Carnage
First Aired: November 9th, 1996
Synopsis: Venom saves Spider-Man from Carnage since he wants him for himself, and then the two villains leave with the Stark Enterprises interdimensional probe when Baron Mordo reproaches them. The two of them fight again once they're back at Mordo's base, and Venom ends up leaving. Dormammu reveals that he can only leave his dimension if an equal amount of of life force replaces him, and Carnage is soon in the streets, rampaging and absorbing life force for Dormammu. Spider-Man tries to fight him but is defeated, but Carnage has absorbed enough life force and can't take his, so he leaves. Eddie Brock shows up at Aunt May's, and from her finds out that Peter's at the Daily Bugle. He goes there as Venom and starts to fight Spider-Man and Iron Man, who has shown up since his interdimensional probe was stolen. Ashley Kafka is also there, and she tries to talk Eddie down, since the symbiote is influencing him so strongly. He tries resisting but ends up swinging off with Kafka as his hostage.
Spider-Man is visited by Madam Web, who shows him Eddie getting the symbiote removed with Kafka and Curt Connors' help, before revealing that Carnage is going to get more life force. Spider-Man realises that Carnage is going after Terri Lee and tries stopping him, but Carnage is able to absorb both her life force and that of Kafka when she shows up to try and talk him down. Spider-Man thinks about Madam Web telling him to keep his enemies close and realises that he needs to go to Eddie to find out where Mordo's base is. He and Iron Man go there, and Eddie bonds with the symbiote again when he realises that Kafka is in danger, then the three of them head to Mordo's base. Dormammu is released from his dimension but Spider-Man reverses the polarity of the interdimensional probe which pulls Dormammu back through. He's unable to close it permanently as Carnage has a link to it, so Carnage is thrown into the portal. Carnage grabs Kafka, and Venom goes into the portal to stop him. The portal is closed, Kafka is saved, and both Carnage and Venom are in the other dimension. In the aftermath, Madam Web tells Spider-Man that she's preparing him for a horror beyond belief.
Subplots:
- When Eddie's at Aunt May's, he off-handedly says to Mary Jane that he can see why Peter loves her. For her part, Mary Jane's shocked upon hearing this.
Miscellaneous Notes:
- I didn't really touch on it in the synopsis, but Eddie has very strong feelings for Kafka (he flat-out says he'll always love her before disappearing into the portal), and she seems to reciprocate. Uh, morally wrong much?
- Spider-Man muses after the fight that Venom "may have been my greatest enemy, but he proved to be my greatest ally!" What are Iron Man and War Machine, sliced bread? (Doctor Strange and Daredevil, too, come to think of it).
Review: I remembered quite liking this episode when I saw it when I was younger, and given the pretty good quality of Venom Returns, I was expecting this to be pretty good too. It's...a bit mixed, honestly. Individual scenes are decent, but don't really make a lot of sense in the context of the episode. Why does Peter go and take photos of Jonah and Tony Stark arguing after Carnage gets away? When Madam Web shows Spidey Eddie getting the symbiote removed, is she showing him stuff that's already happened, or does she throw him forwards in time? And what does Iron Man think of Spidey disappearing to see Madam Web when they're looking for Venom?
Something the episode does do rather well, however, is showing Eddie as someone who's been corrupted by the symbiote, and someone who's struggling to resist it. I bought his conflict easily, and it's kind of a pity that they don't play him bonding with the symbiote again for more drama. While it's insanely comic book-y, I also loved that Carnage has to absorb life force for Dormammu - it lets him be a violent serial killer while still staying within the constraints of the show. (And who's to say that he doesn't kill them? Some bodies are seen being taken away in stretchers before their life force is restored to them; you could easily make the argument that they did die a temporary death).
Ultimately, this episode ends up being a mix of good and bad, which I guess is kind of appropriate since that's how I usually feel about the character of Carnage himself. If there was a bit more focus on Eddie's struggles, if he didn't have his crush on Kafka reciprocated, and if the fights were a bit snappier, I'd be pretty pleased with this one. As it is, it's a little disjointed and needs some bits here and there cut. I'd hardly call it the worst thing I've ever seen, though.
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