Now I'm saying this purely as a heterosexual man, but Kraven was one bad-ass sexy beast. His taking down the charging Rhino in Africa, the interaction with Calypso, his first encounter with Spider-Man (in which we learn what he wears under those tights, ladies
t
--he was proving to be just the epitome of awesomeness. But then they had to go and make him like the Puma in that he became a "were-cat." Granted, I can understand why it happened, but one thing that Kraven from the comics was all about wanting to be, not just the best hunter, but the best
human being on the planet. Granting getting mutated was probably a more kid friendly way to go that him taking "mysterious jungle potions" (although it certainly didn't stop them going a similar route with Harry as the "Green Goblin"), but it does in some way rob some of the esscence of who the character is.
Still, at least we get to see some of the development of Miles Warren as becoming the villainous Jackal out of the deal, not to mention a nod by Spidey towards the Black Cat from last season. Oh, and we also got the debut of Debra Whitman whose ethnicity not only changed but gives Peter the silent treatment when introduced. Nice.
As for the soap opera of Peter's life, it certainly looks as though he's mistaking Liz's attention for love and confusing his real feelings for Gwen all the more. It's pretty clear, however, that Liz still has feelings for Flash deep down and that Peter is just the rebound guy, which is understandable. In some ways, this offers a nice tweaking of the original comics, in that unlike Stan Lee's original stories, where Peter thought Liz only paid attention to him to drive Flash jealous and didn't realize she grew to care about him, whereas here, Peter thinks he's falling in love with Liz and that Liz isn't paying enough attention to him, and at the same time feeling bad about Flash--especially after what happens to him, which is sure to provide an interesting development.
Also, since Flash was the character in the title sequence this episode, I guess it's clear that whoever shows up in that sequence alongside Peter this season will have a plot thread devoted to them. Perhaps there could be a future episode in which Gwen DOESN'T show up in the credits, perhaps?
As for the Master Planner, well the voice credits do say Peter Nichols, so it's likely to be Doc Ock. But then again, it still could be a serve and end up being the Chameleon for all we know.
