Gone

Template:Episode/104b

Characters

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Patrick Star
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Sandy Cheeks
• Squidward Tentacles
• Tom
• Harold "Bill" Reginald
• Fred
• Nancy Suzy Fish
• Frank
• Dale
• Nazz-Mimi
• Boaty ^(debut)

Synopsis

SpongeBob wakes up one morning and finds out that Gary is missing, and discovers that he is the only one left in Bikini Bottom. At first, SpongeBob finds this hard to take. In a panic, he runs around town in a desperate attempt to find someone, only to find no soul.

When the others don't return, SpongeBob then decides to live out everyone's lives for them. He makes a bubble version of himself in his front yard, then runs to the top floor of Squidward's house, pretending to be Squidward yelling at SpongeBob for making too much noise. SpongeBob then runs to the Krusty Krab, imitating Squidward and Mr. Krabs. He imitates Sandy at the Treedome and Patrick at the Rock respectively before running to the boating school and pretending to be Mrs. Puff.

In the classroom, he realizes that living out everyone's lives won't work, and he breaks down crying on Mrs. Puff's desk. SpongeBob's mood quickly changes when he discovers a stack of blank driver's licenses. He takes a picture of himself, and prints out his own license. He then takes off with the student driver boat, naming it "Boaty," and joyriding throughout the city.

SpongeBob and Boaty become inseparable. SpongeBob sleeps with the boat, and parks it inside both his house and the Krusty Krab. But Boaty realizes that SpongeBob is slowly going insane. In his closet, SpongeBob has erected a statue of Patrick out of raw Krabby Patty meat, which he carries out a conversation with.

Soon, everyone else returns to Bikini Bottom, after being away for weeks. Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob that everyone's mysterious disappearance was really a holiday to celebrate being away from SpongeBob for a day (according to SpongeBob, they were gone for weeks). Before venturing off, a giant effigy of SpongeBob is erected, then burned. Everyone then dances on the ashes before boarding a bus for No Patrick Day. SpongeBob at first is insulted by this, but after Mr. Krabs claims that SpongeBob is an inspiration for the holiday and the town, he becomes honored. 

Production

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 • Cream Pie - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [title card]
 ‣ Alekoki - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob wakes up]
 • Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Gary, come, get it!"]
 ‣ Cartoon Sting 2 - Gerhard Narholz, Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [SpongeBob looking for Gary]
 ‣ Tricks and Traps - James McConnel [SpongeBob going to work]
 ‣ Apprehensive 2 - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin ["He hasn't touched his food!"]
 ‣ Chinese Mystery - Nino Nardini [everyone in town is gone]
 • Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob imitating echo]
 ‣ Explorers 1 - Harry Bluestone ["But I swear that I will keep the memory of Bikini Bottom alive..."]
 ‣ Tiki Rapido - Lionel Wendling [SpongeBob blows a SpongeBob-shaped bubble]
 ‣ The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [at the Krusty Krab]
 • Gator - Steve Belfer [SpongeBob imitating Patrick]
 • Earl's Revenge - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob at Sandy's]
 ‣ Horlepiep - Jan Rap [boating school]
 ‣ Hawaiian Cocktail - Richard Myhill [SpongeBob crying]
 • Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob sees a blank driver's license]
 • Twelfth Street Rag - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob driving a boat badly]
 ‣ Hawaiian Link (b) - Richard Myhill ["Good night, Boaty."]
 ‣ Unease - Dick Stephen Walter [SpongeBob mumbling in his sleep]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact 2 - Ivor Slaney [SpongeBob screams]
 ‣ ? [montage of SpongeBob and Boaty together]
 ‣ The Rake Hornpipe - Robert Alexander White [making Krabby Patties]
 ‣ Steel Sting (a) - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob comes home]
 • Drama Sting - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["What? A puppet of my old best friend?"]
 ‣ Alone in the Old House - Gregor F. Narholz ["Sorry I'm late, Patrick."]
 ‣ The Creature B - Gregor F. Narholz [three days later]
 ‣ Crime & Danger Sign No. 3 - Hans Conzelmann, Delle Haensch [SpongeBob runs away]
 ‣ Dancing in Dreamland (a) - Ron Goodwin [SpongeBob at a movie theater]
 ‣ Crime & Danger Sign No. 3 - Hans Conzelmann, Delle Haensch [SpongeBob grabs an axe]
 • Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr ["National No SpongeBob Day?"]
 ‣ Steel Licks (d) - Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick gets off the bus]
 ‣ Legion of Honor - Harry Bluestone [Krabs describing No SpongeBob Day]
 ‣ ? [dancing on the ashes]
 • Kalua Jubilee - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [ending]

Reception

• Some fans have criticized the ending, in which the entire population of Bikini Bottom not only abandons SpongeBob for weeks, but express hatred for him by burning an effigy of him. Patrick, in particular, seems out of character, as he has rarely, if ever, been annoyed by SpongeBob in previous episodes.

