The Main Drain

Template:Episode/141b

Characters

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Patrick Star
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Sheldon J. Plankton
• Squidward Tentacles
• Old Man Jenkins
• Bikini Bottomites

Synopsis

One day in Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob wipes the grill with a sponge (made from part of his own tongue) at the Krusty Krab. He proclaims that it is freshly clean and tries to convince a customer to eat a Krabby Patty that was on the grill. When SpongeBob went back inside to cook that patty, the customer asks Squidward why he doesn't want a Krabby Patty, and he replies that he has seen what SpongeBob cleans the grill with. It goes back to SpongeBob, who is on his way to the freezer for a patty when he slips on a puddle of water. Upon closer inspection, SpongeBob observes that the flood is coming from the sink, which is clogged with water. As he is trying to figure out how to unclog the drain, Patrick comes in and slips, but because he was his normal clumsy self.

Eventually, Mr. Krabs overhears them trying to pull the drain, and stops them before they have a chance. They hear the story of the Main Drain, and Mr. Krabs tells the story. The story was that there was a plug that

Kid Krabs and Kid Plankton, discovering the Main Drain.

two kids supposedly pulled long ago that ended the world of Bikini Bottom. When they ask him where it is, he becomes nervous and tells them to go away. The two go outside and SpongeBob steps on Plankton, and then they ask him about it. He becomes nervous also and tells them to go away. SpongeBob says that he heard it from Mr. Krabs, and Plankton claims Mr. Krabs was lying. They ask him where it is and again, no results. They turn to Old Man Jenkins, but he yields no results.

Then they go on the adventure for the plug by dragging Patrick's house. Just before they pull the plug, Mr. Krabs and Plankton stop them and tell the story of how they were the ones that pulled the plug when they were younger. They explain that they lied because they didn't want SpongeBob and Patrick to look for it. Unfortunately, Patrick already pulled the plug and everything (including themselves and the Bikini Bottomites) was sucked into the drain.

Patrick then sits up in his bed, after hearing SpongeBob's story of the drain, and claiming it's the most realistic story he has ever heard, indicating everything happens on the episode was only SpongeBob's story.

Production

Art

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 

 ‣ Unknown Track 1 - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [title card]
   ‣ Sailor's Sting 12 - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob exits the freezer]
 ‣ Sailor's Sting 7 - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob cleaning the grill]
 ‣ Dramatic Bridge 4 - Phillip Green [SpongeBob slipping]
 ‣ Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Where'd all this water come from?"]
 ‣ Clumsy (c) - Bernd Gesell [sink clogged]
 ‣ Killer Birds - Gregor F. Narholz ["Pull the drain plug."]
 ‣ Steel Sting (b) - Jeremy Wakefield ["What in Neptune's bathtub do you think you're doing?!"]
 ‣ Vibe Sting - Dick Stephen Walter ["Hmm... One sec."]
 ‣ Agitation Bridge 3 - Phillip Green [Krabs' scary story]
 ‣ Domestic Fun (a) - Ernest Tomlinson [kids wandering through the ocean]
 ‣ Domestic Fun (b) - Ernest Tomlinson [they pull the drain plug]
 ‣ Epic Adventure - Dick Stephen Walter [kids sucked down the drain]
 ‣ Dramatic Encounter - Gregor F. Narholz ["And nobody was ever heard from again."]
 ‣ Steel Sting (c) - Jeremy Wakefield ["I don't know where it is!"]
 ‣ Goofy Conversation - Gerhard Narholz, Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["The main drain sounds very dangerous."]
 ‣ Drama Link (g) - Hubert Clifford ["The main drain?"]
 ‣ Comic Walk (Nicolas Carr Version) - Nicolas Carr [Plankton says there is no main drain]
 ‣ Down in Davy Jone's Locker - Gerhard Narholz ["Why would Krabs tell those two blunderers about the main drain?"]
 ‣ Befuddled Gent - Phillip Green ["Old Man Jenkins!"]
 ‣ Steel Sting (Original Version) - Jeremy Wakefield ["I have no idea."]
 ‣ Buccaneers [#91] - Harry Bluestone ["Patrick, we need to find that drain!"]
 ‣ Creepy Sting 5 - Patrick thinking
 ‣ ? - Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick babbling]
 ‣ Gator - Steve Belfer [SpongeBob blowing bubbles]
 ‣ Variety Link (d) - Dick Stephen Walter [bus-shaped bubble]
 ‣ Editor's Falling Over (b) - Dick Stephen Walter [bubble pops]
 ‣ Harp Ding - Nicolas Carr ["I know!"]
 ‣ Steel Licks (a) - Jeremy Wakefield [SpongeBob blows a bubble]
 ‣ Skipping to School - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [Patrick's house floating up]
 ‣ Drama Link (d) - Hubert Clifford [SpongeBob and Patrick scream]
 ‣ Unknown Hawaiian Sting (q) - Jeremy Wakefield ["Another miserable day."]
 ‣ Harp Ding - Nicolas Carr [Patrick gets an idea]
 ‣ The Jovial Buccaneers - John Fox [Patrick pulling his house]
 ‣ Hide and Seek (1) - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin [they find the drain]
 ‣ Finger of Fear - Fredric Bayco ["Why would we do that?"]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact 3 - Ivor Slaney ["NO!"]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact 2 - Ivor Slaney [SpongeBob and Patrick gasp]
 ‣ Domestic Fun (a) - Ernest Tomlinson [flashback to Krabs and Plankton as kids]
 ‣ Epic Adventure - Dick Stephen Walter [everything sucked down the drain]
 ‣ Steel Licks (d) - Jeremy Wakefield ["We had to lie to keep you from looking for it."]
 ‣ Dramatic Impact 6 - Ivor Slaney [Patrick pulls the drain plug]
 ‣ Epic Adventure - Dick Stephen Walter [everything sucked down the drain]
 ‣ Steel Sting (b) - Jeremy Wakefield [ending]

