What "First Steps" has going for it is the way in which the mood on SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN can shift within seconds from very light and fun to downright creepy; unlike WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN, which as the X-Men tend to be, takes itself almost too seriously virtually all the time. On the one hand you can downright hilarious moments at Flash Thompson's 17th birthday party, specifically from the snippets that are being filmed by his mother with a digital camera (even digital cameras were not as big in 2000 as they are now); on the other hand, chilling moments where Spider-Man is haunted by his enemies, especially as Harry Osborn, formerly known as the Green Goblin, returns from "therapy" in Europe. Of even greater concern, of course, is Spider-Man swearing that he catches glimpses of Eddie Brock as he goes about his patrols.
If the episode has any struggles, it is that compared with the drama of the party, and of the borderline paranoia Peter sometimes has looking for Brock or keeping an eye on Harry, that the so-called "main" plot of Sandman committing robberies and eventually starting to shift into a less outright villainous role almost seems secondary and at times distracting. One can imagine the episode being crafted without it, and then someone saying at the back of the room, "But Spider-Man doesn't actually fight anyone this episode" and then Sandman is trucked out for that obligatory conflict. That isn't to say the episode doesn't work; it does. The clash of styles manages to work in the episode's favor. Naturally, having Sandman and Venom seem to appear in one episode makes sense in terms of marketing, since SPIDER-MAN 3 had both team up. This episode handles both better.
The two also could be, in a way, used to contrast certain points. Sandman's motivation was twofold; getting a "big score", i.e. stealing a lot of money or jewels, and avenging past humiliations suffered at the webs of Spider-Man. While it seems like a personal vendetta, when at the end Marko is faced with the reality that people are going to die in the pursuit of his plans, he relents. Eddie Brock, on the other hand, is completely motivated by revenge and really sees no one else but tools for that. One cannot imagine him relenting at a critical moment; he barely did with MJ on the motorcycle, and especially not after being corrupted by the alien costume. Some might complain that they would have wanted to see more of Brock than an extended cameo, but I rather liked it. Venom is a big villain; with that connection to Peter, arguably the most dangerous villain Peter may have beyond the Green Goblin. Perhaps more so as the Goblin doesn't know his identity, while Venom does. Tease the fans with an extended cameo before trucking out the big plot in future episodes; classic suspense.
Plus, one has to say, for a villain who sat out large chunks of animated history, Flint Marko/Sandman, played by John Di Maggio, has gotten a lot of development in this series, more than he has ever gotten. Some of his change in temperment is a little awkward to be honest, such as his scenes suddenly with a little girl on a beach being teased by bullies, but I was able to accept it as progression for the character, free of the mental personality disorder or animated Mr. Freeze rip-off stuff from the comics or films, respectively.
After the events of last episode, Liz Allen is "officially" dating Peter Parker, holding his hand and cuddling with him on car rides. This of course comes as a shock to the cliques at Midtown High, especially fellow cheerleader Sally Avril (who is intentionally annoying, but often gets in some great lines). The big event of the young year is Flash Thompson's 17th birthday, with the invitations being shaped like little footballs. The other is Harry Osborn's return; while Peter is glad to see his friend back, he still has memories of the Green Goblin within him. There are moments where Harry seems like his old self, but others where he appears more flamboyant, such as his big green convertable car, and his obvious attraction to Gwen Stacy. Gwen naturally is puzzled at Peter's now obviously dating Liz if they are supposed to have feelings for each other, which she addresses with MJ. When Liz finds out that Peter has been invited to Flash's party, the idea of a double date occurs, and Gwen agrees to be Harry's in what apparently is a bid to either make Peter jealous or test his thing for Liz. Harry, of course, has a compelling reason to like Gwen; she also has been his longtime friend, and was the only one who noticed him taking his "green". Unlike Peter, Harry didn't take long to reveal his feelings for Gwen and took the first opportunity to ask her out that he could; maybe learning from his dad's "cowboy up" morality?
While Peter is trying to enjoy the fact that the attractive cheerleader is finally into him, he is haunted by his past battles. Eddie Brock continues to appear at random places during his web-swinging, and he can't forget Harry's revelation as the Green Goblin. In some ways it reminded me of some of the trippy mental dialogue panels that John Romita Sr. drew so well. In that way it allows you to think whether Brock is really back or not, at least until the final minute.
