[7.8/10] I know I’ve complained about this show being all action and no talk at times, but the action really won me over in this one. Managing six sinister villains in one combat sequence is no easy task, but in the skirmish in Times Square, and especially in the superlative scenes set in Central Park, the show continually found creative ways to mix and match the villains’ powers and have Spidey (or the suit) set them against one another. There was a lot of inventive ducking and dodging and using misdirection to get the villains to take one another out, which is a nice tack in a bit of fisticuffs that almost has to be a punch-and-kick-fest rather than a puzzle for Peter to solve.
I also like what the show’s doing with the alien suit. For one thing, it subtly demonstrates the strength of the suit when Spider-Man is able to stand up to six villains at once who all gave him trouble one-on-one, and that he does even better against them when the suit is controlling him rather than the other way around. Just the idea of the suit going out and fighting crime using Peter’s body while he’s asleep is both cool and disturbing, which adds stakes to Peter being in pain after the night’s work, but also increasingly dependent on his new black oozy pal.
I was less enamored with the stuff on the sidelines here, particularly the scenes with Eddie Brock and Mary Jane. MJ continues to be a prop here, whose given a more active dating life than she is a personality. But what really puzzles me here is Eddie. Up until this point, the show has depicted him as a decent guy who has legitimate beefs with Peter, even if he only knows part of the story. But here, the show has him do an exposition dump, seem like he’s the one being a jerk about it, and disregarding Mary Jane’s safety and protests on his bike. It’s like they’re doing a villain turn without giving him reason for a shift in personality yet.
Otherwise, the bit with Aunt May having a heart attack is kind of trite, but I like the setup that Eddie thinks Peter doesn't care about anyone but himself, while this is something that challenges that. And I’m a sucker for “Jonah has a heart of gold” bits, so him wanting to tell Pete the news himself got a minor “aw” from me. Plus, I enjoyed the dynamic of the Sinister Six, between the in-fighting and the mentoring relationship between Doc Ock and Electro.
All in all, if you just cut out the Eddie/MJ stuff, this is a superb episode with some cool multi-villain fun and another nice chapter in the alien suit saga.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-09-15T03:18:27Z
[7.8/10] I know I’ve complained about this show being all action and no talk at times, but the action really won me over in this one. Managing six sinister villains in one combat sequence is no easy task, but in the skirmish in Times Square, and especially in the superlative scenes set in Central Park, the show continually found creative ways to mix and match the villains’ powers and have Spidey (or the suit) set them against one another. There was a lot of inventive ducking and dodging and using misdirection to get the villains to take one another out, which is a nice tack in a bit of fisticuffs that almost has to be a punch-and-kick-fest rather than a puzzle for Peter to solve.
I also like what the show’s doing with the alien suit. For one thing, it subtly demonstrates the strength of the suit when Spider-Man is able to stand up to six villains at once who all gave him trouble one-on-one, and that he does even better against them when the suit is controlling him rather than the other way around. Just the idea of the suit going out and fighting crime using Peter’s body while he’s asleep is both cool and disturbing, which adds stakes to Peter being in pain after the night’s work, but also increasingly dependent on his new black oozy pal.
I was less enamored with the stuff on the sidelines here, particularly the scenes with Eddie Brock and Mary Jane. MJ continues to be a prop here, whose given a more active dating life than she is a personality. But what really puzzles me here is Eddie. Up until this point, the show has depicted him as a decent guy who has legitimate beefs with Peter, even if he only knows part of the story. But here, the show has him do an exposition dump, seem like he’s the one being a jerk about it, and disregarding Mary Jane’s safety and protests on his bike. It’s like they’re doing a villain turn without giving him reason for a shift in personality yet.
Otherwise, the bit with Aunt May having a heart attack is kind of trite, but I like the setup that Eddie thinks Peter doesn't care about anyone but himself, while this is something that challenges that. And I’m a sucker for “Jonah has a heart of gold” bits, so him wanting to tell Pete the news himself got a minor “aw” from me. Plus, I enjoyed the dynamic of the Sinister Six, between the in-fighting and the mentoring relationship between Doc Ock and Electro.
All in all, if you just cut out the Eddie/MJ stuff, this is a superb episode with some cool multi-villain fun and another nice chapter in the alien suit saga.