Ditchin'

Ditchin'  is a  SpongeBob SquarePants  episode from  season six. In this episode, SpongeBob ditches Boating School, then gets distracted.

Characters

 * SpongeBob SquarePants
 * Patrick Star (does not appear in the full episode)
 * Mermaid Man
 * Barnacle Boy
 * Mrs. Puff
 * Sandy Cheeks (dos not appear in the full episode)
 * Evelyn
 * Dale
 * Fred
 * Sadie
 * Mable
 * Sally
 * Man Ray
 * Nazz-Mimi
 * Frank Fishbowl
 * Dennis (cameo)
 * Harold (cameo)
 * Jennifer
 * Little Squids

Synopsis
After watching an episode of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, SpongeBob and Patrick see a commercial for the new book telling their origin and that they will be signing the book starting at 8. SpongeBob is unhappy due to the fact that he has to go to boating school. Patrick suggest calling in sick, but SpongeBob doesn't want his perfect attendance record to end. They concoct a plan that SpongeBob will pretend to go to the bathroom but will sneak to the comic book store.

The next day in boating school SpongeBob pretends to have to go. Mrs.Puff gives him the bathroom key and tells him to return it to her desk, with that SpongeBob exits the school. Him and Patrick get to the store and get their books signed and walk through jellyfish fields. The jellyfish start to lift up Patrick and let him sit on them with Patrick stating their "friendly". They then throw themselves into SpongeBob's net then leave. SpongeBob and Patrick continue ending up buying Ice cream. Sadie congratulates SpongeBob on being her 100th costumer and tells him he can come back for free Ice cream anytime.

The two pursuit into Goo Lagoon where they get into a Badminton match with Sandy and a friend named Dale. SpongeBob and Patrick end Sandy's reign and unbeatable and are convinced by their fans to play another round. Then the cops come and arrest Dale, who is an ex-con on probation, for eating gummy fish (in Bikini Bottom, a reference to drug use). A fish tells SpongeBob that Dale was a nice guy until he started cutting class and ever since then, he became a criminal. With this, SpongeBob fears that he'll meet the same fate as Dale and he continues into the school.

SpongeBob has to race through the Bikini Bottom hug fest where a woman grabs him. He forces her to let go and continues. He ends up in a pit of tar and starts to drown, remembering the last words she said to him "Return it to my desk, OR YOU ARE IN BIG, BIG, TROUBLE, MISTER!". SpongeBob then fights his way out with a crowd cheering him on. He makes it back to the school with Mrs. Puff at the door and she becomes mad. He explains what he did with her not knowing what he is talking about. Cops appear behind her because she is being arrested for missing jury duty. The car pulls off with her telling SpongeBob do not ditch. SpongeBob says he will never ditch again leaving her confused and angry.

Major Events

 * SpongeBob skips out on school for the first time.
 * SpongeBob nearly dies in this episode.
 * Mrs. Puff gets arrested again; this time for skipping out on jury duty.

