His voice acting, his Shakespearean dialogue, his gravitas, it all culminates to a performance that is so irrevocably powerful, it basically had to be undercut by his Jack Kirby costume and the fact that he’s stuck in a kid’s cartoon show. He’s a spin on the Aquaman villain Black Manta, much like many of the parodies of Aquaman on this show, and is named after this conceptual modern artist (who was big into the Dada and Surrealist movements). Which is so stupid yet utterly brilliant, that regular heroes cannot defeat him but two bumbling buffoons who idolize him can wither him down after just one afternoon of unintentional mind games and shenanigans. Man Ray is such a fantastic villain, in the classical sense, and of course only the nuttiest fans like SpongeBob and Patrick could be his foil. Which really means the episode relies on them touching EVERYTHING, and the story hinges upon one single character for its entire run time: Man Ray. The second highest ranking MM & BB episode on our list, part III relies on SpongeBob and Patrick to NOT touch anything. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III (November 27 th, 2000) You may remember this particular segment from:Ģ8. And by that, I mean a man in a gorilla suit rides two other men in a horse suit into the sunset, and then a middle class white family is disgusted and confused by this scene, and decides to turn off their television set. At least the moral is good: SpongeBob takes on his demons, risks his own safety for the sake of others, and his bravery is rewarded at the end. It’s understandable, and sad, when told from his perspective, but the whole episode goes out of its way to show to SpongeBob, and the audience, the value of life.Īll the fun you can have outside, missing out on friends and experiences, and personal (mental or otherwise) health are all examined, although at the end it’s all undermined by the underwater gorilla attack which is, by the way, phenomenally goofy and out of left field. He avoids any and all contact with the outside world in fear that he’ll get hurt again (and have to live in the iron butt) and makes friends with Chip, Penny, and Used Napkin. A sandboarding accident breaks his butt, and SpongeBob decides to stay indoors. This manifests itself into a number of bad habits, and can be unhealthy, and in “I Had An Accident” SpongeBob goes through this entire process of risk aversion. If you’ve had a bad experience with something, or have felt an overwhelming amount of pain (physical or otherwise), you’ll undoubtedly be risk averse to avoid feeling any more pain. It’s funny, in a cosmic sort of way, and you can’t really say that about most episodes, can you now?Ģ9. Even though this show might not be totally grounded in reason or logic, this episode definitely flips SpongeBob fan’s expectations even more so than usual. There’s so much irony to soak up in this episode, from the simple juxtaposition between Krab’s old life and Plankton’s new life, to the fact that a microscopic organism is now the father to a giant whale, and SpongeBob works the register and Squidward cooks patties since everything is possible in an alternate universe. It again steals a lot from The Twilight Zone, shamelessly, and I wouldn’t have it any other way the show gets better when it goes crazy town on the sci-fi stuff. Krabs using a time machine life switcher he built, and experiences everything Krabs does, but in a parallel universe. Much like It’s A Wonderful Life, we get an alternate timeline narrative device where Plankton understands what he takes for granted. It is the end-all, be-all storyline for Plankton, since it gives him exactly what he wants and shows him that having his dreams come true isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. If it was up to me, I would highlight and showcase him as much as I could, and “The Algae’s Always Greener” is the ultimate Plankton episode. There are so many of them already, yet I don’t feel like me or the writing staff ever truly gets tired of utilizing the show’s (secretly) best character. The Algae’s Always Greener (March 22 nd, 2002)Īpparently it isn’t taboo at the Nickelodeon offices to suggest doing another Plankton episode.
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