Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Episodes 9 & 10 Review
The final two episodes of ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ largely bring the series to a satisfying close. Episode nine in particular brings complete closure to the issues that the series had brought up so far, but episode ten introduces a surprising new angle that does come a bit out of nowhere, though still manages to bring itself full-circle with the first episode of the season. It wraps up where the characters are, and teases where they will go in the future.
Episode nine of the series focuses a lot on the Scorpion. While the 110 attempt to steal Octavious’ old technology from a truck, the Scorpions show up, including Gargan with a new Scorpion suit. It’s a lot for Peter to deal with, but thankfully he isn’t alone. Lonnie gets his physiology altered by a spray in the truck, getting stronger. This completes his transformation into Tombstone, though unfortunately doesn’t give him his classic look. The fight where he and Spider-Man team up is entertaining, especially as it feels personal for everyone involved.
In this fight, Spider-Man remembers Norman’s words, and bursts into a rageful fury. He even goes as far as to nearly kill Scorpion with his own tail. Lonnie is the one to stop him, snapping him out, though this does feel like an odd choice given that Lonnie is throwing his lot in with a gang that wanted to kill the Scorpions. At first it seems like there’s some good left in Lonnie, but episode ten proves this isn’t the case. It would have made more sense if this was Nico who snapped him out, especially as she was nearby the fight. The police also take a surprisingly long time to show up, but that’s a nitpick.
Afterwards, Peter meets Nico as Spider-Man in an alleyway, upside down like the iconic shot from ‘Spider-Man 1’ where Spider-Man goes to kiss Mary Jane. Of course, that isn’t the dynamic at all between Nico and Peter, she punches him instead. This moment underscores the fact they’re friends. They both make up, and promise not to do secrets anymore, but it;’s clear that Nico isn’t wholly into the idea, as she has a secret of her own (we’ll get into that later).
Elsewhere, Norman taunts Octavious in prison, successfully getting a rise out of his enemy. It appears that the show isn’t done with Octavious after all, especially as episode 10 shows Octavious drawing his iconic arms. But it’s a scene that cements Octavious as personal to Norman, and not Peter, an interesting twist in the usual dynamic. This looks like it will be expanded on further too, as episode ten shows Octavious scheming in prison.
After the big fight, Peter speaks to Norman over the phone, with Peter explaining that he almost lost it on Scorpion. This is where Norman shows some ability to be a good guy, offering proper advice to Peter for once, about the importance of mercy. This of course hints at the duality of Norman’s personality, evil businessman in one moment but does possess the ability to be good.
This seems to conclude everything, leaving episode ten to spare. Indeed, the conflict in the finale is largely one that comes out of leftfield, as Norman reveals to his interns that the projects they’ve actually been working on are going to be used for. He’s created a dimensional portal to exploit space, leading to his interns (apart from one) feeling like they’ve been used. Norman’s ego continues to grow as he disregards safety concerns, even as they come from Doctor Strange. Of course Norman ignores this, turning the machine on.
He’s punished quickly for this display of ignorance, as the Venom-esque monster from the first episode returns. Strange and Peter are forced to work together to turn the portal back on, and in the carnage the spider that Norman had injected with Peter’s blood is freed.
This is where the twist of the show comes in. Doctor Strange sends the monster back in time, landing it in Midtown High, right at the opening of the show. The spider follows, showing audiences that Spider-Man was created due to this mishap. It’s a surprising and clever twist, and builds a case for why this was the finale. When Peter does get the portal on, audiences see as an even stranger Venom monster shows up, trying to get through, but in the end only a severed tentacle does, which Norman picks up. This is a tease for the future no doubt.
This fight was enjoyable, but lacked the personal stakes that the one in episode nine did. A large part of this was due to the lack of build up, as it wasn’t seeded anywhere in the previous episodes. It does result in a conversation afterwards with Strange and Parker at Midtown High, where Strange expresses regret, and fear that his meddling in the past would have reverberated in potentially dangerous ways. Peter brings out some very good wisdom, showing how he’s accepted his role as Spider-Man.
The last few minutes of the episode show that Peter no longer wants to work with Norman due to this betrayal and instead is going to team up with Harry instead as he starts the Worldwide Engineering Brigade or W.E.B for short. He begins inviting many people audiences know from throughout the season. This brings up an intriguing question for next season, as how will the teens get on without the adults? There are also some teases for the future of the show, with Tombstone fully committing to the 110, that Jeanne is the hero Finesse and works with Daredevil, Nico is growing more into her comics role as Sister Grimm with the magic in her pendent, and May visiting Peter’s dad. These are some twists that are bound to get audiences excited for the second season, especially as this one was enjoyable to watch.
