[7.3/10] This one isn’t bad. Like in the last episode, they lay the theme on really thick. Flash’s jealousy over Harry is made extraordinarily plain, and the whole “who’s really Spidey’s best friend routine” is underlined again and again. At the same time, most of the episode is one big overstuffed fight, with Spidey, Flash, Harry, Doc Ock, Norman Osborn, and even a debuting Morbius getting into the mix.
But there’s a few cool twists. For one thing, I like the concept of Anti-Venom, who has a cool design and makes for an interesting challenge to the original symbiote. At the same time, I appreciate the parallel structure of how the new symbiote clashes with the Venom symbiote in the same way that Flash feels displaced by Harry. And even the character beats of Harry being very afraid of the symbiote given his history with it, and Norman being very concerned about protecting his son after all that’s happened are well done.
I’ll admit, some of the fighting turns into static for me after a while, the theme is over the top, and the “reverse the polarity”-style escape is a fairly unsatisfying solution to the scuffle. But there’s still some cool moments and neat designs, and I particularly like the fact that while our heroes escape, there are (at least for the moment), genuine consequences for bringing a very green Harry into this fight, and Flash trying to sacrifice himself, or at least put himself at risk, to save his best bud.
Overall, this one’s a mixed bag, but one that has some good things going for it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2019-03-08T06:12:45Z
[7.3/10] This one isn’t bad. Like in the last episode, they lay the theme on really thick. Flash’s jealousy over Harry is made extraordinarily plain, and the whole “who’s really Spidey’s best friend routine” is underlined again and again. At the same time, most of the episode is one big overstuffed fight, with Spidey, Flash, Harry, Doc Ock, Norman Osborn, and even a debuting Morbius getting into the mix.
But there’s a few cool twists. For one thing, I like the concept of Anti-Venom, who has a cool design and makes for an interesting challenge to the original symbiote. At the same time, I appreciate the parallel structure of how the new symbiote clashes with the Venom symbiote in the same way that Flash feels displaced by Harry. And even the character beats of Harry being very afraid of the symbiote given his history with it, and Norman being very concerned about protecting his son after all that’s happened are well done.
I’ll admit, some of the fighting turns into static for me after a while, the theme is over the top, and the “reverse the polarity”-style escape is a fairly unsatisfying solution to the scuffle. But there’s still some cool moments and neat designs, and I particularly like the fact that while our heroes escape, there are (at least for the moment), genuine consequences for bringing a very green Harry into this fight, and Flash trying to sacrifice himself, or at least put himself at risk, to save his best bud.
Overall, this one’s a mixed bag, but one that has some good things going for it.