Review: The Patrick Star Show “X Marks the Pot”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

A classic villain returns to his former lair, only to find the Star family inhabiting it.

Our Take:

This episode continues the return of our beloved starfish and his bizarrely comical show, which has been renewed for a second season on Nickelodeon. He should consider himself lucky that he can hold his own without SpongeBob around. Here, we see Patrick and his family encountering another familiar face from the SpongeBob SquarePants lore.  

“X Marks the Pot” marks the latest appearance of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy’s arch-nemesis Man Ray (Bob Joles), who seeks to reclaim what is rightfully his: his black hole doomsday bomb. Unfortunately for him, it’s located in his underground lair, which happens to be underneath Patrick’s house. Man Ray is another supporting character from SpongeBob SquarePants that I enjoy watching, especially in the show’s earlier seasons. His mixture of menace and comedy makes this villain a devious treat regarding the meta-humor towards superheroes.  

His role in The Patrick Star Show is no different, making this another enjoyably delusional misadventure of the Star family. Man Ray serves as a delightful viewer perspective on the show’s randomness, with the villain attempting to survive the family’s stupidity and unpredictable nature to find his lair. The humor also has its share of moments, with the highlights being Man Ray’s disguises and Patrick mocking the villain through his action figures. Plus, Bob Joles continues to be a pleasant replacement for John Rhys-Davies as the voice of Man Ray.  

Overall, the episode is delightfully villainous for all the right reasons. It successfully continues to introduce crowd-pleasing supporting characters from SpongeBob SquarePants to the wacky world of Patrick Star. Man Ray’s earlier episodes from the original show still hold a place in my heart, but this one does enough to provide some wickedness in this goofy spin-off.