- SpongeBob Anchovies Guide: All About the Fish That Say “Meep” - November 3, 2022
- Hooky Spongebob Guide - October 1, 2022
- Dennis Spongebob Guide: Who Is Dennis The Hitman? - September 22, 2022
I remember watching SpongeBob since I was in grade 4. The one-eyed pirate and his parrot singing a melodious song and a yellow sponge with his half-headed humor instantly overtook me. SpongeBob is a cartoon that has made me happy whenever I felt down.
All the characters are unique, sharing a discrete set of habits and expressions that never miss a chance to bestow you with laughter. The mixture of greedy and penny-pincher Mr. Krabs, frustrated Squidward, dumb but innocent SpongeBob, and many such characters always made these episodes unforgettable.
One of these great episodes was “Hooky.” If I say this was one of my favorite episodes from the SpongeBob series, I won’t be lying here. This episode comprises events that made me laugh and gave me some valuable lessons. Still, one of the most memorable scenes that made me laugh was when SpongeBob’s pants were taken away by a hook in front of Pearl and her friends.
Hooky SpongeBob Guide: Bottom Line Up Front
The episode starts with Mr. Krabs running inside Krusty Krabs, warning customers that the hooks have returned. But, no one pays any heed to him except SpongeBob. Mr. Krabs warns SpongeBob not to go out there; otherwise, he’ll end up being a gift in the gift shop. However, SpongeBob ends up playing with the hooks when Patrick lures him into having some fun. When SpongeBob gets into trouble and asks Mr. Krabs for help, Mr. Krabs refuses.
Consequently, SpongeBob’s pants get taken off by the hook, and everyone starts laughing at him. He runs toward home, affirming that he won’t do this again. But it turns out it was a lesson for him from Squidward and Mr. Krabs, who was actually controlling the hook.
“Mermaid Man And Barnacle Boy II” is the sister episode of “Hooky.” In this episode, SpongeBob wins a conch signal in a game and uses it to call Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy at many minor inconveniences, eventually making them frustrated.
Key Information
- Season: 1
- Episode: 20
- Air date: April 8, 2001
- Characters featured: SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star, Eugene H. Krabs, Squidward Tentacles, and Pearl.
- Sister Episode: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II.
- IMDB Rating: 8.7/10.
Hooky, The Episode Guide
Return of the Hooks
Well, this episode started just like every other episode of this series, with the narrator describing how underwater life is affected by fishermen. The two fishermen with impatient faces were shown waiting on their boats with their hooks dangling in the water. Like any fisherman, they wanted to be successful in their first casting. But they forgot it was Bikini Bottom, and this arduous task would be more challenging than that.
In the next scene, Squidward, in his usual monotone, inquires whether SpongeBob has cleaned the deck yet or not. Then arrives SpongeBob, drifting his spongy body on the floor as a mop, saying that only a nasty barnacle remains under table 9.
Suddenly, we see a busy Krusty Krabs full of customers when Mr. Krabs screams as he barges inside. “They’re back,” he wiggles his eyes and starts stressing something that didn’t make sense.
Everyone in the diner stopped munching on their food for a moment and looked at him in silence. The next moment they turned nonchalant and resumed eating again. Still, Mr. Krabs went on to each customer shouting about some hooks. But thank God one of the customers offered him a mint to help him chill out.
On the other hand, Squidward was on the counter during this madness. He was dealing with a customer with an agitated face and wanted to get away from this place as fast as possible. Poor Squidward, already frustrated by Mr. Krabs’ ruckus, opens up about how lucky that customer is to leave this loud place. Yes, Squidward, I can feel you very well! Anyway, Squidward spots Mr. Krabs approaching him, so he tries to make an escape saying he has to inspect his wastebasket and wears it on his head. Humiliated, Mr. Krabs leaves, saying he warned them at the very least.
Keep The Hooks at Bay
Just then, SpongeBob appears on the screen with a foamy, mature-looking beard that disintegrates as he asks Mr. Krabs what he is talking about. Finally, there was someone who listened to Mr. Krabs! He happily diverted all his attention to SpongeBob and told him about the hooks.
Mr. Krabs used his arm in a weird but interesting way to represent how luring hooks can look. Not only SpongeBob but, at this point, even I was listening to Mr. Krabs with attention. Mr. Krabs then grabbed a customer’s pants, who was enjoying his juice peacefully, and began pulling them all the way, showing how the hooks pull sea creatures up by their britches.
