User:Cmcrat26/Episode Reviews/Season 2/Christmas Who?
This review was originally from my cancelled review series.
Patchy Segments
The Patchy segments in this episode are nothing short of a phenomenal way to introduce him and Potty. I love them so much. They’re filled with constant humor like the free ice cream line, Potty’s puppeteer falling from the sky, or the wacky scene of Patchy playing with SpongeBob and Patrick on his hat. I also love the idea of Patchy overall, to serve as some sort of narrator with his own little segments. His and Potty’s dynamic is super entertaining and makes the characters super fun to watch whenever they’re on screen. They’re super wacky characters that are one reason I find a lot of joy in watching this episode.
Especially in seasons 2 and 3, the Patchy segments always have this sort of weird charm. A lot of the jokes are so cheesy I like them, and I love the design of Patchy’s house with all the SpongeBob ornaments and Christmas lights. They’re so entertaining in a way I can’t really explain but it feels like some kids’ show type of charm and it’s done perfectly. Patchy’s segments, especially in this episode, feel like a great way to break up the animated part of the episode and do something really different but not too different. These are definitely some of my favorite Patchy segments in the entire series.
SpongeBob Segments
I thought Life of Crime was hilarious. Don’t get me wrong, I still do, but the humor in this one blows that episode’s out of the water. There are too many jokes in this episode to even count, like Patrick continually ripping his paper, Squidward feeling like a….big jerk, SpongeBob stating how Santa’s nose was huge with Christmas joy, the fantastic live action Santa scene, the scene of Sandy explaining Christmas to SpongeBob which was funny just for how wacky it was without any dialogue from the animated characters, the snowman walking away, and I overdid the joke-listing again. Well seriously, this episode is one of the funniest of the entire series and if I were to list every single one we’d be here until Pineapple RV airs.
Another highlight of this episode is the song. The song in this one is great for a lot of reasons. First of all, it’s a great tune. It’s one that gets stuck in my head a lot and is really great to listen to. I love the calm guitar background of it. It’s also a pretty funny song. I love a lot of the lyrics like whenever Squidward interrupts the song but still sings along to it, Mr Krabs’ falsetto, the burns in the third degree, Patrick being the star, darn it I’m doing it again. This song really sets a good Christmas-y tone for the rest of the episode, with Squidward’s decorated house, the beautiful-looking Christmas tree, and the Christmas-themed backgrounds SpongeBob does his little weird dancing thing in front of, they all look really good. Speaking of which, the art in the episode is really good. But that’s off topic. My point is, The Very First Christmas is a fantastic song that really captures the holiday mood and is one of my favorite songs of the series.
Like I said before, I love the art in this episode. I love seeing all the jellyfish Christmas lights flickering and glowing in front of the dark night background. The coral tree also looks cool and was a good way to do a Christmas tree. And even though it’s pretty short, I like the look of the Treedome with Christmas lights. Squidward’s house with all the decorations looks really great too. The visuals in this one aren’t too amazing for the most part but definitely are fun to look at.
And finally, I’ll talk about the easy best part of this special, the plot. Not gonna lie, this episode has one of the greatest, if not the greatest, stories in the entire series. For starters, it’s a great way to do a Christmas special. It’s creative because in a lot of other shows it would make sense for the episode to start with the characters already knowing what Christmas is. So I like how this episode does something different because...well, they’re sea creatures. And as I said in a certain other very recent review, I LOVE Squidward’s character. He starts off doubtful of Santa Claus but after he gets the driftwood clarinet realizes SpongeBob’s sadness and feels bad for him (side note: the emotion in this episode is brilliant). I love how far Squidward goes to make SpongeBob have a good Christmas, and how he gives away practically everything he owns just to satisfy the Bikini Bottomites. I love Squidward’s change of heart, it gives me some huge A Christmas Carol or How The Grinch Stole Christmas vibes. Overall, everything relating to Squidward and his arc is fantastic and his character is at his best point in this episode.
Overall
As I have made pretty clear, I absolutely ADORE this episode. It’s so creative, has a brilliant plot with a character beautifully written, a non stop flow of jokes, really cool live-action segments, a tremendous song, and loads of rewatchability. This is the absolute epitome of how to do a cartoon Christmas special, and it’s one I would watch no matter what time of year. And there we have it: Christmas Who. One of my favorite episodes of the entire series. I would say “Merry Christmas” or something to give a nice end to the review, but it’s the middle of March*, so E. Merry...March 28.
*lol this was from when I published the blog