Marvel's Spider-Man Episode Fourteen: Screwball Live

Screwball Live

First Aired: October 28th, 2017

Synopsis: Spider-Man finds the Absorbing Man robbing a bank, and he manages to stop him. In his possessions he finds a flash drive, which he takes, but moments later Screwball, a livestreaming superhero, accidentally frees Spider-Man and causes paint to get dunked on Spider-Man. The video gets more views than Screwball's other videos, and when Harry Osborn mentions this to Liz Allan, she makes plans to start including Spider-Man in more videos, as she is secretly Screwball. Elsewhere, Hammerhead yells at the Absorbing Man for not getting the flash drive that was in the vault, as it has material on it that could put Hammerhead away. Screwball makes more videos getting peoples' opinions on Spider-Man, but as Liz Allan is scoffed at by her classmate Randy Robertson, who says that Screwball's stupid compared to meaningful content, like his news blog which has low viewers. He mentions that his father's going to the opening of a new media building where lots of reporters will be, and upon hearing this Screwball shows up. She lures out Spider-Man but uses him for a promotional video when she fakes that she's in danger.

 

Hammerhead thinks there's a connection between Screwball and Spider-Man and thinks that if Screwball is captured, they can draw out Spider-Man and get the flash drive. He spots a Midtown High sticker on her skateboard, giving him a clue. Absorbing Man is sent there to find Screwball, and while that happens, Gwen Stacy helps Peter decrypt the flash drive. At the school Screwball puts out a video asking for Spider-Man's help and while Peter at first assumes he's being lured for another prank, he decides he can't be certain and shows up. When Absorbing Man finds out that Spider-Man doesn't have the flash drive on him he captures Screwball and Randy and tells Spider-Man to meet him at the new media building. On the way over there, Screwball reveals her identity to Randy. Spider-Man shows up there and gives Absorbing Man and Hammerhead the flash drive, then reveals that he's already given its contents to the police. They fight and Spider-Man tricks Absorbing Man into absorbing lithium then water, defeating him. Hammerhead is stopped by Screwball, but afterwards she unmasks to Spider-Man and declares that she's not going to be Screwball any more, as she's lost sight of what's important.

 

Miscellaneous Notes:

• This version of Screwball is mostly similar to the comics version, but there are a few differences. Most notably she's actually Liz Allan, but she also uses some sort of rocket skateboard where the comics version uses parkour, and here she appears to be a socially conscious superhero, as opposed to the comics version being something more of a villain, albeit one that's more a nuisance than anything.
  
• When Harry is showing Peter the first Screwball/Spider-Man video, Peter declares that "Views aren't power!" This kid is never going to get a career in SEO, as evidenced by both this quote and the fact that he isn't a literal viper.
• Hammerhead mentions that the person who had the flash drive in the first place is the Owl - no clue on whether he'll turn up on the show, but I hope he does. The Owl's a bit of an odd villain but there's something about him I like.
• Absorbing Man mentions that in an attempt to lure out Spider-Man, he tried robbing a jewellery store, but all that it did was draw out Hawkeye. There's no mention of, "Luckily I defeated that chump!" or anything similar, so we can assume that Hawkeye fought Absorbing Man to a standstill at the very least. Hell yeah, Clint!

Review: I really want to like this episode, but it stumbles in the message it's trying to tell. Several characters admonish Screwball for creating prank videos and for being so popular in comparison with things like Randy's news blog. It's clearly trying to say that the internet should be used for good, for sending out important messages and really trying to make a change in the world, and not for material like Screwball's. It'd almost be a good message, if it weren't for the way that it completely dismisses fun videos. I'm not really the type of person who watches streamers, prank videos, and the like (as evidenced by the fact that I'm a nerd who writes a Spider-Man blog, well over ten years after blogs were actually popular), but do they actually do any harm? If people are entertained, who are we to say that they're not allowed to be? It's high-class snobbery, dismissing things that other people like because it's not up to your personal standards.

It's a pity, too, because the episode still could have had a positive message. It could have said that while it's okay for Screwball to make the videos she's making, she could also consider reaching out to people with more important messages on the side, or from time-to-time. It could have had a message about how it's okay to have fun, and that you don't have to be serious all of the time. As it is, we're clearly supposed to dismiss Screwball quite early on since she's so popular, as if that means that there are no educational resources or other positive benefits to using the internet.

Still, its lopsided message aside, the episode's alright. Absorbing Man is a lovable goof throughout the episode (one moment that I particularly liked is when he absorbs the material of some chips), and the plot itself flows fairly well. Randy Robertson's always cool to see, and what with his father showing up at the new media building, it looks like we're building up to the Daily Bugle being introduced (especially after its logo appeared last episode). But most importantly, Randy's blog doesn't get a lot of views compared to videos elsewhere, and if there's one moment in this series that I can relate to, it's that.