Driven to Tears

Template:Episode "Driven to Tears" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season four.

Brief Summary: Patrick goes to Mrs. Puff's boating school and passes a driving test, but SpongeBob becomes jealous.

Time/Date:

• 3:00 AM: SpongeBob is awoken by Patrick fixing his boatmobile.
• 4:00 AM: Patrick shows up at SpongeBob's door.
• 7:00 AM: SpongeBob's alarm clock rings.
• 1:25 PM: SpongeBob arrives at the Krusty Krab.

Time Cards Shown:

• One minute, thirty seven seconds later...
• One debt to society later... (not a real time card)

Characters Present:

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Patrick Star
• Mrs. Puff
• Narrator
• Gary the Snail
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Mrs. SquarePants
• Mr. SquarePants
• Bikini Bottomites
  • Mrs. Smith
  • Timmy
  • Phil
  • Tom
  • Fred
  • Old Lady Fish
  • Girl Fish
  • Cop
  • Judge
  • Announcer

Plot

SpongeBob and Patrick are going to Mrs. Puff's Boating School. SpongeBob is once again going to take his driving test, but, despite encouragement from Patrick, he fails miserably. Then Patrick decides to take the driving test, believing that SpongeBob's tests were actually being manipulated by Mrs. Puff. He comes up to SpongeBob and says that he passed and got a driver's license. At first SpongeBob is happy, however people start treating Patrick like a celebrity. He even gets his own hot rod, something which makes SpongeBob envious. SpongeBob gets angrier because Patrick's boat's engine keeps him up at night, Patrick has to drive SpongeBob to work, and Patrick is talking all the time about driving. Mr. Krabs sets up a drive-thru window for Patrick, and even SpongeBob's own parents are talking more about Patrick than himself. However, when Patrick starts breaking some traffic laws (including driving through an orphanage and three red lights, as well as driving half a mile over the speed limit), SpongeBob finally bursts and rips up Patrick's license, tossing the shreds out of the car. A police officer catches the shreds and Patrick and SpongeBob are chased by the police. Patrick has do some time in the slammer for not having his driver's license. However, SpongeBob begs to go in his place, and his request is granted. When he gets out of jail, SpongeBob and Patrick realize what Patrick's position did to their friendship, and make up. SpongeBob makes a plate for Patrick's car, but Patrick says that he threw it out because the needle was on E, which meant that his gas tank was empty, but thought it said that the car had died on him.

Trivia/Goofs

• The police cars crash in a similar way as in Doing Time.
• SpongeBob's seatbelt goes through his arm.
• When Patrick plays his hotrod's horn, it's a parody of the Dukes Of Hazzard's 'General Lee'.
• This episode aired in Germany and the United Kingdom before it aired in the United States.
• Patrick weighs two ounces and it is revealed in earlier episodes SpongeBob weighs just one ounce.
• This is the second time the police called SpongeBob a "tattletale". The first time is "SpongeBob Meets the Strangler". It is also the second time SpongeBob is the litterbug. Also, the third time Patrick has been put in jail. (SpongeBob Meets The Strangler)
• Patrick's driver's license claimed that Patrick's eyes were black, but in Wormy, Patrick's eyes were green.
• German Title: Eine Träne im Schlagloch. In English this translates to "A Tear In The Pothole" which may be a pun on the German saying "Eine Träne im Knopfloch" (a tear in the butthole).
• SpongeBob said that he had failed 57 (now 58) times, but in Mrs. Puff, You're Fired he had failed 1,258,056 times. However, near the end of the episode, Mrs. Puff said that SpongeBob's dossier was destroyed in an explosion that destroyed the school and that since the dossier was gon it seemed like he never took the tests, so he may have taken the test 57 times between Mrs. Puff, You're Fired and Driven to Tears that may have never been added to the record 1,258,056 tests.
• When the guards escort Patrick away, he says to SpongeBob, "Don't forget to feed Gary. Sometimes You forget to feed him," a reference to the episode Have You Seen This Snail?
• When Patrick's hotrod is first seen, the front wheels were not completely attached. Later, the axle, if it actually exists, would have been at the bottom of the car, not attached to anything.
• Throughout the episode, the car slopes forward more and more.
• Patrick changes color during the close-up near the end.
• When Patrick started fixing his boatmobile late at night, it made a really loud noise. Usually Squidward is the one opening his window to see what was going on, but he never did, and at the Krusty Krab he did not show up to work. He might have gone out of town for a vacation.
• This episode takes place after "No Free Rides".
• When the announcer congratulates Patrick for being the 1,000,000th person to get their liscense, the announcer says, "Women will love you. And men will want to be you." This is a quote from "Austin Powers."
• This episode marks the fifth time SpongeBob and Patrick had a fight. First was in Naughty Nautical Neighbors, second was in The Fry Cook Games, third was in Rock-a-Bye Bivalve, and fourth was in New Student Starfish. This is also the second they've fought over Boating School, as in New Student Starfish.
• When a close up of Patrick's license comes up, after he tells Mr. and Mrs. SquarePants about it, his glove turns pink.
• In the scene where Patrick is fixing his boat, we see SpongeBob in his bedroom sleeping barefoot with his underwear on.
• This is the eighth episode between SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs; the first seven were Suds, Arrgh!, Neptune's Spatula, Squirrel Jokes, Life of Crime, The Fry Cook Games, and The Pink Purloiner.
• This episode marks the second and third time Patrick mistakes a SquarePants member as part of his family. The first time in "The Sponge Who Could Fly".
• Patrick was not arrested for the crimes he commited in the car.

Cultural References

• When the announcer said that Crust Blaster 3000 is the ultimate boating machine, it`s the allusion to BMW when it`s called an ultimate driving machine.
• The Announcer for Patrick's new car says "Women will love you. And men will want to be you" This is a quote from Austin Powers.
• A Police Officer says "Oww, I got me a runner!". This line is from the science fiction movie Logan's Run.
• Patrick's horn plays the song La Cucaracha.

External links

• Watch German episode here