Video Game Review: "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" - You're Gonna Go Far, Kid

First the focus of an animated movie, and now his own video game. You're really coming up in the world, Mr. Morales. Set one year after the hit 2018 game, Miles Morales puts his powers and training to the test as he defends New York as its sole Spider-Man while Peter Parker is out of town. Considering Spider-Man games up to this point have all been about Peter and any use of Miles has mostly been his costume as an alternate skin, this is a pretty big deal. And for their second outing, Insomniac Games is able to knock it out of the park again as they expand on Miles' place in this Spider-Man universe they've crafted.

We once again have a truly engaging story as we get a deeper look into Miles' life, family, and friends. You become emotionally invested in Miles' relationships, which makes for another intense climax. Admittedly, the story does have some of the same beats from the first game, but does enough to set itself apart. It all actually kind of reminds me of "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm."

What I really like is how they really establish this as Miles' story. When it comes to Miles in other mediums, it usually seems like he's dealing with problems or villains from Peter's side of things; hell, he barely has his own rogues gallery. Once Peter is out of the game's story, the villains and problems Miles faces are truly his.
One of the things I liked about the last game was Spider-Man being able to walk down the street and interact with the people, showing his strong connection with the city. Miles' game is able to amplify this as one of the side plots with Miles growing his reputation in his new neighborhood of Harlem. The more Miles does for his community, the more the citizens appreciate him and come to accept him as just good as the first Spider-Man and their own local hero. You even get three additional skins due to this.
When it comes down to it, my main takeaway from this story is how important it is to stay connected, be it with family, friends, and the community as a whole, and how just reaching out can go a long way. And in these trying times, it's something we can all take to heart.

While the basic mechanics are similar to Peter's, Miles' body movements show how rough around the edges he is compared to the veteran Spider-Man. When he's swinging, his limbs flail around a bit while sometimes going backwards and he has to try to balance himself whenever he lands on a perch position (also seen during stealth attacks), showing his less graceful acrobatics. On the plus side, his lighter build seems to allow him to go faster and get more air compared to Peter.
But you also get two additional powers Miles is known for. The first is the Venom Blast, a bio-electricity attack that packs some extra punch in combat and speed, and could be used in some pretty ingenious ways. For this power, I usually liked to use it for the bigger enemies or when I started to get ganged up on. The Venom Blast is also a big plot point in the story as Miles learns how to control it, as it can be dangerous to himself and the people he's trying to help.

The other new power is camouflage. Triggering this gives you invisibility for a short amount of time, so you really have to think about when you use it. While it's good to use when you're about to be seen during a stealth mission, I usually like to trigger it when I do one stealth takedown and then take out another grunt right after, depending how close they are.

Much like Peter in the first game, Miles has a good variety of alternate costumes to use. This ranges from the proto-suits, unique designs made for the game, ones for fun, and some alternate versions of the character. While Miles' doesn't have a well known wardrobe compared to Peter, the game designers did a good job giving Miles a library of choice and crafting suits that feel unique to the character. If I had to pick my favorites to use, it would be Crimson Cowl due to its incorporation of a hood on the costume, the "Into the Spider-Verse" suit because I love that movie, and the Bodega Cat suit because it's fun to have a little feline sidekick.

While improving on various elements from the 2018 game, "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" brings a unique gaming experience that make it just as fun if not more so than its predecessor. It could have been easy to write this game off as a spin-off or something to tide us over until Peter's next game, but the end result shows Miles' story is just as important in the grand scheme of things.

Analysis: "Spider-Man: Maximum Venom" Part Two

 

As we look into the second half of the "Maximum Venom" season, so too do we reach the final post of my long running analysis of the 2017 Spider-Man animated series. Does the season and series go out on a high note? Let's not waste time and dive in.

