Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SpongeBob SquarePants episode

""Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV""

Best Day Ever Rank:

#90

Credits

Directors

Episode List
Select show to expand.

Premiere Order

Production Order

"Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy IV" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season three.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Brief summary: Mermaid Man & Barnacle Boy visit the Krusty Krab, and accidentally leave Mermaid Man's utility belt there. SpongeBob steals it, starts playing with it, and soon ends up shrinking all of the citizens of Bikini Bottom.

Time/Date:

4:10 PM: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy arrive at the Krusty Krab.

Characters Present:

[edit] Plot

The episode begins with Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy entering the Krusty Krab, most likely for lunch. After they order - with Barnacle Boy covering the tab with $5.00, (since all Mermaid Man had was a Carpenter's Nut) - Squidward says "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy". SpongeBob goes right through a steel wall and into a frenzy in order to get Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's autograph.

Meanwhile, Mermaid Man accidentally leaves his utility belt at the Krusty Krab after he and Barnacle Boy manage to get away from SpongeBob. SpongeBob finds the utility belt and he tries to give it back, but Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy drive off.

SpongeBob decides to play with the belt. He discovers its "Small Ray", and starts shrinking the kitchen utensils. Squidward discovers the belt, and when he decides to call Mermaid Man, SpongeBob shrinks him.

Later, Spongebob asks Patrick for help. Patrick, unaware that Squidward had been shrunk, thinks that the shrunk Squidward is a "Squidward Action Figure". After realizing that it is the real Squidward, he states that one day, Squidward would meet the love of his life - a pickle.

Patrick suggests to set the belt to W for Wumbo. SpongeBob, unaware of what "Wumbo" is, questions the validity of this, in response, Patrick explains the many uses of "Wumbo" ("...I wumbo; you wumbo; he, she, me wumbo, wumboing, wumbology: the study of wumbo,").

Finally convinced, SpongeBob presses the button, with hilarious consequences: Patrick shrinks. Seconds later, citizens start coming and greeting to SpongeBob, and he shrinks them too. He puts them in a small jar. He then realizes that Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy have became small too, and he asks them how to "unshrink" objects.

Mermaid Man asks him if he has tried setting it to Wumbo.

Everybody gets out of the jar, goes inside SpongeBob, and starts disfiguring him (kicking his bones, ruining internal organs, etc). SpongeBob shrinks Bikini Bottom as he could not unshrink the citizens. He then shrinks himself. Everyone is happy.

The closing scene shows Plankton getting off a bus, returning to Bikini Bottom from a vacation. He is surprised to see that he is taller than the buildings.

[edit] Quotes

Squidward: Can I take your order?

Mermaid Man: One Double Krabby Patty and Coral Bits for me, and a Silly Meal for the lad.

Barnacle Boy: (nervous) It's not for the toy ...I just... gotta fit in the tights, y'know?

Squidward: Whatever. That'll be 5 dollars.

Mermaid Man: You got it, Bucky. (takes off a shell from his bra and pulls out a carpenter's nut) Will this cover it?

Squidward: No.

Barnacle Boy: Look, Big Nose, that guy's been saving your butt since before you were born. Don't you have some sort of living legend discount?

Squidward: This is a restaurant, sir, not a lending library. And who you calling "Big Nose", Big Nose? (Squidward and Barnacle Boy stand face to face for almost 10 seconds.)

Barnacle Boy: (Takes $5 from under his hat) Well, the next time danger threatens, don't expect any help from us.

Squidward: (sarcastically) I'm shaking.

SpongeBob: Squidward please don't tell!.

Squidward: (raises one tentacle) Oh... I'm telling.

Patrick:' (While using the small Squidward as an action figure) ...and here comes the giant fist!

SpongeBob: Patrick, no! That's the real Squidward! I shrunk him with Mermaid Man's belt by accident.

Patrick: Oh... and here comes the giant fist!!

Squidward: (Held in Patrick's hand) I wonder if a fall from this height would be enough to kill me.
Patrick: You know what the problem is?

SpongeBob: What?

Patrick: You've got it set to "M" for mini, when it should be set to "W" for Wumbo.

SpongeBob: Patrick, I don't think Wumbo is a real word

Patrick: (After being shrunken by SpongeBob) You know what's funny? My pickle started out in a jar, and now it's in one again! It's like a pun or something.
Plankton: Well, it's great to be back! (Looks at the shrunken Bikini Bottom) Huh?
Patrick: I Wumbo, you wumbo, he, she, we, wumbo, wumbo, wumboing, I'll have three wumbo, wumbora, wumbology, the study of wumbo? It's first grade, SpongeBob!

[edit] Trivia/Goofs

In this episode, Mermaid Man's belt is purple. In all other episodes, his belt is yellow and black.
When SpongeBob shrinks himself, Mermaid Man's belt disappears.
When SpongeBob first shrinks Squidward and Patrick, they are about the size of action figures or roughly 6-8 inches. When he shrinks the rest of the townspeople, they are about the size of jellybeans. When he shrinks the whole town and then himself, and Plankton comes out, they are too small to see, and Plankton is taller than the tallest building.
A silly meal is a pun on the Happy Meals that McDonald's restaurants sell, which comes with a toy, as Barnacle Boy mentions.
The invisible boat mobile is a pink 1950's Ford Thunderbird.
When Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy leave the Krusty Krab, Mermaid Man's belt is hanging off his pants, yet SpongeBob finds the belt inside the restaurant.
When Spongebob shrinks Patrick, he has the emblem on the belt set to "Wumbo". However, in the next scene, the belt is set back to "Mini".
After Patrick shrinks, he thinks that SpongeBob is giant. Patrick does a similar thing in Squidtastic Voyage. This may also be a callback to Suds, when Patrick thought he was shrinking when SpongeBob grew. He also does this in the video game Battle For Bikini Bottom, when the Robot SpongeBob is growing.
In this episode, SpongeBob's parents are in the jar when they don't live in Bikini Bottom. However, they could have just been visiting.