Release

• This episode is available on the Legends of Bikini Bottom and Complete Seventh Season DVDs.

Trivia

Template:Trivia

• Running gag: Patrick turning on a music from his radio when Mr. Krabs is about to tell the story of the Main Drain.
• Though it's revealed that this episode was only a story being read to Patrick by SpongeBob, the entire population of Bikini Bottom was sucked away before: in the episode "A Flea in Her Dome," everyone was sucked into Sandy's Treedome. This event could have been the inspiration for this story.
• The Main Drain, which sucks in all of Bikini Bottom, obviously refers to the end-of-the-world scenario "killer strangelet."
• Like his arms and legs, SpongeBob's tongue can also be detached and reattached.
• It's odd with Patrick's antenna, in some episodes, it breaks quite easily, such as "Christmas Who?" with a bauble, but it can hold bubbles and a heavy rock with Patrick and SpongeBob on it.
• This is the second time Mr. Krabs and Plankton were shown as friends and kids. The first was "Friend or Foe."
• On the Legends of Bikini Bottom DVD cover, some of the stories are being sucked down into the main drain. ("Trenchbillies," "The Bikini Bottom Triangle").
• The plot is very similar to "Hooky."
• This is one of the episodes where Mr. Krabs warns SpongeBob and Patrick about doing something, but they don't listen to Mr. Krabs. The first being "Hooky," second being "Sailor Mouth," and the third being "Face Freeze!"
• This episode reveals that SpongeBob is aware that Squidward thinks his life sucks as he added a scene where Squidward says, "Another miserable day..." in his story.
• This episode premiered eight years after the release of Tales from the Deep, Bikini Bottom Bash!, and Deep Sea Sillies and six years after The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was released in Spain.

Cultural references

• It was revealed in this episode when SpongeBob and Patrick are seen flying on Patrick's house intended with bubble made balloons. This scene of Patrick's house is very similar to Mr. Fredrickson's house from a Disney/Pixar film "Up (2009 film)."

Errors

• When SpongeBob said, "Patrick we need to find that drain," the road suddenly disappears.
• When SpongeBob put the danger sign on the floor, the lever beside the freezer disappears.
• When Mr. Krabs turned off the lights, it is the left side, but when he finished the story, the switch suddenly changed positions. The next scene shows that the switch is above SpongeBob, hanging on the ceiling.