make it better, Squidward didn't even chew out Snellie for blowing their chance to win, albeit he was sad and shocked. It reminded me of Cars when King was injured McQueen gave up the Piston Cup to help him out. But I have to say Patrick was my favorite character in this episode, due to how comedically dimwitted yet kind he was. When his "snail" won, Patrick was generous enough to give up the trophy he earned to Squidward. Now that's what I call the Patrick we know and love, the Patrick that is dimwitted alright but not to the point where he can be overly irritating (such as in Smooth Jazz at Bikini Bottom). So kudos for the interesting plot, the heartwarming moments at the tournament, and Squidward along with Patrick. But, could've been better if Spongebob was more likable opposed to being excessively harsh and inconsiderate towards Gary until he was already injured. Oh and I will point out Spongebob did at least get karma for everything at the end, when Sandy kicked him which sent him flying in the air.
7.5/10

18 Friend or Foe
19 What Ever Happened to SpongeBob
20 Mutiny on the Krusty
21 Krusty Krushers
22 The Paper
23 I Had an Accident
24 Have You Seen This Snail?
25 Patrick's Tantrum
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