Mr. Krabs didn’t stop there. With a mortifying expression, he told SpongeBob that after getting him, the fishermen would cook and eat him. Our poor SpongeBob became more terrified when Mr. Krabs spiced things up and stated that the situation could get even worse. He said that he might even end up in a pitiful gift shop. Hearing all this, SpongeBob was horrified, and his legs started shaking with fear.
Terrified, SpongeBob hides beneath a wooden box, pleading with Mr. Krabs to save him. Mr. Krabs assures SpongeBob with a condescending tone that no one can harm him as long as he listens to his advice. Then, just in the blink of an eye, we see him ordering SpongeBob to get to work because time is money. After all, he is a businesscrab through and through.
The Carnival of Hooks
The following day SpongeBob was frying patties for the customers when Patrick popped up at the window and greeted SpongeBob with a delighted smile. He informs SpongeBob that the carnival has started and they should go there. But our dedicated chef declines the offer as he is at work. But who knows, Patrick can be pretty brilliant and a witty guy sometimes! He convinces SpongeBob that he will not be leaving but taking a break. Therefore, SpongeBob got tricked and decided to go, making me reconsider if he’s that dedicated after all.
While on their way to the carnival, Patrick sang a song in his irksome yet jolly voice. When they reached there, what surprised me was that it wasn’t a carnival but a bunch of hooks with luring colorful baits on them. But our saviors of Bikini Bottom didn’t know it yet.
Patrick started to frolic around, chanting that he would win everything. However, SpongeBob began to feel that something was unusual. He asked why no one else was there in the carnival, to which Patrick replied he saw one kid before he left to call SpongeBob. Are you thinking what I am thinking? Yes, that kid took the bait!
The next moment, SpongeBob accidentally bumps into a hook; he recalls the imagery Mr. Krabs had portrayed and starts to panic. He warns Patrick about the hooks and tells him to stay away from them.
However, Patrick doesn’t pay any heed; he sits on the sharp hook jokingly and confirms they are not dangerous. After all, how can something covered with cheese be dangerous? Well, I did not say that; these were Patrick’s words. Anyway, the annoyingly ingenious Patrick puts the hooks in his mouth no matter how much SpongeBob tries to warn him.
At one point, Patrick even inserted all of the hooks in his mouth and asked SpongeBob whether it was dangerous or not. Poor SpongeBob gets too concerned for him and starts gasping while asking Patrick to stop it. But the stubborn Patrick shouted with a frown that he would gulp all the cheese by himself if SpongeBob didn’t stop nagging him.
Let’s Play Hooky
A few moments later, the thing happened that SpongeBob feared the most. The hook pulled up Patrick, dragging him higher and higher. Even my heart squeezed at Patrick’s screams for help. SpongeBob panicked and started thinking about all the horror of hooks he heard from Mr. Krabs. He felt as if his poor best friend won’t ever return now. But to our utter surprise, Patrick comes down slowly like paper falling from the sky, thanks to his pants that acted as an underwater parachute.
Patrick was chuckling and telling SpongeBob how much fun this whole shenanigan was. However, SpongeBob was still flabbergasted; he recalled all the bad things Mr. Krabs said would happen if they touched hooks. Patrick soothed him and told him that he would be safe if he jumped off right before getting to the surface.
To prove his point, Patrick jumps onto a bait resembling a merry-go-round seat and asks coyly if Mr. Krabs restricted SpongeBob to riding a hook like a horsey. At this point, SpongeBob lost all the wisdom he was showing before and said he didn’t, joining Patrick on his ride up while laughing heavily.
It was a sunny day above the ocean when two fishermen pulled the string up with all their might. But little did they know they were going to get rickrolled. SpongeBob and Patrick were having the time of their life under the sea; both could be seen roaring with laughter, and their cheeks blushed. Before they could touch the surface, they would jump down.
In the spur of the moment, SpongeBob screamed with his eyes closed that this activity was more fun than his double time at Krusty Krabs. I must mention that my face went bonkers at hearing that; seriously, who can enjoy a double time at that boring Krusty Krabs? Anyway, they land safely on the ground with the help of their floating pants. While on the boats, both the fishermen seemed disappointed at the empty hooks.
