163a. Mermaid Man Begins

[MasiHosseini]

Was that a pun?

Nope lol.

 

[Flabby Patty]

Another neat Season 8 episode. Almost every part of it was interesting and fun, from beginning to the end. I liked the merchandise for the marathon thing, the popcorn, and Mermaid Man part. I don't see any faults in this, really. 9/10

 

[PinkPearl]

I just saw this last week and there may be some hope for season 8 after all. I thought it was interesting that they animated the people, even though past episodes have implied that the real world is not animated (though to do otherwise probably wouldn't fit with the show). Not a lot of humor here (and their houses blowing away was a terrible attempt at it), but it was an interesting episode. 7/10

 

[Pinhead Larry]

A great and very interesting episode. Although less humour than I would've liked, it was still good.

8.5/10

 

[Jack M Crazyfish]

This is among one of my favourite Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episodes. This episode tells a great story, has quite a few funny moments, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were being their epic selves and I just love how random and hilarious the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy origin episode played out. They randomly just decided to become superheroes and go underwater just by eating "slightly overcooked" popcorn!?!? Genius!! Seriously there aren't really any downsides to this episode, I just wish it were a bit more funny then it would certainly be among one of my favourite post-movie episodes.

8.5/10

 

[Honest Slug]

One of the top episodes of season 8 and in my top 5 of the season. I loved the story and the parody of ridiculous origin stories. This should've been the finale of the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy characters. A unique and fun entry to season 8.

8.5/10

 

[jack_of_all_traids]

A good episode revolving around MM & BB. This time, we get to learn their backstory, and it certainly delivers. I think there are a few funny jokes, and the whole plot of the episode feels like something that should've already been done.

Ranking so far:
1. The Hot Shot (A+)
2. Frozen Face-Off (A+)
3. Drive Thru (A)
4. Ghoul Fools (A)
5. Mooncation (A)
6. Mermaid Man Begins (B)
7. Mr. Krabs Takes a Vacation (B)
8. Walking the Plankton (B)
9. A Friendly Game (B)
10. Sentimental Sponge (C)
11. A SquarePants Family Vacation (C)
12. Accidents Will Happen (C)
13. Sweet and Sour Squid (C)
14. Squidward's School for Grown-Ups (C)
15. The Googly Artiste (D)
16. The Other Patty (D)
17. Patrick's Staycation (D)
18. Oral Report (E)

 

[GlitchyGoomba]

This is probably my favorite Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy episode, even better than MM&BB 5. There are so many elements in it that I love, such as both of the origin backstories of the heroes. The backstory that Mermaid Man explains is tightly-written, charming, and it looks really stunning. The televised origin, on the other hand, is just super hilarious, due to all the random things that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy encounter in the process of receiving their superpowers. There's other good jokes too, such as Patrick and Spongebob stating that their HUGE stack of food "might be able to help pull them through", and Squidward's meta joke of preferring not to watch grown men prance around in ridiculous outfits. I especially like the fact that there is practically no filler in the episode. Every scene feels like it's important to the plot, from the power outage, to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy explaining their backstories, to the actual televised backstory.

 

[SlipperytheTotodile]

THIS IS MY FAVORITE EPISODE OF SEASON 8! Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy failing to tell their own origin story was just hilarious. And the REAL origin story scene was amazing!

Rating: Perfect Episode

Rankings:
Mermaid Man Begins (Perfect)
The Hot Shot (Perfect)
Oral Report (Great)
A Friendly Game (Great)
Accidents Will Happen (Great)
Sentimental Sponge (Good)
Frozen Face Off (Good)
Sweet and Sour Squid (Good)
Mooncation (Good)
The Googly Artiste (Okay)
Patrick's Staycation (Okay)
Ghoul Fools (Okay)
Drive Thru (Alright)
The Other Patty (Meh)
Squidward's School for Grown-ups (Mediocre)
Walking the Plankton (Bad)
A SquarePants Family Vacation (Inferior)

 

[spongie33]

I think this was a good episode. 8/10.

