Spy Buddies

"Spy Buddies" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 5. In this episode, Mr. Krabs hires SpongeBob and Patrick to spy on Plankton.

Characters[]

Sheldon J. Plankton
- Robot Krabs
Eugene H. Krabs
- Sheldon J. Plankton ^{(disguise suit)}
SpongeBob SquarePants
- Patrick Star ^{(disguise suit)}
  - SpongeBob SquarePants ^{(disguise suit)}
Squidward Tentacles
Patrick Star
- SpongeBob SquarePants ^{(disguise suit)}
  - Sandy Cheeks ^{(disguise suit)}
    - Squidward Tentacles ^{(disguise suit)}
      - Patrick Star ^{(disguise suit)}
Sandy Cheeks
Jellyfish ^{(cameo on stamp and stamp machine)}
Karen Plankton ^(cameo)
Incidentals
- Incidental 41 ^{(normal; tan with orange fins)}
- Incidental 106
- Incidental 40
- Incidental 67
- Incidental 107
- Incidental 63
- Incidental 60
- Incidental 48
- Incidental 104
- Fred
- Incidental 7
- Incidental 46
- Incidental 14
- Incidental 87
- Incidental 83
- Incidental 8
- Incidental 49
- Incidental 105
Patrick clone
King Neptune ^(mentioned)
Man's voice on walkie-talkie

Synopsis[]

The episode begins with a shadowy figure bearing resemblance to Plankton opening the safe that has the Krabby Patty formula inside of it. SpongeBob turns the light switch on, and it reveals it was just Mr. Krabs checking to make sure that the secret recipe is still safe and that Plankton did not try to steal it yet. He has not tried to steal it in a month, which, according to Mr. Krabs, means that he must be planning something big. Squidward then enters the office. When Mr. Krabs says that one of his employees will have extra work, Squidward leaves, leaving SpongeBob to work as a spy to follow Plankton in order to see what he is up to. After a parody of the opening sequence of several James Bond films, Patrick enters. After Patrick screams that he also wants to be a spy, Mr. Krabs gives them a Krabby Patty through which he (via a prerecorded message) tells them that their assignment is to follow Plankton to see what his plans are. If they fail to get the gadgets, and do not accept the task, they will be fired. He also states that the patty will self-destruct in ten seconds. After Patrick puts the patty in his pants, the patty explodes leaving the bottom half of Patrick's body without any skin.

SpongeBob and Patrick visit Sandy's Treedome to ask her about spying, and Sandy shows them spy inventions. SpongeBob is excited to use the equipment, but Sandy refuses to let them use any of them, as she feels they will just mess it up. As SpongeBob wonders what they would do now, Patrick promptly uses the knockout gun to knock Sandy out and they steal the equipment from her. One of the gadgets that they steal is the laser-equipped Bermuda shorts. Patrick replaces his normal pants with these. He wires the pants to his butt, so that it will fire lasers whenever he farts.

Spy Buddies 072 — SpongeBob and Patrick spying on Plankton.

They start following Plankton, and it is revealed that Plankton buys baby clothes and has to buy stamps for mail. They tell Mr. Krabs everything through walkie-talkies and Mr. Krabs writes these down on a chalkboard. After loudly following Plankton (who tells them to quiet down), SpongeBob and Patrick set him on fire with a magnifying glass. When Plankton runs off, they pursue him with a jetpack (which alights Plankton again after he cools himself down in a soda cup). They fly past him, but then jump into a boat outfitted with spy equipment. Almost instantly, Patrick hits the self-destruct option. Afterwards, Mr. Krabs calls them through Patrick's "Pants-a-Phone," reminding them to stay on task.

Later that night, SpongeBob and Patrick are on the rooftop of the Chum Bucket, trying to get inside. Patrick has the idea to use the laser pants to make a hole for them, so he farts so hard that he cuts into the roof with the lasers. Plankton thinks that they came in late at night to eat his food while Mr. Krabs was not around. Patrick tells SpongeBob that he really has to go to the bathroom and he cannot hold it in. Patrick also says that his laser pants are not working correctly. Without his control, Patrick farts, causing the table behind him to disintegrate. As he keeps on trying to hold it in, Patrick's butt begins to shake because of the gas inside him.

Spy Buddies 122 — Patrick destroys the Chum Bucket with his laser pants.

Plankton tries to offer a raspberry iced tea, a bran muffin, and even a prune Danish to Patrick, unaware that he has to use the toilet. Patrick tells SpongeBob that he really has to go. When the gas pressure becomes too much for him, Patrick begins to fart uncontrollably. As SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton scream, the lasers shoot out of the laser pants, making holes in the walls and destroying the Chum Bucket.

