Shell of a Man

"All pink and soft and unmanly. I'm all flab and no ab!"

- Mr. Krabs

"Shell of a Man" is the second segment of the first episode of season 4, and it is paired with "Fear of a Krabby Patty." In this episode, when Mr. Krabs outgrows his shell before going to a reunion with his navy buddies, SpongeBob takes his place.

Characters

 * SpongeBob SquarePants
 * Squidward Tentacles
 * Eugene H. Krabs
 * Iron Eye
 * Mutton Chop
 * Torpedo Belly
 * Lockjaw Jones
 * Navy captain

Plot
At the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob creates a Krabby Patty and gets emotional while giving it to Squidward, only to reveal that he was the one who ordered the patty. After getting back into the kitchen, Mr. Krabs tells him to come outside and brings him in his hidey hole to help bring his treasure into his office. He says his navy buddies and him are having a reunion and he wanted to wear his old uniform.

After learning more about them as well as his armor abs, SpongeBob puts his station in ship-shape. After doing that, he hears Mr. Krabs yell and learns that he has outgrown his shell, and says he can’t go to the reunion naked. SpongeBob tells him his shell shouldn’t stop him from going, but disintegrates Mr. Krabs’ hope after talking about how weak he looks without a shell.

He kicks his shell, only for hit SpongeBob and ends up inside it. This gives Mr. Krabs the idea to have him go to the reunion in his shell, with SpongeBob having already practiced imitating Mr. Krabs. At the reunion, Mr. Krabs is hiding in a coral plant while SpongeBob hangs out with his navy buddies. Later, Mr. Krabs gets a trophy for manly toughness, so SpongeBob goes up and gives a speech, only for it to be about jellyfishing and blowing bubbles.

As he’s leaving, his navy buddies confront him about him not giving Torpedo Belly a steely belly butt. However, this move ends up causing the shell to break. Mr. Krabs comes out and reveals he is the actual him. However, he still earns the trophy for confessing that he lost his shell, and it turns out his navy buddies had secrets as well.