Best Frenemies

Characters

• Eugene H. Krabs
• Squidward Tentacles
• Template:Data:Links
• Template:Data:Links
  • Incidental 37B
  • Incidental 37A
  • Harold (Inc 36)
  • Incidental 41
  • Incidental 46
  • Tom
  • Incidental 92
  • Harris
  • Incidental 45
  • Incidental 13
  • Incidental 48
  • Dale
  • Incidental 106
  • Incidental 27
  • Incidental 9
  • Frank
  • Incidental 82
  • Old Man Walker
  • Sandals
  • Scooter
  • Incidental 31
  • Harold (Inc 40)
  • Incidental 102
  • Incidental 49
  • Fred
  • Incidental 104
  • Incidental 105
  • Incidental 107
  • Incidental 20
  • Incidental 103
  • Incidental 119
  • Incidental 68
  • Incidental 153
  • Incidental 42
  • Incidental 67
  • Incidental 151
  • Incidental 2
  • Incidental 16
  • Charlie
  • John
  • Incidental 24
  • Incidental 15
  • Incidental 47
  • Incidental 152
  • Incidental 8
  • Victoria Ellen
• Pearl Krabs
• Sheldon J. Plankton
• JK
• Security system voice Template:Debut
• Kelpshake cashier Template:Debut
• Karen Plankton
• HAZMAT Unit Template:Debut

Synopsis

Mr. Krabs is counting his money when he notices the Krusty Krab's profits are down. Squidward tells him that nobody has ordered a drink from the Krusty Krab in days. When a confused Mr. Krabs asks why, SpongeBob tells him that everyone, including himself, Squidward, and Pearl, are drinking a popular new beverage called a "Kelp Shake," which is distributed by the eponymous restaurant. Angered, Mr. Krabs bans all outside drinks from the restaurant, causing the customers to leave without paying for their food.

File:Best Frenemies 097.png

Mr. Krabs and Plankton begrudgingly work together.

Mr. Krabs discovers the Kelpshake restaurant is next door to the Krusty Krab, and believes Plankton is behind it. However, Plankton says he was not even aware of the recent Kelp Shake craze up until now. Worried that the ever-expanding chain of Kelpshake restaurants will eventually run both their establishments out of business, the two decide to work together and steal a Kelp Shake to find out what it is made of. They go to a restaurant and try several methods, most of which rely on Plankton's minuscule size, but fail every time.

The next day, Mr. Krabs and Plankton argue with each other until SpongeBob suggests that they simply buy a Kelp Shake. With Plankton's motivation, Mr. Krabs reluctantly buys a Kelp Shake, and they take it to the Chum Bucket. Karen analyzes the beverage and finds that it has two ingredients, the primary one being kelp juice. Mr. Krabs and Plankton both sample the drink and find it delicious, ignoring Karen's warnings about the second ingredient.

File:Best Frenemies 169.png

SpongeBob now green and naked due to the Kelpshake restaurants closing.

After leaving to buy another Kelp Shake, they encounter a terrified SpongeBob, who has grown a strange green fuzz all over his body, much to their horror. He then tells the two the Kelpshake restaurants have all been shut down before running off crying. Mr. Krabs and Plankton approach one of the closed restaurants and see two HAZMAT fish draining something out of the building. The two fish then mention that the second ingredient was found to be highly toxic and dangerous. Shortly after hearing this, the same green fuzz grows on Plankton and Mr. Krabs' bodies as well. However, they quickly get over their horror of having the kelp grown on them and Plankton decides to go back to stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula, and the two "frenemies" chase each other around just for the fun of it, saying "It's good to be home."

Production

This episode was confirmed on October 23, 2006.

Art

• File:FUmVhG.jpg
• File:Hazmat Fish.webp

Release

Broadcast

• This episode premiered on the same day as the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards.

Distribution

• This episode is available on the Season 4 Volume 2, First 100 Episodes, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 6, Complete Fourth Season, From the Beginning, Part 2, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, 2-Season TV Pack, The Third & Fourth Seasons, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, and The Best 300 Episodes Ever DVDs.

Trivia

General

• This episode was released on the Season 4 Volume 2 DVD box set before it aired on American television.
• The title is a portmanteau of "Best Friends" and "Enemies," making it "Frenemies."
• The title card background is similar to those of "The Paper" and "I'm Your Biggest Fanatic," though this one is orange.

File:Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V 008.png

Kelp Shakes on the Galley Grub menu in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V."

