Recently (over winter break), my son and I were graced with the opportunity to tour Nickelodeon Studios. There, we saw production of upcoming 2018 episodes and I got to make connections in the industry. I used this time to investigate the production of the confirmed, yet mysterious episode Doodle Dimension.

Lawrence's intern, [name withheld], decided to give me the scoop on the return of DoodleBob. Doodle Dimension is a 22-minute special, like Christmas Who? and Have You Seen This Snail?. It has no Patchy segments, but there is live action!

The episode starts when the French narrator drops his mechanical pencil, which he used to document the sea critters. Already, this episode is a sequel to Feral Friends. The mech pencil lands on Patrick's rock: the lead breaks. SpongeBob and Patrick come home and discover the broken pencil, convinced that the pencil can do no harm. Squidward storms out and pushes the eraser in, extending out a bit of lead. Just to call them idiots, Squid draws a functional clarinet, but it attacks him. SpongeBob and Patrick vow to never use the fancy new pencil again. Unfortunately, Plankton witnessed the incident from his super-long telescope. Sponge and Pat guard the pen 24/7; later, they pass out from exhaustion. Plankton swoops in for the drawing utensil, ready to "get the lead out" by constructing the Chum Bucket Mega Bucket.

Sheldon can't build alone, so he draws a clone of himself to life. Doodleton, however, is smarter and stronger than Plankton. Doodleton makes some clones to assist him, who are DoodleBob and Writerick. Then, Doodleton and his minion build a giant stargate inside the Chum Bucket. Just as Plankton is about to be banished to a new universe, SpongeBob and Patrick bust in. Karen distracts the Doodlites while the versions we knew give a beat-down. Finally, Doodleton switches Karen off; the portal powers on, sucking our versions into the void. Plankton repents during the trippy freakout scene.

Soon, our friends are stranded in the alternate Bikini Bottom: one with paper backgrounds and inky friends. Everyone speaks in Doodlish, and Doodlite versions of the characters we knew were near exactly the same. Now the parallel universe rules are established: every character lived the same lives, except when a Doodlite character is drawn in the fully painted and civilized dimension, they are pulled from the Doodleverse, too. Erasing just means being sent to the Doodle counterpart. After this scientific realization, the three characters just try to live their lives in the alt. Eventually, Plankton and the two idiots are cornered in the Krusty Krab. What the Doodlites really want is their color. Plankton gives away red and green; SB gives away yellow, blue, brown, black, and olive green; Patrick donates pink, purple, and green. Every Doodlite gets the colors they want: but when they get colors, they become complient, nice, and smart. With help from the Colorites, SpongeBob leads construction on another stargate. Soon, SpongeBob and friends return to the Colorverse.

But that's not it! There's a B-plot! Sandy, Gary, Mermaidman, Barnacleboy, Mrs. Puff, and other background characters take shelter in Squidward's house and elect him President of the Drawpocalypse. With a talented crew, President Tentacles and Vice President Cheeks protect the fish in the last refuge in town: a robotic, rustic, Easter Island monument mansion. Any attack from DoodleBob or Doodleton is futile, but Squidtopia is running low on Snailpo, the only food anybody eats. Mr. Krabs is out of the picture; he left with Pearl and the Krabby Patty secret formula to join the biker gang, "Born to Be Mild".

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton are back in Bikini Bottom, but every building is infested with uncolored Doodlites; Bob and friends aren't attacked because they look like the highest ranking Doodlites (because they gave away their color). Eventually, the trio ask to get in Squidtopia, which has Mad Max-style bars over the mouth. VP Sandy realizes they aren't Doodlites and let's them in. WhiteBob, Whiterick, and Whiteton are just in time to hear President Squidward declare war on the Doodlites. The survivors get their war paint on, while SB, P, and P just paint themselves. A storm rages outside while Tough Puff leads the Resistance into battle.

The savage Doodlites fight with swords of eraser and lead, while the Resistance use driftwood clubs and scrap metal axes. SpongeBob and DoodleBob duel in jellyfish fields; Doodleton fistfights Plankton on the roof of the Chum Bucket; and Patrick sumo wrestles Writerick, who is proven to be more intelligent, on top of their rock. How does the battle end?

Due to rain, paint washes off of Patrick. Out of ideas, he picks up the paint and tosses it on Writerick. Writerick morphs into Patrick; now he is friendly and dull like his counterpart. Seeing this through the telescope, Plankton grabs a brush and coats Doodleton to sanity. The battle ends at this realization... for all but one duel. Sponge is still dueling DoodleBob with Old Reliable.

Patrick, Plankton, Patrick2, Plankton2, and others run to Jellyfish Fields. Exhausted and dripping with paint, SpongeBob hugs DoodleBob, because that's just who he is. DoodleBob morphs into SpongeBob2, and all the Doodlites are sent home through the stargate. Mr. Krabs comes home with the right stuff for Krabby Patties, along with his daughter, Pearl. The Doodlites reunite with their universe, and SpongeBob, Patrick, and Plankton paint themselves with permanent paint. However, Patrick paints himself in a little bit... wrong.

I'm Gary Thighman, and thank you for reading.