Have You Seen This Snail?

SpongeBob is walking home with a very heavy bag of Snail food for Gary, and Patrick tells him that he has something important to tell him, but SpongeBob ignores him and passes Patrick's House before he can say it.

At his front door, SpongeBob finds a package for him. He leaves the snail food on the porch and opens the package to find a Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy paddleball set. SpongeBob begins to play with it, and finds the "Dirty Bubble Challenge" inside the box, which presents him with the absurdly impossible task of hitting the paddleball 29,998,559,671,349 times in a row. He accepts the challenge, and repeatedly attempts it, never being able to successfully hit the ball even once. Meanwhile, Gary goes to his food bowl to eat, but finds it empty. He confronts SpongeBob for his food, but SpongeBob is too preoccupied with the paddleball and tosses Gary aside. Feeling disowned, Gary abandons SpongeBob, who does not even notice as he leaves. Gary wanders across the sea aimlessly, eventually departing on a bus to parts unknown.

Sometime later, Patrick goes to SpongeBob's House to tell him what he was going to say, remarking that he hasn't seen him in a couple of days. He finds that the house has deteriorated into an unkempt mess, and finds a psychologically broken SpongeBob lying in fetal position in his private quarters. SpongeBob tells him that he became this way from taking the Dirty Bubble Challenge, and Patrick cries at the mention of the challenge, saying that he took it years ago and won, but lost the trophy they sent him. SpongeBob, who has now gotten over the challenge, invites Patrick into the kitchen for cookies and milk. He gives Patrick a "fresh" glass of milk, and trips over Gary's food bowl. He remembers that he must feed Gary, and retrieves the bag of food from his porch, remarking that it has gathered a lot of dust for "a couple hours". When he calls Gary for dinner, and when he does not come, SpongeBob asks Patrick how long he was taking the DIrty Bubble Challenge. Patrick, judging by the condition of the milk, which has spoiled to the point of being completely solid, tells SpongeBob that he was gone for about 7–10 days. SpongeBob begins desperately looking for Gary, until he checks in the mailbox, where he finds a note from Gary telling him that he has run away in search of a new owner that will remember to feed him. SpongeBob is devastated by this.

Meanwhile, Gary comes to a seedy and uninviting neighborhood, and after a close encounter with a gang of alley snails (Who just wanted to give him Nachos), Gary is found by an old lady who recognizes him as "Ms. Tuftsy". She takes Gary into her house, where she pampers and overfeeds him. Meanwhile, SpongeBob desperately searches all over Bikini Bottom for Gary, but to no avail. The next morning at work, SpongeBob is extremely depressed and unproductive, and Mr. Krabs tells him that "any problem you have can be solved with a little hard work." SpongeBob interprets this as meaning that he must work harder to find Gary, and with newfound confidence, leaves the Krusty Krab to continue his search. He puts up fliers around town that directly apologize to Gary and ask him to come home. They put one on the door of a crafts store, and when Patrick sees that the store is having a sale on scented pine cones, he rushes in to get some. Inside, he sees Gary with Grandma, and asks her where the scented pine cones are. She tells Patrick that she bought all of them, and Patrick leaves, oblivious to the fact that he has found Gary and not mentioning it to SpongeBob.

This is followed by a song set to a montage of a heartbroken SpongeBob unsuccessfully searching for Gary and publishing media asking him to come home (including a billboard, a television public service announcement, and skywriting. After returning from a day out with his new owner, Gary indicates that has to go to the bathroom, and Grandma gives him a stack of fliers given to her by "a chubby little boy". Gary sees that the stack of flyers is from SpongeBob, and realizes that he does indeed care about him. While Grandma is in the kitchen getting the meatloaf she had been cooking for him, Gary tries to find an exit, and stumbles across a closet full of dead snail shells. Gary realizes that Grandma has been fattening him up to eat him, and runs away as Grandma throws cookies and deviled eggs at him. He hides in a back alley, where he encounters one of the alley snails he met earlier. He pushes him into the open, where Grandma believes him to be her snail and takes him in place of Gary. Meanwhile, SpongeBob has given up on looking for Gary, and wishes to see him one last time, when Gary suddenly comes to him. SpongeBob promises to never neglect him again, and takes him inside to feed Gary, saying that he must be "starving", unaware of what Gary has been through, which Gary responds with a denial meow.

