Season’s Thoughts

We’ve come full circle in the season finale of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. I thought we were building up to a Green Goblin debut, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The entirety of Season 1 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man felt like a pseudo-rendition of the Hero’s Journey. We started with Venom and ended with Venom. Granted, the characters are in different stages of growth now than they were at the beginning of Season 1, but things are calming down while they set up Season 2 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. It’s debatable how big a role Venom will play in Season 2. I’m guessing we’ll see more Venom given the setup at the end of “If This Be My Destiny…”

Since we didn’t see Green Goblin in Season 1, I suspect we’ll see him in Season 2 now that Norman has Spider-Man’s DNA. We may even see Chameleon in Season 2. While Osborn didn’t go full Green Goblin on us this time, he let his destructive ambition with the space door slip through the cracks.

One last thing I want to touch on is Dr. Strange. His making an appearance and time traveling with Spider-Man makes Season 1 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man feel like a time loop. Peter’s own DNA was used in creating Spider-Man. Freaky.

Skye’s Take

These folks really know how to end a season. Going off what Season mentioned, this episode made the season feel much more satisfying. While I hadn’t thought of it as a “Hero’s Journey” before, I absolutely saw it as its own self-contained story. Everything coalesces in this episode which makes the wait feel earned.

Of course, my favorite detail in this episode was how it tied back to the first. I imagine most people who saw this had similar thoughts. What I liked about it was that it proved that this story has been carefully constructed since episode one. As an unassuming viewer, I didn’t know what plans the writers had in mind, but it’s obvious now they know what they’re doing. Kudos!

Also, my inner fangirl went crazy seeing those last-minute developments at the end of the episode. I could list them here, but I won’t. There’s just too many of them. Given what they showed us, I can’t wait for Season 2’s premiere. Sure, I still have small issues here and there with some aspects of the writing, but I think focusing on them is doing the show a disservice.

It’s safe to say that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has strung me up in a web of childhood nostalgia. Can’t wait to see y’all next time!

Thank you for reading. If you’d like to dive deeper into Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, follow this link for episodes 9 and 10’s Secrets (Easter Eggs).