Boating School

Boating School is an episode from Season One. In this episode, Patrick tries to help Spongebob with his boating exam.

Characters
Spongebob Squarepants

Mrs Puff (debut)

Patrick Star

Squidward Tentacles

Gary the Snail

Joe (debut, cameo)

Fred (cameo)

Synopsis
It is the day of SpongeBob's driving exam at Mrs Puffs Boating School and he is very excited. If he passes it, he will get his license. Once there, he throws his unicycle away, falsely assuming he will pass. Having taken the oral exam thirty-eight times previously, SpongeBob is able to answer the questions before they are even asked. However, upon reaching the driving portion of the exam, he realizes he was so excited so much that he didn't know it was really long and hard. As a result, he gets scared and panics, and quickly crashes into a lighthouse causing Mrs. Puff's body to inflate. Mrs. Puff says, "Oh SpongeBob, why?". Later that night, he complains about his failure to Gary, who asks SpongeBob to go for a walk, which he declines. Patrick is then heard talking to him from a walkie-talkie under his bed covers. He asks SpongeBob to head to his closet for a "surprise". It is Patrick wearing his clothes and calling himself "Patrick SquarePants". SpongeBob is too depressed to laugh, and explains his problem to Patrick and mentions that he needs someone to help him think straight during the exam. Patrick quickly devises a plan. He puts a walkie-talkie inside SpongeBob's head so that he can talk SpongeBob through the test, hiding the antenna with a cowboy hat.

The next day, SpongeBob goes back to take the test again. When asked to start the boat, he initially panics, but Patrick's instructions keep him calm. Just after SpongeBob puts the boat in drive he almost floors the pedal but then Patrick goes, "FREEZE MISTER!", and SpongeBob's foot stops just before it touches the pedal. Patrick then says, "Big toe." SpongeBob's toe then pops out of his shoe and it presses the pedal. This is followed by a video montage of SpongeBob acing the exam, interspersed with shots of Patrick eating SpongeBob's food and reading his diary while helping him. Mrs. Puff is floored by his sudden improvement and jokingly suggests that SpongeBob's success is due to an antenna under his hat through which "some guy miles away from here is giving you (him) all the answers." SpongeBob (and Patrick) finds this hilarious, until Mrs. Puff concludes, "But that would be cheating!" Upon realizing that he has been cheating, SpongeBob goes into hysterics, making Patrick realize that his method is bad, forcing Patrick to flee to his house, and driving wildly all over the course and sobbing while Mrs. Puff, in a panic, tries desperately to stop him but SpongeBob refuses to listen and crashes the boat and fails the test again, and the inflated Mrs. Puff is taken to the hospital. As he leaves boating school, he finds Gary riding his unicycle. SpongeBob rides off on it, with Gary atop his head, saying "Let's go surprise someone at the hospital!"

Info
Season No:              1

Episode No:             4b

Airdate:                    7 August 1999

Sister Episode:        Naughty Nautical Neighbours