 

[Pugs4Thugs]

Well if it isn’t the return of our favorite running plot thread, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy! And this episode is really fun, because we learn their origin story, which as you might expect is about 5 origins rolled into one in a wonderful parody of superhero origins (not to mention a parody of how they’re always changed and retconned lol).

This episode begins with a very atmospheric shot of SpongeBob’s house in a storm. Are we about to get “SpongeHenge” again? lol. SpongeBob and Patrick prove themselves to be the biggest mega fans of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy with all of their paraphernalia and snacks. Unfortunately, their fun is cut short as the storm pulls a “SpongeHenge” and completely rips SpongeBob’s house out the ground. And of course, it then does the same to Squidward. This scene was pretty funny, especially with Patrick’s attitude lol. I like when him and Squidward have beef, I think it’s funny.

I like that this episode uses the fact that SpongeBob and Patrick know Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy on a personal level, or at least it somewhat does. It makes seeking them out specifically an option, how about that? Though I don’t like how this episode meanders through ideas that should’ve been the first thing thought of. Like if SpongeBob and Patrick know MM and BB, why would they have not asked this before, or why wouldn’t they have done so instead of watching the episode? And when they get to the cave, why was their first thought their TV, not literally asking the heroes? They come up with this idea eventually, but it just kinda feels like wasted time if you ask me.

For the next few minutes, we then go through Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy’s separate retellings of their origin story, which turn out to be quite the false memories, if the TV show is to be believed. And while this “twist” can be seen from a mile away, I’m fine with it. To me it kinda feels like this episode should’ve been a short, with the short just being the TV program, but I’m alright with this too, even if it does feel like the episode has been padded considerably to actually fill the 11 minutes. But at least much of the origin story is entertaining, if not downright funny once Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy start arguing.

We then find out the real origin story, which begs the question of how the episode got this information and this footage, but we suspend our disbelief here. I just love how Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy were not right about, like, anything. The ridiculousness of it all is just amazing too. Like I said, wonderful parody work here. Also, Mr. Lawrence’s delivery of all of this (which somehow I didn’t even recognize that this was him, even though you can definitely tell…right?) is fantastic too. And the fact that this inspires SpongeBob and Patrick to try and become superheroes themselves is pretty funny, and very unexpected.

I like how Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy being humans is something this show just…doesn’t care about. For once it’s acknowledged in this episode (beyond their designs), but like no one asks about it, no one even asks what a human is, it’s just a fact of life, the same way fish walking and talking underwater is a fact of life in this show. I kinda like that lol. Some things just don’t need to be questioned. Though speaking of humans, it’s so weird seeing animated humans in this show…like so weird. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are already uncanny valley enough, but especially their young selves are like “wtf”.

I enjoyed "Mermaid Man Begins", but it felt like a timewaster more than an actual episode to sit down and enjoy, you know? So I’ll put it in my Great tier, because of how campy it is, but not very high up.

Episode Tier: Great
Episode Score: 8/10

 

[Sponge64]

Hey, I love this unique story. I love the designs of the characters, too. Comedy made me laugh a few. It just reminds me of a post-movie episode, though.

 

[SpongebobMaster]

Really funny episode i love how Mermaid Man and BarnacleBoy fail to tell their own story very funny highlight of the season

1. Frozen Face Off (10/10)
2. Ghoul Fools (10/10)
3. A Squarepants Family Vacation (10/10)
4. Mooncation (10/10)
5. Mermaid Man Begins (10/10)
6. The Hot Shot (10/10)
7. Oral Report (9.5/10)
8. Drive Thru (9.5/10)
9. A Friendly Game (8.5/10)
10. Walking The Plankton (8/10)
11. Squidward's School For Grown Ups (8/10)
12. Sweet And Sour Squid (7.5/10)
13. Sentimental Sponge (7/10)
14. Accidents Will Happen (6.5/10)
15. The Other Patty (6/10)
16. Mr Krabs Takes A Vacation (3.5/10)
17. The Googly Artiste (1.5/10)
18. Patrick's Staycation (1.5/10)

 

[Spongeboy Fan 123]

7/10