You remember the "Mr. Krabs is greedy" trope, right? It's a staple of the show. But then there’s SpongeBob SquarePants The Cent of Money, an episode from Season 6 that aired back in 2010. It didn't just push the envelope of Eugene Krabs’ obsession with wealth; it basically shredded it. If you haven't seen it lately, the premise is simple but kind of dark: Mr. Krabs discovers that Gary the snail is a living, breathing coin magnet. Naturally, instead of taking Gary to a vet, he takes him on a cross-town spree to "harvest" loose change from every citizen in Bikini Bottom.
It’s a bizarre ten minutes of television.
Honestly, looking back at the mid-to-late 2000s era of the show, fans often point to this specific episode as the peak of "Mr. Krabs flanderization." That’s the term for when a character’s single trait—in this case, avarice—gets cranked up so high it consumes their entire personality. In SpongeBob SquarePants The Cent of Money, we aren't just seeing a business owner trying to save a nickel. We’re seeing a guy basically use his employee's pet as a literal vacuum cleaner.
The Plot That Baffled Fans
The episode starts innocently enough. SpongeBob is taking Gary for a walk, and they run into Mr. Krabs. Suddenly, change starts flying out of Krabs' pockets and sticking to Gary's shell. It turns out Gary swallowed a powerful magnet (classic Gary move). Krabs, being Krabs, sees dollar signs. Or rather, cents.
He lies to SpongeBob. He tells him he’s taking Gary for a "walk" while SpongeBob works a double shift. What follows is a montage of Krabs dragging a clearly exhausted, over-magnetized snail through laundromats, arcades, and even a toll booth.
Here is the thing: Gary is visibly suffering. The magnets are heavy. He’s tired. In one scene, they go to the washateria, and Gary is being pulled toward the machines by the sheer force of the magnetism. It’s supposed to be funny, but for a lot of viewers, it felt a little mean-spirited. This is a common critique of the "post-movie" seasons (referring to anything after the 2004 film). The humor shifted from whimsical surrealism to something a bit more cynical.
Why the Animation Style Matters Here
If you watch SpongeBob SquarePants The Cent of Money side-by-side with an episode from Season 2, you’ll notice the colors are brighter and the expressions are more extreme. The "gross-out" factor is higher. When Gary is being strained by the magnetic pull, the animators really lean into the bulging eyes and the shaking shell.
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The Backlash and the "Mr. Krabs is a Monster" Meme
This episode is frequently cited in "Top 10 Worst Mr. Krabs Moments" lists across Reddit and YouTube. Why? Because there is no real lesson learned. Usually, in the early seasons, if Krabs did something terrible for money, he paid a heavy price—think "Born Again Krabs" where he almost goes to Davy Jones' Locker for sixty-two cents.
In the SpongeBob SquarePants The Cent of Money ending, he does get caught. SpongeBob finds him at the arcade, and he's disappointed. Then, a giant pile of coins eventually crushes Krabs because the magnet Gary swallowed was actually a rare "high-powered" one.
But for some fans, the punishment didn't fit the crime. He spent the whole episode exploiting an animal.
- Production Code: 122b
- Writer: Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Dani Michaeli
- Air Date: July 7, 2010
Actually, some people defend it. They argue that SpongeBob has always been an absurdist comedy. If we start applying real-world ethics to a crab who birthed a whale daughter (Pearl), we’re probably overthinking it. But even within the internal logic of Bikini Bottom, this felt like a shift.
Comparing "The Cent of Money" to Other Greed Episodes
To understand why this one sticks out, you have to look at the "greed trilogy" of the middle seasons:
- Penny Foolish: Where Krabs hallucinates that SpongeBob found a penny.
- The Cent of Money: The Gary magnet incident.
- One Coarse Meal: The infamous Plankton-suicide-scare episode.
Among these, SpongeBob SquarePants The Cent of Money is probably the most "watchable," but it’s the one that solidified the "Cheapskate Krabs" archetype that later seasons struggled to walk back.
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It’s interesting. The writers (Alexander and Cervas) were responsible for many of the show’s most visually inventive episodes, but they also leaned hard into the slapstick-as-cruelty vibe that defined this era. You can see it in the way the townspeople react. Usually, the background characters in Bikini Bottom are just annoyed. Here, they're victims of a petty theft spree.
The Technical Side of the Episode
From a technical standpoint, the voice acting remains top-tier. Clancy Brown (the voice of Mr. Krabs) gives it his all. Even when the script makes Krabs do something irredeemable, Brown’s delivery makes it charismatic. Tom Kenny’s SpongeBob is, as always, the naive heart of the show, but he feels more like a background character in his own series here.
The episode also features a lot of "prop-based" humor. The magnet isn't just a magnet; it’s a plot device that allows for some pretty creative visual gags involving metal objects. A guy's dentures fly out. A woman's hairpins vanish. It’s fast-paced.
Is It Worth a Rewatch?
Look, if you’re a completionist or a parent whose kid is cycling through Paramount+, you’re going to see it. It’s not "unwatchable." It’s just... intense. It represents a specific moment in animation history where Nickelodeon was trying to figure out how to keep a decade-old character fresh. Their answer was "make him more of whatever he already is."
If you like the chaotic, slightly meaner version of the show, you'll probably enjoy the slapstick. If you grew up on "Pizza Delivery" and "Band Geeks," it might leave a sour taste in your mouth.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Collectors
If you're looking to dive deeper into this specific era of the show, or you're a trivia buff, keep these things in mind:
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Check the DVD Sets
This episode appears on the SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete Sixth Season DVD. It’s often grouped with "Chum Bucket Supreme," which is actually a much better-received episode from the same period.
Analyze the "Magnet" Trope
This isn't the only time the show uses magnetism as a plot device. Compare the physics in this episode to "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV" (the belt episode). You’ll see how the animation philosophy changed from "small scale and relatable" to "large scale and chaotic."
Contextualize the Era
When discussing SpongeBob SquarePants The Cent of Money in fan circles, use the term "Season 6 Slump." It helps categorize the specific tone of the writing. Most fans recognize Season 4 through 8 as the "Middle Ages" of the show—where the quality fluctuated wildly before a perceived "renaissance" when Stephen Hillenburg returned to the crew later on.
Verify the Writing Credits
Always check the storyboard directors. Alexander and Cervas have a very distinct "squash and stretch" style that is visible throughout the coin-collecting sequences. Understanding who made the episode helps you understand why it looks so different from the early episodes directed by Derek Drymon.
This episode remains a fascinating case study in character development—or the lack thereof. It’s a piece of Bikini Bottom history that shows exactly how far the writers were willing to go to get a laugh out of a crab’s obsession with a single cent.