[7.5/10] When I saw that we were not only going to a life lesson episode, but one focused on the challenges facing black teenagers, I feared we were going to get another “Rocket Racer.” But this wasn’t bad at all, despite its own After School Special qualities.
I appreciate that they took an episode to give Robbie the spotlight. The backstory connecting him to Tombstone is a little contrived, and has a certain amount of respectability politics baked into it, but the show’s heart is in the right place. Spider-Man TAS is still a kids show, and it’s true to its four-color roots in that regard, but it actually engages with notions of the criminal justice system failing people like Tombstone when they’re kids, and communal and societal pressures facing people like Robbie and his son (the latter of whom’s voiced by Alfonso Ribero from Fresh Prince, no stranger to very special episodes).
Robbie comes off a little too good to be true, but his willingness both to go to bat for his son, even with a supervillain coming after him, and to face the consequences makes him both noble and admirable. The episode pulls off a few headfakes as to whether Robbie might take the easy way out or use his service revolver to go after Tombstone, but each time he makes a stand that’s true to who he is.
And it imparts a lesson to Spider-Man, who gets the cheesy instruction from Madame Webb to use his brains, not his braun. I like the notion that Spider-Man needs to figure out solutions to problems beyond just web-slinging and punching his way out of them, but it again feels rote. It is nice that Spidey tries so hard to help Robbie because Robbie’s one of the few people who likes him as both Spider-Man and Peter Parker. It’s a good insight into the characters’ relationship.
Overall, this episode is a pleasant surprise, one that indulges in some clichés and some headshake-worthy stuff, but also gets the core sentiment and sympathies right, and develops a secondary character at the same time.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-05-09T22:46:15Z
[7.5/10] When I saw that we were not only going to a life lesson episode, but one focused on the challenges facing black teenagers, I feared we were going to get another “Rocket Racer.” But this wasn’t bad at all, despite its own After School Special qualities.
I appreciate that they took an episode to give Robbie the spotlight. The backstory connecting him to Tombstone is a little contrived, and has a certain amount of respectability politics baked into it, but the show’s heart is in the right place. Spider-Man TAS is still a kids show, and it’s true to its four-color roots in that regard, but it actually engages with notions of the criminal justice system failing people like Tombstone when they’re kids, and communal and societal pressures facing people like Robbie and his son (the latter of whom’s voiced by Alfonso Ribero from Fresh Prince, no stranger to very special episodes).
Robbie comes off a little too good to be true, but his willingness both to go to bat for his son, even with a supervillain coming after him, and to face the consequences makes him both noble and admirable. The episode pulls off a few headfakes as to whether Robbie might take the easy way out or use his service revolver to go after Tombstone, but each time he makes a stand that’s true to who he is.
And it imparts a lesson to Spider-Man, who gets the cheesy instruction from Madame Webb to use his brains, not his braun. I like the notion that Spider-Man needs to figure out solutions to problems beyond just web-slinging and punching his way out of them, but it again feels rote. It is nice that Spidey tries so hard to help Robbie because Robbie’s one of the few people who likes him as both Spider-Man and Peter Parker. It’s a good insight into the characters’ relationship.
Overall, this episode is a pleasant surprise, one that indulges in some clichés and some headshake-worthy stuff, but also gets the core sentiment and sympathies right, and develops a secondary character at the same time.