Original air date: 10/14/2005
Plankton starts dating Mr. Krabs' mother, with Mr. Krabs incorrectly assuming he's trying to get the Secret Formula out of her rather than being truly in love.
"Enemy In-Law" contains examples of:
- Acronyms Are Easy as Aybeecee: Exploited. When Plankton expresses interest in Mama Krabs, Karen indignantly exclaims "I'm your wife!" Plankton retorts that she's actually his "W.I.F.E.": Wired Integrated Female Electroencephalograph.Karen: Oh, you always pull that one out! "You're not a real wife, you're just a computer!"
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking:Plankton: This delectable creature is your mother?
Mr. Krabs: This no-good, conniving chiseler is your date?!
SpongeBob: And this devilishly handsome sponge is your waiter!
Mr. Krabs: SpongeBob! - Black Comedy: When Mr. Krabs reveals that he got his mother a hat, Mama Krabs asks where he got it from.Nat: (looking into open casket) She looks so peaceful.
Fred: Yeah, but... wasn't she wearing a hat? (Mr. Krabs runs out of funeral home with the hat) - Continuity Snarl: According to Mr. Krabs, the Krabby Patty recipe is an old Krabs family recipe, yet he is the one who invented it. Alternatively, it could mean only the Krabs family knows about the recipe.
- Fun with Acronyms: "You're a W.I.F.E. W.ired I.ntegrated F.emale E.lectroencephalograph."
- Go to Your Room!: "I forbid ye to interfere in me private business! Go to your office, now!"
- Guess Who I'm Marrying?: Mama Krabs dates Plankton despite Mr. Krabs thinking it's a plot to steal the formula. But when Plankton asks Mama Krabs to marry him, she refuses, because she's already dating Plankton's giant robot.
- Humongous Mecha: Plankton has one that he uses to kidnap people and bring them to the Chum Bucket and uses it to try and woo Mama Krabs. She later ends up dating it.
- Hypocritical Humor: Mr. Krabs notes that he can't act like a child by cowering over his mother marrying Plankton and has to deal with it like a man. He then leaps onto his mom's lap and childishly begs her not to accept Plankton's marriage proposal, referring to him as a "bad, bad man".
- Interspecies Romance: Plankton and Mama Krabs.
- I Resemble That Remark!:Plankton: Maybe I shouldn't have installed that nagging software.
Karen: Nagging software?! I heard that! Come back here and dust my screen! - Marrying the Mark: Played with when Plankton begins courting Mama Krabs. Plankton falls for her without realizing she's Mr. Krabs' mother, but Mr. Krabs is suspicious that Plankton is using her to get access to the Krabby Patty formula, inadvertently giving Plankton the idea to do just that. Plankton proposes marriage, but Mama Krabs rejects him; when Plankton demands the formula as compensation for rejection, Mama Krabs becomes angry and punches him back home.
- May–December Romance: Plankton is about the same age as Mr. Krabs and falls in love with his mother.
- Morton's Fork: When Mr. Krabs' mother shows up at the Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs accuses her of wanting to borrow money from him to buy something for herself. When he notices that his mother already has an expensive hat (that Plankton bought her) without the need to borrow money from him, Mr. Krabs then gets upset that she's spending "his inheritance money".
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mr. Krabs accuses Plankton of dating his mother just so he can get the formula from her. Except Plankton wasn't even aware she knew the formula. Plankton's next action is to propose to Mama Krabs just so he can get the formula from her. Mr. Krabs realizes he screwed up when his mother confronts him.Mama Krabs: Eugene, what did I tell you about interfering with me life?
Mr. Krabs: Mommy, can't you see? He's trying to seduce the Krabby Patty formula right from under you.
Mama Krabs: For your information, Eugene, he hasn't asked me once about the formula. I doubt that he even knows that I know it.
Mr. Krabs: (chuckles nervously, pulling his shirt) Uh, yeah... funny thing about that. - Noodle Incident: After Plankton tells Karen that she is merely a "Wired Integrated Female Electroencephalograph", Karen says that he always tells her, "You're not a real wife; you're just a computer", raising the question as to which incidents prompted him to tell her that beforehand if he's shown that he's willing to cheat on her.
