Spectacular Spider-Man Episode Twenty-Four: Subtext

Subtext

First Aired: November 4th, 2009

Synopsis: Spider-Man is fighting the Molten Man, a flaming humanoid with golden skin, in Blackie Gaxton's billiard room basement, and the whole place is on fire. Liz Allan and Mary Jane are trapped by the fire, and Liz thinks back to how she and Mary Jane were doing a poor job rehearsing for the school play earlier that day, while the director wondered where her brother Mark was. Peter met with Liz shortly afterwards and tried to make up for neglecting her, but she told him that she was worried about Mark, thinking that he was gambling again. Blackie Gaxton thinks back to how Mark showed up and had a debt he owed, but Blackie agreed to forget it if he participated in an experiment of the Green Goblin's, overseen by Norman Osborn and Miles Warren. The experiment turned Mark's skin golden, which he was told he could reverse by concentrating, but unbeknownst to him was secretly turned off via a remote control of Miles'. Pleased with how things had worked out, Mark headed to the races to place a bet on a horse, but when it lost the Green Goblin, hidden in the crowd, turned his armour back on, making Mark think that he'd lost control of it. Spider-Man, who had shown up to see whether Mark was still gambling, saw and briefly fought Mark in his new form, but Mark managed to get away.

In the present, the fire causes the billiard room to collapse, but Spider-Man saves himself, Blackie, Mary Jane, and Liz from it with a giant ball of webbing. Mary Jane remembers showing up at Liz's and asking for help with Mark, which led to them going to Blackie's place. Spider-Man gets the civilians out of the building, then keeps fighting Mark, who flashes back to the Green Goblin revealing that he can control the armour by remote control, and that he'll only give Mark the remote control if he kills Spider-Man. Spider-Man showed up at the billiards room, leading to the events at the start of the episode. As he and Mark fight, Spider-Man's able to burst open a fire hydrant and drench Mark in it, then webs him in place to keep him cooled off. From a distance, the Green Goblin turns off Mark's armour, recognising that the fight's over. In the aftermath, Curt Connors discovers what Miles Warren has done, but Warren blackmails Connors with information that he's the Lizard to keep using the lab. Mark gets taken away, and when Peter shows up Liz initially thinks that he's only there to take photos, but he reveals he's there for her. Mary Jane and Liz, rehearsing for the school play later, are able to more convincingly convey the loss and pain of their characters.

Subplots:

• Harry overhears what happened with Mark, and warns Peter that being addicted to something - gambling in Mark's case, chemical formulas in his - is not an easy habit to kick, and it's easy to backslide and resume doing it.

Miscellaneous Notes: 

• When Mary Jane goes to see Liz, Liz reveals that she doesn't actually like Mary Jane, knowing that she's trying to split up her and Peter so that Peter can be with Gwen. It's a cool little character bit - as viewers we do sort of want Peter to get with Gwen (though that being said, this is probably the strongest version of Liz we've gotten), and Mary Jane supporting them is sweet, but Liz has a good point that trying to break people up is kind of shitty.
• Although the Molten Man in the comics is still related to Liz - he's her stepbrother there rather than being her brother - this version brings in some aspects of Betty Brant's brother Bennett, who was also a gambling addict and had a connection to Blackie Gaxton.
  

Review: Mark's subplot with gambling has been brewing for a little while now, and the payoff here is good. As mentioned above, he merges some aspects with Bennett Brant, which is a cool idea and a good excuse to make him into the Molten Man (in the comics, the way he becomes the Molten Man is a lot less interesting). While the in media res structure makes the story a bit of a pain to summarise, it also is a nice way to show how all of the characters got to where they are at the start of the episode, and allows the episode to start out with a bit of action and to keep the momentum going.

The biggest downside is probably that this episode is a little awkward in terms of the overall pacing of the show. The Green Goblin's back, he wants to be the new Big Man...here, have a random comic villain to fight! While it does still feed into the overall narrative by showing that it's the Green Goblin trying to get rid of Spider-Man - and without revealing his hand in the process - and there's a good subplot with Miles Warren brewing, I think that you ultimately could cut out this episode out of the season without losing too much, although I won't deny that it would still be a loss.

Still, it is ultimately enjoyable, and I am glad to see the Molten Man - he doesn't really have a lot to do in the comics, but he's got a good visual and good powers, and a solid connection to a classic supporting character. (It's a bit weird that more hasn't been done with him - I guess because he lacks the ambition to really drive stories). If the show hadn't been cancelled he probably could have had more to do, and even if it hadn't and he had never shown up again, this isn't a bad encapsulation of the character. Not the strongest episode, but not a bad showing for such a minor villain.