The fourth hour entitled "Spider-Man Unmasked" mainly focuses on Max Modell's hearing with the Horizon High school board over his experiments with the Venom symbiote. Peter and friends help with Max's defense as Curt Connors acts as prosecutor, his main argument being the safety of the students. Things aren't going well for Max, so in a last ditch effort, Peter suits up as Spider-Man to act as a character witness, citing Max's contributions in his efforts to protect the city. While he seems to be winning them over, Connors then calls out Spider-Man for being Peter Parker. With Max's job on the line and honesty being key, Peter unmasks to the school board (and to Gwen and Anya by proxy). This only drives home Connors' claims of Max's recklessness with his students since he knew Peter was Spider-Man. Having heard enough, the school board relieves Max of duty and places Connors in charge of Horizon. Luckily for Peter though, the contents of the hearing will be sealed from the public, keeping his secret safe. However, they decide that Spider-Man is barred from campus.
In the aftermath, a dejected Max closes himself off from his students. Gwen and Anya are obviously pissed with Peter for keeping his secret from them, though honestly, I'm kind of pissed at the writers for not making them smart enough to figure it out themselves. I mean, when three-fourths of your friend group get spider powers, chances are that fourth friend has them too. They eventually make amends with Peter apologizing to them after getting advice from Mary Jane about being honest with friends. Oh, and they do this all while dealing with mutated humanoid rhinos in Swarm's underground monster fighting league, creating combatants from serums developed by the Jackal and where criminals can watch and bet on the results. And I only bring this part up because it's relevant to what happens later.
In a weird way, "Spider-Man Unmasked" has a lot of important developments, but somewhat feels like filler. I guess I would say this is the weakest entry to this season.

A few weeks pass when we get to the fifth hour, "Generations", and Connors has gone full totalitarian as principal of Horizon. Security bots patrol the halls, school uniforms are imminent, and mysterious packages are being delivered to the faculty lounge by drones. When a lab accident takes down one of the delivery drones, Peter, Miles, and Anya realize the contents are vials of Jackal serum. After sneaking off with the drone's hard drive and taking it to Gwen, they're able to find the warehouse the drones are coming from. The Spider-Team split up, with Peter and Gwen heading to the warehouse while Miles and Anya figure out what's going on in the lounge. Thanks to his Venom Blast, Miles and Anya are able to get past the security in place to find a secret lab and a mysterious machine, only to get knocked out by Anya's stepsister Maria.
Spider-Man and Ghost Spider discover the Jackal and his own secret lab, which he soon enough sets to self-destruct. And it's worth noting that it's an underwater lair, and as the trope goes, underwater lairs always get destroyed. Before escaping though, Gwen is able to access Jackal's files and discovers what he's planning and who he's working for. Peter and Gwen head back to the school to save Miles and Anya, confronting Connors, Maria, and Jackal, as well as Swarm. And it's here we learn the true mastermind they've been working under: Norman Osborn (called it).