TranscriptEdit

Main article: Have You Seen This Snail? (transcript)

QuotesEdit

SpongeBob: Take the dirty bubble challenge; hit the paddle ball 29,998,559,671,349 times in a row.

SpongeBob: Patrick....I took the Dirty Bubble challenge.

Patrick: You what?! (Starts crying)

SpongeBob: Why are you crying Patrick?

Patrick: Because....many years ago, I took that challenge!

SpongeBob: You did?

Patrick: Uh huh.

SpongeBob: What happened?

Patrick: I won. But then I lost the trophy they sent me.

Patrick: (SpongeBob is sky-writing "Gary, come home!") I want peanuts. (Presses a button)

SpongeBob: PAT NO! (Both scream as the plane flies out of control, erasing the message and creating one that says "Lisa, will you marry me?" as a fish couple sees the message)

Girlfriend/Wife: Who is this "Lisa" person?

Boyfriend/Husband: What? (Girlfriend/Wife slaps him)

Squidward: (taking a bath) What are those neanderthals up to? Don't they know that I'm busy spoiling myself? (SpongeBob and patrick come in)

Aaahhhhh!!

(pants)

Patrick: (Patrick is comforting SpongeBob) Just let it all out buddy, that's it.

SpongeBob: I can't cry any more, Patrick. When Gary left, he took all my tears with him.

Patrick: Did you just say Gary? SpongeBob, I just remembered! Earlier today at the craft store, I saw . . . these huge chunks of balsa wood, they were awesome!

SpongeBob: Gary loved balsa wood! (starts crying)

SpongeBob: (Reading Letter from Gary) "Dear SpongeBob, These last few years have been some of the best in my life, but I must move on. Don't bother to come looking for me. I know I have probably found a new owner who actually remembers to fill up my food bowl every now and again. Sincerely, Gary. At Least until my new owner renames me."

SpongeBob: So let's get this straight, Gary! You don't want me to defeat the Dirty Bubble! You know, the Dirty Bubble, terror of the ocean seas, arch nemesis of my favorite TV superheroes, Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy,...and apparently...renowned paddle ball champion...?

Dirty Bubble: (shows picture on box of Dirty Bubble playing paddle ball) ha ha ha ha!

SpongeBob: (Shakes the can of snail food) I don't understand, this is a brand new...

(Patrick burps)

(SpongeBob shakes Patrick's stomach)

Patrick: (laughs)

(SpongeBob gets angry at him)

Patrick: I only tasted 6 types of sediment.

ReceptionEdit

"Have You Seen This Snail?" was viewed by eight million people.^[1] It was the highest-rated program on all TV with children aged two to eleven for the year of 2005 behind the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl kick-off, and the highest-rated program on all of cable TV with children aged two to eleven and children aged six to eleven in 2005.^[2]

Critics produced mixed reviews for Have You Seen This Snail?. Tom Shales of The Washington Post called the episode deeply hilarious and described the plot as a "bittersweet riot". He drew attention to how the story is similar to the plot of "Dumped", an earlier episode in which Gary deserted SpongeBob.^[3]

The television critic for the St Petersburg Times was not so positive about the episode however, criticizing how SpongeBob's disappointed and sad character for "Have You Seen This Snail?" is quite different to the character's normal bright personality.^[4] The episode was published on a compilation released 2005-11-15. The DVD used the alternative title "Where's Gary?"^[5] Have You Seen This Snail? featured an original piece of music written for the episode by the musician Stew, entitled "Gary's Song."^[3]

Mr. Krabs: SpongeBob! You're 15 minutes late.

SpongeBob: Sorry, Mr. Krabs, I was out all night looking for Gary. You see, he ran away and, well, now I...

Mr. Krabs: SpongeBob, are you okay? You look kinda...different.

SpongeBob: Well, I'm not exactly what you'd call ok, Mr. Krabs. You see, my...

Mr. Krabs: (snaps fingers) Aha! You just forgot to put your hat on. (puts his hat on his head) Knew I'd figure it out.

