The Cent of Money is a ULTRA-infamous episode[1] of SpongeBob SquarePants. In this episode, Mr. Krabs snailnaps Gary and forces him to look for loose change.
Why This Episode Makes No Cents (Get It?)[]
The Cent of Money feels similar to Jellyfish Hunter from season 2, except that instead of an endangered species getting all of the abuse, it's SpongeBob's own pet getting all the schlock. This plot is also used for the entire episode. It is one of the handful moments in the series where Mr. Krabs is at his worst and his greed has gone too far, as he uses Gary to steal other people's money from across Bikini Bottom thanks to gary swallowing a fridge magnet, which attracts most metal, similar to “Jellyfish hunter” where he used SpongeBob to catch jellyfish for him to harvest for profit. Not helping is that he is just harmful towards Gary and his greedy actions have SpongeBob laughably fooled into assuming everything to be fine. It is also just another Gary torture episode, as he is visibly suffering almost whenever Mr. Krabs uses him to steal money. For some reason, SpongeBob can believe Mr. Krabs' lies until the tough guy warned SpongeBob of their actions. SpongeBob could've seen Gary's emotions to figure out that the latter isn't happy. The security worker at the arcade is also a moron, as he believes Mr. Krabs to be a pregnant woman. although this "female" has a male-like voice, not to mention Mr. Krabs uses the word "preggers", which people found disturbing. Also, when they are at the arcade, Mr. Krabs literally gets angry at SpongeBob for telling the truth. This just shows how far his character has fallen.
Redeeming Qualities[]
- Unlike an episode I don't even know anymore, SpongeBob becomes aware that Gary is being harmed so he lashes out at Mr. Krabs for his actions, even if he does nothing about it until the end. Reasonable enough as he's being stalled from discovering the truth.
- Unlike same with the one above, Mr. Krabs receives his rightful comeuppance in this episode, which is when one of the doctors uses the coins he stole to pay his medical bills. That was a funny and great ending and a karma episode for Mr. Krabs like in Patty Caper, though it would be perfect if the doctors returned the stolen money to the Bikini Bottomites.
- There are laughably funny jokes such as SpongeBob fixing the Krusty Krab. And the western look on the Krusty Krab looks cool.
- The title card music is still good.
- SpongeBob, Gary, and other minor characters were likeable.
- At least Mr. Krabs fed Gary, as for all we know, he could've been hungry.
- That guy from the ULTRA-Famous episode No Weenies Allowed returned. Too bad he couldn't wash all those speedos of his, but he'll get another chance soon.
- The first 30 seconds of the episode before Mr. Krabs shows up aren't that bad.
- Taken out of context, Gary's stomach acting up when Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob argue is pretty chuckle-worthy.
Trivia[]
This episode premiered during the infamous premiere week SpongeBob and the Clash of Triton.