[9.3/10] I am surely overrating this episode. Most of it is perfectly good, but nothing special.
The structure of the episode, which has Mary Jane recounting her nightmares, and then Peter using that description to track her through New York after Hydro-Man kidnaps her again is a solid-if-convenient one, that shows Spidey playing detective once more. Spider-Man fighting a transformer as part of this retracing of Mary Jane’s steps is a little silly, but cool. And it should be no surprise at this point that everything on this show involves some crazy, slightly immoral or at least boundary-pushing scientist, but it’s still a standard trope the show deploys with regularity.
But holy crap the third act is a mindfuck, that has both elements of existential horror and some real potent emotional material. The reveal that not only is Hydro-Man a clone of his former self, but that so is Mary Jane, crafted from his same water molecules, is a crazy moment. It’s the biggest reveal the show’s managed to pull thus far, and the horrifying notion that one isn’t the “real” version of themselves, that they were cobbled together out of hair fibers and mutant water particles at the behest of their stalker and abuser is unnerving as all hell.
I’ll admit that I knew this twist was coming thanks to an acquaintance who accidentally spoiled it for me, but the effect the revelation has on Mary Jane means it still lands with an impact.
And more than that, the fact that shortly after they hear this news, the scientist reveals that aqua-Mary Jane has very little time to live before she dissipates, and then she does, while telling Peter how much she loves him, is absolutely devastating. It is, honestly, a little much for a kids show. The sense of having someone you love and who loves you, torn away by a madman and the inexorable march of molecules beyond anyone’s control, and the return of being without the one person you care for the most, after having thought you’d made it past that, is utterly harrowing.
I’ve ragged on the actor who plays Spidey’s performance a little bit here and there, but he’s really good in this little duology. The anger in his voice when he rebukes Anna Watson, and the clear crestfallen devastation when he laments aqua-Mary Jane dying is piercing. He’s a big part of why the emotional stakes of that moment land, and he deserves a hearty hat tip.
Plus, the tease at the end suggests we’re finally going to get the payoff that Madame Web promised way back in Season 3, which is connected to the last time Mary Jane disappeared. The prospect of Peter having to face his greatest challenge when he’s in his most emotionally fragile state is an intriguing one.
Overall, a mostly standard episode of the show that suddenly hits an emotional homerun in the final act. Still potentially the peak of the series.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2018-06-30T15:06:47Z
[9.3/10] I am surely overrating this episode. Most of it is perfectly good, but nothing special.
The structure of the episode, which has Mary Jane recounting her nightmares, and then Peter using that description to track her through New York after Hydro-Man kidnaps her again is a solid-if-convenient one, that shows Spidey playing detective once more. Spider-Man fighting a transformer as part of this retracing of Mary Jane’s steps is a little silly, but cool. And it should be no surprise at this point that everything on this show involves some crazy, slightly immoral or at least boundary-pushing scientist, but it’s still a standard trope the show deploys with regularity.
But holy crap the third act is a mindfuck, that has both elements of existential horror and some real potent emotional material. The reveal that not only is Hydro-Man a clone of his former self, but that so is Mary Jane, crafted from his same water molecules, is a crazy moment. It’s the biggest reveal the show’s managed to pull thus far, and the horrifying notion that one isn’t the “real” version of themselves, that they were cobbled together out of hair fibers and mutant water particles at the behest of their stalker and abuser is unnerving as all hell.
I’ll admit that I knew this twist was coming thanks to an acquaintance who accidentally spoiled it for me, but the effect the revelation has on Mary Jane means it still lands with an impact.
And more than that, the fact that shortly after they hear this news, the scientist reveals that aqua-Mary Jane has very little time to live before she dissipates, and then she does, while telling Peter how much she loves him, is absolutely devastating. It is, honestly, a little much for a kids show. The sense of having someone you love and who loves you, torn away by a madman and the inexorable march of molecules beyond anyone’s control, and the return of being without the one person you care for the most, after having thought you’d made it past that, is utterly harrowing.
I’ve ragged on the actor who plays Spidey’s performance a little bit here and there, but he’s really good in this little duology. The anger in his voice when he rebukes Anna Watson, and the clear crestfallen devastation when he laments aqua-Mary Jane dying is piercing. He’s a big part of why the emotional stakes of that moment land, and he deserves a hearty hat tip.
Plus, the tease at the end suggests we’re finally going to get the payoff that Madame Web promised way back in Season 3, which is connected to the last time Mary Jane disappeared. The prospect of Peter having to face his greatest challenge when he’s in his most emotionally fragile state is an intriguing one.
Overall, a mostly standard episode of the show that suddenly hits an emotional homerun in the final act. Still potentially the peak of the series.