So how did Norman survive the finale of season one? Just barely, as he suffered burns across his body and lost an arm and leg. Since then, he's been watching from the shadows planning his vengeance on Spider-Man. He employs Connors, who has had occasional flare-ups from the Lizard formula in his body, promising to fully cure him in exchange for his help. To this end, he sets in the motion the events that would lead to Max's firing and placing Connors in charge of the school, giving Osborn the scientific resources he needs coupled with the money being made through Swarm's underground monster league to reach his final goal. Siphoning off DNA from the symbiote seed and combining it with Jackal's mutation serum, he's transformed into the Dark Goblin (no doubt somewhat inspired by the Carnage based Red Goblin identity Norman took in the comics briefly). Connors, experiencing another Lizard flare-up, begs Osborn for the cure he promised him. Osborn just laughs, saying he never planned to cure Connors. An angry Connors then fully transforms into the Lizard and attacks Osborn, but runs off after being clearly outmatched by the Dark Goblin's strength (and that's the last we see of him).
Wanting Spider-Man all to himself, Norman uses his minions to split up the rest of the Spider-Team:
* Anya takes on her step-sister Maria, who uses a Tarantula based exo-suit. Anya notices Maria forgetting personal details of their relationship, soon enough taking Maria down and revealing that it's the Chameleon in disguise.
* For those who don't remember, this version of the Jackal is Gwen's uncle Raymond. While Jackal and Norman had been enemies back in season one, Jackal decided to work for Norman with his own goal of getting close to his niece so that he can transform Gwen into a Jackal creature like himself. Thankfully, Gwen is saved in time by Miles.
* As for Miles, he takes on Swarm. Through Swarm's exposition about working with Osborn so he can protect his neighborhood and son from the dangers that the Spiders bring, Miles realizes Swarm is his father, Jefferson Davis, unmasking in front of him. An ashamed Jefferson soon flees after realizing what he's done. Honestly, this is the weakest of the "family feud" theme they were going with these fights. Gwen and Raymond's deal had been established in season one and Anya's conflict was based on deception. Making Swarm Miles' dad comes across as a last minute decision. While it seems they didn't want to bring in Miles' uncle Aaron as Prowler since they already established the Hobie Brown Prowler in season two, I don't think they fully thought through the Swarm idea. Jefferson appeared in a single episode back in season one, and his motivation to protect his neighborhood is really lacking because of that; it probably would have helped if there were more Miles focused episodes prior to this. And aside from a couple mentions in the finale, there's unfortunately no resolution to this plotline.

As Peter and Norman fight, Harry enters the fray as Hobgoblin, having been called ahead of time before Peter and Gwen got back to the school. Norman tries the whole Darth Vader "join me" schpeel with Harry, but the son isn't buying what the father is selling. With Peter and Harry getting the upper hand and none of his minions responding, a desperate Norman uses symbiote tendrils to grab more vials of Jackal serum to absorb, mutating further (taller, stronger, more eyes, horns, and spider legs sticking out of his back). The rest of the Spider-Team return to the scene and through a hard fought and very entertaining battle, they're able to get Norman back into the machine to reverse the transformation, turning him from the Dark Goblin back to his human form (though on the plus side, he has both his arms and legs again).
Since Norman's confession was recorded by a security bot, Peter brings it to the school board, showing that Max's experiments were safe and contained had it not been for Osborn and Connors. While I feel this ignores some of the legitimate points Connors did have about safety, we need the happy ending, so Max is reestablished as the principal of Horizon High.
Despite some problems, I'd go so far as to say "Generations" was the best entry of this season with good fights and the payoff of Norman Osborn's return as well as resolution to his and Jackal's storylines.

We now come to the season finale of "Maximum Venom"..."Maximum Venom" (hmm, maybe they were running out of steam by the end).
This hour begins with Spider-Man teaming up with the Avengers and playing a vital role in defeating MODOK. Afterward, Tony offers Peter membership to the Avengers once he's done with school, though he has to think about it since it would involve giving up his personal life.
Later on, Peter, Gwen, and Anya go in search for the Lizard, only to find a resurrected Venom. But before they can find out how he's alive, he disappears. While this is a problem to be dealt with, the Spider-Team doesn't want this to spoil the school dance Horizon is having for Max's return as principal, where Peter brings Mary Jane as his date. It's been building up slowly since her debut in the series, but the chemistry between the two is adorable. They both clearly like each other, and Mary Jane's more outgoing nature plays off well with Peter's awkwardness.
As the dance gets going, Max unveils his latest invention for the occasion: a transdimensional gateway that can not only open up a portal anywhere on Earth, but to far off worlds. When something begins approaching the portal on the alien world, Peter calls for Max to close it. It's then revealed that Venom is in control of Max (which was actually hinted at prior in this episode).
As it turns out, a small sliver of the Venom symbiote survived when Peter destroyed the beacon it sent out at the beginning of the season, hiding itself in the symbiote seed. The sliver then slipped into Max, biding its time and growing inside, eventually being able to use Max as a puppet. After getting all the other students clear, the Spider-Team suits up to deal with not only Venom, but his symbiote sisters then come through the portal: Scream, Scorn, and Mania. Their goal this time isn't conquest of Earth, but annihilation.