Trivia

 * Ditchin' is actually episode A and Dear Vikings is episode B, as specified by the episode credits (similar toLe Big Switch). However, they air backwards.
 * In The Fry Cook Games, fish are cooked as fish sticks, and Lou sells them. In this episode, Dale gets arrested for eating Quasi Gummy Chewy Candy Fish [1]. The fish sticks were made from real fish, but the gummy fish weren't, so Dale shouldn't have gotten arrested, even though these are both just jokes and the cop might've thought the candy was real.
 * SpongeBob cannot go to see Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy because class starts before 8:00, but in the episode "New Student Starfish" SpongeBob says that class doesn't start until 9:00. So the time school starts had to have changed.
 * We hear that Mrs. Puff ditched as well.
 * SpongeBob says he has a reputation for never missing boating school. This makes it sound like he never has missed a day. This means he didn't have school when he had the Suds.
 * The 9th Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy episode.
 * Third appearance of the Near Mint Comic Book store. The first was in Sing a Song of Patrick. The second was The Card.
 * This is the fourth time Mrs. Puff gets arrested. the first time was Hall Monitor, the second time was No Free Rides and the third time was Doing Time. This is the first time, however, that SpongeBob was not in any way involved in her arrest.
 * SpongeBob's favorite drink is Bubbly Water since his fridge is full of Bubbly Water.
 * Sandy's good at Badminton and was undefeated before being beaten by SpongeBob and Patrick, yet the crowd only cheered for SpongeBob and not Patrick.
 * Fourth time Mrs. Puff goes to Prison.
 * The title card is similar to Mrs. Puff, You're Fired, except the lines are blue and the text is 3D and purple.
 * One of SpongeBob's near-death times is shown in this episode.
 * This is the last episode to air in 2008. The next episode Shuffleboarding airs in 2009.
 * In German this episode is called "schulschwanzer", which means ditcher.
 * Dale's friend said that Dale has been a criminal ever since he started cutting class even though everyone else in this episode calls it ditching class.
 * Chewy Gummy Fish is a parody of Soylent Green from the 1973 dystopian film of the same name. Another parody is in Krabby Kronicles.
 * When SpongeBob is trapped in tar, he remembers Mrs. Puff's "kind last words". However after she said those words that SpongeBob claimed were her last, she said "and no dilly dallying!"
 * The place where SpongeBob thought he would drown to death is a parody of the Tar Pits in North America, where extinct skeletons are found.
 * Patrick makes a reference to "Boating Buddies" when he says that Squidward calls in sick all the time so he doesn't have to go to boating school. But he might be talking about his job at the The Krusty Krab.
 * This is the second time Mrs. Puff is a "big fat meanie" to SpongeBob. The first was "New Student Starfish."
 * Second episode to involve someone playing hooky (skipping work or school).
 * In the scene when SpongeBob and Patrick are in the bookstore, and the camera is panning over the people in line, if you look closely, you can see two Octopus kid's that look like Squidward.
 * Although the kid before SpongeBob and Patrick was young, he had a man's voice.
 * This episode was made to teach kids to go to school. (But it probably didn't work)
 * When SpongeBob got his legs back before "The Hug Festival" his left eye flickers.
 * When Patrick eats his chocolate ice cream, Patrick has only one tooth, but when he is done swallowing, he is seen with a full set of teeth.
 * Dale's friend says that Dale started to become criminal when he started missing the school of navigation, but as it was sailing school and no a  regular school, it is impossible to become criminal by never learned to drive.
 * This is the second time the title card music plays at the end. First was Club SpongeBob.

Music
APM Music


 * Arizona Fanfare - Mermaid man & Barnacle Boy title card.
 * Pell-Mell - Man Ray escapes in a molecular bubble.
 * Life on the Wild Side - Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy book signing advertisement.
 * 1st Achterhoek Dance - #1: At the Boating School...
 * 1st Achterhoek Dance - #2: Mrs. Puff questions about SpongeBob's dilemma.
 * 1st Achterhoek Dance - #3: "And make sure you return this bathroom key to my desk or you're in big trouble, mister."
 * Curtain-Raiser - Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy sign a customer's book.
 * On The Beach - Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy sign SpongeBob & Patrick's books.
 * Blood in the Gutter - The police officers arrest Dale.
 * Woe is Me! - "It's a shame what happened to Dale. We were classmates back in Boating School. He was a good student until he started cutting class."
 * Dramatic Cue (e) - "Ever since then, he's led the lonely life of a criminal."
 * Hawaiian Flower - SpongeBob enters the Bikini Bottom Hug Fest.
 * Drama Link (h) - "*gasps* That sounded like a threat!" / "I am so sorry."
 * Death and Destruction 1 - SpongeBob sinks deep into the Bikini Bottom Tar Pits.
 * Drama Link (o) - SpongeBob continues to sink.
 * 1st Achterhoek Dance - #4: "(echo) Make sure you return this bathroom key to my desk or you're in big trouble, mister!"
 * Anguish 10 - SpongeBob finally submerges in tar.
 * No Fear (Web/HD Only) - SpongeBob emerges to the surface with the bathroom key and struggles back to Boating School.
 * Tympup A / ? - SpongeBob bumps into Mrs. Puff.