Franchise Original Sin: This was the first episode to have SpongeBob persistently bug Squidward into hanging out with him. However, unlike later instances of this, SpongeBob and Squidward were both victims to Poor Communication Kills. SpongeBob mistakenly believed Squidward wanted to go jellyfishing with him, and instead of correcting his mistake, Squidward keeps telling him that he's "not ready to go." In later episodes, Squidward would bluntly tell him to go away, but SpongeBob wouldn't listen.
Growing the Beard: Some people consider this episode the moment SpongeBob found its legs, while others say it was in season 2.
"Allllooooooooneeeeeeeee......"ExplanationThe mantra during the episode's climax, when Squidward became stuck in a White Void Room; the scene became a popular subject for both quotation and parody in reference to a desire for solitude.
"Fuuuutuuuuure!"ExplanationSquidward's Madness Mantra upon discovering that he really did wind up in the distant future, which became a common subject of remixes by fans for the goofy image of Squidward reciting "future" while doing sit-ups.
Caveman SpongeBobExplanationA shot of SpongeBob's prehistoric ancestor making a silly pose, which caught on in The New '10s as a subject for photoshops surrounding situations where one feels surprised or out of place (thanks to the prehistoric Sponge's face and body language expressing a mix of caution and shock).
Nightmare Fuel: Squidward being trapped in an endless void of nothingness. His contentment at some peace and quiet proves very short-lived, and he handles the situation about as well as anybody else would.
By the Powers of Naughtiness, I command this particular set of tropes to be really, really subjective!
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Sandy is about to torture SpongeBob by dripping hot sauce on his tongue, when the action suddenly freezes and the camera zooms in on the condiment, whose drop is represented by Tom Kenny's face as he proclaims "By the Powers of Naughtiness, I command this particular drop of hot sauce to be really, really hot!" This is never brought up again, and the scene proceeds as normal.
Crosses the Line Twice: SpongeBob crying over losing his job for something that wasn't even his fault? Heartbreaking. SpongeBob running away screaming, flopping around, crying into a mug, drinking his own tears, and then crying them back into the mug to drink them again? Hilarious.
Franchise Original Sin: The scene where Mr. Krabs still blames SpongeBob for participating in karate (despite Sandy explaining that he wasn't at fault) was an early instance of his Bad Boss traits, which would become increasingly more apparent later on. In this episode however, Krabs is somewhat justified in at least banning SpongeBob from doing karate considering SpongeBob's karate obsession led him to attack Squidward, a customer, and even Krabs himself, while later episodes don't give him any such justification beyond greed or just being a jerk.
Funny Moments: Squidward's ending one-liner: "I hate all of you."
Squick: SpongeBob crying his tears into a mug and downing it, twice. Even Rodger Bumpass on the DVD Commentary thought it was disgusting.
Tear Jerker: SpongeBob's devastated crying spiel after briefly getting fired unfairly. Though it might be moreso funny with his silly expressions and actions as Sandy tries to convince Mr. Krabs to change his mind.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Sandy working with SpongeBob at the Krusty Krab would've been awesome! Unfortunately, due to Negative Continuity, not only is this development not carried over into future episodes, but Sandy is completely absent from all but a select few Krusty Krab-related episodes afterwards. It would take until "Hot Crossed Nuts" for this dynamic to be explored.
Watch It for the Meme: Some people only watched this episode for the volcano sauce drop.
