Squidward's Big Depression Show!

Squidward's Big Depression Show! is the first episode of the first season of A Particular Sponge! and the first episode of the series overall. It premiered on October 6th, 2020 and had over 0.3 million viewers during it's first week watching period. This episode was the first one to be banned in the US, China, Russia and Ukraine when it first premiered due to conveying themes of suicide, depression and joking about depression, which in term, got this and it's sequel episode during Season 8 got themselves banned.
== Synopsis: ==
When Squidward's new wife Squiddle Diddle leaves him for a more mature and elderly squid, Squidina, He goes into a deep depression and won't leave his house for weeks, eventually leading to him getting fired by Mr.Krabs. When SpongeBob takes note of this unusual behavior, he does everything he can to help Squidward fend off his depression. 
== Plot: ==
After the Theme Song, it opens up with Squidward and Squiddle Diddle playing in a park neaby Bikini Bottom when someone throws a Frisbee at Squidward. He catches it and looks back at the person who threw it in his direction, and to his surprise, it was actually two elderly squids named Squidna and Squilliam Fancyson/A Particular Sponge. Squiddle Diddle ultimately becomes fond of their body and asks the two handsome squids if they want to go out on a date with her, to which Squidward, distraught, tells her that she's already on a date with him which upon hearing him, shoves him to the side and calls him a "Nobody" and a "dinkpot loser!" before walking off with the two elder squids leaving Squidward alone and with his thoughts. Many flashbacks play out, with the first being him being lazy and moping around at The Kursty Krab, with Mr.Krabs even taking note of his actions and firing him on the spot, the next is a flashback to when Squidward was at Combat Camp {in a future episode, namely a Season 3 one} and SpongeBob comments that if he was going to finish his "little project", to which Squidward nodded slowly. The Third and final flashback features Mr.Krabs, SpongeBob, and Squidward on a boat going Jelly-Fishing, baring the high seas of The Brave Bikini Atol Waters before it fades back to reality. 
It then cuts to Squidward on his bed, hopeless and moping away. He then hears a knock on his door and a familiar squeaky voice calling out to him to which Squidward profusely responds with "Go away moron, can't you see that i'm grieving!". The voice then answered "Oh Squidward, i'm here to help you fight through it!" as SpongeBob emerged from the front doorway. Squidward looked surprised to see his best friend/neighbor again after such a long time, 12 years to be exact ever since he moved away from Bikini Bottom, with Squiddle Diddle to Squidtown. Squidward saw how tall SpongeBob had gotten over time and hugged him, crying, moved by how far he's come, what he's achieved and the fact that he even remembered him. SpongeBob then tell Squidward that he now knows the location of the two buff and handsome men that took his original wife away from him, and is now headed directed to the Bikini Bottom Beach to teach Squiddle some pro-flexer exercises. 
Squidward then asks SpongeBob how much time he has until everything goes south, and SpongeBob replied with "About 2 mintues!" leading Squidward to quickly get dressed, put on his beach uniform to hopefully win over her, and quickly drives him and SpongeBob over to the Beach {with following Traffic Rules}. They then get to the Beach and see the two men and Squiddle hitting the gym and showing off to each other. Squidward then takes a deep breath and tries to remember all of the good times him and Squiddle have had before walking over to her. Squidward then tries to himself again after she asked who he was, but the two buff beach-duds pushed him to the hard wooden floor and declare that he's had his fun with Squiddle and now it's their turn. Squidward tries many attempts to win her back, even attempting to fall off of a high building or structure just to prove his worth, but this all lead to faliure as Squiddle Diddle rejects him once again before the two buff-duds beat him up on the spot and leave Squidward there to possibly die. SpongeBob then walks up to Squidward and tells him that they've atleast tried, which ultimately makes Squidward cry as the episode blacks out. The credits then rolled, but, just as they were about to end, we see an extra scene with Squidward dressing up as a "secret Third Beach-Dud" to hopefully prove his worth to Squiddle once again, even though he admitted his failures. The episode then ended. 
== Characters: ==
Squidward
Squiddle Diddle
Squidina
Squilliam Fancyson
Mr.Krabs
Patrick {flashback scene only}
SpongeBob
Fred (Incidental 1) {seen in the background}
Incidental 234
Sandy Cheeks {in the background of the Beach scene playing Bikini Volleyball with a couple of other Background Characters, including Mermaid Man, Barnacle Boy and Charles}
Background Characters
The "My-leg!" Guy!
