Written by Clare O’Kane (Mall Girl Pearl) / Kyle McCulloch (Two Thumbs Down)
Storyboard by John Trabbic (Mall Girl Pearl) Fred Osmond (Two Thumbs Down)
Animation Directors: Alan Smart and Tom Yasumi
Original air date: 3/12/2016 (produced in 2015)
"Mall Girl Pearl" contains examples of:
- A Day in the Limelight: While Pearl had several episodes focusing on her, this is her biggest role ever.
- Continuity Nod: Several one-off characters are seen walking around the mall, including the ice cream eel from "Walking Small", the didgeridoo player from "Something Smells", the comedian Dougie Williams from "Squirrel Jokes", the mime from "The Sponge Who Could Fly", and Carl from "Selling Out". Furthermore, a wall that says "Squidward Smells" and "Krabs is a" can be seen at one point, a nod to the dumpster from "Sailor Mouth".
- Family-Unfriendly Violence: The manager of Hot Dog on a String is seen cooked alive.
- Funny Background Event: Twice during the episode, we see SpongeBob chasing Squidward through the mall. This is never explained.
- Needlework Is for Old People: One thing Pearl and Beatrice do together is knit sweaters.
- Never Mess with Granny: Beatrice gags Pearl's mean friends after they keep bullying her for working in her store.
- No Longer with Us: Beatrice shows Pearl that her previous worker is "no longer with us," complete with a cut to a framed picture with flowers as funeral music plays. Said worker then enters, grabs the sunglasses she forgot, and leaves.
- Out of Focus: SpongeBob only makes three brief cameos and only has one line: "You dropped this."
- Special Guest: Betty White as Beatrice and Aubrey Plaza as Nocturna.
"Two Thumbs Down" contains examples of:
- Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere: While SpongeBob walks through Bikini Bottom, he sees many Bikini Bottomites using their thumbs for various activities.
- Has Two Thumbs and...: SpongeBob uses them a lot until he breaks them.
- Heroic BSoD: SpongeBob goes through one when he can't use his thumbs anymore.
- Kindness Ball: While Squidward is sarcastic in asking SpongeBob for a thumbs up, it actually makes him happy once he ends up getting one. Later on, he even offers to help SpongeBob when the latter's thumbs are broken.
- Medium Blending: When SpongeBob breaks his thumbs, it shows a series of live action footage.
- Pet the Dog: When SpongeBob is shown to have difficulty flipping patties with broken thumbs, Squidward offers to help him, pointing out that his own thumbs work.
- Rousing Speech: Sandy gives one to SpongeBob to snap him out of his Heroic BSoD.
- Ship Tease: Sandy is the one who manages to get through to SpongeBob and encourages him to find “something to live for”. Then when SpongeBob recovers and challenges Patrick to a thumb war for his job, Sandy cheers him on.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: After breaking his thumbs, SpongeBob's depression is not Played for Laughs. Patrick disappears from the episode starting from the montage, and doesn’t reappear until SpongeBob's thumbs are healed. Even when he does appear, his demeanour is somber and sympathetic, and ultimately antagonistic at the climax.
- The End: Appears at the very end of the episode.
- Title Drop: When SpongeBob's thumbs go down, one of his thumbs shouts, "We got two thumbs down! Repeat, two thumbs down!"
- Training Montage: One occurs while SpongeBob tries to rehabilitate his thumbs.
- You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: SpongeBob somberly calls Sandy “Sandra” when she checks up on him. It’s one of the rare times that’s she’s referred to by her formal name, and emphasises the Despair Event Horizon SpongeBob is in danger of passing.
