So I was watching some of the more recent Spongebobs on TV a while back, and they introduced a new group of the cast known as the "girl squad", a mixture of Mrs. Puff, Karen, and Sandy. I think they put in Pearl for one episode but I don't know if that carried over.
I do appreciate the more experimental groups they've been doing lately. Why haven't Sandy and Squidward been at the shared center of an episode?
Chemistry.
(Warning: Another infamous JAC tangent where he talks about something that seems completely different that he tries to fit back to the main argument.)
Sandy and Squidward in the first three seasons actually were very similar. They both usually get themselves involved in a situation due to their prides that ends up being their own downfalls. Such as "Spongebob, Sandy, and the Worm", wherein Sandy believes she can wrassle and wrangle a giant worm pestering and eating Bikini Bottom, versus "Club Spongebob", where Squidward thinks he can get into Spongebob's club only to get launched into the wilderness.
Sandy was just a more positive and friendlier version. However, she's the main antagonist of episodes such as "Pressure" or "Pre-Hibernation Week" because her emotions get the best of her.
At some point, "Karate Island" airs, and I think this is roughly when Sandy's role in the show is way different. Instead, Sandy saves Spongebob from several gurus of karate with wits, strength, and power. How "OP" she is as a character was never addressed prior because she has so many faults and flaws that get in her way, but as the series goes on, those flaws are smoothed over.
In one episode in the middle seasons, I can remember she ends up trying to impress the scholar-chimps who fund her research at the ocean floor, and the plot felt more like something you'd see Twilight Sparkle get involved in. Like really, a nerd trying her damndest to get approval for something, fearing she can't.
Anyway, so in the first three seasons, Sandy was just as flawed, yet instrumental as the rest of the cast. She was on the more reasonable and intelligent side of the aisle but still a harbinger of pain. Later on, she became the hero, culminating in this upcoming movie in about a year where she'll literally be the main protagonist.
Therefore, now, there's a recent episode about Squidward and Sandy wherein Squidward has Spongebob and Patrick play dangerous sports for his amusement, so Sandy comes in to whoop his ass. Or one episode where Squidward is stalked by a burly weirdo, so he learns karate from Sandy, but uses the sacred martial art for revenge.
The evolution/flanderization (whatever you prefer) tries to fit these characters together in new roles that wouldn't have worked in the first three seasons. But at the very least, there is a chemistry between these two.
(Tangent over).
The girl squad still lacks that.
When you look at Spongebob and Patrick, you've got a neat and ruffled dichotomy. Patrick is relatively relaxed and stupid, while Spongebob is uptight and anxious. Both aren't very smart, but they're not very smart in different ways: Spongebob is more likely to cause a shenanigan by himself, while Patrick is more likely to keep a shenanigan going. That's what makes them work. They are a perpetual motion machine for idiocy.
Add Squidward, and the dynamic shifts slightly. Instead, Squidward is usually the one who's making the most sense, while Spongebob and Patrick are both bringing unending suffering and torment. Patrick supplies the best off-hand remarks, while Spongebob provides a moral and "reasonable" center.
Spongebob, Mr. Krabs, and Squidward instead has a boss-servants relationship. Mr. Krabs usually has a salaryman comedy-esque way with them, employing them on near impossible tasks. Mr. Krabs and Spongebob is framed more like Krabs is trying to take advantage of an oblivious employee.
This is chemistry. To get the most entertaining reactions, you've got to mix in the right chemicals. Characters who are complements to one another are, like in art, opposites. A well-composed group is usually crafted by several of these opposites.
Patrick's lack of ambition and uncleanliness is oppositional of Mr. Krab's lofty goals and slick businessmanship.
Spongebob's neuroticism is oppositional of Patrick's laziness and stupidity or Squidward's "I don't care, just get the job done nhe nhe nhe" versus Mr. Krabs "we're gonna have to bury him, boy".
Squidward's intelligence and easy-to-anger personality is oppositional of Patrick's "put stuff in mouth" attitude.
So looking at the Girl Squad, what do we have?
Karen is logical and efficient, usually dealing with her stupid husband Plankton.
Mrs. Puff is smart, usually dealing with her stupid student Spongebob.
Sandy is intelligent . . . Wait a minute.
Are you seeing what I'm seeing? These are all Analogous characters. They all look and act the same. They're all "straight men".
How did this happen?
This looks like bad planning. None of them really bring out one another's traits. Another issue with chemistry is they have to actively provoke the personalities, otherwise they all just blend in. Even if they're "good characters" on their own, bad support is bad support.
Like, the one episode they have is about pranking Spongebob while he's asleep. But, does this seem like something any of them would do? Karen isn't even in support of her husband half the time, Sandy is best friends, and Mrs. Puff doesn't want to be near the cheesy little nutcase.
Uh, okay, well, then there's the episode where they bring Pearl to the woods and prepare to prank her by pretending to be a monster--wait, okay, this also doesn't work but like also, why is there another dayum prank?
These characters don't have strong reasons so the plot comes along and says "here, do something".
If we wanted to make this work, what opposites are there? I don't know, Mrs. Puff is anxious, Karen is blase, and Sandy is prideful. Try to make plots about that mixture.
Like, let's say Mrs. Puff is afraid of dogs, so Sandy is like, "I can show you dogs are nothing to be afraid of" and ends up being mauled by a seaworm or something while Karen watches in the background.
But even then, that's only one plot and I'd really struggle for more. In fact, that's not an episode, that's just a joke.
You can't really make plots with these characters because they're just not that interesting together.
Anyway, so that's my rant about character chemistry. Uh, yeah.
No comments:
Post a Comment