Top 20 Times SpongeBob SquarePants Went Too Far

“Ghost Host”
SpongeBob might have grown unphased by the Flying Dutchman’s attempts to scare him, but honestly, that stuff is nightmare fuel. After the Jolly Roger gets into an accident at sea, the Dutchman crashes at SpongeBob’s house. He quickly forgets that he is a guest at the pineapple and decides to amuse himself by scaring SpongeBob. He transfigures himself into increasingly disturbing images. He even transforms into a version of SpongeBob with the eyes spilling out and bugs crawling through the eye holes. Did the show writers and animators have a secret agenda to see how badly they could scare us? Cause that was rough to watch.

“Pineapple Fever”
This whole episode is pretty much universally hated among “SpongeBob” fans. And a big part of the reason for that is this moment. As Squidward is doing his morning routine to prepare for the day SpongeBob and Patrick are boarding up the pineapple to get ready for an oncoming storm. The noise distracts Squidward and, while plucking his eyebrows, he accidentally takes his whole eyebrow clean off, taking the skin underneath with it. The sights and sounds of this one are just so gross. It’s so unnecessary and gratuitous. It adds nothing to the story and isn’t even funny. Just gore for the sake of gore.

“SquidBob TentaclePants”
Sandy accidentally fuses SpongeBob and Squidward together with her new transporting device. At first, Squidward hates it, but when he is greeted with praise during a clarinet performance, he decides that being fused with SpongeBob is great. However, Sandy turns them back to normal. Worried that he is only good while attached to SpongeBob, he tries to fuse them together again but ends up breaking the machine and fuses several of the main characters to himself. So gross. Though the initial joining was an accident, this one is all on Squidward. So it’s hard to feel bad for him when he ends up in a shrink’s office claiming all his problems started when he was born. Squidward can have a tendency to be overdramatic.

“A Pal for Gary”
SpongeBob attempts to help Gary by getting him a pet, a Puffy Fluff, of his own. But he takes no steps to educate himself on the needs and behavior of the new pet. He doesn’t even listen to the woman selling him the pet and, in fact, steals it without even thinking about it. Gary tries to reach out for help, but SpongeBob just blames Gary for the problems. What a jerk. He brought the new pet home at first because he felt guilty for leaving Gary alone, only to leave Gary alone all over again. SpongeBob’s negligence nearly gets Gary killed.

“The Cent of Money”
Mr. Krabs has always been a very greedy man. In fact, it’s his main character trait. So it’s not really surprising that when he finds out that Gary has a knack for locating money, he takes advantage. SpongeBob even says himself that it is not good for Gary, but Mr. Krabs doesn’t care. He basically kidnaps Gary and uses him like a metal detector, or more accurately a money detector, against his will. He uses Gary to steal money all around Bikini Bottom. He even lies and manipulates SpongeBob to do it. Mr. Krabs’ greed never ceases to amaze, but this was way over the line.

“House Fancy”
Squidward tends to take a lot of abuse on this show both mentally and physically. This one is the latter. SpongeBob attempts to help Squidward spruce up his house in order to impress a reality TV show about upscale houses. Naturally, things hit the fan pretty quickly. While moving a couch SpongeBob accidentally drops it on Squidward’s foot and continues to slam it down in an attempt to get it off of his foot. But it just ends up ripping Squid’s toenail right out. Geez, imagine that pain. Actually, the graphicness of the scene leaves little to the imagination.

“Little Yellow Book”
Squidward does some pretty terrible things to SpongeBob over the course of this show, but this time he doesn’t deserve the hate he gets for it. Squidward discovers SpongeBob’s diary and reads it aloud to everyone in the Krusty Krab. When they see a completely dejected SpongeBob realize what is going on they all turn on Squidward. Which wouldn’t be so bad if not only a few moments before they weren’t laughing along with him. Such hypocrites. They villainize Squidward as if they weren’t in on the joke. The things they do to him as punishment are way over the line.

