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Missing Identity

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SpongeBob SquarePants episode
"Missing Identity"
Chronology
Information
Season №: 3
Episode №: 58a
Airdate: January 19, 2004
Best Day Ever Rank: #75
Credits
Writer(s): Ennio Torresan
Erik Wiese
Stephen Hillenburg
Derek Drymon
Tim Hill
Storyboard Artist(s): Erik Wiese
Directors
Storyboard: Ennio Torresan
Animation: Tom Yasumi
Creative: Derek Drymon
Episode List
Select show to expand.

"Missing Identity" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season three.

Brief summary: SpongeBob recounts the story of the day he lost his identity.

Characters:

Contents

Plot

SpongeBob SquarePants is at a diner on a dark and weary morning, with rain is pouring down. A patron is solving a crossword puzzle, and realizes he had lost his pen. A waitress says he can borrow hers, and does. SpongeBob says he once lost something: his identity.

He recounts the events of last Monday. He wakes up, and throwing his blanket into the air, says "Good morning world, and all who inhabit it!" The blanket falls on him and SpongeBob, not being able to see, falls off his bed and his alarm clock falls on top of his head. He falls down the stairs and the alarm propels him into the window. He feeds Gary, and comments that he has been feeding Gary snail food for years and doesn't even know what it tastes like. He tastes a it, is revolted, and his disgust is sensed at the headquarters of the company that makes the snail food. He looks at the clock and realizes that he is late for work, and quickly gets changed and skips to work.

Later, as SpongeBob serves food to a customer, the customer tells him that he should wear a name tag so that she can thank him properly. He indicates that he is indeed wearing a name tag, but then realizes that his name tag is missing. He panics, hyperventilates, and eventually faints.

When he wakes up, he asks Squidward what happened. Squidward tells him that he fainted because he lost his name tag, but assures him that his name tag is not that important. However, just as he says this, Mr. Krabs comes out of his office and informs them that there's a uniform inspection in one hour and anyone who fails has to wear a stinky boot. Squidward tells SpongeBob that he should retrace his steps.

SpongeBob repeats everything he did that morning several times, including his "horrific incident of terror" with the alarm clock and eating the snail food, but fails to find his nametag. Patrick asks him if he did anything else on his way to work, and SpongeBob says that he said hello to Old Man Jenkins, put an apple on Mr. Krabs' desk, and was thrown into a dumpster by two thugs. Patrick suggests looking in the dumpster, and they go searching there. Patrick finds SpongeBob's name tag on the back of his shirt, and when he alerts him to this and SpongeBob turns around, it seems to disappear and Patrick can't remember where it was. SpongeBob is confused, but when Patrick says "At least I don't wear my shirt backwards!," SpongeBob realizes that he had his name tag all along, and his shirt was just backwards. At the uniform inspection, however, Mr. Krabs smells SpongeBob and is disgusted by the stench of the dumpster, and seemingly suspends him from working at the Krusty Krab.

SpongeBob finishes telling his story, and thanks the waitress for listening, calling her "Betty". She says that her name isn't Betty, and that she just borrowed someone else's uniform while hers is getting cleaned. When SpongeBob learns this, he ends the episode doing a Jack Benny double-take.

Transcript

Main article: Missing Identity (transcript)

Quotes

  • Patrick: "Hi, SpongeBoob. SPONGEBOOB!? WHO'S SPONGEBOOB!? Ha ha ha ha! Okay! Okay! Sorry people."
  • SpongeBob: Gary it's time for breakfast!,(Starts singing) The most important meal of the day, Serving it up Gary's way hey.(starts pouring snail food in the bowl)Hmm? You know I've been feeding this to Gary for years, And I don't know what it taste like. (Starts putting his tongue in the left over snail food in the can)Bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh-bleh (It reaches to the Snail-Po Company)
  • Co-Worker: What is it Peterson?
  • Peterson: I don't know. I feel a... disturbance.
  • SpongeBob: La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la la la,La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la,La-la-la-la...
  • Waitress: Wait, when exactly did you lose your identity?
  • Customer: Yeah, and who's Patrick?
  • Cook: Why did you eat Snail-Po?
  • Patrick; Giggling I got the giggles giggling again.

Trivia/Goofs

  • The scene where the Snailpo executive feels a disturbance after SpongeBob tastes a can of Snailpo is a parody of the scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope where Obi-Wan Kenobi feels a disturbance after Alderaan is destroyed.
  • The fourteenth episode to feature flowers on the title card.
  • When this episode first aired on Nickelodeon, this episode came second, while "Plankton's Army" aired first. This was due to "Plankton's Army" being heavily advertised as the episode where Plankton finally gets the Krabby Patty secret formula.
  • After SpongeBob's story, the waitress tells him that he "managed to kill 11 minutes." This is a reference to the 11-minute length of an episode, which was also referenced in "Nature Pants" and "Club SpongeBob".
  • When SpongeBob imagines the bank robber entering the store with his name tag, the robber yells "ATTICA!", a reference to Dog Day Afternoon.
  • When SpongeBob is trying to retrace his steps with Patrick, Squidward's house is not shown between SpongeBob's and Patrick's house.
  • When SpongeBob and Patrick are shown in the dumpster looking for SpongeBob's name tag, it is shown as being much larger than when they were shown standing outside of it.
  • SpongeBob claims that he doesn't know what Gary's food tastes like. However, in "I Was a Teenage Gary", "Opposite Day", and "Dumped", he ate snail food. Perhaps SpongeBob has forgotten how Gary's snail food tastes like, or he must have bought a different snail food for Gary.
  • Patrick breaks the fourth wall when he says "Sorry, people" after he forgets to say "Hi, SpongeBob!"
  • There is a scene where SpongeBob is shown from behind waving to Old Man Jenkins, and his name tag is not shown. When SpongeBob is retracing his steps, he slides over to Gary to feed him. His back is shown, but his name tag is not there. His back is also shown with no name tag when he and Patrick approach the dumpster.
  • Patrick suggests that SpongeBob's name tag is in the apple on Mr. Krabs' desk rather than the obvious possibility that it is in the dumpster. SpongeBob comments that he's probably thrown it away by then, which is what leads them to look in the dumpster. The half-eaten apple is actually seen among the trash Patrick digs through.
  • Snail-Po is a reference to Alpo dog food.
  • After SpongeBob passes out, Squidward is seen reading "Fancy Living Digest" from "Chocolate with Nuts".
  • When SpongeBob is retracing his steps, he does not attempt to put his shirt on again.
  • Squidward was able to pass the uniform inspection with no visible name tag.
  • Mr. Krabs says that anyone that fails the inspection has to wear a stinky boot all day. However, when SpongeBob fails the inspection, Mr. Krabs does not appear to give him the boot.

APM music identification

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