The Original Fry Cook:
A very special guest is coming to The Krusty Krab. It's Mr. Krabs' old employee Jim, who he claims is the best fry cook he has ever had. In fear of being neglected, SpongeBob asks Jim to teach him his ways.
The plot doesn't sound any special on paper, but they manage to turn it into something really fun. Jim is a great character, and I especially like the casting choice of Patton Oswalt. What works so well about him is that he doesn't become some kind of villain SpongeBob has to defeat, but rather is just a normal guy who happens to be more skilled. He even offers to help SpongeBob reach his level, which results in a very funny montage sequence. No matter what he does, every patty ends up getting flushed in the toilet!
Mr. Krabs' neglect of SpongeBob, while somewhat cruel, is hilarious. He tears down every Employee Of The Month picture put up of SpongeBob and reveals a giant poster of Jim which has somehow been there all the time! And when SpongeBob yells at Krabs to notice him he gives recognition to Squidward instead, who he's constantly criticized for being his laziest worker.
The best joke of all is the 60's style flashback showing The Krusty Krab how it was like when Jim worked there. Krabs' fake sideburns and Squidward losing his beautiful head of hair in an instant cracks me up. Jim asking for a raise only to be met by uncontrollable laughter is a topnotch joke too.
By the end, SpongeBob worries over being replaced turn out to be false as Jim's reminded what a stingy greed-o-mat his boss is. His final words to SpongeBob are motivational, yet cynical at the same time, which fits his character splendidly. He might become as talented as Jim one day, but never at the same shoddy place he's at right now.
Night Light:
SpongeBob is trying to sleep, but gets too scared of the dark. His terror starts to take over to such a degree that he's urged by Mr. Krabs to get a night light. But will that really solve the problem completely?
Just like Fry Cook this one has quite a few laughs. The fear of someone catching you in the dark is something many people share. Not just kids, but adults as well. Predictably, 'Bob takes it way overboard, to the point where he can't even blink without panicking. The part where he opens the freezer and a spooky face appears is kinda creepy, but still uproarious. It follows the trend of unexpected live-action footage used for dramatic effect, like Nosferatu in Graveyard Shift.
When he goes to the store and gets a night light the paranoia doesn't stop there. SpongeBob going back there again and again to collect an absurd amount of night lights gave me possibly the biggest laugh of the whole episode. Patrick has a good role, where he goes from being confused over the whole situation, to simply eager to hang out with his friend, to then become just as scared and behave just as crazily. He somehow takes it even further by pointing a light at the freaking sun.
This accidentally creates the Mermaid Man symbol, so he and his partner Barnacle Boy rush to the rescue. They are told it's just a false alarm, which understandably leaves them frustrated to have arrived there in vain. Surprise, surprise though, a Moth monster arrives and starts fighting them!
I'll admit it's a bit of an odd tonal shift from SpongeBob dealing with protecting himself from the dark to becoming a superhero story all of a sudden. That being said, it still remains entertaining. Mermaid Man is always good for some chuckles (after the fight is over he can't even remember why he came there), and Mark Hamill's quietly menacing voice is a solid fit for the Moth villain.
The final gag with Patrick waltzing into the sun like he's being accepted into heaven only to come back with fire burning all over him is pretty amusing.
Season 5's not bad at all so far.
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