Angry, Plankton sends a giant blimp to the Krusty Krab. Mr. Krabs thinks the night had come early, but Squidward points to Plankton's blimp. When Mr. Krabs tells everyone to get into their positions, Squidward runs into the men's bathroom. Plankton pushes a button that starts playing annoying music that makes the customers leave. Mr. Krabs mentions that if he wants his customers, he can have them. He sucks them into a giant cannon and shoots at the blimp using the customers and Squidward.

Unluckily, the attempt fails, as the customers bounce off the blimp. SpongeBob tells Patrick that it is all up to them to save the Krusty Krab, but Patrick jumps off the blimp and accidentally lands in the cannon, which fires him right at the blimp, causing it to burst. The Krusty Krab blows up as well.

Plankton, now with the secret formula in hand, laughs and states "I win! I always win!," but SpongeBob reminds him that he always loses. Plankton corrects SpongeBob that he always wins and reveals that it is Mr. Krabs in disguise. The other Mr. Krabs is revealed to be actually a robot controlled by Plankton. Mr. Krabs and Plankton made a bet that if Mr. Krabs disguised himself as Plankton so he could steal the Krabby Patty formula better than him and if the Chum Bucket gets destroyed, Plankton would pay him a dollar.

After Plankton gives money as part of the bet, Patrick yells at them to stop and rips his skin off revealing that he is Squidward. SpongeBob wonders if the Squidward standing next to him is actually Squidward, then rips his face off as the latter protests. Squidward angrily takes his ripped face back from SpongeBob and walks off. The characters then continue to take off their disguises. After both of them return to their real selves, SpongeBob tells Mr. Krabs that he is still confused that there are two Patricks, who both start laughing, as the episode ends.

Production[]

This episode was confirmed in a TVShowsOnDVD.com article on December 24, 2006.^[2]

Originally, instead of Plankton finding SpongeBob and Patrick when they fall into the Chum Bucket, SpongeBob and Patrick were going to see a dispute between Plankton and Karen, which featured Plankton not wanting to go to Karen's mother-in-law (a car alarm that only says, "Stay away from the vehicle")'s house.^[3] However, since Karen's real mother-in-law is a plankton and not a car alarm, Tom King (the one who mentioned this fact in the commentary) must've simply confused the character for Karen's mother.

Model sheets[]

Music[]

( ‣ ) Production music
( • ) Original music
( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

‣ James Blond - Jurgen Schlachter [Title card]
• Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Opening]
‣ The Dreadnought Tea Clipper (B) - Tim Laycock, Robert Alexander White ["Just making sure the formula's safe."]
• Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr ["Spy?!"]
‣ James Blond - Jurgen Schlachter [007 parody]
• Seaweed 2 - Steve Belfer [Patrick looking through a straw]
‣ Mission To Kill - Tony Kinsey ["Hooray! We're spy buddies!"]
• Bond Chord Surfs Up - Nicolas Carr [Guitar sting]
• Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["Your instructions are on this Krabby Patty."]
‣ Mission Just Possible! - David Lindup ["The fate of the Krusty Krab rests in your hands."]
‣ Secret Service - Syd Dale [SpongeBob and Patrick listening to instructions]
‣ Towerstreet 17 [#6] - Gerhard Narholz [Sandy's spy gadgets]
• Sneaky Panther Pants - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob spying on Plankton]
‣ Off To Play - David Snell [Plankton buying baby clothes]
• Sneaky Panther Pants - Nicolas Carr [Plankton buys a stamp]
‣ Towerstreet 17 [#5] - Gerhard Narholz [Magnifying glass]
‣ Towerstreet 17 [#7] - Gerhard Narholz [Jet pack]
‣ Towerstreet 17 [#4] - Gerhard Narholz [SpongeBob and Patrick crash on the sidewalk]
• Steel Licks 22 - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob and Patrick's faces smeared]
‣ Secret Service - Syd Dale [Spy mobile]
‣ Towerstreet 17 [#5] - Gerhard Narholz [Phone call from Krabs]
• Bond Chord Surfs Up - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob gets a quarter out of his pocket]
‣ Secret Agent - David Lindup [Patrick and SpongeBob sneak into the Chum Bucket]
‣ Brutal B - Gerhard Trede ["Secret mission, eh?"]
• The Pollywog Strut - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Plankton thinks they want to eat]
‣ Cell 501 - Gerhard Trede ["Can't you go later?"]
‣ Licence to Thrill - Robert Cornford [Blimp]
‣ Brutal A - Gerhard Trede ["Merciful Neptune!"]
‣ Beauty Parade - Syd Dale [Plankton pumps up the volume]
‣ World In Action - Laurie Johnson [Krabs shoots customers at Plankton's blimp]
‣ Towerstreet 17 [#33] - Gerhard Narholz [Plankton has the formula]
• Tension Bits - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton was Mr. Krabs in disguise]
‣ Keel Row - Brian Peters [Krabs says he made a bet with Plankton]
• SpongeBob Flashback Vibes - Nicolas Carr [Start of flashback]
• Steel Licks 78 - Jeremy Wakefield ["You can't beat me, Plankton. I always win."]
• SpongeBob Flashback Vibes - Nicolas Carr [End of flashback]
• Nude Sting - Nicolas Carr ["...and destroyed his place of business!"]
• Whats This Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Not so fast!"]
• Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["Not so fast!"]
• Clownfish Capers - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Ending]

