Spectacular Spider-Man 2.01 - 2.05

[the_fox_bandit]

(Avatar fans, I haven't forgotten about you. In fact, I talk about the Avatar finale for like an entire paragraph in here!)

So, if you didn't know, Canada got season 2 of Spectacular Spider-Man before we did. (Deja vu, Avatar fans?) Sony took its darn tootin' time in getting the episodes off to another network, but they'll finally land on the new, rebooted Toon Disney (irony, since the show-runner is the creator of Gargoyles). In the meantime, though, they're airing in Canada first.

If you haven't seen the new episodes yet, well, try a torrent or use the /rs/ search engine for the Megaupload links.

So needless to say, this post contains SPOILERS behind the cut, for episodes not yet aired in the US.

On to the episodes!

Episode 1. DANG. I had no idea I loved the show this much. Like, I expected it to be good, but not THIS good. Some awesome things of note:

• Crazy old man Stan Lee! This is pretty much the second greatest Stan Lee cameo ever because he is actually portraying the crazy old man he really is.
• Mysterio = <33333 He is so awesomely hilariously melodramatic it's scary.
• The little moments of PATHOS all over the place. Not just the big scenes, but the little ones. Like Mrs. Osborne. The cut away to see her cutting her steak... so sad. :(
• The bigger moments of pathos! The whole Gwen/Peter/Liz thing is handled with care for all three of the characters, which is soooo rare in love triangles.
• lol @ MJ continuing to be AWESOME. Especially her getting awesomed out that Gwen used MJ's awesome lessons in being awesome to kiss him. *Stops channeling Andy*
• How much they manage to cram into one short 'toon. I mean... dang... Mysterio, hints of Master Planner, Gwen/Peter/Liz, crazy Stan Lee, missing Eddie Brock, Peter-back-at-the-lab, Norman-as-Peter's-mentor, Peter being cold, set-up of the Jackal, etc., etc.!
• And in general it's great how the show is structured: an individual zany action-y plot for the individual episode, a meta-villain plot stretching across 3-4 episodes, and major character arcs and supporting cast stories strung out across the entire season, and indeed across the entire show. Basically the show runner recognizes that the zany-action keeps the target audience hooked, but the character arcs that really come together in the big picture are what give the show incredible depth. He recognizes what Stan Lee recognized back in the day: the supporting story is what makes Spider-Man interesting, what gives it its heart.
• FINAL NOTE: the last fight scene! Everything about it, but especially the bit where we switch to fighting in a Western salon and then on the moon. <3

Episode 2. I must confess that I don't remember much of this episode! Kraven was kind of... BEEN THERE DONE THAT. Of course, then there's the romance/side-characters side of it AND THAT WAS AWESOME AS USUAL but I don't remember what specifically was in this episode.

Episode 3. Sinister Six, here we come.

• My main thought on this episode: HAHAHAHAHA MJ. That scene when they're on the ice and MJ says "You're my favorite guy, tiger, but..." and then he is all internally thinking like WOW SHE'S PREEEEETTTTYYYYY and then she... oh man... I just die inside... she SNAPS HER FINGERS IN HIS FACE TO SNAP HIM OUT OF IT. Hahahahaha and tells him he needs to maintain focus. And then he's all like HELP ME FIGURE THIS STUFF OUT, BB. And she's all like UH! and her facial expression is priceless like I DID NOT EXPECT HIM TO DO THAT, NICE. And then she's all like GET ME SOME COCOA. And he's like OKAY. And that entire scene is exactly why they are right for each other in the end. I love that essentially, while the Gwen/Peter are set up as the show OTP for the time being, it still somehow shows why MJ/Peter are totally going to be soulmates when they grow up.
• Again, the way this show showcases MJ's undiluted awesomeness: A++++. Best adaptation of MJ ever.
• Seriously, when I saw that scene, I could NOT STOP LAUGHING AND FLAILING and yeah I kinda had to rewatch it when I saw that. : )
• The Sinister Six were good fun! And of course the witty banter, the cocoa searing Petey's tongue, great as always.
• Character depth for Dr. Octopus with all of his mental hospital scenes: PERFECT. Spider-Man isn't a franchise I think of when I think of especially compelling villains, but this show is even turning guys like Doc Ock into great characters.
• One thing I love about this show is that Peter is a very, very flawed character, exactly as he was intended. I think most people don't "get" Stan Lee's original concept. They just throw bad stuff at the character and make them go all emo-angsty and call that a flawed, interesting hero. No, that's not interesting. What is interesting is a guy like Peter Parker... a guy hilarious and full of bravado when fighting, almost in it for the adrenaline rush. Someone basically good hearted down deep inside, but extremely uh "distractable" and... frankly, a very selfish guy so often. Ironically his flaws make him so incredibly real and appealing, unlike the flaw of a character that is just "angsty" or whatever.
• Even better, the show doesn't talk down to us about Peter's selfishness. It's not a moralizing show, and takes you along via Peter's viewpoint most of the time. But it still presents it, and basically shows us his selfishness via the comments the supporting characters make (see especially: Gwen) and the reasons why he's being selfish by other supporting characters (see especially: MJ). And obviously eventually the show will present it by having Peter have... y'know, character growth. Like with his feelings about Gwen, obviously he'll have to eventually man up and overcome the whole... hormonal teenage boy thing and pursue Gwen as she should be pursued.
• D'awwww cute little Uncle Ben moment at the end.
• Does MJ know Peter is Spider-Man? In the comics, she knew from the beginning... but didn't really let it on (admittedly, this was a retcon). I AM WATCHING THE SHOW LIKE A HAWK FOR CLUES to see if this version of MJ knows or not! So far... nothing. BUT MAN I HOPE THIS VERSION OF MJ KNOWS OR FIGURES OUT THAT PETER = SPIDER-MAN. I HOPE IT SO HARD.

