SpongeBob SquarePants S4E12 "All That Glitters" / "Wishing You Well" - TV Tropes (2024)

SpongeBob SquarePants S4E12 "All That Glitters" / "Wishing You Well" »

Not even the other side of reality has a functioning Spat.

All That Glitters

Original air date: 6/2/2006 (produced in 2005)

SpongeBob replaces his old and broken spatula with a new one, but discovers that new doesn't always mean better.

"All That Glitters" contains examples of:

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: SpongeBob rolling around on the floor in his tears is clearly done in CGI.
• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Le Spatula.
• All for Nothing: After spending literally everything he had that was worth monetary value, SpongeBob doesn't even get to use Le Spatula to flip even one Krabby Patty.
• All That Glitters: The title of the episode and its moral. Even SpongeBob states it.
• Animate Inanimate Object: Spat, SpongeBob's old spatula, becomes this in the next hospital scene.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment:

  Doctor: SpongeBob, I hate to tell you this...
  SpongeBob: I know. He's moved on to the big kitchen drawer in the sky! He's gone! (sobs)
  Doctor: Actually, it's not that. I didn't get the acting part.

• Big Eater: The fat guy who ordered the Monster Krabby Patty.
• Bizarro Episode: As weird as this show can get, this episode takes it to another level, by not just having SpongeBob spend half the episode strutting around naked (without even milking it for much humor), but also by having spatulas suddenly being sentient beings that get treated as people by the other characters (not just SpongeBob himself), which is promptly forgotten about going forward.
• Bookends: The episode begins with SpongeBob trying to flip a Monster Krabby Patty, which leads to his spatula breaking. The same patty shows up at the end of the episode, but this time, SpongeBob's arms break off.
• Changed My Mind, Kid: In the ending, Spat returns from the hospital and immediately forgives SpongeBob for replacing him.
• Companion Cube: Spat to SpongeBob.
• Dull Surprise: Squidward when he receives the order for a Monster Krabby Patty, even though everybody around him (except for the customer) are horrified to even hear of its name.
• French Jerk: Le Spatula turns out to be this.
• Happier Times Montage: When SpongeBob first visits Spat in the hospital, he says, "We've been through so much together." Cue montage of SpongeBob doing various things with Spat.
• Hate Sink: It's hard to imagine how Le Spatula could be anything but this, given how cruelly he tells off SpongeBob after all the effort the guy put into acquiring him and declaring himself to be too good for the likes of the Krusty Krab kitchen before leaving.
• Here We Go Again!: In the end, SpongeBob has to make another Monster Krabby Patty, only this time his arms pop off when attempting to flip. However, this time he is able to laugh it off.
• How Do You Say: "I would not dare touch such slop as this, how you say, Krabby Patty!"
• I Call It "Vera": SpongeBob calls his spatula "Spat".
• I'm Not a Doctor, but I Play One on TV: "I'm not a doctor, I'm an actor researching for a role."
• Medium Blending: A pair of giant, live-action human hands put a giant pile of Krabby Patty meat onto the grill.
• Naked People Are Funny: SpongeBob had to sell everything to buy a new high-tech spatula, including his clothes. He arrives to work the next day completely naked, much to Krabs' dismay and Squidward's amusem*nt. He is naked for the remainder of the episode.
• Overly Long Gag:
  • SpongeBob cries to... everything in Bikini Bottom about his broken spatula.
  • There's also SpongeBob smashing those piggy banks one by one to appease the salesman.
• Prone to Tears: SpongeBob cries a lot in this episode.
• Rejected Apology: Spat is suddenly angry with SpongeBob replacing him, and despite SpongeBob apologizing for it, he doesn't forgive him. Eventually, he returns to him in the ending with no problems at all.
• Title Drop: Once SpongeBob breaks down on the floor crying, another SpongeBob pops up and delivers the aesop of the episode to the audience: "All that glitters is not gold."
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The customer who ordered the Monster Krabby Patty is what leads to SpongeBob's spatula breaking and him selling his clothes to buy Le Spatula.
• Wingding Eyes: SpongeBob's eyes turn into red spirals when he freaks out after Mr. Krabs tells him to get a new spatula.

Take a penny and some magic,
Even though your life is tragic
You can throw all your dreams down the well

Wishing You Well

Original air date: 6/2/2006 (produced in 2005)

Mr. Krabs sends SpongeBob and Patrick down a wishing well to collect the money dropped by the wishers.