“The Card”
Patrick is SpongeBob’s best friend… right? Well, he certainly doesn’t act like it in this episode. Patrick discovers a rare Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy trading card that SpongeBob has been searching for. He promises to give SpongeBob the card if he can only keep it for one night. But Patrick abuses the card and puts himself into more and more dangerous situations, putting the card at risk. Towards the end of the episode, Patrick reveals that he did all this on purpose just to mess with SpongeBob. What kind of friend is that? He put SpongeBob through torture just because he could.

“Stuck in the Wringer”
Going through the wringer is a standard part of SpongeBob’s morning routine. But being stuck in it is a whole different story. SpongeBob slips on a rubber duck that somehow got ejected from Patrick’s house into his bathroom window, and lands in the wringer. Unable to free himself, he asks Patrick for help, but rather than listen to what his friend needs, Patrick Forever Glues him inside. With his arms pinned, SpongeBob is unable to work or do much of anything. It gets so bad that he can’t even eat some comfort ice cream. SpongeBob gets so fed up that he lashes out at Patrick for doing this to him. And the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom get mad at SpongeBob. What sense does that make?

“Gone”
This one is kind of self-explanatory, isn’t it? An entire day where everyone gets away from SpongeBob. Even his so-called best friend. Just imagine everyone thinking so little of you that they all get together to create a literal holiday dedicated to getting away from you. So harsh. Poor SpongeBob may be annoying and troublesome at times but no more so than any of the other main inhabitants of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob definitely doesn’t deserve that. We’re not sure if it’s better or worse that SpongeBob didn’t even know the day existed until all his friends returned. On the one hand, it would have devastated him to know. But on the other, he spent the whole day worried and alone not knowing what was happening.

“Are You Happy Now?”
It’s no secret how SpongeBob acts as a nuisance to Squidward –mostly by accident… but who’d ever think it’d come to this level? SpongeBob has been trying to give Squidward his happiest memory, but to no avail. Desperate, he kidnaps the depressed cephalopod and drags him to a party full of papier-mâché SpongeBob models… because THAT’S not creepy at all. Finally fed up with his neighbor’s antics, Squidward goes on a psychotic rampage and mercilessly massacres the papier-mâché duplicates –laughing maniacally and saying that THIS is his happiest memory. SpongeBob can be aggravating, but there’s something off-putting about Squidward finding joy in murdering lookalikes of him… not that SpongeBob seems to mind, apparently.

“The Splinter”
At work, SpongeBob gets a splinter jammed in his thumb, and it’s too deep to remove –and too graphic for us to endure. As it oozes and throbs painfully, SpongeBob becomes more desperate to get rid of it… desperate enough to call “Doctor” Patrick. Not even remotely concerned about his best friend’s dilemma, Patrick only makes things worse –causing the swelling to grow bigger and become even more infected. Mr. Krabs finally pulls out the splinter… and gets a face full of revolting pus (Mr. Krabs is sprayed with pus). While the artists deserve major props for going the extra mile with the distasteful/painful imagery, there has to be a limit before you make your whole audience squeamish.

“Face Freeze”
SpongeBob and Patrick have been making absurd and sickening faces at each other and everyone else –and their choice in expressions are terrifying. Despite Mr. Krabs’ warnings, the duo holds onto two grotesque faces, causing them to completely freeze. Sandy tries to help loosen them up… but their faces end up looking absolutely horrifying. While the imagery is definitely creative, who could look at these ugly mugs without getting nightmares? This could’ve been a good way to teach younger audiences about the consequences of being naughty… except at the very end, for absolutely no reason, Mr. Krabs and Squidward get the worst face freezes of all… and the episode just ends on a frightening cop-out.

“To Love a Patty”
Everybody loves Krabby Patties, but what happens when SpongeBob takes that love to a creepy new level? The delusional fry cook creates the perfect Patty, and develops a romantic attraction to it –to the point where he serenades the sandwich, and maliciously destroys innocent clams that try to eat his delicate delicacy. As time marches on, the Patty starts to go rotten –as the artists generously show us with their nauseating close-ups, and SpongeBob finally snaps out of his creepy trance and eats the sandwich… way after it’s expired. Maybe THIS is why SpongeBob shouldn’t be romantically involved with anyone or anything, especially if his standards are THIS low.

