Bubble Buddy Returns

Characters

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Bubble Buddy
• Shiny Bubble (debut)
• Squidward Tentacles
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Gary the Snail (cameo)
• Mabel Jenkins
• Old Man Jenkins
• Nancy Suzy Fish

Plot

The episode begins with a bubble with a letter inside flying to SpongeBob's house while causing mischievous antics. It finally flies into SpongeBob's kitchen, who is enjoying a bowl of Kelpo cereal with Gary. SpongeBob opens the letter, which is from his old friend Bubble Buddy asking him to babysit his son Shiny. Shiny appears out of the bubble holding the letter SpongeBob introduces himself and takes Shiny to meet Squidward. Unfortunately, Shiny caused mayhem in Squidward's house and SpongeBob couldn't find him. Shiny kept flying again in Squidward's house and destroying furniture. Eventually SpongeBob catches him and takes Shiny to The Krusty Krab. Then he went into Mr. Krabs's office and flew everywhere around him. Mr. Krabs was shiny and clean from the bubble soap and told SpongeBob to let Shiny play in the dirty dishes. Then while SpongeBob was cooking Krabby Patties, Shiny once again gets into mischief by sliding around, making the Krusty Krab floors slippery. All the customers kept slipping, Mr. Krabs kicked them out. Then Shiny flew into the city and got into lots of trouble. He went into the pin factory, the scissor works, and he went into the pitchfork pantry. Then SpongeBob decided to go to the pillow pantry and he found out that was a dangerous place too. When they got home, he fed Shiny a hot dog. But then he popped, and SpongeBob had the bubble soap to repair him. Finally when he blew another Shiny, he grew two heads. Then Bubble Buddy came to his house to pick up Shiny.

SpongeBob begins to apologize about Shiny, but Bubble Buddy says that it was okay, because sometimes it had happen to Shiny. Then he traps Shiny into a bottle of bubble soap. As they were leaving on a plane Shiny is normal again blowing a raspberry out from the bottle and they went into the plane and flew away.

Trivia

• This is the first time the title card was reused outside of the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy series. The only difference is that the word "Returns" was added to it.
• This is the final episode of the series with the 2002 Paramount logo.
• This is the last episode of 2011.
• This is the second appearance of Bubble Buddy, eleven years, one week, and two days after his debut in the Season 2 episode, Bubble Buddy.
• The bubble plane was first on the ground, but was lifted into the sky. The same thing happens to the taxi at the end of the episode Bubble Buddy.
• Shiny showed no signs of life until the end, just like his father in Bubble Buddy.
• In the letter from Bubble Buddy, it says "We don't want him to go pop like his late Uncle Raymond". This is the first mention of any relatives of Bubble Buddy. It's possible that Raymond is Shiny's maternal uncle because SpongeBob might not remember creating Raymond.
• Gary does not say "meow" in this episode and only makes a cameo.
• The title card music is the same as "A Day Without Tears", "You Don't Know Sponge", and "Patrick's Staycation".
• It is revealed that Nancy wears a wig.
• How can Bubble Buddy have a son since he doesn't have sperm or someone else blew Shiny and Bubble Buddy counted him as his son.
• Shiny's name is mentioned thirty two times in this episode.
• Squidward painted his self-portrait to resemble Napoleon Bonaparte.
• As seen in other episodes, bubbles in SpongeBob SquarePants universe have properties more similar to inflated balloons than bubbles. For example, when Shiny was caught in the blades of Squidward's fan, he wasn't popped. Instead, he spun around them, the way a helium-filled balloon would if caught in the same situation.
• Figuratively speaking, Shiny is SpongeBob's grandson because SpongeBob created Bubble Buddy and Shiny is Bubble Buddy's son.
• It is unknown how Shiny could have stayed in one piece when he crashed into numerous sharp objects when he flew into Squidward's house.
• When Mr. Krabs states that Bubble Buddy still owes him money, he is referring to the episode Bubble Buddy.
• A running gag has Shiny continuously floating into different factories which manufacture many sharp objects.
• When SpongeBob gets poked by the bubble and shows pain, it once again portrays his weakness.
• In Bubble Buddy, Bubble Buddy drives an automobile home. In this episode, he rides an airplane home, stating he must have moved further away.

Errors

• After SpongeBob reads the letter from Bubble Buddy, the spots on Gary's shell swap colours.
• When Shiny erases the moustache from Squidward's painting, no ink is seen on his torso; and the moustache could not be erased without touching the nose.