Heartwarming Moments: The kid with the broken foot convinces Patrick to win the contest. And so he does, making it refreshing to see Patrick written like this after being a jerk in certain episodes. This is the moment when Patrick is officially Rescued from the Scrappy Heap (he still acts like a jerk in "The Fish Bowl", affecting this a bit, but he does make it up to SpongeBob in the end). In fact, this is one of the most well-received Patrick episodes in a while (although "Patrick-Man!" was also praised).
Glurge: Parodied. The episode is a play on common underdog movies from the 80s, even down to referencing the Littlest Cancer Patient trope through the kid with the broken foot. Even still, it turns all these tropes on their heads, from Patrick just wanting to eat Krabby Patties, to his opponent being a chill person who's also in it for the patties, to the kid's feet being broken multiple times.
