Recap / Sponge Bob Square Pants S 9 E 4 Little Yellow Book Bumper To Bumper

Little Yellow Book

Original air date: 3/2/2013 (produced in 2012)

Squidward reads SpongeBob's diary out loud to the Krusty Krab.

"Little Yellow Book" contains examples of:

• Aesop Amnesia: Near the end, SpongeBob decides to forgive Squidward for reading his diary. After everything Squidward was put through^note being shunned by the whole town, getting kicked out of his home, and being locked in a stockade and pelted with fruit, you'd think he'd be happy to be forgiven and learn his lesson. Instead, he reads SpongeBob's other diary, causing him to run off in tears and the townspeople to pelt him with fruit again. Squidward still doesn't care, and he considers it all Worth It.
• At Least I Admit It: Squidward won't apologize for what he did, but he doesn't deny it either. Of course, this is dismissed by the residents (particularly Patrick).
• The Bad Guy Wins: Squidward wins by reading SpongeBob's real diary.
• Berate and Switch: This happens when Squidward tells a customer he's reading SpongeBob's diary:
  Customer: Reading somebody else's diary — that's terrible! Tell me more!
• Continuity Nod:
  • This isn't the first time Squidward made SpongeBob cry and got scolded by the townspeople for it, much like in "Fools in April". Only this time, Squidward lacks remorse for his actions and the townspeople (except Mr. Krabs) are complete hypocrites.
  • This isn't the first time Squidward lost his house and became homeless, which previously happened in "Can You Spare A Dime?"
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: When under a lot of stress in "Little Yellow Book", SpongeBob takes a break where he blows bubbles in a manner akin to smoking.
• Easily Forgiven: Despite that he was put to tears when Squidward read his diary with everyone, SpongeBob was very willing to forgive him for this.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • Mr. Krabs was disgusted of Squidward for reading SpongeBob's diary to the point of calling it downright low even for him. This moment becomes particularly poignant when you realize that Krabs was not among the Hypocrites who were laughing at SpongeBob's secrets.
  • Similarly, only Squidward reads SpongeBob's real diary at the end, so everyone else is able to shame him without being hypocrites this time.
• Felony Misdemeanor: Squidward is shamed by the townspeople, gets his house taken away, and is arrested just for reading SpongeBob's diary.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: When SpongeBob puts his secret personal diary away, he puts it in his back pocket sticking out unguarded, allowing Squidward to take it out and read it when he turns his back to him.
• Foreshadowing: The last times SpongeBob used a diary, he was at home; when he writes in a diary here, he's at the Krusty Krab. Taking a diary to work makes it appear to be a work diary, and not a personal diary which can only be kept at home.
• Here We Go Again!: In the end, Squidward reads SpongeBob's actual diary, causing him to run away embarrassed and to be ridiculed again.
• Hypocrite: Everyone laughs at SpongeBob's expense as Squidward reads his diary and his embarrassing secrets, and then become disgusted with Squidward when SpongeBob runs away crying, but hey, they all knew who they were laughing at in the first place. Made even worse when Squidward points out that Patrick also read the diary, only for Patrick to dismiss him as "blaming everyone else" when he actually isn't.
• I Call It "Vera": Secretly, SpongeBob calls his spatula "Fifi". Patrick calls his "Frank".
• Irony: For all the townspeople's hypocrisy and Disproportionate Retribution, they weren't actually laughing at SpongeBob's Diary. Not the real one, anyway.
• Jerkass: Everyone, save for SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs. Squidward especially.
• Jerkass Has a Point: As cruel as Squidward is here, he does rightfully point out to Patrick that he (along with the others) read the diary too. It helps that Squidward is at least taking responsibility despite being The Unapologetic.
  Patrick: Diary reader!
  Squidward: What?! You read it too!
  Patrick: Oh, sure. Blame it on everyone but yourself. That is so you!
• Karma Houdini:
  • Squidward in a sense. While he was shunned, had his house taken, arrested by the police, and was placed in a pillory for people to throw fruit at him, it wasn't until he got to read SpongeBob's real diary and enjoys it while fruit was being thrown at him.
  • The same sense could also apply to everyone else as well, since despite their treatment of Squidward, they don't read the real diary.
• Lack of Empathy: Squidward shows no remorse for sending SpongeBob to tears and even reads his other diary while in the stockade.
  Mr. Krabs: That's low, Squidward. Even for you. You better apologize.
  Squidward: He'll get over it.
• Never My Fault: The Bikini Bottomites call out Squidward for reading the diary, even though they read the diary too out of their own free will.
• Never Trust a Title: The diary is blue, not yellow.
• Nice Guy:
  • SpongeBob is as nice as ever in this episode, forgiving Squidward even after reading his diary full of embarrassing secrets to the people of the Krusty Krab.
  • Mr. Krabs is also pretty nice in this episode, as he is not amongst the hypocrites of Bikini Bottom who laughed at SpongeBob's diary, and while he does call Squidward out on what he did, he does not join in the townspeople when they go about inflicting Disproportionate Retribution on Squidward.
• Oblivious to Hatred: One of SpongeBob's diary entry basically states how Squidward is thoughtful enough to use a bunch of harsh, horrible words to give a really detailed critique. And even when Squidward steals his personal diary, SpongeBob is in disbelief that his "good friend" Squidward would do that to him.
• Ocular Gushers: SpongeBob lets these out after Squidward read his diary, with Squidward walking past him while holding an umbrella.
• Oh, Crap!: SpongeBob when he sees his (work) diary in Squidward's hand, causing him to learn the truth.
• Only Sane Man: Mr. Krabs stands out as the only character in the episode who was neither a Jerkass nor an idiot. He does not join the Bikini Bottomites in laughing at SpongeBob's secrets and does not treat Squidward cruelly for his actions (only telling him that what he did was uncalled for).
• Ordered Apology: Mr. Krabs insists that Squidward apologizes to SpongeBob, only for Squidward to tell him that he'll get over it.
• Planet of Steves: There's a fish already named Frank, and Patrick gives his spatula that name.
• Revenge: The reason behind the whole diary plot was for Squidward to get back at SpongeBob for all the bad things he did to him over the past nine seasons. However, SpongeBob did nothing to hurt him in this episode, which only ends up making him look bad.
• Secret Diary: The titular "yellow book". The one Squidward read was SpongeBob's work diary, which he got published some time later thanks to everyone being amused by it. Done again with the actual diary in the end.
• Self-Serving Memory: SpongeBob's obliviousness to Squidward's hatred of him is best shown in this episode, where we're shown a scene of Squidward chewing SpongeBob out; while in reality, Squidward was furious at SpongeBob for letting Gary into his home and Gary chewing up many of his possessions, complete with Squidward screaming "horrible words that should never be used around strangers" in his face, SpongeBob sees it as Squidward giving him "his profound opinions on how to properly raise and care for a household pet."
  Squidward: Great Neptune, I had no idea. The depth of his delusion is awe-inspiring.
• Series Continuity Error: One of SpongeBob's diary secrets is that he named his spatula Fifi, but in many other episodes it was named Spat. It could just be a different spatula however.
• Shamed by a Mob: The townspeople jeer at Squidward for reading SpongeBob's diary, despite laughing at it earlier.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Turns out, Squidward only read SpongeBob's work diary which became a best seller, and not his personal one. Subverted when Squidward manages to get ahold of SpongeBob's personal diary and reads that.
• Shout-Out: The title is a reference to the film, Little Red Book.
• Space Whale Aesop: If you read someone else's diary to others, you'll get evicted from your house, placed in stockades and pelted with tomatoes... by the people who read the diary along with you.
• Tempting Fate: After SpongeBob forgives Squidward, he reveals he only read his work diary which he got published; he never read his secret personal diary, which he claims would be even more embarrassing than ever. Cue Squidward reading the secret personal diary seconds later and SpongeBob running off in tears.
• The Unapologetic: Squidward until he gets stuck in a pillory in the middle of town while people throw tomatoes at him. He asks SpongeBob to forgive him, until he reads his real diary. Compare that to "Fools in April", and you'll immediately see how Squidward's Flanderization is in full effect.
• Unreliable Narrator: SpongeBob's narration from his diary states that Squidward was lecturing him on how to take care of a housepet properly, and both he and Mr. Krabs were doing "cleaning day" together. In reality, Squidward was calling him out for allowing Gary to chew most of his belongings, and Mr. Krabs had SpongeBob do most of the work while he sat on his lazy butt reading a magazine. Justified, in that this is coming from SpongeBob's perspective.
• With Friends Like These...: Patrick laughs at SpongeBob's embarrassing secrets from his diary.
• Worth It: Squidward says this while reading SpongeBob's real diary and being pelted with fruit by the other fish.