Release

• This episode is available on the Spongicus, Season 6 Volume 1, and Complete Sixth Season DVDs.

Trivia

Template:Trivia

• On SpongeBob's driver's license, it says that his hair color is yellow and that he only weighs one ounce.
• Oddly, SpongeBob's scallop does appear at the beginning of the episode, but is completely ignored as a living creature. The pet probably couldn't go with the rest of the Bikini Bottomites because it is trapped in a birdcage.
• SpongeBob was able to walk right into the Krusty Krab in the morning, without Mr. Krabs unlocking the door. However, in "The Lost Mattress," Mr. Krabs had to unlock the door so they could go inside. Perhaps he left it unlocked for SpongeBob to get in.
• Bikini Bottom must have no visitors ever, because during the weeks everyone left SpongeBob alone, no one else was seen.
• This is the second time SpongeBob looks like Mr. Krabs. The first time was in "Shell of a Man."
• At the end of the episode, Patrick is seen holding three balloons that depict his three main colors: pink for his skin, green for his shorts, and purple for the flowers on his shorts.
• SpongeBob's boat might have been named after SpongeBob's other boatmobile that Mrs. Puff stole in "No Free Rides."
• When SpongeBob looks for Squidward in his house, Squidward's 483 self-portraits from this episode's partner episode "Not Normal," can be seen.
• The way how SpongeBob kept repeating "go" to make it sound like an echo is just like how Patrick repeating "road" to make it sound like an echo in the movie.
• SpongeBob actually seemed to be okay at driving for some time.
• The photo on SpongeBob's driver's license looks similar to his KTC fan club membership card from "Kenny the Cat."
• This is the only episode to feature Mrs. Puff's Boating School without Mrs. Puff. 
• In French, the title is "Une journée sans Bob L'éponge," which means "A Day without SpongeBob."

Cultural references

• The entire plot of the episode is a parody of many end of the world movies like The Omega Man, The Quiet Earth, and I Am Legend.
  • It might also be a possible parody of the Twilight Zone episode "Where is Everybody?," where a man finds himself the only man in town, and is nearly driven to the point of insanity.
• Mr. Krabs recalling about burning down an effigy of SpongeBob is a reference to The Burning Man.
• The red bus has a pipe on top resembling the quail crown.
• SpongeBob and his boat that moves on its own could be a parody of the novel and its adaptation, Christine, about a car possessed by supernatural forces.

Errors

• When SpongeBob was trying to "keep Sandy's memory alive," he wasn't wearing his water helmet in Sandy's Treedome, and was able to breathe. He also didn't take her shape as of everyone else.
• When everybody gets back on the bus, Sandy and most of the other Bikini Bottomites are not seen.
• The second time red and white stars appear, no crash is heard.
• On the shot where SpongeBob is Squidward and the empty Kelpo cereal box is SpongeBob, three out of four limbs are toilet plungers.
• When SpongeBob goes to his boating school, he is wearing a dress similar to Mrs. Puff's dress. When he starts to get upset and sees the blank driver's licenses, he wears his normal clothes again.
• When SpongeBob puts Boaty on the patties to make Krabby Patties and floors it, only the wheel on the Krabby Patties moves, but the wheel on the other side doesn't move at all.
• At the end, SpongeBob becomes terrified of all vehicles, as Boaty was continually watching him, and he attacks the front of a bus with an axe. When everyone leaves for No Patrick Day, however, the axe is gone.
• When SpongeBob got his boat, the boat's seat is red. But when SpongeBob crashes into his house, wanting to sleep, the boat's seat turns purple.
• When SpongeBob was driving Boaty around, he crashed into many things without giving Boaty a dent.
• When the Bikini Bottomites come out of the bus, some appear out of nowhere.
• SpongeBob's mouth did not move when he called for Patrick.
• In shot of the outside of SpongeBob's house and some wind blowing lots of leaves, lots of things such as Squidward and Patrick's houses are missing.
• The lights in Squidward's house appeared to be on when SpongeBob went in to ask if he's seen Gary, but from outside, they're not on.
• When SpongeBob went to sleep, Boaty was half way in his pineapple, but later, it was in the bed with SpongeBob. However, it's possible that SpongeBob woke up once and placed it there.
• When SpongeBob is talking to the Krabby Patty Patrick, Krabby Patty Patrick gets significantly smaller when the scene shows Boaty in the background.
• It is unknown how the whole town could fit into one bus.