042a - Club SpongeBob

The episode begins with Squidward leaving his house and riding his bicycle to work. He then rides past a tall tree, at the top of which is a small box where SpongeBob and Patrick are sitting and giggling profusely. They see Squidward below and talk to each other about this, beginning certain words with a "w" sound. Squidward approaches the base of the tree and asks what they are doing, and SpongeBob tells Squidward that he can't tell him because he is not a member of their club. Squidward mocks them, saying that he is more than qualified to join their club. SpongeBob tells Squidward he couldn't get in even if he tried. Squidward tells them that he is "a member of over 20 different exclusive clubs all across the sea bottom.," but SpongeBob and Patrick insist that he would not fit in. Enraged, Squidward tells them they know nothing of fitting in before he proceeds to climb the tree. SpongeBob and Patrick frantically tell Squidward to stop but he does not. Squidward crawls into their tiny box, and SpongeBob and Patrick explain that they literally meant that he wouldn't "fit in," and that he and Patrick have been stuck in the tree for three days. SpongeBob and Patrick begin Squidward's initiation into their "club," but Squidward stops them, and attempts to get out be pulling on a smaller tree. He manages to make the tree double over and is about to crawl out when the second tree snaps, launching them into the sky. They fly over a kelp forest, where a couple sees them and the man says "Make a wish, Honey."

The trio crash in a small clearing in a distant section of the kelp forest. SpongeBob and Patrick begin to jump and shout joyfully while Squidward panics at his situation of being lost and stuck with SpongeBob and Patrick. SpongeBob and Patrick try to comfort Squidward by telling him it could be worse, and that they will survive as a club and as long as they have the "Magic Conch Shell," a Magic 8 ball-like device which SpongeBob and Patrick treat as prophetic and all-knowing. They believe the Magic Conch should never be questioned and should always be consulted before any action is taken. SpongeBob asks it what they must do to escape the kelp forest, and the conch says, "Nothing." SpongeBob and Patrick sit on the ground doing nothing, and Squidward is enraged at their stupidity. He announces that he intends to escape the forest and get back to sanity by himself, and walks away. As Squidward tries to find an exit, he becomes lost and afraid and eventually comes back to where SpongeBob and Patrick are.

Even more time passes, and by now, Squidward has dismantled the box in order to build a shelter. He has a hat made out of some dried plant and is sitting by a small campfire. He is holding an empty frying pan over the fire. A small bug scurries past, but Squidward catches it and proceeds to cook it. He taunts SpongeBob with his "food," saying that they could have sided with him and survived, but instead listened to a talking shell- that tells them nothing. He proceeds to say, "As if the answers to all your problems will fall right out of the sky! (laughs) Fall right out of the sky!"

Above the forest, a damaged plane is seen falling right out of the sky, and the pilots drop their load of picnic supplies and food to avoid crashing. The equipment lands around SpongeBob and Patrick, who emerge from their state of doing nothing and praise the magic conch. Squidward is extremely shocked and walks over to the two, who are devouring a table full of delicious food. Squidward says he was only kidding earlier and asks if he is still a member of the club, and SpongeBob tells him that he is still a member. Squidward cannot decide what to choose, and forcibly follows SpongeBob's suggestion of asking the conch shell. It tells him he cannot have either of the two items he asked for. He tries another one, and the conch says no. He repeatedly asks it if he can have anything to eat, with the shell responding "no" every time. He becomes enraged and is about to go mad when a Park Ranger enters the clearing.

Squidward tells him he has been stranded with SpongeBob, Patrick, and the magic conch shell for weeks, and his mention of the "magic conch shell" prompts the ranger who pulls out an identical conch, much to Squidward's surprise. SpongeBob and Patrick are delighted to meet a "club member," and the ranger tells them that his conch advised him to look for them. The three club members praise the magic conch before asking it how to get out of the kelp forest. It tells them, "Nothing." Following the conch's advice, they do nothing and assume sitting positions on the ground. Squidward, completely dumbfounded, praises the magic conch and sits down as well, ending the episode.