- Parent with New Paramour: Upon hearing his mother has a boyfriend, Mr. Krabs is supportive since it means he will no longer have to buy his mother anything she wants until finding out that it's Plankton, believing that it's all a trick to get her to tell him the formula.
- Plot-Inciting Infidelity: The story starts kicking into motion when Plankton first sees Mama Krabs and becomes smitten with her, with Karen calling him out for it.Karen: PLANKTON! You've fallen in love with another woman?! I'm your wife!
- Rocky Roll Call:Mr. Krabs: Plankton!
Plankton: Krabs!
Mama Krabs: Eugene!
Mr. Krabs: Mommy?!
Plankton: "Mommy"?
SpongeBob: SpongeBob!
Mr. Krabs: SpongeBob! - Shoo Out the Clowns: SpongeBob is given minimal attention here due to the episode mostly shifting onto Mr. Krabs, Mama Krabs and Plankton. Mr. Krabs at one point shoos away SpongeBob from the dinner date between his mother and Plankton.
- Shout-Out: "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" is a line from the Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem "In Memomoriam A.H.H.".
- Stalker with a Crush: Plankton calls Mama Krabs to ask her on a date after giving her a new hat she wanted. She jokingly asks him if he had been spying on her only to show that Plankton does indeed have cameras around her house.
- Thought They Knew Already: Plankton falls in love with Mr. Krabs' mother and plans to marry her. Mr. Krabs assumes it's a scam to get the Krabby Patty formula out of his mother, who also knows it. Turns out Plankton was genuinely interested in her and didn't know that Mama Krabs knew the secret formula... until Mr. Krabs told him.
- Villainous Breakdown: Plankton has one as Mama Krabs turns down his proposal when she refuses to marry him.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Plankton cheating on Karen is largely treated with impunity, and the latter's outrage over the affair is dismissed by Plankton on the basis that Karen is "just a computer". He literally shuts her off so she won't get in the way of him trying to court Mama Krabs.
- Worth It: After Mama Krabs dumps him, Plankton remarks he still doesn't regret trying to romance her.
- "You!" Exclamation: Done by Mr. Krabs when he bursts into the Chum Bucket to find Plankton with a framed photo of Mama Krabs.
"It is I, Kelp Thing! Do what I do!"
Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture
Original air date: 10/7/2005
SpongeBob and Patrick are shocked to discover the new Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy movie are being played by "actors", and decide to make their own movie starring the real Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.
"Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy VI: The Motion Picture" contains examples of:
- Amateur Film-Making Plot: The episode involves SpongeBob attempting to make a film for Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy to compete with the new modern movie coming out. When the movie is made, it turns out to be absolutely terrible. Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, however, are just happy to know they still have some "action" within them.
- Artistic License – Law: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are caught completely off guard when they're told that a movie about the two of them is in production, meaning it was made without their consent. Such a move would likely be considered illegal in reality for the company did not seek out permission to use their image and these would be ample grounds for the duo to sue the studio.
- Bait-and-Switch: Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob that he has cinema's next star and points to his daughter. SpongeBob says that Pearl can be in the movie, only for Mr. Krabs to say that he was actually talking about the Krabby Patty (which Pearl was holding).
- Body Horror: The way Squidward does Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's "make-up".
- Butt-Monkey: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy get repeatedly blown up by Sandy, the former gets a microphone shoved in his mouth, and both of them receive a terrible makeover by Squidward.
- Camera Obscurer: It turns out Patrick put the lens cap on the camera before filming so he doesn't lose it, meaning none of the footage was recorded.
- The Chains of Commanding: SpongeBob quickly finds that being a director can be a huge nightmare considering he has to make a deadline, keep his cast and crew happy while also keeping them in line, and manage things like special effects, catering, etc.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: The episode ends with SpongeBob, Patrick, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy sharing a good laugh.
- Expy: Kelp Thing is one of Swamp Thing and Man-Thing.
- Freak Out: After SpongeBob sees that Patrick purposefully kept the lens cap on the camera during the entire recording session, SpongeBob crawls around and screams, ending with him pulling out a piece of the ground and slurping the worms attached to it.
- Funny Background Event: After the movie finishes, while SpongeBob, Patrick, Mermaid Man, and Barnacle Boy express how proud they are of the movie, everyone else in the audience appears disappointed and unimpressed.
