[7.2/10] They had me! I thought maybe this was going to be an episode that felt more like one complete thing than two episodes strung together! And it kind of does! There’s at least more connective tissue here than there’s been for some others. It’s not that big a deal, but it makes the weird release schedule for the show and the doubling-up like this all the more head scratch-worthy.
The first half is a little simpler and more straightforward, which helps. Spider_man needs to find Alexie/Rhino in time for him to testify at Max’s school board hearing with the idea that heartfelt testimony from a student Max saved might help him keep his job. It gives Spidey a solid mission -- track down the mysteriously missing Alexei -- and it gives the rest of the Spider-Gang a task too -- stall the school board for time and get ready to prepare a Rhino antidote.
There’s not much to it, but it gives Spidey an excuse for some of the usual quos, to go on a detective mission, and to run into Swarm for the first(?) time. His fracas with Rhino and Swarm is solid enough, and I appreciate that in the end, after all that, Spidey has the wrong guy.
That prompts him not only to appear before the board as SPider-Man, but to, when challenged, admit his identity as Peter Parker, arguing for all the good things Max has done for the city and for Horizon HIgh. It’s a nice counterweight to all the goof stalling schtick Miles and Anya do, because it’s not only more heartfelt, but it requires a sacrifice from Peter to help save the day.
In the end, though, Dr. Connors just uses it against him, suggesting that this points to how Max was just putting his students in danger and doing so knowingly. (And you know what, he kind of has a point.) The problem is that Connors just seems so obviously capital-E Evil. There’s no nuance to the writing and performance, which just makes the school board look like dopes for not only listening to him, but putting him in charge of the school.
The latter half is a little more complicated, involving Spidey’s friends learning his secret identity, the first interaction with Mary Jane outside of a mascot costume, and, naturally, an underground monster fighting league run and watched by supervillains and their families.
That’s a lot, and it’s somewhat less successful for the first half. I appreciate the show delving into what it would mean to Spidey and his allies for people to find out who he really is, but the emotional calculus of the whole thing is very basic and broad. This is one of the times where I have to remind myself that this is a kids show, so of course things are going to be simpler, but other Spider-Man shows have been able to hit the complexity of these sorts of things before.
Still, the show at least has the smarts to make it the throughline of the episode. Ana and Gwen are miffed that Peter didn’t think they were trustworthy enough to share his secret. MJ encourages Peter to explain his reasons and be straight with his friends. And in the end, during a monster fight no less, everyone expresses their true feelings, apologies, and acceptance. It’s very basic, but it’s also sound.
That said, the show rolls pretty hard on trying to strike up romantic sparks between Peter and M, and comes off like it’s trying too hard rather than building something organically. But hey, it’s the first shot at it, so hopefully things develop better in the future. (I did get a laugh out of Peter's terribleness at both the mechanics and lingo of basketball.)
Last but not least, the monster fight material was pretty mild. It was obviously early on that Swarm was using his bees to control the baddies, so it didn’t come off as much of a revelation. (Though I did get a kick out of Grady's bee-phobia and assistance.) Spidey and Gwen rapidly building a sonic disruptor out of spare parts on the fly was a little implausible even for a comic book show. The fight itself wasn't even terribly compelling despite the Rhino vs. Man-Spider vs. Spider-People setup.
Otherwise, we get a few hints as to who Connors is working for/with, and hints that Jackyl, or at least his serums, are involved. It’s hard to be too invested with the overall arc here given the gaps between episode releases, but it’s a solid tease. Also, the show vaguely walking back the “People now know Spidey’s identity” development with confidentiality arrangements plays like a cheat, though I do like the compilation that Spider-Man is effectively banned from campus.
Overall, this was a perfectly good dose of superhero entertainment, but didn’t really wring all it could from the prospect of Spidey having his identity exposed, at least to some of his cohort.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-08-18T21:01:28Z
[7.2/10] They had me! I thought maybe this was going to be an episode that felt more like one complete thing than two episodes strung together! And it kind of does! There’s at least more connective tissue here than there’s been for some others. It’s not that big a deal, but it makes the weird release schedule for the show and the doubling-up like this all the more head scratch-worthy.
The first half is a little simpler and more straightforward, which helps. Spider_man needs to find Alexie/Rhino in time for him to testify at Max’s school board hearing with the idea that heartfelt testimony from a student Max saved might help him keep his job. It gives Spidey a solid mission -- track down the mysteriously missing Alexei -- and it gives the rest of the Spider-Gang a task too -- stall the school board for time and get ready to prepare a Rhino antidote.
There’s not much to it, but it gives Spidey an excuse for some of the usual quos, to go on a detective mission, and to run into Swarm for the first(?) time. His fracas with Rhino and Swarm is solid enough, and I appreciate that in the end, after all that, Spidey has the wrong guy.
That prompts him not only to appear before the board as SPider-Man, but to, when challenged, admit his identity as Peter Parker, arguing for all the good things Max has done for the city and for Horizon HIgh. It’s a nice counterweight to all the goof stalling schtick Miles and Anya do, because it’s not only more heartfelt, but it requires a sacrifice from Peter to help save the day.
In the end, though, Dr. Connors just uses it against him, suggesting that this points to how Max was just putting his students in danger and doing so knowingly. (And you know what, he kind of has a point.) The problem is that Connors just seems so obviously capital-E Evil. There’s no nuance to the writing and performance, which just makes the school board look like dopes for not only listening to him, but putting him in charge of the school.
The latter half is a little more complicated, involving Spidey’s friends learning his secret identity, the first interaction with Mary Jane outside of a mascot costume, and, naturally, an underground monster fighting league run and watched by supervillains and their families.
That’s a lot, and it’s somewhat less successful for the first half. I appreciate the show delving into what it would mean to Spidey and his allies for people to find out who he really is, but the emotional calculus of the whole thing is very basic and broad. This is one of the times where I have to remind myself that this is a kids show, so of course things are going to be simpler, but other Spider-Man shows have been able to hit the complexity of these sorts of things before.
Still, the show at least has the smarts to make it the throughline of the episode. Ana and Gwen are miffed that Peter didn’t think they were trustworthy enough to share his secret. MJ encourages Peter to explain his reasons and be straight with his friends. And in the end, during a monster fight no less, everyone expresses their true feelings, apologies, and acceptance. It’s very basic, but it’s also sound.
That said, the show rolls pretty hard on trying to strike up romantic sparks between Peter and M, and comes off like it’s trying too hard rather than building something organically. But hey, it’s the first shot at it, so hopefully things develop better in the future. (I did get a laugh out of Peter's terribleness at both the mechanics and lingo of basketball.)
Last but not least, the monster fight material was pretty mild. It was obviously early on that Swarm was using his bees to control the baddies, so it didn’t come off as much of a revelation. (Though I did get a kick out of Grady's bee-phobia and assistance.) Spidey and Gwen rapidly building a sonic disruptor out of spare parts on the fly was a little implausible even for a comic book show. The fight itself wasn't even terribly compelling despite the Rhino vs. Man-Spider vs. Spider-People setup.
Otherwise, we get a few hints as to who Connors is working for/with, and hints that Jackyl, or at least his serums, are involved. It’s hard to be too invested with the overall arc here given the gaps between episode releases, but it’s a solid tease. Also, the show vaguely walking back the “People now know Spidey’s identity” development with confidentiality arrangements plays like a cheat, though I do like the compilation that Spider-Man is effectively banned from campus.
Overall, this was a perfectly good dose of superhero entertainment, but didn’t really wring all it could from the prospect of Spidey having his identity exposed, at least to some of his cohort.