Ultimate Spider-Man, Season 2, Episodes 1-4
I've had some older reviews that I just never had the time to polish and upload (these were meant to be individual or two-episodes-in-one affairs, but I basically rushed through editing through my review notes). I'm going to be kind of absent for the most part in August, so that's a bit of a kibosh on properly finishing up some of the superhero shows that I've started to review last month. I did have a small little buffer of reviews of both older cartoons, the Uranium Let's Play, and a huge chunk of the "Reviewing Monsters" series. So if nothing else, there's still going to be daily content on this blog, even if it's just single, longer pieces.
Episode 1: The Lizard
It's been a while since I reviewed the first season of Ultimate Spider-Man, and I do think a lot of my problems with the first season still stands -- too many sudden jumpcuts to funny-unfunny jokes, poor usage and focus of the secondary cast, and a truly insane rushed feeling to try and get as many guest stars into the show. Still, I still like Ultimate Spider-Man's first season for its relatively crisp animation, neat voice-acting, and being quite... light-hearted fun, even if some of its episodes are admittedly pretty shrug-worthy. It's certainly a far easier series to get into compared to its sister show, Avengers Assemble... where it has all of the problems that Ultimate Spider-Man has without any of the charm.
I feel like the opening of the second season is what the first season should be -- slower, more self-contained episodes that mostly star on Spider-Man and his Junior Avengers taking down a villain or two. Obviously, looking at the episode titles for season two, there's a reason why the episodes are arranged in this way, but I really do like it a lot better than just jumping straight from one guest star episode to the next in season one. And since these episodes are mostly just villain-of-the-week episodes, I'll try again to keep it concise and review multiple episodes in one go.
The first episode, "The Lizard", is perhaps the most plot-heavy one, featuring the return of Dr. Octopus after he was relatively unceremoniously brushed aside during the finale of season one in favour for Green Goblin. The episode is... it's sort of an expected episode, honestly. Anyone who's familiar with Spider-Man's lore knows that Dr. Curt Connors is going to be doomed to transform into the Lizard, and with his arm crushed during the first season finale, it's just as well that that particular plot point takes place in the season premiere. Dr. Octopus ends up being the main driving force of the episode, giving Spider-Man trouble and causing Connors to take the Lizard serum to help out Spider-Man. It's a fun take where Connors taking the serum is driven by circumstances instead of a desire to get his arm back, but ultimately a lot of the episode just plays through the same strokes of the Lizard story. It's still a good story, mind you, and the concept of a villain that was once Peter's close confidant transformed into a bestial, barely-sentient beast-man is definitely a well-done one. It does help that this episode does try and cut down on the amount of cutaway jokes, which helps the slightly-more-dramatic plotline.
The faux team-up between Spider-Man and Dr. Octopus is neat, I suppose, even if this does mark a transformation for Dr. Octopus from being a season-driving villain to more of a recurring "darn, foiled again" villain. My biggest gripe with this episode is the random focus to the whole situation with the Junior Avengers rooming at the Parker household, which is just not funny at all no matter how much the show tries to force it on me. The Junior Avengers are also reduced to mostly just a cheerleading-slash-distraction squad for most of the episode, and considering the pretty personal ties between Connors and Peter, I honestly felt that this episode could've been handled far better if they are nixed entirely.
Episode 2: Electro
Another episode, another classic member of Spider-Man's rogues gallery. Unlike "The Lizard", this episode features the camaraderie between the Junior Avengers a bit more heavily, and it's... it's all right, I guess. The episode is pretty basic. Spider-Man accidentally causes Electro to gain extra superpowers (a clever way to incorporate Electro's iconic main-universe star-faced costume and his naked-blue-man Ultimate universe version), causing a blackout that sort of is the impetus for an honestly half-baked "learn to survive without technology" moral. It's just a bunch of action scenes, ultimately, that are animated decently (if not spectacularly), and the fight against super Electro is basically resolved with them getting Electro to tire himself out by splitting his attention and bodies apart.
