Krab Borg (Episode)

Revision as of 01:51, 17 April 2026

Krab Borg
© Paramount Global
Episode No.:	49a
Season:	3/2001
Airdate:	March 29, 2002
Previous Episode:	Squilliam Returns
Next Episode:	Rock-A-Bye Bivalve
Characters	Voice actors
SpongeBob SquarePants	Tom Kenny
Squidward Tentacles	Rodger Bumpass
Gary the Snail	Tom Kenny
Eugene H. Krabs	Clancy Brown
SpongeBob asks Thaddeus if he’s a robot. © Paramount Global

Krab Borg is an episode from season 3. In the episode, SpongeBob watches a scary robot movie and, the day after, thinks everything is a robot, especially Mr. Krabs.

Info

Characters

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Mr. Krabs
• Squidward Tentacles
• Gary the Snail
• Cashy
• Fred
• Davy Jones (mentioned)
• Radio DJ from the station KRUM
• Margaret SquarePants (mentioned as "mom")
• Uncle Sherm SquarePants (debut-of-sorts, mentioned)
• Pearl Krabs (mentioned)
• Characters from the movie

Places

• SpongeBob’s House
• Krusty Krab

Plot

One night, SpongeBob watches a scary movie called "Night of the Robot", which involves robots taking over the world. Gary tells SpongeBob he shouldn’t watch it, as scary movies freak him out, but SpongeBob denies this. However, he later shakes in fear in bed, wondering if everyone he knows is a robot. After asking Gary if he’s a robot, SpongeBob decides he has nothing to worry about and tries to get some sleep, but he has a nightmare about the same robot from the movie chasing him.

The next day at the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob has become very paranoid and believes that robots are "everywhere" with every sound jumpscaring him. Meanwhile, Mr. Krabs is in his office, listening to Electric Zoo on his portable radio; he likes the song and hums to it. SpongeBob later walks past Krabs' office and overhears him saying he feels "completely recharged." He then witnesses Krabs talking to his radio, talking in a "robot" language over the phone, and doing a bizarre robot-like dance to the song.

This convinces SpongeBob to believe that Mr. Krabs is a robot imposter, and he relays this information to Squidward. Squidward doesn’t believe him, so SpongeBob tries several tests to prove to his grumpy neighbor that Krabs is a robot. First, he tests Krabs' sense of humor by having Squidward tell a joke, but Krabs doesn’t laugh. SpongeBob says this is because he’a a robot, as robots don’t laugh, but Squidward says "he's obviously heard it before." SpongeBob then tests Mr. Krabs' emotions by telling him that Squidward's father never hugged him to see if he will cry. Krabs says that although it is a little sad, Squidward can hug himself during his break. This further worries SpongeBob, but Squidward says this is ridiculous and his father loved him very much. This reminds SpongeBob of the third and final test: the love test. SpongeBob tells Mr. Krabs that Squidward loves him, but he simply tells him to get back to work.

Back in his office, Mr. Krabs' radio breaks and he decides to give the batteries to Pearl as a Christmas present. A timer rings, and he grabs a pair of tongs and removes his hard-boiled egg from a pot of boiling water, ready to eat it. But just when Krabs is about to put some salt on the egg, he is startled when SpongeBob calls out his name a fourth time, and he accidentally tosses the full saltshaker into his eyes, causing him to scream in pain. Squidward then asks SpongeBob what the robots in the movie looked like, to which SpongeBob says they had red eyes, metal pinchers for hands, and batteries to run on. Squidward then asks if Krabs looks anything like that, and this is seemingly answered when Krabs barges out of his office screaming in pain with glowing bloodshot eyes, the tongs he used to hold the egg, and the radio batteries in his pocket. As Krabs runs to the bathroom, Squidward finally believes SpongeBob, and tells him to call the navy, but due to their automated telephone service, SpongeBob thinks that the robots have taken over the navy. Squidward then announces over the microphone that robots are taking over the world, causing all the customers to flee the Krusty Krab.

Mr. Krabs emerges from the bathroom, relieved that his eyes aren’t hurting anymore, and goes back to his office, not noticing that the Krusty Krab is now empty. Squidward then wonders how they will find out what happened to the "real" Mr. Krabs, and SpongeBob says that the main character in the movie teamed up with a buddy and they "got the poop on" (collected information from) the robot. After reading a book on How to Torture, the two go into Krabs' office and tie him up, demanding to know where the "real" Krabs is. After getting no answers and Krabs insisting that he is the real Krabs, SpongeBob and Squidward decide to interrogate his machines, which include a blender, a toaster, a food processor, and a coffee maker.

These, of course, don’t give any answers either (due to being inanimate objects). And so, Squidward destroys them all with a baseball bat. This greatly upsets Mr. Krabs, as he paid good money for each of them (except the coffee maker as he says it was actually a gift), and he finally breaks down crying when SpongeBob brings in his most valuable "robot": the cash register. He also mentions laughing with it and loving it, revealing he’s not a robot. Seeing that Krabs is telling the truth, Squidward asks SpongeBob how the movie ended. SpongeBob, while thinking the ending was great, remembers it revealed that the robot invasion was just in the characters' imagination, and that there were no robots after all.

Realizing his mistake, SpongeBob declares it’s time to feed Gary and runs off, leaving Squidward to take the heat from Mr. Krabs for pointlessly destroying the machines and falsely accusing him of being a robot. As a nervous Squidward grabs a broom and begins sweeping the mess, a furious Krabs growls and yells "Squidward!" as the episode ends.

Trivia/Goofs

• Characters who SpongeBob thought were a robot:
  • His mother
  • Uncle Sherm
  • Gary
  • Thaddeus
  • Mr. Krabs
• This is the second episode where SpongeBob was involved in an interrogation, after Imitation Krabs.
  • It’s also the second episode where Mr. Krabs was suspected to be a robot, after the same episode. There however, he actually was a robot imposter made by Plankton.
• SpongeBob claims that robots can’t laugh, cry, or love, but actual robot characters in the series (like Karen) *can* express said emotions.
• This is the first episode where inanimate objects were interrogated.
• In total, Squidward destroyed at least $120.12 out of Mr. Krabs' money excluding the gift and cash register.
• The episode’s title is a reference to Star Trek.
• There’s a "help wanted" sign on the Krusty Krab’s window at the end of the episode.
• This episode is a rare occasion where Squidward had went along with SpongeBob’s crazy schemes.
• The title card music is the same as that Mr. Krabs listens to in this episode.
• This episode has another mention of Uncle Sherm who’s mentioned several times in the series but never shown.
• When Mr. Krabs crushes the egg, he drops the tongs, but when he comes out of his office, he has them back in his hand again.
• When Mr. Krabs yells "WHAT?! YOU THINK I'M A ROBOT?!" the light’s back on, despite Squidward having turned it off.

Transcript and Song

• Transcript for Krab Borg
• Electric Zoo

Meme

Sure enough, the part where Mr. Krabs calls the radio station to play a song has become an Internet meme, involving users remixing Krabs' interpretation of the melody to the tune of a different song. Here is an example.

• Krabs: (calls radio station) Yes, hello. I was wondering if you could play that song again.
• Radio DJ: Oh, which one, man?
• Krabs: The one that goes, "beep-boop-boop-boop-bop, beep-boop-boop-boop-bop, boop-boop-boop-boop-bop!"
• (Mr. Krabs sings along to the Wii Shop Channel theme)