Review: The Patrick Star Show “Squidina’s Little Helper”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Squidina’s new assistant turns out to be too good for his job.

Our Take:
It’s always essential to have someone lend you a helping hand every once in a while. But sometimes, a little too much help can be pretty irritating, especially if you’re someone like Squidina.
The episode showcased more of Squidina’s duty as a manager and producer of Patrick’s show. She wakes up every morning, drinks coffee out of her sippy cup, and gets Patrick ready for his show. She’s even in charge of keeping the show running with the segments and reminding her big brother who he is. When she overworked herself, Squidina decided to hire an intern to lend her an extra hand. Her intern turned out to be Fenton, a young crab who almost resembled the younger version of SpongeBob’s boss, Mr. Krabs.
The primary thing that the writers did right in “Squidina’s Little Helper” was giving Squidina a chance to shine. We usually see her as a background character who manages and supports her brother Patrick with his show. This episode represented Squidina’s work schedule further, but not without a bizarrely charming moment or two. Squidina was a cute and humorous member of the Star Family, and I’m glad that her hard work was recognized in this episode.
What caught me by surprise, however, was its conclusion. Near the end of the episode, it was revealed that Fenton only took the job to steal all of Squidina’s production equipment for his sister’s show. As a result, Fenton’s sister show managed to go global while Patrick’s show is still stuck at the bottom. I initially thought that the episode would have Fenton replace Squidina as the show’s new manager and producer because of how good he was at his intern job. But the plot managed to make a Patrick out of me by allowing Fenton to steal the characters’ ideas and make a show similar to Patrick’s. Thankfully, Patrick sends his toilet monster inside his television to attack Fenton and his sister during their performance at the end of the episode.
Like the other episodes, “Squidina’s Little Helper” benefitted well from its humor, which took some of the expressions a bit too literally, such as the extra hands bit. But unfortunately, the ending was a bit of a letdown in my eyes. While it strayed from the plot’s formula, the execution of its conclusion not only felt rushed, but it also strayed too far from the story’s purpose by having Fenton get away with infringement. Plus, I couldn’t help but feel that Fenton reminded me of a young Mr. Krabs regarding his appearance. Coincidence? Maybe.
Overall, “Squidina’s Little Helper” couldn’t get the help it needed for its story, but it served as another enjoyable segment in Patrick’s show. The humor was funny as usual, and the charm is goofily amusing. Sadly, it had an ending that somehow betrays the plot’s intended message. There is one thing that I learned from this episode. Never trust a crab.