I do find it interesting that Electro's very distinctive voice is actually provided by Christopher Barnes, of 1994's Spider-Man fame. Also loved the little gag with Batroc taking advantage of the chaos to rob a bank and being so happy with himself... and then mope when he realizes that Electro is doing so much more. Ultimately, though, kind of a forgettable episode.
Episode 3: The Rhino
While the previous two episodes are just obligatory takes on some of Spider-Man's classic enemies, episode three, "The Rhino", takes... a different reimagination. I'm not sure if I like this, though. The episode clearly wants to tell this aesop about bullying and whatnot, but while the writing for Flash Thompson as an insecure punk that tries to make himself look good by bullying others and handwaving things like "oh, my car got destroyed, whatevs", and ends up being punished by his bullying and ends up learning a lesson (albeit a bit too late), the writing for the episode is genuinely too muddled and confused to really deliver a proper moral.
The plot twist this time around is that the Rhino isn't an adult thug, but one of Peter Parker's classmates, a weedy nerd and Flash's new target for bullying, Alex O'Hirn. The thing is, though, beyond the general pity that one would have for someone who's being bullied, Alex is such a gigantic prick that brushes off any attempt from Peter and Luke to help out that it's really hard to feel that much sympathy from him.
There's a neat little tie-in to the animal DNA serum or whatever that was the catalyst for the Lizard's transformation in the season premiere, and a very weak attempt to give Luke Cage some focus by... having him argue a bit with Peter, get injured and sit out half the episode, and then show up in the end? I dunno. This episode and the concept of a confused, bullied and antisocial kid who gets the ability to morph into a giant rage-monster is definitely an interesting one, but the script for this episode just feels so confused and all over the place that I do think it's one of the weaker ones among these early villain-of-the-week episodes.
Episode 4: Kraven the Hunter
Episode 4, "Kraven the Hunter", however, is everything that "The Rhino" is not. A very focused spotlight on the villain, and a great spotlight on White Tiger, who, in my opinion, is the least-developed member of the Junior Avengers in season one. Granted, I do think that out of the Junior Avengers only Iron Fist's focus episode really worked, but at least they attempted to give Nova and Luke focus episodes. Well, White Tiger finally gets some huge focus in this episode, and it even ties into her backstory and the villain-of-the-week. Turns out that White Tiger isn't just a Catwoman ripoff, but she actually draws her animal-like martial arts and strength from a mystical totem -- something that Kraven the Hunter is hunting.
We learn that White Tiger has been given the totem by her father, the previous White Tiger, who was mortally wounded and died after a fight against Kraven, instantly giving Kraven a personal history against White Tiger. We also learn that the totem is something that White Tiger has to constantly suppress, lest she give in to her baser instincts and actually behaves like a tiger -- which she uses to justify her rigid, stick-up-the-ass honor student mentality. Okay, then! There's a reason.
After the rest of the Junior Avengers get knocked out by Kraven, who also uses magical tribal drums to bring down White Tiger's self-control (um yeah) it's actually a neat bit of writing as Spider-Man and White Tiger team up and manage to take down Kraven, while at the same time showing just how disastrous an uncontrolled user of the totem would be. Most importantly, though, is the great bonding between White Tiger and Spider-Man, as Spider-Man actually relates to White Tiger losing a loved one, noting that he, too, was given the chance to confront the robber that killed Uncle Ben, and choosing the moral high ground instead and leaving him to the law. It's actually a surprisingly mature and well-done moment for this show, and considering what a relative mess "Rhino" was, this episode does manage to work its emotional beats into the story very, very well.
Overall, a fun series of episodes, honestly. Despite my gripes with "Rhino", the rest of these four are actually very solid ones, with episode 4 being surprisingly impressive. Not a bad bunch of episodes too watch, if admittedly none of them being particularly special.
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