Venom is sent through the portal to retrieve the "world killer" as Spider-Man gives chase. Said "world killer" is basically a giant symbiote dragon, which Venom flies back to Earth (destroying Horizon as it comes through the portal) with Spidey hanging on. The symbiote sisters, after taking down the rest of the Spider-Team, retrieve the symbiote seed and give it to the dragon, powering it up to fire destructive laser beams across the city. On top of the dragon, Spidey and Venom continue to fight, with Peter trying to reach Max inside. Despite Max's negative feelings over all his failures fueling the symbiote, Peter is able to give a pep talk that raises Max's spirits enough to take control. Peter and Max, using the symbiote's strength for his own, rip the seed from the dragon. Max then crushes the seed, releasing a large amount of energy from it that not only eradicates the dragon, but also destroys the other symbiotes, freeing Max and the unnamed aliens from their hold. The symbiote threat is finally over.
In the aftermath, Max decides that instead of simply rebuilding and reopening Horizon, that they need to build something new to carry on the goal of creating a better world. To this end, Peter declines Tony's Avengers invitation but asks him to invest in a new tech start-up with his friends: Worldwide Engineering Brigade (W.E.B. (get it?)).
As for Peter and MJ, they meet up the following morning and share a dance that got interrupted when things started to get crazy. They agree on a "first date redo" as Peter returns a kiss on the cheek which MJ gave him before the evacuation.
This story works mostly well as both a season and series finale. The main threat of the season, Venom, gives one last effort to defeat Spider-Man with the world hanging in the balance this time. And considering a big part of this show was Peter attending Horizon High, him looking toward the future after school is a good send-off. I'm almost disappointed there won't be a season four since it would be interesting to see how Peter and the gang run WEB and how it would play into their Spider activities.

So now that it's over, what do I think of the 2017 Spider-Man animated series as a whole? It's satisfactory. 'Spectacular' and the '94 series are still certainly the best, thought I would give this series the bronze. It wasn't everything I hoped it would be, but I was invested nonetheless. There have been quite a number of Spidey cartoons since the '67 series, and I would think that each of them played a part in creating new Spider-Man fans through the decades. This series took quite a few liberties and made some creative spins on the mythos and it wasn't perfect, but you can say that each series that's come and gone has had its high marks and short comings. What I think it comes down to though is respect to the source material and if it captures the core aspects of the character. The struggle of Peter Parker and Spider-Man is trying to find the balance between a normal and superhero life. The 2017 series succeeds in that regard, and that makes it a winner in my book.
As for the future of Spider-Man in animation, I think it may be good to give the character a break for awhile. Let the creative juices build up and come back swinging with something new and hopefully something great.

TV Review: Helstrom - Flash in the Pan

Obviously 2020 has been sparse when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and seriously, the sooner we get our crap together, the sooner we'll get Black Widow). We've had the final season of Agents of SHIELD last summer and we'll hopefully get WandaVision by the end of the year, but then there's the strange case of Helstrom. The Hulu series focuses on Daimon and Ana Helstrom, paternal half-demon brother and sister with supernatural abilities. This is another Marvel property I know little about and the only character I've had experience with is Daimon from appearances he's made in Avengers comics. Based on this series, I still don't think I know much about these characters.

I'll just get right down to the main problem with this series: it lacks the Marvel flair. Let's put it this way: Ant-Man put a comic spin on a heist movie as Captain America did with political thrillers, just for a couple examples. Other the Marvel TV series like Runaways, the Netflix shows, or even Inhumans to varying degrees brought the comic book feel to their product. Even Fant4stic, with Josh Trank's misguided attempt to create the anti-thesis to Avengers, still felt like a comic book movie. With Helstrom, it's like all the Marvel had been sucked out of it, leaving behind another run of the mill supernatural show with barebones of the comics that inspired it.

