The reason so many people hate One Coarse Meal is because it's so realistic to the point where it stops being funny. Showing Plankton waiting for a bus to run him over on the street is a terrible thing to put in a kids' show, especially considering the fact that Mr. Krabs feels
no remorse, despite Plankton not even really doing anything wrong. Plankton has almost gotten him killed in the movie, but that in no way excuses what Mr. Krabs did (also, I think the events of the movie happen later in the timeline than this episode) Here's an example of a suicide joke done that's actually funny. Fittingly enough, it does come from another post movie episode (one of the best ones in my opinion), Dunces and Dragons.
See, here, there is actually an attempt to make you laugh. It doesn't affect the plot either. A kid might not even realize what it means. Are You Happy Now also gets a lot of hate for having two scenes where Squidward appears to be doing something suicidal, but he's actually doing something completely normal. At least there, they actually try to do something funny too. There are two ways I can think of that would improve the episode.
- Have Plankton go to a therapist. They could make jokes there
- Plankton appears to be lying on the street to be run over, but he's actually just tanning. Then he sees a penny and runs to pick it up, but because it's so heavy compared to him, he doesn't move out of the way in time to escape a bus. Then it cuts to the hospital, and Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob are at Plankton's deathbed. Mr. Krabs feels bad and even cries because he never wanted Plankton to kill himself, not realizing he didn't intentionally do that. Then he says that if he was still alive, he'd let him have the secret formula. Hearing this causes Plankton to have a full recovery, which the doctors say is a miracle. Then Plankton ask if he can have the formula, and Mr. Krabs comes up with an excuse to leave, sending Plankton back to square one
Anything would have been better than what they went with. Literally anything.