• Kelp Shakes are listed on the Galley Grub menu inside of the Krusty Krab in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V" and ironically contradicts the logic of the Krusty Krab banning Kelp Shakes in this episode.
• When Plankton tells Mr. Krabs about the guard worm, he calls it a watchdog. This is because usually worms in the show are the equivalent to dogs in real life.
• The "Well, good luck with that" quote SpongeBob says is reused from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
• Plankton's line "They're multiplying," along with the scene with SpongeBob being green and naked have become internet memes.
• This is the first episode in which Mr. Krabs and Plankton team up against a foe.
• This is the second episode for two things:
  • The second appearance of a guard worm. The first is "The Lost Mattress," which is another season 4 episode.
  • The second appearance of the Chum Bucket analyzer. The first is "Plankton!"

Episode references

• Plankton wears his burglar outfit from "Fear of a Krabby Patty."
• The guard worm protecting the Kelpshake also defended the junkyard in "The Lost Mattress."

Cultural references

File:Best Frenemies 185.png

Plankton's abnormal hair growth.

File:Ugh 187.png

Albert Einstein's hairstyle as shown with a picture of his head in "Ugh."

• The shape of Plankton's abnormal hair growth is similar to the hairstyle Albert Einstein. Since Plankton has an interest in science, this hairstyle is quite suitable for the character.
  • Albert Einstein was also referenced in the episode "Ugh," when a picture of Albert Einstein's head appears inside of a speech bubble from Squog's mouth.

Errors

File:Inc36 Yellow Eyes.png

Incidental 36 with yellow eyes.

• While everyone is drinking Kelp Shakes at the Krusty Krab, there are two errors:
  • Incidental 36's eyes are yellow instead of white.
  • Incidentals 92 and 45, while doing a "cheers" with their kelpshake, look odd behind those duplicated two.
• When Incidental 37B says, "Wow, what a steal" and orders food, he just walks away without taking any of the food he ordered.

File:Best Frenemies 010.png

The Kelp Shake straw is overlapping SpongeBob's mouth.

• When Mr. Krabs says, "What? Why not?" and SpongeBob is shown drinking the Kelp Shake for the first time, the straw is overlapping his mouth.
• There are some errors during the part when Mr. Krabs and Plankton walk into a Kelp Shake store and look for the kitchen door.
  • When Mr. Krabs whistles and first notices the kitchen door, it has a purple sign that reads "Employees Only!" in pink letters and has the correct spelling.
  • When Mr. Krabs is sneezing in several different directions and sends Plankton flying towards the kitchen door, the same purple sign with pink letters from before now reads "Employes Only!" with the word "employees" being misspelled by missing the third "e."
  • When Plankton lands on the window of the kitchen door and gets stuck, the "Employees Only!" sign is now yellow with red letters and the word "employees" is spelled correctly again.

• File:Purple employees only sign in Best Frenemies.png
• File:Purple employes (misspelled) only sign in Best Frenemies.png
• File:Yellow employees only sign in Best Frenemies.png

• The security system which warns Mr. Krabs and Plankton says, "You have three seconds until spontaneous combustion!" and then pulls out a laser, but the term "spontaneous combustion" actually means something that suddenly bursts into flames.
• When the security system says, "You have three seconds until spontaneous combustion!" as a warning to Mr. Krabs and Plankton, more than four seconds pass overtime before Plankton is electrocuted by a laser.
• There are three Kelp Shakes next to the Krusty Krab, two on the left and one on the right, but when SpongeBob talks to Mr. Krabs and Plankton inside the restaurant, two of the Kelp Shakes on the left outside are gone.
• After Mr. Krabs says, "Hey, get back here you little booger!," Plankton suddenly disappears out of the screen, rather than gradually disappear.
  • Also, Mr. Krabs is floating in midair and does not have his legs.
  • The inside of Plankton's mouth is purple in this episode and "New Leaf," as opposed to red.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
French	La recette du lait aux algues	Seaweed Milk Recipe
German	Beste Fr-einde	Best Fr-Iends
Greek	Φικοσέικ	Kelp-Shake
Hungarian	Barát vagy ellenség?	Friend or Foe?
Italian	Nemici Amici	Friendly Enemies
Japanese	仲良しライバル Nakayoshi raibaru	Close Rival
Russian	Заклятые друзья Zaklyatyye druz'ya	Sworn Friends
Spanish	Los mejores amienemigos	The Best Frenemies
Spanish (American)	Los mejores enemigos	The Best Enemies