Date of airing: February 17, 1996 (FOX Kids)
story by: John Semper, Gilles Wheeler, Evelyn A-R Gabai
teleplay by: Evelyn A-R Gabai
directed by: Bob Richardson
Will the Vulture be the final villain of the season for Spider-Man to fight? That it was he who bought the tablet from Hammerhead was a nice little twist, but that he was able to suck the youth out of random people for a maximum of 30 minutes was not only creepy, but super convenient for the “tablet of time” storyline that was randomly thrown into the Neogenic Nightmare plot a couple of episodes ago. Plus, it did not fit with the character of Vulture that we got to know from the Spider-Man titles, making this adaptation more unique – which is not a bad thing, but it does show that the “tablet of time” storyline seemed to have been its own thing, completely disconnected from the Neogenics arc that was still plaguing Spider-Man (since he talked about how he still needed the treatment to not bust into the Man-Spider again).
But hey, the series finally brought the Vulture into the game – an additional villain character from Spider-Man’s rogue gallery that can be introduced now for a future Sinister Six storyline. There is nothing better for any show to create more villains for its heroes to fight. Then again, the series already did that plot and renamed it the “Insidious Six.”
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| Debra is all sad and alone. |
Anyway, it was a pretty good episode, but I found it questionable that the writers introduced a new supervillain from Spider-Man’s rogue gallery and connected him to an unrelated supernatural element from the previous episode. Maybe it would have been better to just introduce Tooms as a character and villain first before he became a different kind of vampire (one that sucks out the youth instead of blood or plasma). But with the newly added threat to Spider-Man’s already existing threat, the episode had some tension, and it even ended in a thrilling way, with the image of Spider-Man having aged. Of course, the webslinger will not be old for more than 30 minutes and Vulture will lose that newfound youth again (maybe he will stay older for a few extra minutes due to Spider-Man’s superpowers), but it was still a nice and shocking visual to end the episode with. A senior version of Spider-Man is certainly a premise the writers could follow for an episode or two, showcasing what it is like to be old and a superhero.
Norman Osborn was reintroduced, and this time around, he had an antagonist who wanted to see him dead. I wonder if that was the step the writers needed to take to move towards the Green Goblin storyline, even if none of that came to fruition in this episode – neither did Osborn and Vulture fight against one another (thanks to Spider-Man), nor did the rich businessman even had enough screentime to have me questioning for a second if he even had screentime in this half hour. The fact is that the writers were treating those Goblin waters quite carefully. He is the most famous villain of Spider-Man’s rogue gallery, and they have not fully gotten into Osborn as a character yet, all while introducing his son Harry as Peter’s one-time-only roommate and Mary Jane’s boyfriend for a few episodes. But with Osborn having to deal with this threat now, maybe he decided to watch out and save himself the next time around, leading him toward the transformation he will ultimately take.
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| It is time for Peter to retire and get pension. |
Meanwhile, the writers went back to some romantic relationships in the series. MJ is back, saying cute words to Peter and giving him hope for another shot at romance; Flash and Debra might be hooking up in the next episode (as long as he gets away from Felicia); even Felicia is anything but happy after the disappearance of her one and only Morbius. There is quite some drama in the show at this moment, and when it comes to relationships, the writers knew how to screw up the lives of their characters. It is almost like SPIDER-MAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES is a daily soap opera, with the only difference that one of the romantic interests puts on a mask and suit, and beats up supervillains. The way the writers matured the storylines of the characters over just 26 episodes is fantastic.
