Original air date: 9/23/2011
Mermaid Man Begins
SpongeBob and Patrick learn the secret origins of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.
"Mermaid Man Begins" contains examples of:
- Actor Allusion: According to the origin, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy share the first names of their actors, Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway.
- Artistic License: One of the strange events Ernie and Tim experience is a solar eclipse; since it was nighttime, it would technically be a lunar eclipse.
- Bait-and-Switch: After everything that happened to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, it turns out that they got their powers from eating overcooked popcorn.
- Contrived Coincidence: Every convoluted thing that happens during Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's true origin story.
- Do Not Do This Cool Thing: An In-Universe example. The episode ends with SpongeBob and Patrick overcooking popcorn in order to get superpowers with Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy trying to stop them.
- Given Name Reveal: Mermaid Man's and Barnacle Boy's first names are revealed to be "Ernie" and "Tim", after their voice actors Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway.
- Hypocritical Humor:SpongeBob and Patrick: Squidward! Squidward! Let us in! We're missing the Mermaid Man marathon!
Squidward: Go away! I've got better things to do than watch grown men prance around in ridiculous outfits. (Cut to a man dancing ballet on Squidward's TV) - Mundane Made Awesome: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's true origin story (specifically, that they gained their powers from eating some overcooked popcorn)
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: to Batman Begins
- Retcon:
- The origin presented in this episode makes Mermaid Man's general behavior in the show a result of him being an incompetent hero, as opposed to him being a good hero who's become senile in his old age.
- Mermaid Man is also shown as meeting and forcibly recruiting Barnacle Boy when he was a young man; in a much earlier episode, Mermaid Man reminisced that Barnacle Boy was once a "whippersnapper" who wanted to be a superhero like SpongeBob, while showing that Mermaid Man had a picture of Barnacle Boy as a baby.
- Skewed Priorities: SpongeBob isn't at all concerned that his house has been blown away, instead he's just worried about missing the Mermaid Man marathon.
- Sudden Name Change: Barnacle Boy's first name is revealed to be "Tim" here, despite his name being "Kyle" in Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V. However, this could be just due to Mermaid Man’s senility.
- Superhero Origin: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's origin are revealed here.
- Unmoving Plaid: The lightning bolt that zaps Ernie and Tim.
Plankton's Good Eye
Using SpongeBob's second eye, Plankton grows a second eye that turns him nice.
"Plankton's Good Eye" contains examples of:
- Agony of the Feet: Plankton stabs his broken foot with his crutch to make himself cry since he needs tears to make a new eye for himself. It proves useless since he needs the tears of someone who already has two eyes.
- Bait-and-Switch: Plankton is strapped to an operating table with Karen filling a syringe with SpongeBob's tears. The needle moves closer and closer to Plankton's eye while he watches in horror. But the needle stops just inches from his eye and releases a tear drop into Plankton's eye.
- "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: When SpongeBob calls Mr. Krabs's love of money an obsession, Mr. Krabs states that "obsession" is a strong word, right before tucking a wad of cash into bed and pouring it a glass of water.
- The Bus Came Back: Bubble Bass returns in this episode after not being seen since the Season 1 episode "F.U.N."
- Distressed Dude: Bubble Bass gets stuck in a burning building.
- Eating the Enemy: Mr. Krabs eats Plankton in the beginning, mistaking him for a pickle. Smash to "Approximately 10 hours later" where he returns to the Chum Bucket, refusing to tell Karen where he's been.
- Eye Scream: Plankton's attempts to give himself a second eye. His first attempt makes him grow eyes all over himself until one extra-large eye grows out of his mouth and overtakes his whole body.
- Group Hug: SpongeBob decides to do this to Plankton with everyone he helped that day, which is big enough to get rid of his extra eye.
- Inkblot Test: Karen does this with Plankton to prove that he is losing his evil side. He sees a bat as a butterfly, a snake as a puppy, and an explosion as a bouquet of flowers.
- Literal Metaphor: Plankton gets SpongeBob to cry by spilling his milk. SpongeBob literally cries over spilled milk.
- Portmanteau: Due to Plankton's evil DNA being corrupted by SpongeBob's nice DNA, Karen declares that Plankton has gone from evil to... Neevil.
- Seeing Through Another's Eyes: Eye in this case, as the extra eye Plankton gains from SpongeBob makes him see the way SpongeBob sees the world- which explains a lot about SpongeBob.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Happens briefly to Plankton as a result of SpongeBob's cells that he gains from his new eye.
- You Do Not Want To Know: After being eaten by Mr. Krabs, Plankton returns to the Chum Bucket "Approximately 10 hours later", and when Karen asks where he's been, Plankton says this.
