A Pal for Gary

## Episode Information [{{fullurl:Template:Episode/Template:Data:Production|action=edit}} [edit]]

"**A Pal for Gary**" is a *SpongeBob SquarePants* episode from season seven. In this episode, [[SpongeBob SquarePants (character)

### Characters

* Gary the Snail
* [[SpongeBob SquarePants (character)
* Cowboy fish (cameo on TV)
* Seahorse
* Fred
* Frankie Billy (blue)
* Jan the Worm (cameo)
* Eugene H. Krabs
* Sheriff
* Monroe Timmy
* Nudibranchs (debut)
	+ Puffy Fluffy (debut)
* Fortune teller (debut)
* Jellyfish (cameo in painting)
* Grandma SquarePants (mentioned)
* Shelley
* T.S. Halibut (debut) (mentioned)

## Synopsis

The episode opens on SpongeBob's house, where he is feeding Gary. Afterwards, he has to leave for work, but Gary wants to go on a walk. SpongeBob tells him that he does not have time to give him one and sadly walks away to work, feeling remorseful that he had no time to hang out with Gary. As he goes to the Krusty Krab, he notices that Mr. Krabs refuses to give one customer service on account of him bringing his pet worm into the restaurant. This reminds SpongeBob of the fact that Gary is home alone with nobody to keep him company, prompting him to make a remorseful phone call reminding Gary that he will be home soon.

As SpongeBob gets off work at night, Mr. Krabs tells him that he needs help with loading coal out of the parking lot, but SpongeBob cannot help as he has to get back to Gary at home. Mr. Krabs lets him off the hook so long as he comes in work five hours earlier the following day to help with the parking lot. As SpongeBob is walking home, he notices a truck selling nudibranchs, which catch his attention due to their "cute" appearance. However, the lady selling them informs him of their danger, but SpongeBob does not pay attention and simply runs off with a green nudibranch without paying for it. He buys this pet for Gary to have as his playmate while he is at work; he names it "Puffy Fluffy."

SpongeBob comes home and shows Gary his new playmate and places them next to one another to have them get along as he makes an enchiladas meal. Puffy makes blatant threats to Gary, but SpongeBob fails to notice the nudibranch's impending danger and instead accuses Gary of perpetrating violence against him. As punishment, Gary is put to sleep early tonight, next to Puffy Fluffy, then SpongeBob himself goes upstairs to sleep. Over the night, Puffy continues to threaten Gary as if he is going to kill him. Gary tries many defense mechanisms, but it turns out that Puffy Fluffy is stronger than him, making Gary more vulnerable to his abuse. They continue fighting throughout the night which eventually carries into the library, prompting a house fire made by Puffy Fluffy, who knocked over SpongeBob's fireplace.

 File:A Pal for Gary 174.png
The next day, SpongeBob wakes up to find that his house is a mess, and assumes that Gary caused it out of jealousy of his new "friend." He then walks into his exercise room to find Puffy Fluffy about to eat Gary alive, but, oblivious to the nudibranch's blatant abuse, once again accuses Gary of harassing him.

Puffy eventually traps SpongeBob as well, which gives Gary the idea to save him by getting out his lasso and freeing SpongeBob and intimidating Puffy, who runs off after Gary presents his defense. Despite this, SpongeBob still believes that Gary was responsible for Puffy Fluffy's violent behavior.

The episode ends with SpongeBob at work again, this time bringing Gary after the policy has been updated to allow animals in the restaurant. Mr. Krabs ironically hires Gary as the restaurant's second fry cook as the episode ends.

## Production

### Music

 **•** Clownfish Capers - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield *[title card]*

 **‣** Skipping to School - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield *[opening]*

 **‣** Grass Skirt Chase - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield *[Gary grabs everything he needs to watch TV]*

 **‣** Unknown Track 56 - Gary turns on the TV

 **‣** Steel Sting (II) - Jeremy Wakefield *["Poor little snail, just wanted some fun time."]*

 **‣** Unknown Track 56 - Gary watching TV

 **‣** Happy Sack Shanty - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr *[at the Krusty Krab]*

 **‣** Steel Licks (b) - Jeremy Wakefield *[no pet policy]*

 **‣** Drama Link (d) - Hubert Clifford *["Eh?!"]*

 **‣** Jovial Pirates Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr *["Hey, let's not be hasty."]*

 **‣** Steel Link (a) - Jeremy Wakefield *[SpongeBob feels guilty]*

 **‣** Unknown Track 56 - Gary still watching TV

 **‣** Steel Licks - Jeremy Wakefield *["Too distraught to even answer the phone."]*

 **‣** Unknown Track 56 - "Hello. You've reached SpongeBob and...C'mon Gary"

 **‣** Steel Sting (u) - Jeremy Wakefield *[SpongeBob leaves a message]*

 **‣** Steel Sting (III) - Jeremy Wakefield *["If we ever stop having so much fun, together!"]*

 **‣** Unknown Track 56 - SpongeBob leaves a message

 **‣** Steel Sting (f) - Jeremy Wakefield *[SpongeBob puts the phone down]*

 **‣** Slinky Panther Pants - Nicolas Carr *[closing time]*

 **‣** Salty Krab Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr *[Krabs re-tarring the parking lot]*

 **‣** Steel Link (c) - Jeremy Wakefield *["Poor Gary's been home alone all day."]*

 **‣** The Pollywog Strut - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony *["Wow, Dad, is it really mine to keep?"]*