Release[]

This episode is available on the Friend or Foe?, Season 5 Volume 1, SpongeBob StarPants, First 100 Episodes, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 7, The SpongeBob Super Square Collection, Complete Fifth Season, From the Beginning, Part 2, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, Bikini Bottom Adventures (Russian only), The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, and The Fifth & Sixth Seasons DVDs.

Trivia[]

General[]

This episode was available on the Friend or Foe? DVD, released on April 17, 2007, three months before it aired on American television.

"Spy Buddies" is listed as "SpyBob" on Season 5 on Amazon Prime Video (also notice the   in the description for the episode).

Spy Buddies listed as SpyBob on SpongeBob Season 5 on iTunes — "Spy Buddies" is listed as "SpyBob" on Season 5 on iTunes.

The original title for this episode was going to be called "SpyBob" but later, it was changed to "Spy Buddies."
- Dish Network, Amazon Prime Video,^[4] iTunes,^[5] and the SpongeBob SquarePants Annual 2015 still use the original title instead of the final.
The title card is on a dossier.
The two background music shots were heard in the credits roll of the Nickelodeon show Action League Now!

Vincent Waller credited as a technical director in Spy Buddies on DVD releases

Just like "Rise and Shine" and "Fungus Among Us," Vincent Waller is credited as a technical director instead of a creative director on all DVD releases.
- This is most likely done because both "Boat Smarts" and "Good Ol' Whatshisname" have Vincent Waller credited as a creative director, even when those episodes aired on American television on July 23, 2007.
- This is also his last episode credited as a technical director. Starting with "Boat Smarts," he is credited as a creative director until the season 9 episode "What's Eating Patrick?"
  - Additionally, starting with "Patrick! The Game," him and Marc Ceccarelli are credited as supervising producers.
In the entrance to the Krusty Krab, the password was: 2684.
In the safe at Mr. Krabs' office at the Krusty Krab, the combination was: 35-20-0.
- In "Plankton's Good Eye," an episode later in the series, the safe combination is 35-25-4. It is unknown why it is different, but most likely the crew members forgot what it was or simply Mr. Krabs changed the combination, or it was Plankton lacking depth perception.
- In "Friendiversary," it was revealed that SpongeBob is the only one who knows the combination.
On Mr. Krabs' calendar, the month starts with Monday and ends with Sunday. In real life, the only chance of this happening would be if February 1 started on Monday and February 28 ended on Sunday (not counting leap years).
SpongeBob and Patrick mention the episode's title when they say, "Hooray! We're spy buddies!"
List of spy gadgets (Introduced and invented by Sandy)
- High-powered magnifying glass (SpongeBob uses it.)
- Jet packs (Patrick uses it.)
- Bermuda Shorts with walkie-talkie (Resembles Patrick's shorts; Patrick uses it.)
- Microscopic nose cameras (They do not use it.)
- The knock-out ray (Her favorite; Patrick uses it to put her to sleep.)
It is unknown what the stamps or baby clothes were for but Plankton was probably doing daily labors as baby clothes would be the smallest things Plankton can wear but still would not fit him.
The scene where SpongeBob and Patrick fall off the jet pack was used during the "Up next" Nicktoons bumpers in 2014.^[6]
It is unknown where SpongeBob and Patrick's spy mobile came from or how they knew about it.
When Plankton (Mr. Krabs in disguise) is in the blimp and plays music, Plankton (Mr. Krabs) is actually driving his own customers out of his restaurant.
The Secret Formula: (x-2)+1=Krabby Patty as seen on the page of the secret formula after Plankton (Mr. Krabs in disguise) says, "I win! I always win!"
Foreshadowing:
- The reveal that Mr. Krabs and Plankton switched places was foreshadowed in the beginning when the shadow of Plankton enters the Krusty Krab and accesses the formula, then SpongeBob turns on the light revealing the figure to be Mr. Krabs. The same shadow is also three times Plankton's regular size.
- In the same scene where SpongeBob appears, Mr. Krabs sounds slightly nervous as he replies he's only checking on the formula.
- When calling SpongeBob and Patrick through the Pants-a-Phone, Mr. Krabs tells him he's not paying him to goof off with Patrick, and SpongeBob has to correct him that he never pays him, and Mr. Krabs responds in a meek manner.
- While at the Chum Bucket, Plankton offers SpongeBob and Patrick various meals that are not chum-related. Also, Plankton sounds mildly surprised he has customers.
- When Plankton calls for Karen to come into the kitchen, she does not enter nor comply; Karen only listens to the real Plankton, giving away that this Plankton is Mr. Krabs in disguise.
- When Patrick accidentally reveals the secret mission to Plankton, he sounds confused for a bit, before assuming the two are here to eat at the Chum Bucket.
Robot Krabs from "Imitation Krabs" returns in this episode after being shown as a cameo in "New Leaf."
Plankton's line "What the barnacles is going on here?" from "The Algae's Always Greener" was reused in this episode, but in this episode, SpongeBob says it.
Mr. Krabs says it has been 20 years since Plankton tried to take the formula, the same happened in "Spongicus." However, in "Plankton's Army," Mr. Krabs says it has been 25 years since then, suggesting both this and "Spongicus" took place five years before that episode. Also, he says it has been 15 years in "Welcome to the Chum Bucket," and later on in "Truth or Square," it has been 50 years.
Mr. Krabs' line "Tell it to the claw, sister" is reused in Bikini Bottom Brawlers.

