Jellyfishing

"Jellyfishing" is a *SpongeBob SquarePants* episode from season one. In this episode, SpongeBob and Patrick take Squidward to Jellyfish Fields to have the "Best Day Ever."

## Synopsis

The episode begins with a jellyfish swimming by SpongeBob's house, where SpongeBob and Patrick then observe it through a massive telescope protruding from a window in SpongeBob's house. They then slide down ropes (causing them to get rope burn) and put their jellyfish nets together, and SpongeBob puts on his glasses. They prepare for jellyfishing like a pro, but then meet Squidward and ask him if he wants to join them. He says that he can't go with them because he is "busy" and goes bicycling instead. SpongeBob asks Squidward if he can join them next time. Squidward sarcastically says yes and goes down the road.

Unfortunately, while he is biking, Squidward has an accident involving a jellyfish and gets his tentacles tangled in his bike's pedals, causing him to veer out of control and he tumbles down a cliff--then inexplicably explodes when he hits the bottom--leaving him ultimately wheelchair bound. SpongeBob and Patrick decide that what Squidward needs is a "Best Day Ever." It begins at Squidward's house where Patrick reads to Squidward "How Mozart Got His Tune Back." Things seem to go well for him, as he and SpongeBob talk about orchestras, Patrick plays him Solitude in A major off key, and his injuries are now less painful.

SpongeBob and Patrick then declare that a Jellyfishing expedition would be in order for the "Best Day Ever." They then go to Jellyfish Fields, SpongeBob tells Patrick to give a net to Squidward, while he finds "a good specimen." Patrick explains that Squidward must, "firmly grasp [the net] it in your hand," but when Patrick fails to put a jellyfishing net in Squidward's cast-covered hand, he gets frustrated and he stabs it through Squidward's palm, much to his chagrin and pain.

He is not into it at first, but when a jellyfish stings him, he goes after it for revenge. He manages to catch the jellyfish and bangs his net triumphantly against a pink mass, but in doing so, he angers a jellyfish that is also a monster, who was the aforementioned pink mass. The Monster jellyfish chases after him, while SpongeBob and Patrick obliviously cheer him on until the Monster jellyfish zaps Squidward with an extremely massive sting from his electric breath, leaving their cheering replaced with cringing at poor Squidward's literally shocking misfortune.

The next day, SpongeBob and Patrick covered in band-aids meet outside Squidward's house and attempt to give a now life-support-bound Squidward

the jellyfish that he caught the previous day as an apology. SpongeBob hopefully asks Squidward if he still isn't mad at them. Sure enough, he is, and he opens the jar and lets the jellyfish attack SpongeBob and Patrick as they sprint into the distance. As Squidward laughs, the Monster Jellyfish finds him and stings him again, this time with his breath and arms, thus destroying his life-support and shattering his body cast. A completely blackened Squidward can only say "Ow" as the episode ends.

## Cast (in order of appearance)

* Tom Kenny as Jellyfish
	+ Kenny also does SpongeBob's singing
* Paul Winchell as SpongeBob
* Bob Weighton as Patrick
* Wilfrid Hyde-White as Squidward
* Frank Welker as Jellyfish Monster

Additionally, Rob Paulsen provides SpongeBob's screams when he gets zapped by jellyfish.

## Production

### Release

* This episode is available on Sea Stories, The Complete 1st Season, The 1st Season: Volume 1, Tea at the Treedome, First 100 Episodes, SpongeBob SquarePants, iSponge Offer Pack, Complete First Season, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 1, From the Beginning, Pt.1, Deep-Sea Games, The First & Second Seasons, Movies & TV Collection, and The Best 200 Episodes Ever DVDs along with Sea Stories, and Movies & TV Collection Blu-rays, and *SpongeBob SquarePants* Volume 1 on GBA Video and on VideoNow.

