The Nitwitting (SpongeBob SquarePants)

The Nitwitting is a episode from season twelve of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Plot
Patrick recruits SpongeBob into his club, the Empty Head Society. Before entering, SpongeBob is made to remove his brain and hand it in to check-out; however, while doing destructive "community service" with the group, his brainstem shorts out and severely lowers his intelligence. Patrick helps SpongeBob find his brain again.

Why It Is a Nitwit

 * 1) The concept about a club of brain dead people is terrible.
 * 2) The Empty Head Society are all unlikeable and annoying, since they really do is destroy Bikini Bottom instead of helping, as if they do this on purpose.
 * 3) Like in Ink Lemonade, Patrick acts completely unlikable and unintelligent in this episode, as if he had been reverted back to his old character in the (seasons 6-8).
 * 4) The infamous and gross scene where Spongebob drinks the jar full of spit.
 * 5) To make this scene worse, it's was later revealed that it wasn't supposed to drink it, so it just makes the whole scene pointless.
 * 6) Speaking of gross-out humor, this episode also have two disgusting close ups: one in Patrick's eyes, and other in the Ice Cream King's mouth.
 * 7) While it is nice seeing Ice Cream King returns, it wasn't good as he was in the past episode.
 * 8) The scene where SpongeBob loses his mind and starts to act like goofy looks more disturbing than funny.
 * 9) The Nitwitting Song, while catchy and a nice homage to Laurel and Hardy, has a terrible lyric.
 * 10) Bad Ending: While it's revealed that Sandy and the rest of the FEMA (Fix the Emptyheads Mess Again) helps to clean all the mess the Empty Head Society does in the city, it later shows the Empty Head Society destroying everything while singing their song.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The scene where SpongeBob struggles to say his catchphrase "I'm Ready" is fun.
 * 2) Speaking of SpongeBob, he's still likeable in this episode.
 * 3) It has good references to some episodes of the show, such as Doodlebob and Manray appearing as graffiti in the scene, along with some quotes from the show, such as "Squidward Smells" or "I'm Dirty Dan".
 * 4) The Nittwitting Song is catchy despite its terrible lyrics, it's also a nice reference to the Laurel and Hardy shorts.

Reception
This episode has a mixed-to-negative reception by fans and critics alike. It's considered the worst episode of Season 12 (so much for being the second episode in airing order and the third in production order) and currently holds a 5.3 rating on IMDb.

Trivia

 * This was the first episode of the series to premiere after Stephen Hillenburg's passing.