Mid-Life Crustacean

"Mid-Life Crustacean" is a SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season three. In this episode, Mr. Krabs has a mid-life crisis when he realizes that he is old.

Characters

• K-OLD DJ ^{(heard only)}
• Eugene H. Krabs
• "You're Old" Singers ^{(heard only)}
  • Martin Olson ^{(main singer)}
• Pearl Krabs
• Jenny ^(mentioned)
• Boy scout ^(debut)
• Incidental 40
• Incidental 18
• Incidental 102
• Incidental 151
• Incidental 87
• Old Man Jenkins ^{(blue; wheelchair; grey)}
• Incidental 81
• Incidental 85
• Incidental 90
• Incidental 92
• Incidental 94
• Incidental 82
• Incidental 93
• Incidental 39
• Incidental 36
• Incidental 48
• Incidental 103
• Patrick Star
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Squidward Tentacles
• Hot rod fish ^(debut)
• Incidental 37A
• Incidental 49
• Incidental 152
• Incidental 13
• Incidental 41
• Incidental 25 ^(cameo)
• Dr. Gill Gilliam ^(cameo)
• Incidental 6 ^(cameo)
• Incidental 108
• Incidental 107
• Incidental 106
• Incidental 153
• Barnacle ^(mentioned)
• Robot rabbit ^(debut)
• Betsy Krabs
• Victor Krabs ^{(possible photo)}
• Old Man Walker

Synopsis

The episode starts off with Mr. Krabs waking up to the K.O.L.D (K-OLD) radio station. A song about being old is playing, and Mr. Krabs struggles to get out of his hammock bed. He goes into his kitchen to find Pearl has made him breakfast. Later in the morning, he is walking along the street and denies that he is old, but then discovers a boy-scout fish is helping him walk. When Mr. Krabs tries to walk off, his arm comes off into the boy-scout's hands, and Mr. Krabs apologizes.

At the Krusty Krab, Mr. Krabs is feeling upset, when he overhears a child complaining that his Krabby Patty tastes funny. His mother tells him that it's 'all old and dried out' in an insulting comparison to Mr. Krabs. Patrick enters the Krusty Krab, and SpongeBob yells at him from the kitchen, asking if he is ready for the big night out, and Patrick yells back saying he is. After Squidward yells at them to keep it down, they continue the conversation in the kitchen, where Mr. Krabs eavesdrops on them from the door to his office. Mr. Krabs asks them if he could come with them on their night out, but Patrick thinks he might cramp their 'style' and he tests Mr. Krabs to see if he knows the "secret cool guy hand shake." It turns out he does, and Patrick says he's in.

At 8:01 PM, SpongeBob and Patrick arrive at Mr. Krabs' house as part of their "unfashionably late" promise, ready for the big night out. They first go to The Wash! to watch their faces spin in the mirror reflection of a washing machine, but Mr. Krabs is not amused by this activity and wants to see more of the night life. The scene then changes to them doing many other bizarre activities in various settings such as at the library, dentist, and highway, none of which have yet succeeded in amusing Mr. Krabs.

Finally, they are at a children's arcade called Bunny Buns, and SpongeBob once again asks if Mr. Krabs is feeling it. The children ask him this over and over, and then Mr. Krabs gets angry and berates the children for embarrassing him, and then SpongeBob and Patrick for taking him out on a series of bizarre occurrences which don't live up to their promise of coolness. He then decides to cancel the night and go home, but Patrick tries to change his mind by saying that he'll miss out on the "Panty Raid," an occurrence in which the trio will be invading a woman's house at night to steal her underpants. It is at this moment that Mr. Krabs reconsiders and has finally found a highlight of his night out.

SpongeBob, Patrick, and Mr. Krabs arrive at a house, and are successful in obtaining an unspecified woman's underwear. However, they are caught red-handed when the woman turns on the light and catches the boys in the middle of the act, revealing her to be Mr. Krabs' mother. As a result Mr. Krabs is grounded and sent to his room, being assisted by the boy scout. SpongeBob apologizes for what happened, and Mr. Krabs tells him it was fine as being in his old bedroom made him feel younger as the episode ends.

