"Patrick-Man!" is an episode premiere that I actually don’t remember very well. But I do remember when the show didn’t have this episode, and I remember when it did. Let’s just put it that way. I know that sounds really ominous lol, but I don’t mean it that way.
The beginning of this episode is very reminiscent of “No Hat For Pat” with a hint of “Big Pink Loser”. As I’ve made very clear, nothing wrong with episodes having similar scenes, and honestly I see nothing wrong with episodes having similar plots. Now, when it’s the same plot, bar for bar, word for word, that’s one thing. But this episode for sure veers off in its own direction by the end of this first scene, looking more like “No Nose Knows” than anything. Patrick deciding to become a vigilante because he’s bored with his life is a fun enough plot. And his outfit is fun. Not in the make fun of way that Squidward and Mr. Krabs see it (which by the way, this scene is another example of their long-standing camaraderie, I’m counting it as such), though that aspect is there, but it’s just visually interesting and almost cute.
The episode then transitions to Patrick-Man’s attempts to “stop crime”, which are just as failed as you expect. I will say one thing…even though this episode uses a similar formula as No Nose Knows (Patrick being arrogant and thinking he knows what’s best for other people), he is hardly insufferable here. It’s like “Shuffleboarding”, in that way. It’s so ridiculous that I can’t even be frustrated. Also, he doesn’t come off as smug. More…self-righteous, but in a funny way.
The episode ends with a pretty fun “action” scene with Patrick vs. the Dirty Bubble. It’s delightfully hammy and camp, and pretty funny too. And it makes me think of “Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II”, which is nice. I feel like this last part was meant to reference that.
There’s one last thing that I need to mention about this episode, and that is that it’s the very last time we see Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy speaking, and more than likely the last time we’ll ever see them speaking, as both of their voice actors have passed away. Their appearance here was small, but a fitting end given that this episode is almost about Patrick taking the reins of heroism from them. And of course we’ll have “Mermaid Pants” later, which is a much more purposeful tribute.
There really isn’t much for me to say about “Patrick-Man!”, hence this short review. I thought it was a good, fun episode, but it was for sure lacking in certain areas, like humor. So I can’t put it any higher than my Good tier.
Episode Tier: Good
Episode Score: 7.6/10