Missing Identity

Template:Episode/58a

Characters

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Patrick Star
• Squidward Tentacles
• Eugene Krabs
• Gary
• Diner Chef
• Not Betty ^(debut)
• Old Man Jenkins ^(cameo)
• Snail-Po Employees ^(cameo)
  • Peterson
  • Sadie Rechid
• Krusty Krab Customers
  • Debbie Rechid
• Mable
• Fred
• Vera-Beth ^(cameo)

Synopsis

SpongeBob is at a diner on a dark and weary morning, with rain is pouring down. A patron is solving a crossword puzzle, and realizes that 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, and 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 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. While he was skipping to work, Patrick greets SpongeBob.

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 and SpongeBob hyperventilates again. 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. SpongeBob repeats it many times because Patrick always fails to try to say "Hi" to him like for example, he says 'Hi, Spongeboob' and more. Still SpongeBob fails to find his name tag. 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. During the search, Spongebob gives Patrick two hints but he is confused. Spongebob does a double take of Jack Benny while wondering, but panics that he has one minute left. 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, like earlier from the episode.

Production

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 ‣ Marching to Honolulu - Kapono Beamer [title card]
 ‣ Eastside Story (a) - Trevor Duncan [opening]
 ‣ On the Beach - Kapono Beamer ["Good morning, world and all who inhabit it."]
 ‣ The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [at the Krusty Krab]
 ‣ ? ["Thanks... uh..."]
 ‣ On Fire - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob notices his nametag's missing]
 ‣ Pua Paoakalani B - Kapono Beamer, Queen Lili'uokalani [SpongeBob cries]
 ‣ Against the Law (c) - Wilfred William Burns [bank robbery]
 ‣ On Fire - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob panics]
 ‣ The Rake Hornpipe - Robert Alexander White ["Attention, all employees!"]
 ‣ On Fire - Gregor F. Narholz [SpongeBob panics again]
 ‣ ? ["Squidward, you're a genius!"]
 ‣ Hawaiian Happiness - Jon Jelmer [SpongeBob going back home]
 ‣ On Fire - Gregor F. Narholz [Patrick panics]
 ‣ On the Beach - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob retracing his steps]
 ‣ Vergnügungspark - Gerhard Trede [Patrick flubbing his lines]
 ‣ Ulkereien - Gerhard Trede [SpongeBob remembering what else he did that morning]
 ‣ Hawaiian Link (b) - Richard Myhill [SpongeBob and Patrick standing in front of the dumpster]
 ‣ Witty Fellow - Gerhard Trede [looking for SpongeBob's nametag in the dumpster]
 • Steel Sting - Jeremy Wakefield ["Could I have another hint?"]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (b) - Ronald Hanmer ["ONE MINUTE?!"]
 • Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr [Patrick sees SpongeBob's nametag]
 • SpongeBob Closing Theme - Steve Belfer, Nicolas Carr ["Uh... I can't remember."]
 ‣ Marching to Honolulu - Kapono Beamer [SpongeBob's shirt was on backwards]
 ‣ Up She Rises - Sam Spence [uniform inspection]
 ‣ Eastside Story (a) - Trevor Duncan [SpongeBob finishes his story]
 • Steel Sting - Jeremy Wakefield [Hawaiian sting at end]

Reception

• "Missing Identity" was ranked #75 during the Best Day Ever event from November 9–10, 2006.

Trivia

Template:Trivia

• 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.
• 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 lampshade and is a reference to the 11-minute length of an episode, which was also referenced in "Nature Pants," "Club SpongeBob," and "Planet of the Jellyfish."
• When Patrick bloops his line saying, "Spongeboob", he then says: "Sorry people," as if a crew was filming the whole thing, subsequently breaking the Fourth Wall.
  • The fourth wall is broken when the waitress says "Well ya managed to kill eleven minutes" which is the length of a SpongeBob episode.
• The bank robber in his dreams somehow has a different name tag as SpongeBob actually has.
• In this episode, SpongeBob has a pet scallop like in Help Wanted and in Pineapple Fever.
• The band that Patrick finds in the dumpster, "Stingray 5000" is a parody of Powerman 5000.
• The title card is the same as Reef Blower, but green.
• SpongeBob makes a reference to the game 20 Questions in the dumpster scene.
• The name tag is somehow based on the one from "Help Wanted." Both have only SpongeBob's first name and an anchor in the middle of the background.
• When SpongeBob yells to Squidward "POURQUOI?!", which means "Why" In French.
• It's revealed that Nat's last name is Peterson.
• This is the first episode where the main plot is told via a long flashback sequence. This flow goes the same for the five episode vacation miniseries: A SquarePants Family Vacation, Patrick's Staycation, Walking the Plankton, Mooncation and Mr. Krabs Takes a Vacation.
• The snail which is the Snail-Po logo in this episode has a shell identical to the one of Larry the Snail.
• In SpongeBob You're Fired, SpongeBob is able to make the Snail-Po recipe, it is possible that he remember the tastes that he took from this episode.

Cultural References

• In two separate instances, when Patrick asks for a third clue and the waitress said that the name tag on her borrowed uniform wasn't hers, SpongeBob places his left arm on his right elbow with his right hand on his chin, like Jack Benny did on his 1950s TV show.
• When Spongebob is saying to Patrick he doesn't have time to play, he is referencing the game Twenty Questions.
• Snail-Po is a reference to Alpo dog food.

Errors

• The cash register is missing when Squidward is bragging about being a "genius."
• When SpongeBob turns around, showing his collar and name tag, the amount of filth on his shirt changes between scenes.
• Whenever SpongeBob turns around, his collar is not shown.
• 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 is retracing his steps and it shows all of Conch Street and Patrick, there is a window on the top left corner of SpongeBob's house, where there never is.
• In the scenes before SpongeBob and Patrick go in the dumpster, SpongeBob is shown from behind, but his name tag is not seen. Later in the dump, Patrick sees the name tag on SpongeBob's back.
• In the Hebrew translation, when SpongeBob tries to spell Patrick the word "name-tag", it sounds wrong since in Hebrew you say: "tagit shem" - "tag of" and "name", and he said: "name" and "tag of".
• In the closed captioning of the episode (done by WGBH's Media Access Group, nee The Caption Center), SpongeBob says that there are two words for Patrick getting a clue on what they are looking for, the first being "my", the second, "nametag". The caption lists the "nametag" instead as "name tag", which is two words.

Running Gags

• SpongeBob wakes up saying "Good morning world and all who inhabit it." Then the blanket blinds him falling to the side of the bed and the foghorn clock falls onto him. He walks into door tripping down the stairs. The clock blows him into the window and slides toward Gary. Then sings about Gary's meal and taste the horrible Snail Po food.
• Patrick bloops his line and SpongeBob has to start all over.
• A character realizes that SpongeBob's name tag is missing and SpongeBob starts breathing heavily.