"The Inside Job" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season 7. In this episode, Plankton explores SpongeBob's brain in an attempt to steal the Krabby Patty formula.

Characters

• Karen Plankton
• Sheldon J. Plankton
  • Plankton SquarePants ^{(single appearance)}
    • SpongeBob SquarePants
  • Plankton Star ^{(single appearance)}
    • Patrick Star
• Hamster ^{(single appearance)}
• Incidentals
  • Steve
  • Incidental 103
  • Incidental 48
  • Suzy ^(cameo)
  • Incidental 41
  • Incidental 42
  • Incidental 1D
• Squidward Tentacles
• Eugene H. Krabs
• Brain Gary ^{(single appearance)}
  • Gary the Snail ^{(Likeness only)}

Synopsis

In the beginning of the episode, Plankton tries to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula, with Karen launching him into Mr. Krabs' brain, but ends up going into SpongeBob's brain instead. Karen and Plankton did not know SpongeBob was holding a cardboard cutout of Mr. Krabs until he moved it away.

Plankton goes into the optical system to see how to make Krabby Patties, but SpongeBob cannot see because of Plankton and uses inedible cleaning utensils as ingredients. Plankton does not realize this until he decides to go the audio system to listen to the formula, restoring SpongeBob's sight. SpongeBob is horrified at his inedible creation and thinks he forgot to make the Krabby Patty, so he asks Mr. Krabs to tell him the secret recipe again, but by the time he gets in front of him, Plankton is already using SpongeBob's eardrums. SpongeBob cannot hear Mr. Krabs, so the latter repeats himself by yelling, then by using a megaphone. This blasts Plankton away and SpongeBob regains his hearing with him and Mr. Krabs forgetting the reason for his visit.

Plankton then tries to go to the "command central," the brain, to learn about the formula. When he goes inside, he is in SpongeBob's pineapple but it is spaghetti-ish and pinkish, so he goes into the library. He looks at SpongeBob's secrets and finds that the formula is in the heart. He slides the vertebrae down there, and when he sucks information from SpongeBob's heart turns into a clone of him, from appearance to personality, while maintaining his own voice and single eye (now blue like SpongeBob's).

Karen then calls him asking him if he got the Krabby Patty recipe yet, to which Plankton knows but, now having SpongeBob's personality, refuses to share it as that would be stealing. Karen then turns his mind-reading hat into a propeller to fly Plankton out of SpongeBob and back home.

On the way home, Plankton bumps into Patrick, latching onto his skull and accidentally sucking information from him, immediately transforming into a Patrick clone. Karen plucks Plankton off of Patrick while he's walking by the Chum Bucket and asks for the secret recipe but Plankton, now stupid as Patrick, is unable to tell her, as the episode ends.

Production

This episode was confirmed on June 26, 2009.^[3]

Model sheets

Art

Character design

Background design

Storyboards

Music

( ‣ ) Production music

( • ) Original music

( ◦ ) SpongeBob music

 • Secret Agent 00 SquarePants - Nicolas Carr [title card]
 ‣ Charivari Clowns - Daniel Jean Jeannin [Plankton watching TV]
 • Goofy Conversation Continued Thin Mix - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["Hey, I was watching that!"]
 • New Vibe Hits - Nicolas Carr [two people enter]
 ‣ Background Blues - Otto Sieben [they're visiting the most disgusting places in town]
 • Steel Licks 22 - Jeremy Wakefield [Plankton sighs]
 ‣ Shadow Villain - Meyer Kupferman [Karen telling Plankton how to get the formula]
 ‣ Danger HQ - Norman Dane ["Prepare for launch."]
 ‣ Armed Attack - Jean Clero [Plankton launched toward Krusty Krab/Plankton gets inside SpongeBob]
 • Noodly Shinanigans - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Plankton sees what SpongeBob does]
 • Jovial Pirate's Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr ["Order number 17?"]
 • Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony ["That's it! I'm trying something else."]
 • Nude Sting - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob screams]
 ‣ Drama Link (G) - Hubert Clifford ["Mr. Krabs, help me, Mr. Krabs!"]
 • Mission Improbable - Nicolas Carr, Barry Anthony [Plankton goes to SpongeBob's eardrum]
 • Salty Krab Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr ["Need a little refresher, eh?"]
 ‣ International Intrigue - Joe Sherman [Plankton unplugs SpongeBob's eardrum]
 • Salty Krab Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob can't hear Mr. Krabs]
 • Transformer Malfuction - Nicolas Carr ["Here it comes!"]
 • Salty Krab Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr [Krabs using a megaphone.]
 • Carrol Chimes - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob's hearing returns.]
 • Salty Krab Jig - Michael Bolger, Nicolas Carr ["Oh sure, I can hear you fine now."]
 ‣ Finger of Fear - Fredric Bayco [Plankton goes to SpongeBob's brain]
 • New Vibe Hits - Nicolas Carr ["Why am I making idiotic comments?"]
 • Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr ["Superficial greetings?"]
 • Tension Bits - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["Personal opinions? Knock-knock jokes?"]
 ‣ Drama Link (D) - Hubert Clifford [Plankton goes in deeper]
 ‣ Moon Walk - John Fox [inside SpongeBob's brain]
 • Whats This Sting - Nicolas Carr ["Sounds that make Squidward upset?!"]
 • Lap Steel - Nicolas Carr [SpongeBob laughs]
 • Steel Licks 47 - Jeremy Wakefield ["Patrick's favorite places to be scratched?!"]
 ‣ Zelle 501 - Gerhard Trede [The secret recipe's located in the heart.]
 ‣ Striptease A - Peter Fallowell [Plankton's mouth watering]
 ‣ Straight From Hell [#83] - Gregor F. Narholz ["All of the ingredients coming together in perfect harmony!"]
 ‣ Drama Link (C) - Hubert Clifford ["Okay, that was weird."]
 ‣ Frankenstein's Niece A - Gregor F. Narholz [Plankton transforming into SpongeBob]
 • Skipping to School - Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield ["It's beautiful!"]
 ‣ Tales From The Swamp (A) - Ron Goodwin [Plankton transforming into Patrick]
 • 12th Street Rag w Bass - Nicolas Carr, Sage Guyton, Jeremy Wakefield [ending]

