A Pal for Gary

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GARY TORTURE! This contains torture to Gary the Snail, so if you're a fan of him, look away NOW.

A Pal for Gary
The episode in which everything you know about SpongeBob's kindness is a lie!
Season	7
Episode No.	131b
Main Reason for being ScumBob	SpongeBob is at his ABSOLUTE WORST in this episode THE MOST VIOLENT GARY TORTURE EPISODE Disturbing. Gary has to work at the Krusty Krab, even after he almost got EATEN by Puffy SpongeBob thought that Gary was the bad guy by grabbing Puffy Fluffy, even when SpongeBob himself was about to get eaten and Gary SAVED HIS LIFE, Gary gets scolded. Not Suitable for Kids

A Pal for Gary is a AEON SCUMBOB!-infamous episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. In this episode, SpongeBob gets a pet called Puffy Fluffy to keep Gary company when he isn't home, but the creature plans to eat Gary.

Summary

SpongeBob thinks that Gary is lonely while he is at work, he buys another pet named Puffy Fluffy as a playmate for Gary. However, new pet doesn't get along with Gary, and SpongeBob believes that Gary is being too mean to him. Whenever SpongeBob is absent, the new pet starts to terrorize Gary and plans to make him into a delicious snack, but SpongeBob thinks Gary is being mean to it.

AIR DATE FOR THIS EPISODE: JANUARY 2, 2010

Why It's Not A Pal, But It's A Monster

1. EXTREME GARY TORTURE:
   1. In clear addition, it is unoriginal, as it hinges around the overused cliché where the main character gets punished despite committing no wrongdoings whereas the one(s) who did do the wrongdoings get(s) away scot-free, while not the case with the villain.
   2. Not only is it beaten into the ground by this point, but it's always been mean-spirited and never pleasant to watch. Needless to say, this episode is no exception.
2. SpongeBob is a total idiot, and his flanderization has gone way too far and out of hand (In fact, he is at his absolute worst here) This is evident when.
   • He finds a pet store with nudibranchs owned by a merchant, at which he ignores her warning about Puffy Fluffy and steals him without paying.
   • He sends Gary to bed with Puffy Fluffy, as he thinks the former was ignoring Puffy Fluffy, even though Puffy Fluffy is acting psychopathically towards Gary.
   • He assumes that Gary had destroyed his library and most of his house, which is nonsensical.
   • In the most infamous and infuriating scene of the episode, he obnoxiously scolds Gary and tells him to put Puffy Fluffy down, when Gary was clearly being held captive inside Puffy Fluffy's mouth right in front of him; yes, SpongeBob has always been portrayed as naive from time to time, but never too stupid to realize that one of his "pets" is eating the other! Not even Patrick from Seasons 6-9a could be that stupid!
   • When Puffy Fluffy runs away, SpongeBob calls for him to come back, although the former had held him captive.
   • Even at the end, he still blames Gary, despite how the latter had saved his life and prevented him from being devoured by Puffy Fluffy.
   • SpongeBob takes Gary to work, much to his dismay.
   • SpongeBob never gets any comeuppance for how he mistreated Gary.
     • He almost gets eaten by Puffy Fluffy, but it isn't enough karma as he clearly hasn't learned his lesson.
3. Generic story where the property of their owner is jealous of the new one, except it's taken to a direction of so low that it's already become horrible.
4. Puffy Fluffy is a horrible character:
   1. Puffy Fluffy does nothing other than terrorizing Gary for no reason.
   2. The scene where Puffy Fluffy puts one of his tongues in SpongeBob's mouth is disgusting.
   3. Puffy Fluffy's vicious design with long, jagged teeth and multiple Sarlacc-like tongues is very disturbing, nightmarish, grotesque, and looks more like something out of a rejected Johnny Quest episode, especially for an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.
5. SpongeBob is portrayed as the protagonist of this episode, even though he has done way too many bad things in this episode, while Gary has done nothing wrong.
   1. This episode also tried to make Gary unlikable at one point and to make us side with SpongeBob.
6. Wasted potential: The idea of an episode where the protagonist buys an animal that looks harmless when in truth it's a dangerous creature was a neat idea of a SpongeBob episode and could have made some creative and funny gags that involve the creature, but Gary had to be put through it, which ruins the episode greatly.
7. Plot hole: It has been shown in multiple episodes, including this one, that SpongeBob has a pet clam named Shelley in his bedroom.
   1. The whole point of this episode is getting a new pet for Gary to play with, even though SpongeBob already has another one.
   2. With that in mind, that makes SpongeBob’s motivation, and the whole episode for that matter, exceptionally pointless.
8. This episode, along with it's sister episode, were a horrible way to start the 2010's decade as it showed that the writers don't care.

Redeeming Qualities That Are Pals

NOTE: These redeeming qualities do not excuse the episode's content.