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Bumper to Bumper

Original air date: 11/17/2012

Mrs. Puff must think outside the box when SpongeBob fails his driving test again.

"Bumper to Bumper" contains examples of:

• Acid-Trip Dimension: Several of these appear as SpongeBob repeats the mantra.
• Brick Joke: Earlier in the episode, Mrs. Puff is shown with an ankle monitor because she is put on parole. At the end of the episode, it is shown again beeping and the police found out she violated her parole by crossing county lines, causing the officer to declare SpongeBob’s driving test null and void.
• Broken Record: "Focus on the road, there is nothing but the road." Repeated ad infinitum.
• Continuity Nod: This is not the first time SpongeBob's license gets torn up the moment he officially gets it.
• Gone Horribly Right: Mrs. Puff's advice for SpongeBob to repeat her helpful mantra suddenly gets stuck in his head and he is unable to follow the last step: safely dock the vessel.
• Madness Mantra: Mrs Puff advises SpongeBob to "Focus on the road. There's nothing but the road"; this eventually deteriorates into such and gets to his head and repeats it over and over.
• Mind-Control Eyes: SpongeBob's eyes turn into blue spirals as he gets stuck on repeating Mrs. Puff's mantra.
• Never My Fault: At the end of the episode, as she is being arrested, Mrs. Puff blames SpongeBob. This is despite the fact that she was the one who took him over the county line.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Mrs. Puff gives one to SpongeBob for failing yet another boating exam.
• Show Within a Show: Two people were watching "Going Bananas 3 in 3-D".
• Shout-Out: The Intertidal Seaway is a parody of an Interstate Highway.
• Sudden Downer Ending: Right when SpongeBob finally gets his license and everything seems normal, the police show up and arrest Mrs. Puff for crossing the county line. As a result, the test results are voided and SpongeBob's license is torn up.
• Survival Mantra: Mrs. Puff's advice to SpongeBob to "Focus on the road, there is nothing but the road" starts out as this, but it quickly changes into a Madness Mantra when he's stuck on saying it.
• Tearing Through the Movie Screen: Two teenage fish watch a movie called Goin' Bananas 3 in 3D, which starts with a fish driving towards the camera and saying "Here I am! I'm comin' at you like your worst nightmare!" SpongeBob and Mrs. Puff, who are taking a driving test, promptly crash through the TV and the wall of the house. The two fish laugh it off, assuming it's a 3D effect.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: SpongeBob finally passes but, to his and Mrs. Puff's dismay, a police officer declares the test null and void because she broke parole by crossing the county line during the test.

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