“Pet Sitter Pat”
SpongeBob’s visiting his Grandma for the day, and needs his most responsible friend to look after Gary… but he asks Patrick instead. Being the “best” pet sitter he is, Patrick completely neglects Gary, lets him starve, and tries to set him on fire with a flamethrower. On top of that, he bathes Gary with a fire hose and almost dries him with salt –which would’ve killed the poor snail. The fact that he does all this with a big dumb smile is further proof of Patrick’s devolution from a likable dimwit to a selfish, uncaring moron who shouldn’t be trusted with anything –like his best friend’s pet’s welfare.

“Feral Friends”
As Patrick is already a glutton, imagine how much grosser it would be if he ate like NORMAL starfish do. When he and his fellow ocean-dwellers are reduced to their feral forms by a strange moon, Sandy studies their natural lifestyle. We get the “pleasure” of learning a sea star’s regular eating pattern… by watching Patrick eject his stomach to grab a bite. While it’s nice to add some realism to a cartoon, some deep-sea habits are best left unseen –like watching our devolved pink friend force his organs out of his body. While it’s stomach-churning to watch – pun intended - it’s not the WORST side of Patrick that Sandy has to see

“Someone's in the Kitchen With Sandy”
In another harebrained scheme, Plankton steals Sandy’s discarded pelt to use as a disguise and swindle the Secret Formula. While he endures an annoying afternoon with SpongeBob, Sandy is hunting for the creep who stole her fur… and the Bikini Bottomites do nothing to help. Instead, they tease and chastise her hairless state every chance they get. Adding insult to injury, after she finally catches Plankton, Sandy gets arrested for public nudity –even though she’s not that indecent compared to the other townsfolk. So apparently identity theft is ok, but unwillingly being half-dressed is taboo. Either way, this whole episode served no purpose other than to humiliate Sandy and paint the townsfolk as incompetent jerks.

“Demolition Doofus”
After SpongeBob fails his driving test –yet again, Mrs. Puff finally pops, “permanently” unable to puff again –at least until the end when the status quo is reset. Her usual annoyance towards her student evolves into insane hatred, as she enters him into the demolition derby to finally silence him in the WORST possible way. Puff didn’t expect SpongeBob to survive the derby, so she goes out of her way to kill him herself. We get it, SpongeBob can be REALLY irritating, but that’s no excuse for turning a simple, exasperated teacher into a homicidal maniac. What makes this worse is that Puff’s “miracle reinflation” means that she tried to murder him for nothing.

“Are You Happy Now?”
After SpongeBob repeatedly fails to find him a happiest memory, Squidward falls into a clinical depression. While he mopes around his house hopelessly, we’re forced to endure some disturbing imagery – including him shoving his head in the oven and stringing up some rope. Thankfully both incidents were just psych-outs, but the depressing atmosphere made us all anxious and wonder if Squidward would really end it all. Someone taking their own life is a very sensitive subject to make light of… especially in a kids’ cartoon. While SpongeBob HAS made jokes about it before, they were mostly one-off gags with no real plans to follow through… but to make it feel this real for a joke is inexcusable.

“One Coarse Meal”
It turns out that Plankton has an intense fear of whales, so Mr. Krabs decides to dress up as Pearl to frighten the devious microorganism. From then on, we witness Plankton suffering from extreme paranoia and horrific nightmares until he can’t go on… and just wishes for death –all while Krabs revels in his misery. This is undoubtedly the cruelest thing Mr. Krabs has ever done - torturing his business rival –who used to be his best friend- to near-suicide goes way beyond their petty rivalry. The worst part – even after Plankton gets much-deserved payback, Krabs STILL swipes a victory… and the “good-natured” SpongeBob helped him. Remind us, WHO’S the good guy again?