- Games of the Elderly: SpongeBob and Patrick interrupt Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in the middle of the Shady Shoals Retirement Home's bingo afternoon to tell them about the Mermaid Man movie.Mermaid Man: BONKO!
Barnacle Boy: It's "bingo". - Gone Horribly Wrong: The recording session at Shady Shoals ends up with all of the equipment destroyed after Pearl slid backwards down the mountain. Additionally, Patrick reveals he left the lens cap on the camera after all that, so there wasn’t even any footage either.
- Gross-Up Close-Up: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy before the makeover. Not that the end result is any better.
- Hope Spot: The entire set was destroyed, but hey, at least the footage was obtained, and- wait, what is that on the camera lens?
- Hypocrite: SpongeBob wants to boycott the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy movie for using actors and is offended when the actors say Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are too old to play the role. In his film, Spongebob uses Sandy as an obvious stunt double for Mermaid Man's fight scene. Also the actors themselves, who are starring in the film despite seeing the titular heroes they're portraying as has-beens.
- Jerkass Has a Point: The actors cast as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are rather condescending, but they’re perfectly right that there’s no way the rather senile Mermaid Man, or the less senile but still elderly Barnacle Boy, would’ve been asked to reprise their roles/be the leads of the film adaptation.
- Metaphorgotten: After SpongeBob starts to despair about the movie not getting made, Mermaid Man tries to cheer him up with this:Mermaid Man: Hey, little hero, this reminds me of the Episode 912. We were surrounded. The Kelp Thing was to our right and there was broccoli on the side. But if there was one thing I remember, it was how to forget. The rain in Spain stays mainly on the... space! The final countdown. Skip to the... skip to the... Lou, my darling! Lou! (falls dramatically into SpongeBob's arms) Now get out there and finish this movie, kid.
- Mouthscreen: Combined with Medium-Shift Gag when we get a close-up of SpongeBob's live action mouth saying "actors".
- Obvious Stunt Double: It's obvious Sandy's doubling for Mermaid Man in the movie they make.
- Ocular Gushers: Pearl turns them on when Mr. Krabs says that by "cinema's newest star", he meant the Krabby Patty, not Pearl. SpongeBob then tells Pearl that she can be in the movie, too.
- Only One Finds It Fun: Based on how horrible the movie is made, nobody seems to give good reception. However, SpongeBob, Patrick, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are the only viewers who liked it.
- Madness-Induced Omnivore: Patrick tells SpongeBob he neglected to remove the lens cap of his camera while they were recording their movie. Realizing that they have no footage, SpongeBob has a mental breakdown and begins eating worms he finds on the ground nearby.
- Playing a Tree: Pearl is cast in the movie as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's boatmobile, much to her annoyance.
- Running Gag: Sandy blowing something up when somebody says "boom".
- Sanity Slippage: SpongeBob briefly goes through one after the entire set is destroyed and they didn't even get any footage because Patrick left the lens cap on the camera.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: After the set is destroyed, SpongeBob is still relieved that they got the footage, only to discover that Patrick left the lens cap on the camera.
- Shout-Out:
- Drippy Bros. Studios is a parody of Warner Bros. Studios.
- Sandy blowing things up when she hears the word "boom" is a reference to Crazy Harry from The Muppets.
- "The rain in Spain stays mainly on the... space! The final countdown" combines a famous line from My Fair Lady, the intro quote from Star Trek, and a song by Europe.
- "Skip to the Lou" is a classic American dance and nursery rhyme.
- Stuff Blowing Up: "Did somebody say BOOM?"
- Stylistic Suck: SpongeBob and Patrick's movie turns out to be very low-quality.
- Synchro-Vox: Used when SpongeBob is discussing "actors" being used in the Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy movie.
- Take That!: Tom Kenny said in his interview that this was his favorite episode because it took jabs at lousy superhero adaptations, which he himself isn’t too fond of.
- Unsound Effect: When the Kelp Thing's car gets towed out of the no-parking zone: "TOWED!"
- Visible Boom Mic: Plankton, when made the Boom operator, not only puts it in shot, but he gets it in Mermaid Man’s mouth.
- Visual Pun: At the end of SpongeBob and Patrick's movie, we see an end card reading "Fin" (French for "The End") in front of a close-up of a fish's fin.
