Written by Kyle McCulloch (Sanctuary!) / Kyle McCulloch and Jack Pendarvis (What's Eating Patrick?)
Storyboard by Fred Osmond (Sanctuary!) / Joe Wierenga (What's Eating Patrick?)
Animation Directors: Alan Smart and Tom Yasumi
Original air date: 10/16/2015
SpongeBob takes care of stray snails.
"Sanctuary!" contains examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Bob Barnacle's last line is "Don't forget to get your pet spayed or neutered," referring to Bob Barker's famous line.
- An Aesop: Looking after animals is great, but a single person can only care for so many, and therefore, too much of it can be just as bad as not enough.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: Mr. Krabs mistakes SpongeBob for a beautiful woman upon seeing him in his Crazy Cat Lady outfit.
- Big Damn Heroes: Bob Barnacle arrives to help SpongeBob, which snaps him out of his addiction and allows him to give them all away.
- Crazy Cat Lady: SpongeBob is portrayed as one, wearing a shower curtain and bath mat as a dress and wig. He takes in so many snails that his house becomes a mess.
- Gender Reveal: The thought-to-be male snail Senior Poopus turns out to be a female named Esmeralda.
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Bob Barnacle gives one to SpongeBob to get him to understand what's going on about the snails and to bring him back to his senses.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Patrick's snail costume consists of a cardboard shell and him putting his eyes through straws. SpongeBob takes him in anyways.
- Plot Allergy: The reason why Squidward gets all swollen in this episode is because he cannot stand being around so many snails.
- Running Gag: SpongeBob being mistaken for a woman due to the outfit he wears.
- Sanity Slippage: SpongeBob slowly develops into madness with the more and more snails he has to take care of.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Squidward quits his job after being forced to fill in for SpongeBob and developing snail allergies
- Shout-Out:
- When SpongeBob is listing off some of the snails, one of them is "The Snail Who Shall Not Be Named", which is a reference to Harry Potter.
- When fleeing the police, SpongeBob hides Señor Poopus under his dress and gets sand in his face and mouth, making him resemble Quasimodo. He even cries for sanctuary. Also, Senor Poopus' true name turns out to be Esmeralda.
- Special Guest: Bob Barker as Bob Barnacle. He's the first guest star of the new era.
- Title Drop: SpongeBob screams "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" while herding all the snails into his house.
- Toilet Humor: SpongeBob names his first lost snail Senior Poopus for no other reason than this trope.
- Tuckerization: Some of the snails are named after the people who works on the show like Stephen Hillenburg, Vincent Waller, Paul Tibbitt, etc.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Mr. Krabs has this reaction when he realizes that the "lady" in SpongeBob's house is actually SpongeBob.
Patrick participates in an Eating Contest.
"What’s Eating Patrick?" contains examples of:
- Blackmail: When Patrick tries to back out of the contest at the last minute, Mr. Krabs threatens to charge Patrick for all the Krabby Patties he ate during training.
- Eating Contest: The episode is about Patrick participating in an eating contest against last-time winner Oswald McNulty.
- Elmer Fudd Syndrome: The kid with the hurt foot speaks with a lisp, replacing "R"s with "W"s.Kid: Are you the bwave man that's gonna bwing the bwelt bwack to Bwikini Bwottom?
- Heh Heh, You Said "X":Mr. Krabs: Well, let's see how your tummy handles these patties, Mr. Likes-To-Eat.Patrick: Ha, ha, ha, you said "tummy".SpongeBob: Tummies! Ha, ha, ha!
- Face / Heel: McNulty is the Heel to the citizens of Bikini Bottom, due to him taking the belt for eating contest champion. Likewise, Patrick is the Face due to him entering the contest to win for Bikini Bottom.
- Heroic Second Wind: Patrick manages to eat one more Krabby Patty to win the contest after SpongeBob reminds him of how the Krabby Patty tastes.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After making SpongeBob fall down while putting up a banner, Squidward gets crushed by a table as a result of a chain reaction from the former's fall with the barrel and the ladder.
- Literal Metaphor: When Mr. Krabs says he had to grease a few wheels to profit from the eating contest, it cuts to a flashback showing Mr. Krabs greasing the wheels of the commissioner's boatmobile with oil, which the commissioner thanks Mr. Krabs for.
- Literal-Minded:Mr. Krabs: You're going up against the best, so you have to be the best! We're gonna light a fire under you boy-o!Patrick: (panics) Oh no, that's gonna hurt!
- Littlest Cancer Patient: The kid with the hurt foot is played like this, as he believes in Patrick and is the main motivator behind him winning the contest.
- Shockingly Expensive Bill: Patrick is unsure if he can compete in a Krabby Patty eating competition since it requires him to eat the patties whole if he wants to win, meaning he can't taste them. Mr. Krabs threatens to charge him for all of the patties he ate while training, and the bill has an impossible amount of zeroes.
- Shout-Out: A few to Rocky.
- The episode's title is a reference to What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
- The Great Starbino is a reference to Babe Ruth's nickname, The Great Bambino.
- Patrick inhaling Krabby Patties is likely one to Kirby, which is also about a round pink character who inhales objects.
- Mr. Krabs describes Oswald McNulty as having cold dead eyes, like a shark's eyes.
- Town Contest Episode: Patrick competes in Bikini Bottom's annual eating contest against the last winner, Oswald McNulty. He prepares for it by binging on Krabby Patties while running on a treadmill.
- Training Montage: Patrick runs on a treadmill throughout town, eating Krabby Patties as the townsfolk cheer him on.
- Vacuum Mouth: Patrick is shown literally inhaling the patties during the eating contest.