Can I compare with Aang, by the way? The season finale of Avatar was not really about Aang defeating Ozai so much as Aang finally achieving balance in his character, finally becoming both who he wanted to be and the Avatar he was destined to be. The ending was not a deus-ex-machina, because the tension wasn't so much whether Aang would defeat Ozai, but how he would defeat Ozai; it was Aang vs. himself.  And in the end, at this climax to this fundamental coming-of-age story, when Aang is very nearly narrowly defeated by "himself," he musters the will to overcome that, defeats Ozai completely without any help, and then almost as a "reward" gets the spirit bending in which he shows just how strong he really is.

AND WOW HOW DID I GET OFF ON THAT? The point is that the good hero stories are the ones where the hero struggles with himself, and you're with that hero on that journey instead of having an external moralizing perspective. Avatar executes this well with Aang, and Spectacular Spider-Man executes this well with Peter Parker. And the major amounts of both selflessness and selfishness in Peter in these episodes really showcases that, I think. We want to feel like the hero is as much of a conflicted human being as we are, not that the hero is merely a pawn in the hands of a Moral-Of-The-Story.

Episode 4. MASTER PLANNER.

• This is a very famous story in the early comics, but MAN DO THEY MODERNIZE IT WELL, OR WHAT? From nuclear age threats to wireless access and computer hacking and homeland security.
• Doc Ock has gone from sympathetic, nuanced character to FOREBODING THREAT. Well done, show, well done. I never really felt threatened much by Doc Ock before, but here he is actually... intelligent? Of course he was that way from the beginning, but back then he didn't have much time to use his intelligence other than use fancy words and figure out Spider-Man's tactics.
• lol lol the Captain Stacey and Gwen moments... she is still such a daddy's girl like in the comics. But, IMO, here it doesn't kill her character but adds depth to it. (Again, because Gwen is AWESOME in this show, unlike the comics?)
• lol @ MJ still being awesome
• Peter, stop being such a jerk about Flash! Sheesh! O wait, it is that FLAWED HERO thing I was just blabbing about.
• This episode is OTP'ing Peter/Gwen all over the place. For as much as it is taking us along on Peter's point-of-view (DISTRACTABLE), it shows us that for all of his flirty "confused" behavior, deep down inside he really does want to show that sacrificial love for Gwen. And obviously the climax of that is the infamous "stuck under the rubble" scene ripped from the comics, but adapted so that he's channeling his love for Gwen to lift up the rubble.
• lol @ Peter going "ha ha Doc Ock you revealed your identity ha ha" and then Doc Ock being like "great job Sherlock, NOT"
• GIANT UNDERWATER LAB FACILITY. For a minute there I felt like I was watching Teen Titans, but you know. SOMETIMES SPIDER-MAN GOES IN THAT DIRECTION.
• Great Norman + Peter "mentoring" scene at the beginning. APPARENTLY NORMAN'S IDEA OF MENTORING IS TO SHOW PETER HOW HE BLOWS BUILDINGS UP. Even better was the moment where Norman was like, "Wait, what about Peter?" and then Spidey thinking, "Awww, he does care!" Such a great touch. <3

So episodes 1 - 4 are on the architecture theme and the villain arc is Master Planner. Next up: VENOM.

Episode 5. OH MY GOODNESS. YES. I like JUST SAW IT SO I AM GOING TO BE A LITTLE INCOHERENT HERE AND ALSO HAVE NOT AS MUCH TO SAY:

• At the risk of being a broken record: THIS IS HOW YOU PLAN OUT A SHOW, GUYS! This is how you put in a zillion details into one episode. They once again crammed in a crazy amount of material: return of Eddie Brock, Sandman's compassionate side, hints of a Master Planner/Big Man relationship, introduction to Liz Allen's brother, Mrs. Osborne buying her son a car, MJ being MJ (=awesome), Peter + Flash BFF history, Liz/Peter/Gwen/Harry, introduction of Flash/Sha Shan, Peter being not-so-happy when he-feels-he-should-be, random Green Goblin paranoia, Gwen's hair being longer, principal's speech, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. So much in so little time, guys!
• ACTION WITH SANDMAN OH MAN SO AWESOME. Like I've never cared about Sandman before. But this action was really cool, and then...
• ...I ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT SANDMAN NOW?! It was the bit with the little girl and then the oil tanker that sold me. It accomplished what the entire movie failed to do.
• This show is like SHIPPER'S PARADISE. At least for SHIPPERS WHO PREFER ACTION DRAMEDIES.
• I CANNOT EVEN DEAL WITH HOW AWESOMED OUT I AM BY THIS EPISODE. <3

Basically this show is like ENDLESS DELIGHT AND HEARTBREAK at every turn.