Friend or Foe (SpongeBob SquarePants)

Friend or Foe is the first episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants, and the 81st episode overall. It was written by Casey Alexander, Zeus Cervas, Mike Mitchell, Steven Banks, and Tim Hill, and the animation was directed by supervising director Alan Smart and Tom Yasumi; Alexander, Cervas and Mitchell also functioned as storyboard directors. The episode originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on April 13, 2007.

Plot
Plankton and Mr. Krabs have been enemies for a long time. However, Mr. Krabs reveals that they were not always this way and that they used to be friends.

Why It's Friends Forever (Pun Intended)

 * 1) It shows us why Mr. Krabs and Plankton hate each other, gets us to understand them better and flesh out why they do what they do, with an entire backstory on how the two used to be great friends.
 * 2) Some of the quotes from this episode are memorable or just plain funny:
 * 3) * "I bet five bucks on Rag Boy."
 * 4) * "Potty Parrot, you are never supportive of me! I don't wanna be your friend anymore! I never wanna see you again!"
 * 5) * "Well, you might as well blame me, SpongeBob. There was a time when Plankton and I...were...best friends."
 * 6) During the Patchy segments, you can see there is an animated clip of a Baby SpongeBob making his first Krabby Patty, it's really cute to look at.
 * 7) During the first flashbacks, it shows Plankton and Krabs as babies and young boys. Young Plankton and Krabs were really cute.
 * 8) Karen's side of the story is a good setup and was presented decently.
 * 9) The Patchy the Pirate segments are actually hilarious, too.
 * 10) This episode was a good way to start Season 5 thanks to the episode that gave us the backstory of how Mr. Krabs and Plankton used to be friends before falling out.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The episode's ending is somewhat underwhelming. It could have been more meaningful and riveting than go for the bland "Status Quo is God" cliché.
 * 2) While it's cool that Plankton and Eugene were friends once, it's apparent that they can't ever be friends again, and why would they be? Mr. Krabs has a tendency to betray everyone. And of course, almost everyone, including Krabs, hates Plankton because of his history.

Reception
"Friend or Foe" received mostly positive reviews. Paul Mavis of DVD Talk was positive towards the episode specifically on the live action scenes, writing "Patchy and Potty are always funny, so it's great to see them slinging hamburgers in honor of their idol, SpongeBob. I particularly liked the gorilla at the end, whipping burgers at Patchy ('You got me right in the buns!')." Mavis also praised the episode calling it "brilliant" because "Mr. Krabs and Plankton are strong enough characters, with their own mythology, that they can sustain their very own episode with only a cameo from SpongeBob." He also said the episode is "hilarious (I love the fact that it's a barely disguised version of Rashomon), with an especially funny look at Krabs, Plankton, and even SpongeBob, as babies."

David Packard of DVD Verdict said that the live action scenes "add to the silliness." He also said "It's a nice change of pace to see Plankton and Krabs as chums pre-Chum Bucket and finding out what led to their friendship's eventual demise. Viewers also get to see Mr. Krabs introduced to 'the love of his life' as he develops the secret formula to the Krabby Patty that Bikini Bottom's residents know and love today." On the DVD, Patrick Cossel of Blogcritics said "Children and adults will laugh out loud at the crazy slapstick antics of the one who lives under the sea." He added that "This release is sure to be huge hit for SpongeBob fans everywhere." Lesley Aeschliman of Yahoo! Voices was negative on the episode saying "'Friend of Foe?' just felt like a regular episode that really had no reason to be hyped a special."

This episode currently holds a a 7.9/10 rating on IMDB.

Trivia

 * This episode further proves SpongeBob's statement in "Help Wanted" that he has been training for the Krusty Krew his whole life, as he is shown to have made his first patty when he was a baby.
 * It is also later shown in "Pineapple Invasion" that SpongeBob had his first patty bronzed.
 * In the background when Patchy is with the rat, a barrel from the intro of the first movie can be seen.
 * This was the first and only episode that is the first episode of a season and is an episode special.
 * This is the first season premiere episode to air in another country before the actual US release date.

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