TriviaEdit

Gramma seems to be a parody of the witch from Hansel and Gretel, who overfed the children with the intention of eating them. She is also similar to Bluebeard, who kept the corpses of his murdered wives in a closet, which gives away his secret to his new wife.
When Gary and Gramma are driving in the car, Gramma says "Set phasers on fun!", a reference to the Star Trek line "Set phasers on stun".
The song Gary Come Home is remarkably similar to Heart of Gold by Neil Young
Just like in I Was a Teenage Gary", Gary is so hungry he would starve to the point where he would almost die.
This is the final episode from 2005.
There is a game on [1] based on this episode, named Trail of the Snail.
Gramma also appears in "Boating Buddies", "Choir Boys" and "Shuffleboarding".
Grandma calls Gary, "Mrs. Tuffsy" even though Gary is a male.
Originally, this episode was going to be a TV movie rather than a thirty minute episode.
Advertisements for this episode refer to it as Where's Gary? It is also called Where's Gary? on its VHS and DVD releases.
"Gary Come Home" is a sad song. It is a reference to the Peanuts TV Special "Snoopy, Come Home".
Nickelodeon Inc. is written on the packaging of the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy paddleball set.
Around the time this episode aired, Cartoon Network had a snail resembling Gary in the bottom of the screen. The joke was that Gary had run away from Nickelodeon to Cartoon Network.
When Patrick causes the plane to crash, SpongeBob says "Pat, no!", but captions say "Aah, no!".
It is revealed that Gary has a clock inside his shell that tells what time he eats.
This episode along with What Ever Happened to SpongeBob? and Pest of the West has a Patchy the Pirate opening in Flash animation.
When Gary took a bus to town, the bus says "SNAILWAYS".
The title card is similar to Wet Painters.
When SpongeBob trips on Gary's bowl the milk splashes out from the jug. But then Patrick shakes the milk out of the glass in a solid form.
A clip of this episode was seen in the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks.
There is a SpongeBob-themed hand-held video game made by Zizzle in which one of the games, you must find Gary, is a reference to this episode.
When Gramma takes Gary to dance, the blanket still there, but after that, the blanket is gone.
When Patrick flips SpongeBob, the paddleball is missing, later it reappears.
When SpongeBob and Patrick look for Gary at night while Squidward takes a bath, they slam open his bathroom door while he's in the bath, making him scream for almost nine seconds nonstop, he takes a gasp for air, screams for another seven seconds and calms down. SpongeBob and Patrick just stare forward the whole time he screams until he's done, then they look around the bathroom for Gary. This scene became a MAJOR phenomenon on YouTube called "[Insert Character's Name Here] Drops by Squidward's House". It consists of a collection of videos depicting the scene being edited so that a completely random character (for example Moar Krabs, Justin Bieber, Robotnik and Weegee, alone (often used in alot of [often "sailor-mouthed"] vids) and a picture of the blue fish from Something Smells screeming after spongebob breathed on him) is pasted into the picture, covering up view of SpongeBob and Patrick. He screams as normally, but then it's made backwards to help extend the video.
Patrick said that he has beat the "Dirty Bubble Challenge". However, it should have been impossible for him (or anyone else) to actually finish the challenge (it would take someone 9.50594359 × 10^{17 years to beat the "Dirty Bubble Challenge".)}
On the box that contains the paddle ball, the "Nickelodeon" logo can be seen even on Nicktoons.
Running Gag: Gramma calling Gary "Mrs. Tuffsy".
Patrick sort of finds Gary when he sees him in the store and says "hey Gary".

Sea Horse MilkEdit

Sea Horse Milk is a fresh and mellow's milk in Bikini Bottom, because SpongeBob ignored it in this episode, it change into a decayed's solid milk, Patrick ate it and he swallowed it while grunting. Actually, If Patrick ate it, he would die, him not dying is maybe because he live underwater. it only appeared on this episode.