 **‣** Why Am I So Poor? (b) - Niko Radic, Laszlo Borteri *[SpongeBob buys another pet]*

 **‣** Unknown Track 56 - Gary still watching TV

 **‣** Silly Shenanigans - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony *["I brought you a surprise!"]*

 **‣** Tales from the Swamp (c) - Ron Goodwin *[Puffy Fluffy roars at Gary]*

 **‣** Silly Shenanigans - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony *["Eat up, you two."]*

 **‣** Jarabe Tapatio (a) - Gerhart Frei, Carlos Periguez *["I'm gonna make some enchiladas."]*

 **‣** Unknown Track 53 - Ron Wasserman *[Puffy Fluffy eats the entire food bowl/Puffy Fluffy rips the squeaky carrot toy]*

 **‣** Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr *["I hope you're happy now."]*

 **‣** Finger of Fear - Fredric Bayco *[Gary has to share his bed with Puffy Fluffy]*

 **•** Solo Steel 4 - Jeremy Wakefield *[SpongeBob goes to bed]*

 **‣** Drama Link (f) - Hubert Clifford *[Gary enters]*

 **‣** Rock-a-Bye Baby - Nicolas Carr *["See? There he is, fast asleep."]*

 **‣** Drama Link (c) - Hubert Clifford *[balloon deflates]*

 **‣** Cellar Search - Philippe Pares *[Puffy Fluffy's grown to gigantic size]*

 **‣** Unknown Track 53 - Ron Wasserman *[Puffy Fluffy roars at Gary/Gary tries to defend himself from Puffy Fluffy]*

 **‣** Lullaby Box - Johannes Brahms, Leo Nissim *[SpongeBob talking in his sleep]*

 **‣** Abject Terror - Paul Lewis *[Puffy Fluffy chases Gary]*

 **‣** Stealth by Night - Jack Coles *["Mmm, you're making meatballs, Grandma?"]*

 **‣** Sword Fight - Harry Bluestone, Emil Cadkin *[Gary putting out the fire]*

 **‣** Vibe Q Sting - Nicolas Carr *["Huh?"]*

 **‣** Alone in the Old House - Gregor F. Narholz *[SpongeBob's library destroyed]*

 **‣** Terror - Alan Braden *[Gary's about to be eaten]*

 **‣** Sword Fight - Sam Fonteyn *[SpongeBob breaks down the door]*

 **‣** Tales from the Swamp (a) - Ron Goodwin *["Gary!"]*

 **‣** Horror House of Wax Retro 2 - Nicolas Carr, Ron Wasserman *[Puffy Fluffy tries to eat SpongeBob]*

 **‣** Unknown Track 56 - Gary saves SpongeBob

 **‣** Sailor's Sting 1 - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr *[ending]*

### Release

* This episode is available on the Heroes of Bikini Bottom, Complete Seventh Season, and Next 100 Episodes DVDs.

## Trivia

### General

* Although this episode premiered in 2010, it was made in 2009 according to the credits.
* The title card background for this episode is very similar to that of "Culture Shock." The only difference being that the title card for the latter is a lighter shade of red.
	+ It is also similar to the one for "SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One."
* This episode features a phone in SpongeBob's house that is not a shellphone. This was previously shown in "Procrastination."
* Peterson Nat Tucker is seen as a sheriff in the western crime show Gary is watching.
* Gary wears a soda drinking hat while watching TV. A soda drinking hat was previously seen as the main plot point of the episode "One Krabs Trash."
* In real life, nudibranch

s (sea slugs) are worm-like creatures. However, in this episode, they are portrayed as fluffy fish until Puffy Fluffy turns into a vicious monster.

* Puffy Fluffy's species of nudibranchs is never referred to by name in this episode.
* This episode reveals that SpongeBob's garage is located behind the living room.
* Puffy Fluffy tries to eat SpongeBob during the climax of the episode. This makes sense, as in real life, nudibranchs eat sea sponges.
* This is the second episode where Gary wears a Krusty Krab employee hat, the first being "Banned in Bikini Bottom."
* In the Polish dub of the episode, SpongeBob tells **Puffy Fluffy** to put **Gary** down, unlike in the original version, where it is the opposite.
* In the German dub version, this episode is called "Spielkamerad des Grauens" or "Playmate of Horror."
* This episode was paired up with "Don't Look Now" on the Massive Monster Mayhem Marathon.

### Cultural references

* The container for the chips that Gary eats is similar to the Pringles

```
cans.

```

* T.S. Halibut may be a possible reference to British essayist T. S. Eliot

.

* There is an online game based on this episode called *Gary's Revenge*, which itself is based on the game *Angry Birds*

*.*

### Errors

 File:A Pal for Gary00380.png
* When SpongeBob is walking away from his house near the start of the episode, his belt turns white for a split second.
	+ This error also occurred in "Funny Pants," "Boating Buddies," and "Boss for a Day."
* Throughout most of the movie or TV show, the cowboy fish is in his normal design, but in the last scene that is shown, he is instead purple with a blue fin.
* When Puffy Fluffy is rummaging through the fridge, there are only two frying pans on the rack near the stove. However, when Gary climbs onto the stove in an attempt to defend himself, there are now three frying pans that were not visible in the aforementioned shot.
* Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob to come in five hours early at work, so he should have woken up at 4 a.m. instead of 9 a.m.
* [[Squidward Tentacles
* In "Grooming Gary," SpongeBob says he understands snail language, but he does not use said skills when Puffy Fluffy is present.

### Running gags

* Puffy Fluffy attacking Gary when SpongeBob leaves the room.
* Whenever SpongeBob comes back, Puffy Fluffy reverts to his cute state, leaving Gary to take the blame.
* Gary using a lasso while wearing his cowboy hat.

de:Spielkamerad des Grauens (Episode)
es:Un Amigo para Gary
pl:Kumpel dla Gacusia
pt-br:Um Companheiro Para o Gary
ru:Друг для Гэри