Karen in Spy Buddies — Karen's non-speaking appearance in this episode.

Mrs. Puff is listed in the closing credits for this episode due to her being featured in a deleted scene, indicating that Mary Jo Catlett recorded her lines before she was cut from the final version. In addition, Karen is also listed in the closing credits despite the fact that she is never heard speaking in this episode. Plankton mentions her name when he claims to have a customer and Karen later makes a non-speaking cameo as the only thing left inside of the Chum Bucket after most of the building got destroyed.
This is the first episode to play the music track "World in Action" since "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II" in season 1.
This is the second episode in which Plankton talks in a speedy, high-pitched voice. The first was "Krusty Krab Training Video."
On the September 28, 2019 airing, this episode was paired up with "Model Sponge."^[7]

Dub facts[]

In the Polish dub, the episode is titled "Sponge Bond," which is a reference to the James Bond movies.

Cultural references[]

When SpongeBob is seen walking inside the dot (when Patrick was looking through the straw), it is a parody of the gun barrel sequence that's used in nearly every James Bond movie.
- In this episode, SpongeBob walks into the dot onscreen and spins around with his spatula in hand.
- In the movies, Bond walks into the dot (which is a gun-barrel pointed at him), spins around and shoots the screen.
  - The Simpsons had a couch gag like this for "And Maggie Makes Three" and "The Springfield Connection."
When SpongeBob and Patrick get their mission through a recorded message in a Krabby Patty and then the object self-destructs, it is a parody of the self destruct message object used in the Mission Impossible movies.

Spy Buddies 055 — Babies "R" Us reference.

Guppies R Us is a parody of the stores Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us.

Errors[]

The Krusty Krab sign has black writing instead of red writing and is a bit darker.
When Patrick yells "I wanna be a spy too!," the time setting is suddenly day instead of night.
If one looks closely, when Patrick blows up and he speaks his feet are skeletal, but when he pulls his pants up, they are normal.
When SpongeBob and Patrick are about to enter the spy mobile, SpongeBob runs to his right while Patrick runs to his left.
- As they enter into the vehicle, Patrick somehow runs back to the right.

When Patrick suggests going through the front door, the Chum Bucket logo has blue writing instead of red writing. In every other shot, the Chum Bucket logo has its regular red color.
After Patrick cuts a rectangular hole in the Chum Bucket's roof, that part of the roof that fell down is missing when SpongeBob and Patrick enter the Chum Bucket.
- The crash of the excess roof is not heard.
The only way the laser pants could've responded to Patrick's farting is if they were wired to Patrick's butt.
After Patrick destroys the Chum Bucket with lasers, it is night. When they are lying on the ground after that, it is daytime.
- This also happens in the opening, which takes place at night. When Patrick's screaming shakes up the Krusty Krab, it is daytime.
When the blimp flies over to the Krusty Krab and the inside of the building gets darker, Mr. Krabs' eyelids are an unusually darker shade of red that doesn't match with the rest of his body.

Spy Buddies 161 — Explosion cloud when the Krusty Krab is not being damaged.

For a very brief moment, the Krusty Krab does not sustain any damage while the explosion cloud is visible. When the explosion cloud disappears, the Krusty Krab is instantly destroyed.