Helstrom had already started production when Marvel's TV division had been moved under Kevin Feige and the main Marvel Studios umbrella, making it the last show to be released before said change. So I'm not sure if the series we got was what was intended to be seen or if the oversight had removed larger Marvel universe connections. Honestly, I felt something was wrong when the first trailer came out and there was no mention of Marvel at all. The whole situation comes across as a contractual obligation to be made more than anything. The end teases a second season, though I very much doubt it happens (which kind of wastes Mitch Pileggi's cameo).

As for the show itself, it's not that bad; it's certainly better than Inhumans. There's decent acting for the most part and its mature nature is a nice return to the tone of Netflix shows we haven't seen from Marvel since the last season of Jessica Jones. The first half of the season is a little tough to get through, almost like I was forcing myself to watch. It gets a lot more enjoyable in the second half though with better character moments, some visual effects unique for a Marvel show, and more interesting plot lines, one of which is very disturbing.

When it comes to our main characters, Daimon and Ana lead interesting parallel lives when it comes to their supporting casts and how they use their powers.

Sydney Lemmon is the breakout star of the show as Ana. Lemmon brilliantly brings the character's complex nature to life. She puts on a strong appearance with the fancy clothes, haircut and make-up, only dropping all of that when she's alone; it's what makes the moment where she breaks down in front of her assistant Chris one of the highlights of the season and her character arc to open up to others.

Conversely, Tom Austen as Daimon is the blandest lead to come from a Marvel property, lacking the spark other protagonists have been able to bring to their roles. As Helstrom is like any other supernatural show, Daimon comes across as any other occult expert with a tortured past. The only time I really felt something from his performance is when he lets his mean side out in episode 8.

Another character worth mentioning is Elizabeth Marvel as Victoria, Daimon and Ana's mother. She's possessed by a demon for the most part of the season, and that part produces some pretty generic evil when it comes to that kind of performance. But when she's back in control of her body, she really shines as the mediator between her children and bringing about a sense of hope to the situation at hand.

Helstrom is worth watching for the MCU completionist or horror fan, but it's otherwise skippable.

Movie Review: "Batman: Death in the Family" - Pick Your Poison

 

In 1988, DC Comics left the fate of Jason Todd to the readers. As the second Robin was proving unpopular, DC presented the chance to do away with the character in "A Death in the Family", a storyline published in the main Batman book. After being mercilessly beaten by the Joker and left for dead in a warehouse wired to explode, fans would vote on Jason's survival by calling one of two 900 numbers choosing life or death. While the tally was close, fans decided it was time for Jason to rest. In 2005 though, Jason was revealed to have been resurrected through very convoluted means and had become the new Red Hood, a lethal vigilante. Some say bringing him back cheapens his death, but I feel it actually adds more to the tragedy of the character and Batman's failure to set the troubled youth on the right path. Now in 2020, DC gives us the opportunity to decide Jason's fate again.
"Batman: Death in the Family" is an interactive short film where viewers would decide the path of Jason Todd. It uses the 2010 animated film "Batman: Under the Red Hood" as a reference point with the same animation style, bringing back some of the voice cast, and fleshing out more layers to the story. With the emotional core of its story and a stellar voice cast, "Under the Red Hood" is regarded as one of the best animated Batman films right up there with "Mask of the Phantasm" and "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker." Returning to that film and adding a few new spins to it got me really excited. It's an ambitious experiment, but unfortunately one that doesn't reach its full potential.

As the film begins, we get more insight into the tensions between Bruce and Jason before the events that lead to his death, even delving a little more into Jason's backstory from the comics with his father having been killed by Two-Face. There also seems to be retconned connections to the "Killing Joke" animated film, with Barbara's character design and images from that film being reused along with Jason's implications that Joker did take things further than just cripple her. What's nice about both these additions is that it helps build the father-son relationship and that Jason's drive to go after Joker is deeper than his own forthcoming pain.

