Thoughts on Spongebob “Doodle Dimension”
The sequel episode to Frankendoodle was honestly disappointing for me. I feel like it had a lot of wasted potential. The concept was interesting, but the writing and set up was very weak.
First off, the idea of Spongebob and Patrick being sent to Doodlebob’s dimension was interesting, but I hated how they got there. We’re used to seeing Spongebob and Patrick getting into trouble, by messing with Sandy’s stuff, but never at such an obnoxious degree. When Sandy warns Spongebob and Patrick to not touch anything, Spongebob and Patrick just laugh like idiots and keep pressing buttons, while repeating “we shouldn’t touch this.” In most episodes, they get into a mess, because Spongebob tries being responsible, but gives into Patrick’s temptations, so to see Spongebob acting reckless for the sake of lazily getting the plot started, felt very off. It wasn’t funny, it was annoying.
Second problem with this episode was how empty and rushed it felt, Spongebob and Patrick were in a world where anything could be drawn to life, yet nothing really happened. Frankendoodle had more creativity than this episode, and it took place mostly around Spongebob’s house. I didn’t really believe it when Spongebob and Patrick got homesick so quickly. One minute they’re having fun drawing things to life, but they barely draw anything, and start wanting to go home.
Third problem is how it really wasn’t a sequel to Frankendoodle. The episode was a lazy episode made to lure in the fans who have expressed their love of Doodlebob online. The makers of this episode just lazily rehashed ideas from Frankendoodle, without a lot of new stuff to spice it up. Nickelodeon was sucking up to Spongebob memes, without understanding why fans loved it in the first place.
I also hated the lack of continuity. Some recent episodes of Spongebob managed to surprise fans by adding continuity. Bubble Buddy Returns actually acknowledged the original Bubble Buddy episode, yet Doodle Dimension did not. It would have been neat to see Spongebob and Patrick relive haunting memories when Patrick drew another Doodlebob, yet they acted like they never met anything like him.
However, the episode wasn’t all bad. I did enjoy seeing doodle versions of the other characters, and it was funny to see Spongebob draw a doodle Sandy who would invent a doodle portal to send them back home. The giant Doodlebob and army of Doodlebobs were an interesting idea, but I feel there wasn’t enough done with them to make the episode decent.
Overall, this was an underwhelming episode with a lot of wasted potential, and it pales in comparison to the episode it’s borrowing too much from.