MusicEdit

Original Music

Gary's Song - A montage of SpongeBob and Patrick searching for Gary. {Stew}
Drowsy Reef - SpongeBob wallows over Gary's departure. {Jeremy Wakefield, Sage Guyton}

CD Album Music

Goro Goro Ne - SpongeBob takes Gary home. {The Starlite Singers}

APM Music

Open and End Fanfare - SpongeBob SquarePants special opening.
Alley Cats - #1: Title Card.
Alekoki - SpongeBob travels home travelling snail food and bumps into Patrick.
Knights of the Air - SpongeBob opens the package.
Life on the Wild Side - #1: Sponge tries out the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy paddleball set.
The Beast Within - "Take the Dirty Bubble challenge. Hit the paddleball 29,948,559,671,349 in a row."
The Holy Land - "Dirty Bubble, wherever you may float, I hereby accept your challenge! *sings*"
Grand Orchestral Fanfare - SpongeBob begins playing paddleball.
On The Beach - Gary slithers to his feeding bowl, finds out it's bowl is empty and slithers back to SpongeBob.
Life on the Wild Side - #2: SpongeBob continues to play paddleball and Gary distracts SpongeBob.
Rescue - SpongeBob describes the Dirty Bubble to Gary.
Hawaiian Link (b) - Gary slithers away.
Dramatic Impact 2 - #1: Gary splats onto SpongeBob's face.
Dramatic Cue (b) - SpongeBob runs around and removes Gary from his face.
Pua Paoakalani B - Gary packs up and slithers away from home.
Graveyard - Patrick looks for SpongeBob inside his house.
Dramatic Impact 2 - #2: "SpongeBob! What happened!?"
Fates - Patrick notices SpongeBob on the floor.
Bittersweet Memory - Patrick explains his story behind the Dirty Bubble challenge.
Quiz Logo 1 - ...with this bowl. Gary's food bowl..."
Hawaiian Party - SpongeBob fetches snail food outside his house and drops it in Gary's food bowl.
Waddle Cop - Patrick eats the solid milk to decipher how long SpongeBob took the Dirty Bubble challenge.
Of Love and Destiny - SpongeBob immediately searches for Gary around his house.
Torn Apart - SpongeBob searches for Gary outside along with Patrick shaking his belly.
Comic Walk - "What are those neanderthals up to? Don't they know I'm busy spoiling myself?"
Six Powerful Cues (f) - SpongeBob & Patrick search for Gary in Squidward's bathroom.
Cues Comic Cues - The letters fly out SpongeBob's letterbox.
Woe is Me! - "Don't bother to come looking for me. I know I have probably found a new owner who actually remembers to fill up my food bowl every now and again. Sincerly, Gary (at least until my new owner renames me)."
Whisper from the Past - #1: SpongeBob realizes his mistakes.
Alley Cats - #2: Gary arrives at Bass Vegas.
Heavenly Voices (b) - Gary spots a plastic tub of nachos.
Alley Cats - #2: The alley snails surround Gary.
West Side Rumble - Gary escapes from the alley snails.
Evil Alien Attack 1 - A shadowy figure reaches for Gary.
Light and Easy - An old grandma picks up Gary and takes him home.
Waltzing in Dreamland - Gramma winds up the grammaphone.
Stealthily - Gary and Gramma watches night-time TV.
Lynda's Music Box - Gramma puts Gary to bed.
Botany Bay (b) - SpongeBob shuffles to the Krusty Krab, depressed and tired.
Dramatic Impact 3 - Shot of a Krabby Patty covered in tears.
Hawaiian Breeze - Mr. Krabs reasons with SpongeBob.
Marching to Honolulu - SpongeBob exits the Krusty Krab.
Dramatic Cue (d) - #1: Patrick wakes up horrifyingly to the impact of office products.
Lambs in Clover - Gramma makes breakfast for Gary.
Beach Boy - Patrick searches inside the craft store for scented pinecones.
Folli the Foal - Gramma & Gary come home after shopping.
Whisper from the Past - #2: Gary reads the flyers.
Stepping into Danger - Gary attempts to escape from Gramma.
Dramatic Cue (d) - #2: A pile of rusty snail shells collpase on Gary.
House of Horror {W. Merrick Farran} - Gary discovers Gramma's scheme and escapes from Gramma.
Romantic Entrance - SpongeBob reunites with Gary.