And here we find ourselves at the end of season 1, with "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II", the second installment in this lovely saga. I'd say I like it just a tiny bit more than the first, to be honest.
As is the norm in these MM&BB episodes, SpongeBob is pretty adorable here with his fanboying. I love that the way he won the conch signal was by making life-size Krabby Patty replicas of the two heroes, I feel like that says so much about his character. The conch signal is also a pretty good spoof on the Bat Signal (this whole episode is full of spoofs, from the conch signal to the Mermalair, to the villains, to the song they sing). The whole section of the episode where SpongeBob participates in heroics with the heroic duo is also just so cute.
However, it does take quite a bit of slogging to get there. The segment of SpongeBob with the conch signal is regretfully pretty dull and not all that funny, especially as one of the jokes is so similar to the turning point in "Ripped Pants". And considering this segment is such a major part of the episode, that loses a lot of points with me. But the episode does pick back up again once Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy bring SpongeBob on patrol with them. From there, although it's a bit slow as season 1 episodes tend to be, it's joke after joke, and they land pretty well with me. It's also very wholesome to see SpongeBob hang out with his idols, even if they do try to ditch him (which they end up getting their comeuppance for, so I don't have a problem with that).
Honestly, I just love Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy as a concept. Elderly superheroes, who would've thought? I love the approach of making heroism (and villainy, for that matter) seem like a job that one can retire from. I mean yeah, that's not necessarily a new thing, but usually we see heroes retiring after an injury, or because they want to take care of their family, or something. But nah, MM and BB are just old. Let's just say it's a breath of fresh air after reading certain comics (*cough cough* DC and probably Marvel? *cough*) that refuse to age their characters.
Circling back to what I said earlier about there being two major segments of the episode (the conch signal and the patrol), "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II" feels a bit...disjointed to me. Like I feel like the conch stuff could've been one episode, and the patrol could've been one episode ("Mermaid Pants", anyone?), but instead they're all stuffed into one episode, which I feel is a disservice. I really, really enjoy the patrol segment, and I could've done with an episode of just that. Just have SpongeBob try to hang out with the heroes at Shady Shoals, and then they bring him on patrol. I think that would've been a better set up than the conch signal. But that's really just a nitpick.
I also like that there seems to be some kind of continuity in the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episodes, in that we kind of see a progression of the relationship SpongeBob (& Patrick) have with these heroes. First episode, we meet them. This episode, they finally start to actually like SpongeBob (and are familiar with him because of the previous episode). Third, SpongeBob and Patrick are watching the Mermalair. Fifth, SpongeBob and Patrick and Squidward and Sandy are trusted by Mermaid Man to become heroes. The fourth episode is a bit of a departure from this, as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy don't actually appear for very long, and they seem to be at the attitudes they had in episode 1 or 2, but that's excusable lol.
Anyway, to get back to talking about the episode, it sits right at the low end of my "Good" tier. I really like the second part of the episode, but it really doesn't help that the part of the episode that is the weakest is the beginning. The first few minutes are just too dull for me, I fear, and I don't like how this episode doesn't feel cohesive. As you might've guessed, this isn't an episode I find myself rewatching often.
Episode Tier: Good
Episode Score: 7.3/10
And that's the end of the season 1 episode reviews! These were very fun to write, so you bet I'm about to come back with season 2 (maybe even today, depends on how busy the rest of today will be). Honestly, my long-term goal is to do every episode, but obviously that's a huge undertaking, so I'm just moving the goalposts season by season for now. I might make a new post in the season 1 discussion with my new scores and rankings, but they haven't changed all that much so I may not. I guess we'll just wait and see how I feel.
