Second Chance Hero
First Aired: October 20th, 2013
Synopsis: Peter Parker, Harry Osborn, and Norman Osborn are all playing board games together, but unbeknownst to the others Peter is really there to keep an eye on Norman for Nick Fury to see whether he's still a villain. Norman leaves which prompts Peter to follow, and as Spider-Man he discovers Norman in a suit of Iron Man-esque armour, calling himself the Iron Patriot. To Spider-Man's surprise, Norman fights the Frightful Four, leading to Spider-Man joining him. Unbeknownst to them, an octobot watches them and identifies Norman through the suit. The two heroes are able to stop the villains, but at the expense of Norman using Spider-Man as a distraction. Spider-Man is still suspicious of Norman and the two get into a fight, but when a billboard is damaged during it Norman goes out of his way to stop it while Spidey saves civilians, which convinces Spider-Man that Norman is really trying to redeem himself. Later, Norman offers to tutor Harry, which just further solidifies Peter's trust. Nick Fury, however, doesn't buy it, and insists that Peter keep watching Norman.
Spider-Man meets with the Iron Patriot and admits that Fury is still suspicious of him. Norman agrees to meet with Fury to prove himself, but the two are attacked by an octobot and some spider-themed thugs, who turn out to be symbiotes. Mid-fight the heroes retreat to Norman's place so that Norman can replace a battery in his armour, but the villains follow them and a hologram of Doctor Octopus says that the symbiotes are Norman's. Norman admits that he had plans for spider-powered soldiers, but that he never actually implemented them. Harry unexpectedly shows up and Spider-Man has to get him to safety, but as they take an elevator down it gets damaged. Harry is convinced that Spider-Man is just going to save himself, but Norman manages to stop the symbiotes and save the elevator. He points out to Harry that Spider-Man's on their side and always has been, then talks to Fury in the aftermath. Fury admits that he was wrong, and that Norman really has turned over a new leaf.
Review: I respect the hell out of this episode. It would be easy to show Norman being a hero only to later go, "Surprise! He was actually taking out the Frightful Four since they were his rivals," or something like that, but instead the show sticks to its guns. Norman not only proves to be a hero throughout the episode, he also admits his faults, his past mistakes, and tries to atone for them. It's a refreshing change from the usual Norman Osborn formula, and I genuinely want to see this version stay as a good guy.
The episode's got a few bits that are a bit weaker, of course. Primarily, Nick Fury insisting that Norman must be evil makes him look like a massive jerk, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we're supposed to agree with him at that point. The show certainly wants us to doubt Norman - there's the fight between him and Spidey after they stop the Frightful Four, and then Spider-Man later getting angry at him when Ock explains that the symbiote thugs were originally Norman's ideas, but there's such little evidence in favour of Norman still being evil that it makes them all look irrational.
What we get out of this episode is good seeding for future plots. Will Norman turn out to be evil after all (boo), or will he stay a hero, showing up for the occasional team-up in the future? Harry also seems to have finally gotten the picture that Spider-Man isn't a jerk, so that's a bit of a breath of fresh air from that direction. I don't know whether I'd say this is the best episode of the series yet, but it's definitely up there.
No comments:
Post a Comment