Production

Art

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Music

 ‣ Drunken Sailor (b) - Robin Jeffrey, Tim Laycock [Title card]
 ◦ You're Old - Eban Schletter, Stephen Hillenburg [plays on the radio]
 ‣ Hawaiian Party - Peter Dennis [breakfast]
 ‣ The Tip Top Polka/The Cliff Polka - Chelmsford Folk Band [Krabs going to work]
 ‣ Hawaiian Link (b) - Richard Myhill [Krabs sighs]
 ‣ Dramatic Cue (e) - Ronald Hanmer [cemetery]
 • Steel Licks 9 - Jeremy Wakefield [exterior of Krusty Krab]
 ‣ Botany Bay (b) - Robert Alexander White [old Krabby Patty]
 ‣ Hilo Rag - Guy Fletcher ["Good morning, Krusty Krew!"]
 ‣ Police Car - Sam Spence ["Style!"]
 ‣ Unease - Dick Stephen Walter [secret cool guy handshake]
 • Steel Sting - Jeremy Wakefield [8:01 PM]
 • Steel Licks 8 - Jeremy Wakefield ["You're embarrassing me, Dad!"]
 ‣ Tympup A - Sammy Burdson, John Charles Fiddy [SpongeBob's bike]
 • Steel Licks 6 - Jeremy Wakefield [Krabs in a wagon]
 ‣ Gruesome - The Surfdusters ["Hey, you guys must be lost."]
 ‣ Konfetti - Claude Carrasu, Krys Moram, Jan Tyski [in the laundromat]
 ‣ Psychedelic Guitar - Ian Henry Marsh, Phil Pickett ["Oh, yeah!"]
 ‣ Konfetti - Claude Carrasu, Krys Moram, Jan Tyski ["You guys want another rinse cycle?"]
 ‣ Ulk-Fox Nr. 2 - Gerhard Trede [picking up trash]
 ‣ Dombummel - Gerhard Trede [Bunny Buns]
 ‣ Kamakani (b) - Kapono Beamer ["Lame?"]
 • Vibe Sting - Nicolas Carr ["The what?"]
 ‣ Police Car - Sam Spence ["Not lame!"]
 ‣ Tomfoolery - David Snell [panty raid]
 ‣ The Plot Thickens - Dick Stephen Walter [Mama Krabs appears]
 ‣ Drunken Sailor (b) - Robin Jeffrey, Tim Laycock [Krabs grounded]
 ‣ Emotion Blues - Francois Fournet, Eric Gemsa [ending]

Release

• This episode is available on the Sponge for Hire, Complete 3rd Season, The Ultimate SpongeBob Box Set, The SpongeBob SquarePants Collection, The SpongeBob SquarePants 8 Season DVD Collection, Favorite Episodes, 2-Season TV Pack, The Best 200 Episodes Ever, Mighty Sporting of You, SpongeBob SquarePants Vol. 5, From the Beginning, Pt.2, The Third & Fourth Seasons, First 100 Episodes, and Complete Third Season DVDs and on VideoNow.

Reception

• "Mid-Life Crustacean" was ranked #86 during the SpongeBob's Top 100 event in the UK and Ireland from June 4-8, 2012.

Trivia

General

• This episode premiered in Canada on November 6, 2002, before it premiered in the United States.
• At the beginning of the episode, a song plays on the radio called "You're Old." It is sung by writer Martin Olson, who appeared as the live-action chief in "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V."

• A picture of Victor Krabs can be seen when Mr. Krabs tries to explain why he was going through his mother's drawer.
• This is the first episode where the Bikini Bottom Library appears.
• This is the final episode where Paul Tibbitt voices Mama Krabs. In future episodes, she would be voiced by Sirena Irwin.
• This is the last episode to premiere during Friday Night Nicktoons.

Cultural references

• This episode's title is a pun on the phrase "mid-life crisis."
• One of the locations SpongeBob and Patrick bring Mr. Krabs to is Bunny Buns, which is a parody of Chuck E. Cheese's.
• "P and P," the game that SpongeBob, Mr. Krabs, and Patrick were playing, is a parody of Dungeons and Dragons.
• KOLD-TV is the name of an actual television network.

Errors

• When Betsy says, "Go to your room, mister," her hair is missing, but when it zooms in, her hair is back when she grounds Mr. Krabs.

• When Mrs. Krabs' bloomers are first seen during the panty raid, they are shaped like normal panties, but when Mr. Krabs pulls one out, it is instantly rather shaped like boxers.

• During the scene transition from the ice cream stand to the Krusty Krab, bubble sounds can be heard, but no bubbles actually appear.
• In the French dub, C.H. Greenblatt has the word "ender" after his name in the "written by" section of the credits.

Running gags

• Whenever Mr. Krabs is walking, a boy scout helps him and says, "Don't worry Pops, we're almost [to Mr. Krabs' destination]." Mr. Krabs also gets annoyed when the boy scout is helping him.
• SpongeBob and Patrick asking Mr. Krabs if he can "feel it."

References

This page uses content from Wikipedia (original • authors). Both Encyclopedia SpongeBobia and Wikipedia are licensed under the CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported license.