Food Frenzy
If you are wondering what was happening at Krusty Krabs in the meantime, the answer is simple; it was chaos. As SpongeBob was not present in the kitchen, Squidward had to take his role, and oh boy, he surely wasn’t a good cook at all. The customers complained their food tasted like fried boots.
The camera then turned towards the kitchen where Squidward was TRYING hard not to burn the patties. But he was miserably failing at it; of course, he wasn’t Gordon Ramsey. The grimaced expression on his face showed his anguish and frustration as he took all the bickering and rebuking of the customers jumping on his head, demanding food. Poor Squidward could only shout about the stupidity of wanting these kinds of patties. At this moment, Mr. Krabs pokes his head inside the kitchen with a seething frown and inquires about the commotion.
Squidward tells Mr. Krabs that SpongeBob had not returned from the break and that all of this food frenzy was because of him. Mr. Krabs started laughing out of nowhere; Squidward’s face had a confused expression, and so was mine. Mr. Krabs continued to laugh and said no one had ever taken a break in his restaurant since the Chum famine of 59′ and that Squidward must have been mistaken. “Now, what was it that you’re talking about?” Mr. Krabs winked his one eye and inquired. On the edge of frustration, Squidward shouted at the top of his lungs and replied he…took…a…break. Mr. Krabs went blank as soon as he heard it and his arms started to drop off; one of the best scenes of the entire episode, if you ask me.
Seeking Lazy Pants
Mr. Krabs angrily gets out of the restaurant to find what he calls SpongeBob Lazypants. Wiggling his nose with anger, he boldly claims he can catch a lazy person from a distance of 10,000 leagues. The door of Krusty Krab continues to open and close, and Squidward begs Mr. Krabs for help while all the customers jump on him. Poor Squidward was getting tortured at the expense of SpongeBob’s little break.
Mr. Krabs sniffs laziness with an angry face and finds Patrick and SpongeBob living the best of their lives. But wait, those are hooks! Before he could stop them, a hook pulled them up. Mr. Krabs tried running to save them but hit the rock as they flew up.
With his eyes stuck to the rock, which he pulled away with a plop, he began lamenting his failure to save Patrick and SpongeBob and only if he could hold him again for once. He seemed no less than a classical tenor here. But before he could finish the sentence, they got down laughing. Mr. Krabs completes his sentence by threatening to throttle them instead.
The angry Mr. Krabs rebukes them that he warned them not to go near these vicious hooks, yet there they are. SpongeBob tries to make up for it, but Patrick cuts off his stutter by answering Mr. Krabs that they only ride it to the surface and gently float down.
However, Patrick’s gentle nonchalant expression changed when Mr. Krabs shouted on his face that the repercussion of them not floating down was worse than being in a gift shop. SpongeBob asks with a puzzled expression what he meant; Mr. Krabs replies, A vacuumed tin of tuna, where they will have to stay with nothing but mayonnaise! All three made a disgusted face at this, and so did I. Being in mayo is definitely no less than a nightmare.
As things settle down, Mr. Krabs orders them to make a sailor’s promise. They repeated after him in unison a weird promise not to go near the hooks again. While still in the process, a sharp hook pricks at Mr. Krab’s bottom, and he jumps up, rubbing his bottom. He yells some distorted swears that SpongeBob and Patrick repeated after him, rubbing their bottoms too, cliché.
A Broken Promise
Now, a new day breaks in Bikini Bottom with SpongeBob’s big pineapple house standing there. Mr. SquarePants tells Gary he’s going to keep his promise today, to which Gary meows in response. Let’s not get into why Gary meowed, although being a snail, and leave this mystery for some other day.
SpongeBob is on his way to Krusty Krabs when Patrick comes out of his rocky home. Patrick starts to lure him into playing “hooky” again, but SpongeBob resists. Still, Patrick assures SpongeBob that he crossed his fingers while promising, which kept me wondering how could he; he doesn’t even have any fingers!
Seeing SpongeBob not batting an eye at Patrick’s enticement, Patrick turns mad at him and says Mr. Krabs is just a big dummy. He further claims nothing happened to them, and it would be SpongeBob’s choice who he’ll listen to. Patrick then proceeds to ride the hooks and confidently proclaims deep down SpongeBob wants to do it as well. However, still committed, SpongeBob squeezes his hands and continues walking toward the restaurant, saying he has to keep his promise.
