Ultimate Spider-Man Episode Fourteen: Awesome

Awesome

First Aired: July 15th, 2012

Synopsis: Spider-Man is fighting Juggernaut when he gets a call from Luke, who reminds him that the science fair project they were supposed to be working on is due the next day, and Peter hasn't done any work on it in spite of claiming that he'd take care of it by himself. Peter promises he'll still get it done. Juggernaut eventually escapes, but when Peter goes home the next day to create something for the science fair he finds out that Aunt May has sold his chemistry set. He plans to make something at school, but on the way in runs into Juggernaut again, and is caught up fighting him once more. The delay with Juggernaut - who escapes again - means Peter doesn't have time to make something at school, and Luke is annoyed. Peter promises to make it up to Luke, and does so by heading to the SHIELD Helicarrier to find something they can use at the science fair. He finds a grey brick made of organic matter, but Peter soon feels guilty and tells Luke that they can't submit it, since he didn't make it. The brick comes to life, starts consuming matter, and soon has a large, humanoid form, albeit one with a brick-shaped head.

As the science fair is evacuated, Coulson explains that the brick is known as the Awesome Android, and has a rudimentary AI that gives it the intellect of a two-year old. Awesome Andy, as Spider-Man refers to him, goes outside to continue consuming matter, and the team all suit up to stop him. They stop Andy from eating a train, but Juggernaut turns out to be on it, and he decides to finish things up with Spidey. Juggernaut gets eaten by Andy, which drains his powers and lets Spider-Man defeat him. Soon afterwards, Andy steps on an ice cream truck and reacts negatively to the cold, giving Luke an idea. He and Spider-Man return to the school while the others distract Andy, and Luke finds Ava and Sam's project - a freezing machine designed to help combat global warming. Spider-Man straps it to himself and lets himself get eaten by Andy, who collapses into grey goo and is restored to his original size. In the aftermath Coulson is furious at Peter, but Luke agrees to take the punishment too, since he could have been more responsible.

Sam Alexander is Actually the Worst:

• I won't go over the scene quote for quote, but when we're introduced to Ava and Sam's project, Sam is a pretty big jerk about it. There's nothing in the episode that explicitly confirms it, but it's easy to picture Ava having done all, or at least the majority of, the work on it.
• When Spider-Man's trying to stop Awesome Andy, the latter tries stomping on Spider-Man. Nova, of course, simply laughs, saying that, "He's trying to squash you like a spider! That's hilarious!"
• When the team, minus Luke and Spidey, are trying to distract Awesome Andy, Nova indignantly suggests that they "Call a babysitter! Seriously, we're superheroes!", as if Awesome Andy is less a threat and more a nuisance.

Miscellaneous Notes:

• Having to stop to fight Juggernaut on the way to school, Spider-Man offhandedly says that "Next science fair, I need to make myself a Spidey clone!" Get it? Get it, guys?!
• While Peter's looking around the SHIELD Helicarrier for something to use for the science fair, he rejects the Ultimate Nullifier, Cosmic Cube, and Howard the Duck.

Review: I had vague memories of this being the episode where I really started to dislike this show, and I can't say that it disappoints in that department this time around. There's so, so much wrong here. Peter both forgetting the date of the science fair and not doing anything for it feels incredibly out of character for obvious reasons. He then decides to steal something from the SHIELD Helicarrier (wait, so he has time to go there, but not to whip up something in the school's lab?), with a weak justification that even he himself doesn't believe by the time he's back in the school. Does any of this sound like an engaging and fun lead character?

Luke fares better, but only just. He's right when he says that he could have been more responsible and done some work on the science fair project himself, but he's consistently annoyed at Spider-Man stopping to fight the Juggernaut, as if Spider-Man should be dropping everything to work on it. Getting back to that first point - I can understand expecting Peter to be doing something in the weeks leading up to the fair, even a few days before it, but when your partner doesn't have anything and your plan is to sit around and criticise them, you're not exactly helping. Also, why do neither of them think of telling Coulson, "Had to save civilians, please give us an extension?"

Juggernaut keeps conveniently popping up whenever Spidey needs to be delayed, and it's incredibly obvious that that's his only role in the plot. Awesome Andy himself somehow manages to go below that incredibly low bar - he's essentially a gigantic toddler wreaking havoc, and if you think that sounds like fun to watch, then...well, I guess that this is somehow the show for you, you maniac. There's a lot of things I could suggest that would make this episode better, but none of them address the real problem: it doesn't need to exist, and it's just not worth your time.