## Trivia

### General

* Going by production order, this is the sixth episode of the first season.
* This is the first episode to be written by Paul Winchell and the last to be directed only by him. Every other episode after this would be directed by other people (alongside him for seasons 1–3 and some of season 4).
* In later airings of the Polish dub, Patrick says "Firmly grasp it in your hand" only once. The rest of the scene is skipped to the close-up of the net jabbed through Squidward's bandaged hand. However, the scenes that Poland are most upset about are the scenes where Squidward gets zapped by the Monster Jellyfish.
* Squidward rides off a cliff, causing an explosion. This is referenced again in the episodes "My Pretty Seahorse" and "New Fish in Town," when Squidward states not to laugh at SpongeBob because of his previous karma, however, he still rides off a cliff and inexplicably explodes.
* In "I'm Your Biggest Fanatic," SpongeBob says that he has never seen a queen jellyfish, yet he's seen the Jellyfish Monster in this episode.
	+ His statement is still correct, as the monster is a male, has no royalty history, and might not even be related to King Jellyfish.
* This episode marks the first usage of the original track "Gator" and the APM tracks "Grass Skirt Chase," " Hawaiian Links" and "The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka"
* This is the first episode not to have its name changed for the Japanese dub.
* This is the first time "Fight Against Smithy" is used during a chase scene.
	+ This is also the first time since "Super Mario RPG" where that exact track is used.
	+ This is also the first *SpongeBob SquarePants* episode to use music from a Nintendo property, not counting the end credits for home video releases where the track is mostly different for each DVD or VHS.
* The footage of a jellyfish swimming around is reused in "20,000 Patties Under the Sea."

### Cultural references

* SpongeBob and Patrick sing "The Blue Danube."

### Errors

**[Please note that all of these errors were fixed on home media and digital releases as well as international airings unless otherwise noted.]**

* At the beginning, SpongeBob's house is missing a window.
	+ This error occurred in some season 1 episodes and in "Life Insurance."
* When SpongeBob and Patrick get stung by a jellyfish, said jellyfish has no spots.
* When Squidward leaves SpongeBob and Patrick on his bicycle, SpongeBob's house is missing.
* When Squidward's legs get stuck on the bike after going out of control by the jellyfish, if you look closely, his arms get stuck as well, even though only his legs are shown to get stuck.
* At the beginning, the sky is blue, but when SpongeBob and Patrick come out of the pineapple, the sky is orange, and when they chase the jellyfish, the sky is blue again.
* When SpongeBob says, "Hey, Patrick," Patrick's mouth is syncing to what SpongeBob is saying.
* When SpongeBob and Patrick throw Squidward a "Best Day Ever" party, SpongeBob is inside, but when Squidward leaves his house, SpongeBob is shown outside.
* When Squidward is in his wheelchair, he needs a cast for each arm, but he is able to move them to slam his jellyfish against the bigger jellyfish.
	+ According to Paul Winchell and Ralph Bakshi, the reason why Squidward was able to slam his jellyfish even with the cast on his arms was because the accident Squidward got into involving his bike and a jellyfish was unable to injure the bones used in the arms. However, in another interview with them, they stated that the skin on his arms got a second degree burn from the heat of the explosion.
* When SpongeBob and Patrick are chanting "Jellyfishing! Jellyfishing!" at Jellyfish Fields, SpongeBob's mouth doesn't move to the sync.
* Squidward's net switches between his hands. First, it is in his right hand, then his left, then right again.

* In Nickelodeon Australia and New Zealand schedule calls this episode "Jelly Fishing."
	+ However, starting in 2015, the episode's name was changed back to "Jellyfishing."
* When Squidward is on his wheel bed at the end of the episode, when he arrives at the scene he is facing his front door, however later on in the scene, he is facing towards Patrick's house when the big jellyfish zaps him.
* When SpongeBob says, "Hey, Squidward!" his mouth moves as if he is saying something else.
	+ This happens again when he says, "There's one in position."

### Running gags

* Someone gets stung in a different kind of way.
* SpongeBob and Patrick trying to give Squidward "the best day ever," but it ends up having Squidward getting repeatedly hurt.