Blood is Thicker Than Grease

Characters

• Template:Data:Links
• Sheldon J. Plankton
• Karen Plankton
• Plankton family
  • Clem
  • Cletus Plankton Template:Single appearance
  • Granny Plankton Template:Cameo
  • Ma Plankton
  • Pa Plankton
  • Grand Dad Plankton Template:Cameo
• Template:Data:Links
  • Fred
  • Steven
  • Incidental 7
  • Incidental 14
  • Incidental 37A
  • Scooter
  • Incidental 48
  • Incidental 63
  • Incidental 64
  • Incidental 107
  • Lenny
  • Incidental 118C
  • Incidental 151
  • Incidental 152
  • Incidental 153
  • Incidental 160
  • Incidental 162
  • Incidental 164
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Squidward Tentacles
• Patrick Star
• Bubble Bass
• Larry the Lobster
• Regigilled
• Health Inspector Andy Yellowtail
• Trucker
• Elmer

This list is incomplete, but you can help Encyclopedia SpongeBobia by expanding it.

Synopsis

File:Blood is Thicker Than Grease 053.png

The Spud Bucket.

Plankton shows Karen his new "tootsie-trampler" invention, which can be used like a pogo stick to crush civilians, but it backfires on him. Suddenly, Plankton hears a noise from outside. A pickup truck with a grand mansion-like trailer appears. Plankton's parents step out, having moved to the city after winning the lottery. After showing Plankton around their trailer, they reveal they have come to start their own restaurant similar to the Chum Bucket: the Spud Bucket. The customers from the Krusty Krab all leave to visit the new restaurant. Plankton goes to Krabs' restaurant to gloat, and the latter is about to give up the formula. Karen questions Plankton, mentioning that having the formula likely means nothing since nobody wants Krabby Patties. Upon realizing this, Plankton decides to sabotage the Spud Bucket.

His first plan is to call a health inspector, but this backfires when the Planktons are able to bribe him into giving the Spud Bucket a good grade. Next, he gets Patrick to eat customers' food, but his parents use him to help make mashed potatoes. Then, he throws a grenade at a potato delivery truck, but the potatoes explode into French fries. After his failures, Plankton's dad invites him to work at the restaurant, which Plankton agrees to, left with no other options.

File:Blood is Thicker Than Grease 169.png

Ma Plankton telling Plankton that he can work for them.

In the kitchen, Plankton prepares a baked potato, which he tops with chum. Bubble Bass tastes it and goes to complain. After Plankton reveals the "special ingredient" to him, Bubble Bass warns everyone, with the other customers also having eaten the chum-laced dishes. They are disgusted and run back to the Krusty Krab. Plankton's parents accept defeat and have their cousin, Cletus, blow up the restaurant, before heading off in their trailer. Mr. Krabs walks up, and brags that his formula is worth something again, but Cletus detonates another box of TNT around him and Plankton, ending the episode.

Production

This episode was confirmed on September 5, 2023.

Despite being copyrighted in 2024, this episode was completed in late 2023.

Art

Background design

• Art direction by Peter Bennett, layouts designed by George Nachev and Rebekie Bennington, traditionally painted by Amy Lewis in gouache, lines drawn digitally in Adobe Photoshop.

• Ma and Pa Plankton's trailer
  Ma and Pa Plankton's trailer
• Side-by-side outhouse
  Side-by-side outhouse
• Process photo
  Process photo

Release

• This episode is available on the Another 100 Episodes, The Best 300 Episodes Ever, and The Complete Fourteenth Season DVDs.

Trivia

General

File:BITTG Image on Nick website.png

File:Plankton Family.png

The full image.

• An image of this episode was accidentally released on the Nick.com website on February 13, 2024, being used as the thumbnail for the link to its sister episode, "Don't Make Me Laugh." This also happened on DirecTV.
• This episode accidentally premiered on Nicktoons on February 21, 2024 at 2:27 PM EST. This was 5 months prior to its proper airing on Nickelodeon.
  • This makes it the third time an episode premiered on Nicktoons before airing on the main Nickelodeon channel, the other two being "Gary Takes a Bath" and "Buff for Puff."
  • Because it wasn't meant to air, YouTube TV removed the scheduled 3 hour recording of "The Curse of Bikini Bottom"/"Squidward in Clarinetland" that the episode aired during.
• This episode is stylized as "Blood i$ Thicker Than Grease."
• The title card is very similar to that of "All That Glitters," only there is no shine and it is in widescreen.
• Patrick laughs and claps like a seal, which he also does in "The Whole Tooth," "Jolly Lodgers," and "Pet the Rock."
• Due to the heavy usage of Plankton, Karen and all of the Plankton family, SpongeBob has a very minor role and only has three lines in total.
• This episode, alongside "Squidiot Box," "PL-1413," "In the Mood to Feud," "Mooned!," "Hysterical History," and "Kreepaway Kamp" serve as this season's 25th anniversary specials.
  • However, this episode and "Squidiot Box" seem to also serve as standalone episodes.
  • In its press listing, it is listed as a "sequel episode," likely to "Plankton's Army."
• This episode marks the first appearance of Plankton's dad in the main series. Plankton's dad was previously seen in the book Hooray for Dads!, though he had a very different design.
  • Similarly, Ma Plankton had previously been seen in "Something Narwhal This Way Comes," using Ma Angler as a base. She has a new design here, resembling Bunny Star.
• This and its sister episode "Don't Make Me Laugh" mark the first episode pairing in which both segments premiered unannounced and not labeled as such on the TV guides.
• This episode was paired up with "PL-1413" during the original American airing.

Episode references

• Several of Plankton's family members previously appeared in "Plankton's Army" when he was imagining what they looked like.
• Characters constantly doing a quick spit was a recurring gag in "Salty Sponge."
• Cletus' gag "Did somebody say surprise?" routine and blowing something up is reminiscent of Template:Data:Links's gag "Did somebody say boom?" routine in "Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture."

Cultural references

• This episode's title is a pun on the phrase "blood is thicker than water," a proverb in English meaning that "familial bonds are strongest."
• Plankton refers to Patrick as "The Insatiable Bulk," referencing The Incredible Hulk.

Errors

File:Blood is Thicker Than Grease 100.png

Squidward is seen in the register boat.

File:Blood is Thicker Than Grease 107.png

But in the scene after, he and the bonsai are gone.

File:Blood is Thicker Than Grease 195.png

The Krusty Krab and the path leading up to it are missing

• Squidward is seen cutting a bonsai tree in the register boat. In the scenes after, both he and the bonsai are gone without explanation.
• The health inspector's rating is already visible outside the restaurant before he issues it.
• At the end of this episode, the Krusty Krab is missing from across the street.

Videos

File:New SpongeBob SquarePants + Rock Paper Scissors Promo - Starting July 15, 2024 (Nickelodeon U.S.)

File:Plankton's Parents Open A NEW Restaurant! 🥔 - "Blood is Thicker Than Grease" Full Scene - SpongeBob

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
German	Der Erdapfel-Eimer	The Potato Bucket
Russian	Картофельные узы Kartofel'nyye uzy	Potato Ties
Spanish (American)	La grasa llama	The Grease Calls
Spanish (European)	La sangre es más espesa que la grasa	Blood is Thicker Than Grease