"Wishing You Well" contains examples of:

• Accidental Truth: Mr. Krabs digs a wishing well in order to collect the money dropped by wishers, not believing that their wishes will actually come true. But SpongeBob and Patrick discover that there actually is magic at the bottom of the well.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Mr. Krabs doesn't believe the well is magic even though he has encountered fantastical forces before in the series. He persists in his defiance even after Plankton has grown tall enough to effortlessly push over buildings.
• Bait-and-Switch: Doubles as a Visual Pun: Patrick tells Squidward, "You've got your elbow in my ribs," to which a disgusted Squidward replies, "Ewww!", revealing that his elbow is covered in barbecue sauce from a plate of ribs that Patrick is eating.

  Patrick: And stop stepping in my potato salad!

• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • The moral of the episode. The people who wished for stuff at the wishing well get their wish, and Mr. Krabs chalks it all off as coincidence. To prove it, he wishes he was steamed with a side of butter. You can guess what happens next.
  • Squidward meets this fate too. After spending the night stuck in a well with Spongebob and Patrick, he sarcastically wishes he was as far away from them as possible, and he gets hit by a bus to "far away" and stuck to the front. Unlike Mr. Krabs, he had no reason to believe in the well's magic yet.
• Big "NO!": By SpongeBob when Mr. Krabs makes a wish to be steamed with a side of butter. Later Mr. Krabs himself when the wish comes true.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: SpongeBob shows Mr. Krabs everything he's earned so far: a nickel from Sandy, two pennies from Mrs. Puff, a penny from Plankton...and a slightly used pair of dentures, which he pulls out of Patrick's mouth.
• Circling Birdies: Mr. Krabs gets two stars circling around his head after a woman hits him with her handbag after he tries to steal a quarter from her son.
• Claustrophobia: Squidward claims to be claustrophobic, which SpongeBob and Patrick misinterpret as being afraid of Santa Claus.
• Determinator: While SpongeBob is ignorant towards Mr. Krabs' true intent for the wishing well (that being to get some easy money), SpongeBob nevertheless works hard to make it so that the magic of the wishing well is genuine.
• The End: When Mr. Krabs gets steamed with a side of butter and is about to be eaten, you can see those words on the bib of the guy about to eat him.
• Exact Words:
  • Played straight with Squidward. When Squidward wished to be far away from SpongeBob, he gets subsequently hit by and stuck to the front of a bus that's heading "far away" moments after making the said wish.
  • Deconstructed with Mr. Krabs. When Mr. Krabs doesn't believe SpongeBob when the latter and Patrick said they discovered magic, Mr. Krabs ends up wishing he was "steamed and served with a side of melted butter". Cue a moment later, and Mr. Krabs regrets his wish and begs and pleads that he does believe in magic.
• HA HA HA—No: Mrs. Puff gives SpongeBob this reaction after he asked if he can take a ride in her new hot rod.
• In-Universe Factoid Failure: SpongeBob claims that being claustrophobic means one is afraid of Santa Claus, despite Squidward's attempts to correct him.
• Iris Out: The first episode to end with this.
• Jerkass: Mr. Krabs' Greed and Bad Boss tendencies are on full display in this episode. He's only concerned about making a profit and shows zero sympathy towards SpongeBob, as he forces the latter to reside at the bottom of the well and collect coins for him, not even letting him go home after business hours. Needless to say, Laser-Guided Karma hits Krabs hard in the end.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • After cruelly mocking SpongeBob and Patrick while they are stuck at the bottom of the well, Squidward promptly loses balance and falls in, and has to spend the whole night with them.
  • Considering he built the wishing well just to rip people off and basically imprisoned poor SpongeBob at the bottom of the dank well and collect every single coin dropped there, Mr. Krabs’ final fate is well-deserved.
• Medium-Shift Gag: Mr. Krabs turns into a real-life crab and is about to be consumed by a real-life human in the final scene.
• Oh, Crap!: Mr. Krabs' reaction when he realizes he's going to get eaten.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Plankton and Mrs. Puff both get their wishes granted, with Plankton wishing to be taller and Mrs. Puff wishing for her own hot rod.
• What Have We Ear?: During his musical number, SpongeBob performs a magic trick where he pulls a penny out of Squidward's ear.
• Wishing Well: The center of the plot. It turns out wells do work just fine if you dig deep enough to unearth the magic.
• You Keep Using That Word: Mr. Krabs describes it as the Eugene Krabs Memorial Wishing Well. Squidward points out you need to be dead to have a memorial for anything.