Recap / Sponge Bob Square Pants S 5 E 14 Blackened Sponge Mermaid Man Vs Sponge Bob

Original air date: 8/3/2007

Blackened Sponge

SpongeBob gets a black eye and tells everyone that he got it from fighting a western-styled villain. He really got it from trying to open a tube of toothpaste.

Blackened Sponge contains examples of:

• An Aesop: When you get injured, it’s important to tell the truth of how your ailment came to be, no matter how crazy or humiliating it sounds.
• Argument of Contradictions: In SpongeBob's dream, he and Crazyfish have a "Yes it is!"/"No it's not!" variant when Crazyfish cheats at Rock–Paper–Scissors. It stops when the Damsel in Distress warns them about the incoming train.
• Big "NO!": SpongeBob at the very end when Crazyfish cheats.
• Bland-Name Product: SpongeBob uses Krust toothpaste, a parody of Crest toothpaste.
• Break the Haughty: All of SpongeBob's acquired haughtiness from the stories he told is quickly broken once he sees Jack M. Crazyfish is Real After All.
  SpongeBob: (under breath, quivering) He's... real...
• Chained to a Railway: SpongeBob dreams of saving a Damsel in Distress who Jack M. Crazyfish tied to a railroad.
• Clothing-Concealed Injury: SpongeBob first tries to hide his black eye with a pair of large flashy sunglasses. It doesn't last long since Patrick removes them.
• Corpsing:invoked Gary struggles not to laugh after SpongeBob tells him how he got his black eye.
• Dastardly Whiplash: Jack M. Crazyfish, who in SpongeBob's dream, ties damsels in distress to railroad tracks and cheats at Rock–Paper–Scissors. SpongeBob initially makes up and brags about a story involving Crazyfish to explain his black eye, which actually occurred when SpongeBob tried to use a monkey wrench to remove a toothpaste cap. Subverted when Crazyfish appears, only for SpongeBob to confess that he made up the incident to avoid looking foolish. It turns out Crazyfish just wanted to see SpongeBob because SpongeBob makes really good Krabby Patties. When SpongeBob spills a deluxe Krabby Patty with extra cheese on Crazyfish's suit, they settle things with a quick game of Rock–Paper–Scissors.
• Delayed Reaction: After SpongeBob's last tall tale about Jack M. Crazyfish, one of the customers gives him this round:
  Fish: Uh, what did you say he looked like again?
  SpongeBob: Oh, kind of tall, handlebar mustache...
  Fish: Little green hat?
  SpongeBob: I kind of thought it was teal, but that sounds like him all right. (Realizes) Wait a second... how did you know he was wearing a green hat?
• Double-Meaning Title: While the title refers to SpongeBob's black eye, it can also refer to SpongeBob fearing his reputation will be "blackened" if everyone hears about the bathroom accident, so he keeps making up stories to hide the truth.
• Dream Intro: The episode begins with SpongeBob dreaming.
• Eye Scream: Features several depictions of SpongeBob getting jabbed in the eye, resulting in a black eye. In reality, he jabbed a monkey wrench in it.
• Foreshadowing: When SpongeBob tells Sandy that he got his black eye from Jack M. Crazyfish, she reacts in shock, hinting that he's a real person and not a figment of SpongeBob's imagination.
• Honesty Aesop: SpongeBob gets a black eye by jabbing it with a monkey wrench when opening his toothpaste; to avoid looking dumb, he lies about getting it from a bad guy in his dream in various solutions. But when it's revealed the villain turns out to be real, SpongeBob freaks out and is forced to tell the truth.
• Jerkass Ball: SpongeBob spends the majority of the episode vainly boasting about his black eye and generally just being very arrogant, rude, pretentious and obnoxious to everyone else. He immediately drops it once Crazyfish arrives for real.
• Miles Gloriosus: SpongeBob makes up ridiculous tales of how he defeated Jack M. Crazyfish to justify his black eye. Once he finds out that Crazyfish is real, he admits he made it all up and begs for his mercy.
• Ocular Gushers: Two of SpongeBob's tall tales involve Crazyfish spewing these. In the first one, SpongeBob knocks off Crazyfish's toupee, making him run away while leaving behind a trail of tears, which SpongeBob proceeds to drink from. The second one has one of his tear streams ricocheting off a rock and hitting SpongeBob, allegedly causing his black eye.
• Real After All: SpongeBob is terrified when he sees Jack M. Crazyfish is a real person.
• Tempting Fate: When complaining about SpongeBob being late for work, Mr. Krabs grumbles that he hopes that SpongeBob's been in a horrible accident for his sake. Cue SpongeBob walking through the front doors with a swollen black eye.
• The Dog Bites Back: This happens when Jack is revealed to be real, and visits the Krusty Krab to find SpongeBob. An old lady, whom SpongeBob rudely snapped at, throws him under the bus by bringing up the part of his lie where he made Jack cry.
• Top-Heavy Guy: In SpongeBob's dream, he's muscular but still has the same scrawny legs he normally does.

---

Mermaid Man Vs. SpongeBob

Plankton hypnotizes Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy into wreaking havoc at the Krusty Krab.

Mermaid Man Vs. SpongeBob contains examples of:

• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: "Professor Plankton's Mind Control Shampoo...with Conditioner".
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy.
• Did Not Think This Through: When Plankton finally brings customers into his restaurant.
  Fish: So where's the food?
  Plankton: (Beat) Oh yeah... (goes into the kitchen) I never thought I'd get this far.
• "Everybody Laughs" Ending: An in-universe example with the Krusty Krab commercial.
• Gross-Up Close-Up: There are several close up shots of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy's old features when Plankton tries to flatter them.
• Kids' Meal Toy: An In-Universe example; Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy are hired to promote the restaurant, appearing in TV commercials for it. Kids' meals are produced featuring Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy toys. Seeing how the promotion attracted kids to the Krusty Krab, Plankton uses mind-control shampoo on the aforementioned heroes to turn them against the Krusty Krab and bring customers to the Chum Bucket.
• Metronomic Man Mashing: Mermaid Man does this to SpongeBob with his move, The Spine Blaster.
• Mind-Control Device: Professor Plankton's Mind Control Shampoo (with conditioner).
• Mind-Control Eyes: Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy have these while being controlled by Plankton.
• Parody Product Placement: Hostess Fruit Pie ads are parodied with the "Krusty Kids Meal" commercial at the beginning of the episode.
  Man Ray: How can I be evil with flavors this good?
• Superhero Episode: The episode features SpongeBob becoming the superhero "Fry Boy" to save Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy from Plankton's control.
• Tickle Torture: Man Ray does it to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in the Krusty Krab commercial.
• Trip Trap: SpongeBob sticks out his leg to trip the brainwashed superheroes so that they fall down and eat the Krabby Patties.
• Unsound Effect: After Plankton brainwashes Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, we get one transitioning to the next scene: "WIPE!"
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: When SpongeBob goes to the retirement home to get Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, he fails to notice the place in total chaos due to the brainwashed superheroes.
• Versus Title: The episode is titled "Mermaid Man Vs. SpongeBob".