"Friend or Foe" is the 81st episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, and the first episode produced for the show's fifth season.


Patchy segments

Patchy and Potty are working at a restaurant called "Poop Deck", hoping to be just like SpongeBob. Patchy has new ideas which Potty disagrees with, and after an argument with Potty, Patchy ends their friendship and goes home. He compares himself and Potty to Mr. Krabs and Plankton, starting the SpongeBob Plot.

Later, Potty appears to Patchy and tells him that he is now assistant manager. The two get into another argument, and Patchy starts throwing patties at Potty, but they keep missing, and one eventually hits Mr. Pirateson, the Owner of Poop Deck. Patchy then tells the viewers to watch the rest of the SpongeBob episode while he watches Potty get fired.

After the SpongeBob episode is over, Patchy claims he took some time off, but Potty then tells the viewers that Patchy actually got fired, and Patchy gets back at Potty by saying that he got fired too, which is also true (but Potty also got a golden parachute). Patchy then says that they cannot replace him, but Potty tells him that they already did. When Patchy finds out that he's been replaced by a gorilla, he calls it a "smelly, hairy fleabag" which the gorilla responds to by throwing patties at Patchy.

Main segment

After yet another attack on the Krusty Krab by Plankton, SpongeBob asks Mr. Krabs why they hate each other so much. Mr. Krabs tells his side of the story, in a series of flashbacks:

153b Plankton and Mr Krabs

Mr. Krabs and Plankton were best friends from birth, and did everything together. Both were outcasts, Plankton being a nerd and Krabs (ironically) being extremely poor. One day Krabs finds a penny at the carnival, his first exposure to money, which he spends on a balloon for Plankton. Later, they get enough money to buy a burger from Stinky's Burgers, which, despite having horrible food and literally being located in a dump, is very popular among the local children due to being the only place in town to get a burger. Mr. Stinky refuses to serve them, saying that freaks like them are bad for business, and tells them to "wait" at the back of the building. There, they witness Stinky retiring, having made millions from the stand. Plankton and Krabs decide to go into the burger business themselves, and create their own burger, but no one wants to try it. When Stinky's is closed by the local health department, the two open "Plabs Burgers" on his former site, which the children are now forced to eat at, despite it being even worse than Stinky's.

Plankton says that they are now ruling the stomachs of the children, and soon will be ruling their brains. Mr. Krabs argues that it should be about satisfying the customers, rather than power. Soon they get into an argument, and Krabs is ejected into a dump pile and tells Plankton that he will one day regret this.

Plankton comes in and disagrees with Mr. Krabs' story and tells SpongeBob his own version. His story is the same as Mr. Krabs', except that their roles during the fight at the end are reversed, with Krabs wanting to rule the money of the children.

Plankton and Mr. Krabs begin arguing about the story, until Karen arrives and tells the real story:

The restaurant initially has no customers, and Old Man Jenkins is the first to try one of their burgers. Upon taking a bite, he smiles, falls to the ground, and a newspaper appears saying he died. Krabs and Plankton become angry and accuse each other of tainting the patty. They begin fighting over the recipe, eventually tearing it in two, with Plankton getting the bottom half, which says "...and a pinch of chum." Their friendship over, Plankton storms out to pursue his own career in food. However, during the struggle, a shelf was knocked down, dumping various ingredients into the patty batter, creating the Krabby Patty recipe, which Krabs is left with. The two go their separate ways, each trying to open their own establishment. Mr. Krabs' "Krabby Patty" is great, while Plankton's "Chum Burger" is horrible.

After hearing the story, Plankton and Krabs begin to make up and apologize, until Plankton takes the formula from his pocket. SpongeBob and Krabs start chasing Karen and Plankton in circles as the episode ends.


  • "Friend or Foe" was also available on Hulu, but only in Spanish.

Home video releases

  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Friend or Foe
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 5, Part 1
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes

External links