With just a few steps toward Krusty Krabs, SpongeBob ran into another hook that shined like it was winking at him. The hook caught him off guard; he wanted to touch it but restrains. He remembers that it’s a pretty deceiver and walks past it. But before he goes too far, he stops and runs back to it. He asks if the seat is taken and jumps right away. Oh, SpongeBob! I was about to call you a man of focus, commitment, and sheer will, but not anymore.
Punishment And a Lesson
So SpongeBob began to go up and down on the hook giggling. As he got down, he thought he had landed safely. But to his pure horror, that hook got stuck in his pants. Scared, he thought about being in a tuna can, mayonnaise, and gift shops, and he ran toward Mr. Krabs for help.
In Krusty Krabs, Mr. Krabs, being a penny-pincher, was offering Pearl and her friends some “free” water and even asked them to leave a tip for their old man. Again, I felt the secondhand embarrassment here, but not for him; this time, it was for Pearl. Our darling little whale looked at her father with a grimaced face but still thanked him, sarcastically, of course.
In the meantime, SpongeBob appears behind the restaurant’s wall and calls Mr. Krabs. SpongeBob stutters and tries to tell him about the hook he is stuck with, to which Mr. Krabs frowns and says he has warned him already. SpongeBob tried to lie about not being on those hooks, but the hook started to drag him. He got so scared that he finally admitted he was on them. Mr. ScaredPants cries and pleads for help while Pearl and her friends appear on the threshold and start laughing at him.
Mr. Krabs says there’s only one solution, looking at the hook and pants. SpongeBob realizes what he meant. But he can’t take it off in front of these girls! The hook pulls him again; he gasps and removes his pants, but who knew the hook was attached to his underwear.
Pearl laughs in the background, and SpongeBob turns more miserable. It puzzled me why Mr. Krabs was not genuinely helping him. Mr. Krabs then says that he can’t be saved if he can’t take the undies off. Ugh! the last thing I ever wanted was to witness SpongeBob without his underwear.
Mr. Krabs said he’ll find another cook who’ll listen to his advice to scare him more. The hook pulls him hard this time. As he grasps the Krusty Krabs sign with all his might while crying for help, the hook pulls his underwear. At last, he’s safe now, but uh-oh, at the expense of his dignity! The sign catapults forward, throwing him at the Krusty Krab’s door. A big yellow SpongeBob gets pressed against the big glass, and Pearl calls him SpongeBob Nudiepants while they all laugh at him.
But the story does not end here. It is shown that Squidward and Mr. Krabs were the ones behind that hook to teach him a lesson; maybe that’s why they were acting so strange. Anyway, SpongeBob has learned his lesson, and both of them laughed while SpongeBob ran to his home, whining about the incident.
At the end of the episode, a red bus delivers a tuna can to Patrick’s door, and we hear Patrick asking for a can-opener from inside the can. The poor lad got caught, after all. But he got what he deserved for being so intelligent and annoying.
Final Thoughts On The Episode
If I have to describe the moral of the story, it would be “we should always pay heed to the advice of elders and try not to indulge in dangerous activities blatantly; otherwise, we’ll end up being in a tuna can….uh, I mean in problems“.
Anyway, this episode was a hell of a ride. My favorite parts were SpongeBob learning his lesson, caring for Patrick, and trying to keep his promise. But I also hated those parts where Squidward had to work in the kitchen among ruckus because of SpongeBob and SpongeBob giving in to the temptations of Patrick. After all, I always had high hopes for SpongeBob.
But, to be honest, this episode also introduced to once in a lifetime scene of Mr. NudiePants. It’s not that I wanted to see him like that, but who am I to say no to it? For me, the episode was a roller coaster ride; the funny scenes went well, with a valuable lesson at the end. Not to mention, the bright tempting colors of bait and the slight hint of dark humor made it more interesting for me.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answer: When Mr. Krabs barged inside the restaurant, he started screaming about the return of hooks in Bikini Bottom. Although no customer was paying any heed, he warned SpongeBob about the horror of the hooks that could even land him in a gift shop.
Answer: According to Mr. Krabs, if anyone gets caught in a hook, they can end up in tuna cans filled with mayonnaise. He also mentioned that they can get cooked and eaten or might end up in gift shops.
Answer: Patrick ends up being enclosed in a tuna can that was delivered to his home, while SpongeBob loses his pants in front of Pearl and all her friends.
Looking for more interesting readings? Check out: