The roller coaster SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge was made similar to the episode. She thought that the balance of cuteness and horror makes the episode known well. Emily Estep from said that the episode is "mostly a goofy episode" but "also one of the scarier episodes". Nancy Basile from said that "The raspberries and SpongeBob's increasing frustration make this a hilarious episode." She says that the episode is " relatable" for having "SpongeBob running up against Murphy's law" (which states that anything that can go wrong will go wrong). The episode was watched by about 2.1 million people when it was first broadcast. 'Rock Bottom' was about how he keeps missing the bus and how that makes him feel." She said that the story was so small that "you could explore gags ( jokes) and opportunities for gags." Reception Merriwether Williams thought that the episode is one of the best because the story is "so simple". Tom Yasumi directed the episode's animation and Tibbitt and Torresan directed the storyboard. "Rock Bottom" was written by Paul Tibbitt, Ennio Torresan, and David Fain. He sees Patrick getting on another bus thinking that SpongeBob is still at Rock Bottom. The balloon takes SpongeBob up and back to Bikini Bottom. The anglerfish puts air in the balloon and ties it to SpongeBob's hand.
He learns that a nice anglerfish was making the sound to give him a balloon. He runs back to the cliff to get away from the sound. He hears a raspberry sound from far away. He misses that bus and will have to wait the next day for another one. When he gets to the front, there is only one bus left. He goes to a bus station and has to wait in a long line. SpongeBob is stuck in the city and tries many times to get on another bus. Patrick gets back on the bus but forgets to bring SpongeBob with.
The cliff takes them to a dark city named Rock Bottom where many strange animals live. They get on the wrong bus that takes them to a 90 degree cliff. SpongeBob and Patrick get on a bus after going to an amusement park.