Plankton {seen as an easter egg during the extra credits scene}
Karen {seen when they were at the Beach}
=== Episode Production: ===
The production for this episode, and the series in general, was formed all the way back in 2017, when it was announced that SpongeBob would've greenlit an entirely new series titled SpongeBob's HUGGEE Show! and was originally going to be made on Netflix with an order of 78 episodes {4 whole new seasons, with a chose-your-own-story-type season that canonically serves as the Fifth Season, was currently in development at the time} But, when the first teaser trailer officially debuted on March 16th, 2018, it was revealed that the creator of this new series, David Hamilton announced to everyone on his X/Twitter page that he would only produce 14 new episodes for this new series that wasn't going to be "SpongeBob's HUGGGE Show!", and if Hillenberg was on board with the project, he'd give the okay to produce a 14 episode 11-minute second season, but unfortunate, due to Stephen's passing on November 26th, 2018, The Second Season was ultimately scrapped, although, a lost episode titled The Big Meaty Claws Race! was produced for Season 2 even though it's been marked as "lost media" due to it's obscurity. 
During December of 2018 going into January of 2019, it was announced by David himself that he and a couple of Nickelodeon executes were working on a new SpongeBob series and needed a pilot episode about Squidward going into a deep depression over the loss of his long-time lover. David had read the creepypasta, "Squidward's Suicide" in the past, but decided not to do an episode revolving around there, because of the two facts that 1. It might scare younger viewers, and 2. It would be way out-of-line for SpongeBob to be doing something like that with it's TV-Y7 rating. He ultimately went with a pilot that he himself created entirely inside of his head. The pilot, alongside the show, released on October 5th, 2020 {on Streaming Services} before having an exclusive premiere Broadcast on October 6th, 2020, landing it's official home on Nick.
=== Music: ===
== Copyrighted Music originally used: ==
# "Here Comes the Sun"- heard in the credits of the originally aired version but was edited out of the current version due to copyright.
# "Funky Town"- was used for a supposed dance-battle scene involving Squidward and Francis battling it out, but the song, alongside of the scene was cut due to obvious reasons
# An "Uptown Funk" instrumental was originally going to be used when it showed Squidward's flashbacks, but due to this episode focusing on Squidward's depression over his wife leaving him, they decided to use music from the SpongeBob library/copyrighted sad instrumentals instead
# "Worst Day Ever!" An alternate version of "Best Day Ever" from the original SpongeBob series was originally going to be used, but was cut out due to the episode being 11 minutes long {excluding commercials}
# "Squidward's Big Depression Show! {Original Theme Song used for the episode} This basically explains itself as being the original version of the Theme Song for this episode
# "12 More Nights" Not sure what this song was originally gonna be, but it was probably about Squidward having a nightmare where he has to survive 12 more nights at the Krusty Krab, alone {don't entirely know what this segment was going to be about, it might also be about Squidward possibly moving into Patrick's House {as explained in a deleted scene for this episode} This song was ultimately used and finalized to act as a modern-day SpongeBob song
# "A Big and Depressive Finale" Would've been used as the final song of this episode and during the credits but it was removed at the last minute for unknown reasons
# "The Jiggily Jiggy Jam" Cut song sung by Patrick, it was unknown why they cut it though
== Music that was used in the episode: ==
# The SpongeBob Theme Song
# Vibe and Harp Hits
# Comic Walk
# Whisper from the Past
# A finished version of the song "12 More Nights" 
# Hawaiian Cocktail
# Lonely Violin
# Dramatic Cue {used when an adult SpongeBob walks into Squidward's House}
# Dramatic Cue {B}
# Hawaiian Breeze
# Credits Music
# Dramatic Cue {D}
=== Streaming Releases: ===
# Nick
# Apple TV
# Hulu
# Sling TV
== DVD Releases: ==
# The Best of A Particular Sponge {2020}
# The Complete First Season of A Particular Sponge {2020}
# The Best of Adult SpongeBob and Patrick {2020}
# Best and Worst Days Ever {2020}
# It's a SpongeBob Miracle! {2021}
# Times When You're Feelin' Down! {2023}
# Squidward's Big Depression Show!/The Lucky Splat {2023}
== Reception: ==
Squidward's Big Depression Show! was ranked #24 during A Particular Sponge's Best Episodes Ever Event from April 4-24, 2021. 
DUring a Thanksgiving Particular Sponge Marathon starting from November 2nd, 2022 and wrapping up on November 
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Category:Episodes
Category:2023
Category:2023 Episodes
Category:2020
Category:2020s