The "main" plot revolves around Sandman, who is free from prison and has been learning new tricks, using sand from other sources to add to his mass, and is genuinely becoming more creative with his powers. After Spider-Man manages to foil a jewelry store robbery by dragging Sandman near a broken sink, Marko maintains his contacts with "Big Man" go-between, Hammerhead (also played by Di Maggio) who contracts him for a "big score", stopping a nearby oil-tanker so the countless barrels of crude can be stolen. Obviously this episode was written when oil was still going for $140 a barrel, rather than now when it is barely at $45 a barrel. By merging with the sand from the beach and even beneath the water, Sandman stops the boat and is nearly unstoppable.
Peter, after giving Sandman another tongue-lashing about wasting his own time and newfound power, attends the party with Liz, Harry, and Gwen and of course there are still those clear signs between Peter and Gwen, with them eyeballing each other an awkward moments. While Liz may seem genuinely into Peter, she still clearly cares about what Flash thinks of her, and it touched that he seemingly invited Peter. Gwen doesn't quite seem into Harry, but manages to play along as his date for the function.
Surprisingly, Flash Thompson, played by Joshua LeBar, gets a fair amount of focus here. Turns out his mother invited Peter to the party, as the two were friends in kindergarten. The origin of Eugene's nickname is given, and it hilarious and even a bit racy for a children's TV show. I was amazed a network approved it. Granted, it is 2009, not 1989. This episode did a bit to try to salvage Flash as not a stereotypical jock, but a youth who has his own share of foibles and issues. His mother is a bit overbearing and in some ways, much as Peter is stuck in his "nerd" stereotype with his classmates, Flash is stuck with the jock clique. His injury has not only limited his current playing time, but quickly making him a fading star, as he can't even convince a "random" girl to come as his date. He's 17 and his "prime" may be over, and there is something sad about that, even when he often is an obnoxious jerk. I mean, didn't MARRIED WITH CHILDREN'S Al Bundy also have that same problem? Highlights of course include Kong's idiocy and the fact that not even Sally's boyfriend Randy Robertson seems to stand her.
(Capt. George Stacy also agrees to teach a class at Midtown High, and MJ's actor/stalker in the comics also gets a cameo).
As stated above, the turning point in the episode comes after Peter vanishes from the party (which Liz doesn't dismiss) to fight Sandman at the oil tanker. The lug's rage against the wall-crawler ruins the scheme for Hammerhead, an he has a change of heart when he sees several of the boat's sailors and even Spider-Man about to die from the soon-to-explode boat. While some might wonder if Marko was a bit dumb for not realizing that his robberies would always endanger people eventually, well...Sandman IS kind of an idiot, so it works that this would be a sudden revelation. While he wanted revenge against Spider-Man, perhaps he had never been so close to actually killing the web-head that he didn't know what he wanted. Plus, well, Spidey was trying to save those sailors. "I only wanted the big bucks," basically. Marko seemingly "dies" a hero saving everyone from the exploding ship, but despite turning to glass, manages to reform with the nearby sand. Spider-Man by then had battled Marko so many times, before and after he was empowered, it did make sense for him to get a bit frustrated and go, "You really can't figure out more to do with your life!?" at some point, basically.
The animation for those Sandman battles were incredible. It was a strain on the budget and there were a few off model moments, but some of those sand-shifting effects were really incredible, finally giving Marvel something to beat out "FEAT OF CLAY" from BATMAN: TAS after some 15 years. Some of those effects were incredible, and one could really get the sense that Sandman was virtually unstoppable, that there was no way Spider-Man could beat him at that point. Not even water was an option.
The last two minutes, of course, are the best, as we find out that "Venom" has indeed returned. After Spider-Man checks the construction site where the symbiote is buried in concrete, Brock re-appears. He has a bit of a "Gollum" aspect to him, deranged and seemingly always after his precious. Ben Diskin naturally reprises the role from last season and while there has been a lot of debate, I would argue this show's Venom has been better than the 90's series, even if this version is closer to Ultimate than the actual comics. Brock was clad in a sort of "home made" version of his black costume and was even using Parker's web-shooters. Both the sound effects and animation seemed clear to me that those were web-shooters, and in a way it makes perfect sense; the symbiote flooded Brock's mind with practically everything Peter knew. Including his identity, where he would web-swing, and even "who he loved the most". That would include how to assemble the web fluid and shooters, especially as the alien would organically duplicate the webbing for Peter. While Brock would lose his powers without the alien, he clearly hasn't forgotten that knowledge. He knows who Spider-Man is, how to build his webbing, and especially how he thinks. Shadowing Peter for days was merely a ruse to get him to lead him to the alien.