Release

Broadcast

• This episode was paired up with "Tentacle-Vision" during its original American airing in The Ultimate SpongeBob SpongeBash event, but has since re-aired with "Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy."

Distribution

Format	Title	Region
DVD	Complete Seventh Season	United States, Europe, Australia, Japan
	The Great Patty Caper	United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Japan
	Sunđer Bob Kockalone DVD 3	Croatia
	Help Wanted	France
Box set	3 DVD Value Pack Volume 2	Australia
	Kids Double Pack: Volume 4	Europe
	The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection	Australia
	The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection	Germany and Australia
	The Seventh & Eighth Seasons	United States
	The Next 100 Episodes	United States
	The Best 200 Episodes Ever	United States
	The Best 300 Episodes Ever	United States
Digital release	SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 10	Global

Trivia

General

• This episode originally had the packaging number of 127b and was paired with "Stuck in the Wringer," but it was eventually changed to 129b and was repaired with "Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy."^[3]
• Both this episode and its sister episode, "Someone's in the Kitchen with Sandy," involve Plankton trying to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula through someone else's body.
• Squidward is reading a House Fancy magazine, which first appeared in the episode of the same name.
• This is the first episode to use "Moon Walk" since "Squidtastic Voyage."
  • Ironically, both episodes' plot have something to do with being inside a person's body.
• This is Karen's only major role in season 7.
• This is the second episode where Plankton goes inside of SpongeBob's head. The first is "Plankton!"
  • However, in this episode, SpongeBob's brain is bigger than it is in that episode.
• This was the last episode in season 7 to premiere during Nickelodeon's 1984-2009 Splat era.
• In production order, this marks the return of the writer, Doug Lawrence wrote since "Graveyard Shift." Despite that, in packaging order, his first episode as return to write was "I ♥ Dancing," and his last episode he wrote until season 7 was "Procrastination."

Dub facts

• This episode and its sister premiered in a different packaging order in the Polish dub.

Errors

• When SpongeBob screams as he notices the Sponge Patty he unknowingly made, his teeth are yellow for a split second.

• SpongeBob cannot hear if his eardrum is not plugged into a wire. However, when Plankton detaches his plunger from his eardrum, SpongeBob can hear again despite the fact that his eardrum is not plugged in. Additionally, the discarded wire disappears entirely after Plankton has detached it.
• Plankton is seen sliding down SpongeBob's spine. However, SpongeBob should not have a spine, because sponges are invertebrates. A similar mistake was made in "Roller Cowards" and "Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob."
• SpongeBob's heart is not shown beating.

• Just as Plankton completes his transformation into SpongeBob, his eyelashes are missing for a split second.
• When Patrick walks out of the Krusty Krab, after Karen takes Plankton, Patrick's animation freezes for a second.
• Patrick's lips are pink when he leaves the Krusty Krab.
• At the end when Karen flies him out, the cap extends to cover Plankton entirely, but once he is outside SpongeBob, it isn't covering him anymore.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
French	La recette du pâté de crabe	The Recipe for the Krabby Patty
Hungarian	A belső ellenség	The Internal Enemy
Italian	Spione cerebrale	Brain Spy
Russian	Шпионаж Shpionazh	The Espionage
Spanish (Latin America)	Trabajo interno	Internal Job
Spanish (Spain)	Un trabajo desde dentro	An Inside Job

References

1. ^ Nickelodeon UK - SpongeBob SquarePants - New Episodes Promo (February 2010)
2. ^ Nickelodeon UK - February 24, 2010
3. ^ ^{a b} The ten new episodes have been revealed! | SpongeBuddy Mania Forums
4. ^ SpongeBob SquarePants | Ginny Hawes: Art & Animation