1. Puffy Fluffy got what he deserved in the end.
   • On that note, Puffy Fluffy has not been seen as a protagonist since this episode.
   • SpongeBob also got some punishment because his so-called pet ran away.
2. The opening scene is decent, as it feels like something from a normal SpongeBob SquarePants episode.
   • It's funny to see SpongeBob throw away the snail food can which hits a lot of things.
3. Gary is likable:
   1. Gary is the only likable character in this episode since he saves SpongeBob and gets rid of Puffy Fluffy.
   2. Gary using the leash as a lasso to open the cabinet and grab some snail food before beginning to watch a cowboy show is a decent set-up for the climax. Likewise, Gary's attack on Puffy Fluffy to save SpongeBob was awesome.
4. The scene where SpongeBob says "Oh, these enchiladas are hot, hot, hot!" was considered the only good joke in this episode.
5. In the Polish dub, SpongeBob tells Puffy Fluffy to put Gary down rather than the other way around.
6. Despite his hypocrisy, Mr. Krabs is also tolerable since he understands SpongeBob's needs to tend to Gary.
   • Speaking of Mr. Krabs, this is one of the few episodes in the show's dark age where he has his old personality. However this doesn't mean he is likable in this episode.
7. The episode's dark tone could've worked if it wasn't for the episode's mean-spirited nature.
8. The battle scenes between Gary and Puffy Fluffy are kinda fun to watch.
9. SpongeBob is still likable in the beginning before he gets Puffy Fluffy.
10. Although Gary was tortured throughout the episode, he was not physically injured or harmed.
11. Pop culture reference: This episode parodies the 1984 film "Gremlins", which has a similar plot about a small creature turning into a monster.

Reception

"A Pal for Gary" was universally panned by fans, some of whom had considered it one of, if not, the worst in the series along with One Coarse Meal and other episodes; it, alongside "Keep Bikini Bottom Beautiful", is also currently the lowest-rated episode of the series on IMDB, as it has a 3.2/10 rating there. It is also the lowest-rated episode on SpongeBuddy Mania with an average score of 1.80/10 based on 227 ratings.

TheMysteriousMrEnter took this episode FAR more seriously and dramatically when he reviewed this episode for his 2nd Animated Atrocity, such as the dramatic music that plays when it showed the title card after asking what his next review is, needing associations from Thomasmemorycentral to review this episode, showing a scene where a guy throws a TV out the window which represents how he reacted after watching this episode, and having Thomasmemorycentral review the rest of the episode while he does a bunch of random synanikings off-screen after showing the infamous "SpongeBob tells Gary to put Puffy Fluffy down scene", such as shooting someone with a gun and running over someone with a car, despite that, however, he amendments that the episode is not nearly as bad as "One Coarse Meal". He later put the episode at the #6 spot on his Top 10 WORST SpongeBob SquarePants episode list.

Nathaniel Bandy also criticized this episode, calling it one of the worst episodes of the show.

PIEGUYRULZ considered this one a ScumBob episode, but he didn't think it's as bad as a lot of people think. He stated that the episode only has 2 obvious problems, one of them is that SpongeBob is beyond ignorant, and the other one is that it's not very funny. Moreover, he found the 1st half is just dull, and he also gave the episode a credit for having some actions and an awesome design of character. So he didn't think it's so bad that it deserves to be put into his bottom 5 of Season 7.

PhantomStrider placed "A Pal For Gary" at #8 on his "Worst Episodes of Good Cartoons" video, describing it as the the closest thing he's seen to animal torture in a cartoon, he also called the imagery "unnerving" and called the sounds Fluffy made "legitimately disturbing". He also panned the episode for SpongeBob being out of character, calling his treatment of Gary "sadistic", and referring to Fluffy as a "leviathan horror". He also speculated this episode was "The Big One", A.K.A the episode that made everyone think SpongeBob was going downhill. He'd later double down on his thoughts on the episode in his "Top 6 Worst SpongeBob Episodes" as an honorable mention, stating it didn't make the list due to him already discussing it.

Quotes

Here are some infamous quotes for not only the episode, or season 7, but also, the entire show!

"Gary! You put [Puffy] Fluffy down right now!"

― SpongeBob acting like Gary is Puffy Fluffy. What a jerk!

"Fluffy! Fluffy, wait! Well Gary, what do you have to say for yourself?"

― After Gary saves his owner, this is the thanks he gets?

"Gerald, it is not nice to ignore new friends."

― Tell that to the Puffy Fluffs.

Trivia

• In the Polish dub, when SpongeBob sees Gary being attacked by Puffy Fluffy, he tells Puffy Fluffy to put Gary down, as opposed to the reverse.
• This episode shares the same title card as the ULTRA-famous episode "Culture Shock" but a little darker and red.
• The episode calls Puffy Fluffy a nudibranch, a type of gastropod, however he looks like a fish and transforms into a grotesque fish monster.
• Nudibranchs don't have teeth, they have a radula; a minuscule, ribbon-like structure made out of chiton.
• The Red Can Chips that Gary had in the beginning is similar to Pringles.
• In 2015, there was a better episode that used elements from this episode. That episode happens to be Sanctuary! which is also on this wiki.
• The monster form is inspired from moray eels because its additional sharp, retractable jaws hidden in the mouth.
• Puffy Fluffy was so controversial that Robertryan Cory allegedly deleted the Monster design off of his Flickr page, however Puffy Fluffy appears in the online game "What's Your Bikini Bottom Pet", the Roblox experience "SpongeBob Simulator" in the Alaskan Bullworm Clam, and an orange version appears in the Season 14 episode, "Pet the Rock".

Gallery

One of the many times Puffy Fluffy scares Gary.

Gary be looking like he is fighting the final boss of a video game.

Worst [dolphin chirp] decision.

"Gary! You put Fluffy down right now!" Yeah, uh, SpongeBob, how can you put someone down when you're literally in their mouth? You Fool SpongeBob, shame on you!

DIE SCUMBOB! DIE YOU MORON FOR BLAMING GARY & NOT BLAMING PUFFY FLUFFY!

Gary to the rescue.

Puffy Fluffy is trying to eat SpongeBob, until Gary saves his owner.

SpongeBob survives this.

"Well, Gary, what do you have to say for yourself?" Are you seriously kidding me, SpongeBob?! Gary just saved your life and you're not even grateful to him?! You should be ashamed of yourself, SpongeBob! Shame on you!

What a horrible way to end an episode... thank god it at least ended.