There was the issue of the "spider-sense", which Marko makes a pun about, but so long as Brock wasn't trying to attack Spider-Man directly, it wouldn't buzz, so it was a justifiable way to stalk Parker while still being hidden. His message at the end of the episode in the camcorder was especially chilling, with Diskin really getting that sort of cunning relish out of the lines.
Eddie Brock, naturally, has been the subject of debate for SS-M fans. Some saw his plunge into super-villainy at the end of last season as awkwardly paced and obligatory. While there is a part of me that agrees, there is also the part of me that buys it. Brock was justifiably angry with Peter for doing things that damaged their close relationship, such as abandoning he and Gwen during the Conners conflict, seemingly profiting off their misery with his Daily Bugle pictures, and even trampling on Gwen's feelings by not noticing how much she clearly was crushing on him. Brock was the one who went with Gwen to the dance, and part of me wonders if like in Ultimate, he had feelings for her himself. They're less than 2 years apart, after all. But she is so clearly into Peter that no one else can compete for long. Some fans complained that "as soon as he found out that Peter was Spider-Man, he should have had sympathy", but I understand why he didn't. It is a cliche, but is at times true, that "there is a fine line between love and hate". When emotional bonds between people are deep, any infraction on that can cause quite a negative response. A stranger wronging or slighting you is bad, but it doesn't nearly hurt as much as a lover, a relative, or your best friend. Your expectations are higher. The reason for Peter's "slights" against Brock were irrelevant to him. More of Brock's isolation could have been played with, I agree, but it was stated that Brock was an orphan. He saw himself as an older "bro" of Peter, and it was stated at the start that he often protected him from bullies like Flash and the other jocks freshman year. Not only was Peter doing things to break that "bond" between them, but seemingly throwing away things Brock was envious of; not being there for Aunt May because he was Spider-Man, or stomping on Gwen's heart even unintentionally. Heck, by that point, Peter was still gainfully employed by taking pictures of affairs as Spider-Man, including the incident that cost Brock his job. When emotions run that high, being irrational at times is a perfectly human reaction. Throw in the fact that the alien literally feeds on negativity and uses that for control and influence, then it is no wonder that once it got inside Brock's head, it found a more than willing host.
Now Brock of course has Spider-Man, his "bro" to thank for separating him from the alien, which by the end he likely sees as the only thing he has in his life, something else that Peter "rejected". Peter is a smart guy, but of course can be oblivious to the effects of his actions on other people. He doesn't intend to tie Gwen's heart in knots, but he does, just as he sometimes causes motive in some of his villains. Brock, of course, has taken that to a deeper, darker, psychotic area, but Venom always had that for him. That was what originally made him special. Even Green Goblin would have been happy to control the mob if Spidey wasn't always in his way. All Venom was was being a sort of superhuman Spidey stalker who only sees a dead web-slinger as his goal, and everything else is just a step to it. Unlike the comics and the films, Brock's motives seem very clear and easy to follow here.
Brock's wrong, of course, and has chosen to be vengeful with his anger and become buried in negativity. Rather than understanding, the green eyed monster has taken over. But that happens in real life, too. The best of friends or relatives can become the most bitter enemies over far more trivial things.
The Sandman plot was interesting, fast paced, and fun, with some incredible animation. But some could say the real crux of the episode was to continue the Peter/Liz/Gwen triangle while building up future conflicts with Peter's nearest and dearest enemies, Green Goblin and Venom.
As for Goblin, the show went for a surprise by having Harry, not Norman, end up as the Goblin. Of course, nearly every viewer sees some Xanatos twist and assumed that Norman merely allowed Harry to sometimes pitch in to throw off suspicion and ultimately take the fall for him, and I am a bit certain that is where things will lead. Even if so, it will be a twisted mess, which is often how the Osborn family ends up. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Harry and Brock ended up uniting in a way against Spider-Man.
