Band Geeks & Squilliam Returns Episode Order
SpongeBob SquarePants is easily my favorite show of all time. Anyone will tell you that those first three seasons are comedy gold with so many memorable iconic episodes, and two of my favorites are Band Geeks and Squilliam Returns, the former of which is the most popular and highly regarded SpongeBob episode of all time.
Band Geeks first aired on September 7th 2001 and is Season 2 Episode 15b. Squilliam Returns first aired on March 15th 2002. However I think the intended order of the episodes were switched are work better the other way round. Allow me to explain.
Both episodes feature Squilliam Fancyson, Squidward’s more successful stuck up arch-rival from high school band class and a really underrated character who they should bring back. Both episodes are also rather similar. Squilliam brags about his success to Squidward, leading to the latter to lie and try to one-up his rival, which leads to hilarious meme-worthy shenanigans, only in Band Geeks Squidward comes out on top in the end but in Squilliam Returns when everything seems to be going well it all falls apart at the last minute.
Now, as I said before Band Geeks aired before Squilliam Returns, but I think Squilliam Returns was written first or at least conceptualized first and takes place before Band Geeks for different reasons. The first being that Squilliam Returns feels more like a direct introduction to the character and he has more screntime and interactions with Squidward, we get a better idea about who he is. He’s Squidward’s arch rival from high school, he’s more successful than Squidward, he’s the only person Squidward really feels self-conscious around. Band Geeks, while also a good introduction for Squilliam doesn’t give him as much focus, almost as if we should already know who he is, the episode is also loaded with almost every main character in the show and the plot doesn’t feel sepcifically centered around Squilliam, as Band Geeks was more about Squidward trying to get a band together so he could lead a band at the Bubble Bowl and live his dream (he didn’t think Squillaim would be there) whereas in Squilliam Returns, Squidward was more focused solely on impressing Squilliam.
Secondly in Squilliam Returns, the two rivals talk like they haven’t seen each other since high-school, hence the title “Squilliam Returns” stills works for a Squilliam’s debut episode (like Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back). Squilliam also suspects Squidward is a cashier, which he finds out is true at the end of the episode, whereas in Band Geeks he already knows this. “I hear you’re playing the cash register now”.
Lastly the biggest element of why the episodes work better in reverse order is because it’s more narratively satisfying. In Squilliam Returns Squidward goes overboard lying to Squillaim about having a fancy restaurant, he comes close to maintaining the lie, but it all falls apart at the end and Squidward is forced to admit he lied, essentially humiliating himself.
Whereas in Band Geeks, Squilliam claims to be leading a band and playing at the Bubble Bowl, something Squidward’s dreamed of doing and coxes Squidward into lying about having a band. Squidward tried to form a band with most of the main characters, but everything seems to go hilariously wrong, but in the end SpongeBob manages to help everyone get their act together and in the definitive BEST moment in the show’s history, to quote a YouTube comment:
Squidward's band PLAYS THE SONG AT THE BUBBLE BOWL AND EVERYONE LOVES IT, FINALLY GIVING SQUIDWARD THE WIN HE DESERVED, AND FINALLY GETTING ONE UP OVER SQUILLIAM AFTER YEARS OF TORMENT ABOUT HOW MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL HE IS! YAH! LOVE THIS EPISODE!
It’s more narratively satisfying to see Squidward try to impress an old rival of his (whom were introduced to for the first time) and everyone goes wrong because that’s what usually happens to Squidward, then in the next episode said rival makes a return Squidward once again tries to hold his own and one-up his rival, things go wrong as expected, but then all expectations are subverted, all the characters come together in an awesome song, that’s so awesome said rival faints and Squidward actually wins. Band Geeks should’ve really been the series finale, at least for the classic series, it would’ve been the highest note ever! (At least aside from the movie).
I don’t think Squilliam Returns works as a sequel to Band Geeks, because while it’s still a great episode, it isn’t as epic or grandiose as the latter and if it is a sequel, then it craps alls over the previous ending (like Alien 3 did to Aliens). That being said I know it isn’t a sequel, SpongeBob isn’t a continuity driven show, Squilliam did make more appearances in the later seasons and the endings had varying outcomes (although said later seasons weren’t good).
I personally view Squilliam Returns as a prequel to Band Geeks that was released after (I’m guessing because Band Geeks was a more exciting episode). Kinda like watching the Star Wars Prequels after the Original Trilogy. Some other SpongeBob episodes also feel like they’re out of order, Life of Crime implies Mr. Krabs has a crush on Mrs. Puff (due to him hoarding her hair curlers) but in a later episode, Mr. Krabs meets Mrs. Puff for the first time and clearly develops a crush on her on said episode.
Anyway, maybe I’m looking too deep into a funny cartoon, these are just my two cents.