There are three different paths to take after Joker leaves Jason in the warehouse: Batman saves Robin, Robin cheats death, and Robin dies. As I was going through this, I decided to go from best possible option to the worst. In that regard, I first chose for Batman to save Robin and it turned out to be not as positive as you'd think. Jason does survive, but Bruce takes the full brunt of the explosion and succumbs to his injuries. To me, this was a sign that the decisions you make would still have some twists and make for some interesting plot turns.
The "Batman saves Robin" option is without a doubt the best one to take, offering more variety of choices to make as it delves into Jason's inner conflict. The trauma of his experience weighs heavy on him as he struggles between wanting to honor Bruce's dying words and giving in to his baser instincts to put criminals down. What's also nice is that the different paths borrow from more Batman stories than the two this film is based on. This includes many elements of Grant Morrison's run, the "Going Sane" storyline, and in what seems to be a major coincidence, the currently running "Three Jokers" miniseries. Even Tim Drake gets some overdue love in this film.

The next option I took was "Robin cheats death." Jason is still caught in the explosion, but survives, though he is gravely injured and laid up for 72 days. In that time, Jason has come to blame Bruce and the whole Batfamily for what happened to him, eventually running away and going on his own murderous crusade against crime. His appearance resembles that of the villain Hush, paying homage to when he was the potential identity of the character. Unfortunately, this choice and the story that comes from it is an absolute waste. There's no real resolution or confrontation between Bruce and Jason, and the way it does end just leaves you wanting.

Then there's the final option of Robin dying that gave us the full-length film to begin with. As such, all we get is a twenty minute recap of the film as Bruce is telling the story to Clark Kent, AKA Superman. There are only a couple positives I can give this. One, Bruce's narration allows us to delve deeper into his mindset as he was progressing through the story. The other is that they got Nolan North to voice Clark again, which is nice as both he and Bruce Greenwood voice Superman and Batman, respectively, on the "Young Justice" animated series. Plus, the dialogue between the two is classic World's Finest.

Speaking of voice acting, as stated before, it's pretty top notch from returning cast members as well as the new additions. Bruce Greenwood's Batman and John DiMaggio's Joker are still worthy successors to Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. Gary Cole is added on providing double duty as Commissioner Gordon and Two-Face, fitting both characters extremely well. Vincent Martella, who had voiced a teenage Jason in the original film, has a much bigger part here since there's no five year time jump for two of the options to bring Jensen Ackles back. While Ackles is missed, Martella does a great job in expressing Jason's wide range of emotions on the journey(s) the character is taken on.

On a last note, "Death in the Family" is rated R and includes a lot more gory violence and it honestly feels unnecessary. "Under the Red Hood" was rated PG-13 and while it got violent and featured much bloodshed, it still felt tastefully done compared to the new film, which could come off as trying too hard.

As a whole, "Batman: Death in the Family" brings the fun of choice but can only deliver barely half of what it could truly offer. If they were going to return to "Under the Red Hood", maybe they could have released a new extended edition similar to what they did with the 2009 animated Wonder Woman film. While you may be better off just watching the original film, "Death in he Family" is still worth at least one go through to experience it both delves more into the lore and diverges from the already classic film.

Celebrating 30 Years of Treehouse of Horror: Ten of the Best Segments

A staple of Halloween for three decades, the "Treehouse of Horror" anthology episodes are a highlight of every season of The Simpsons. The annual Halloween specials allow the show creators to go really out there, parodying movies and shows that wouldn't work for a normal Simpsons episode as well as featuring more graphic and violent imagery to be present. In any case, there's still some goofy, gory fun.
I've been wanting to do a post like this for a very long time, but held off to get through last year's "Treehouse of Horror XXX" and wait for the subsequent Halloween to be approaching. This won't be a traditional top ten list though. For one thing, I feel an overall list would obviously favor more of the early years. What I want to do is give a fair shot to the whole thirty year history of the specials, selecting what I feel to be the best segments within a three year period (I-III, IV-VI, etc.) that exemplify the funny and scary nature they're known for.
So without further ado, here are what I feel to be ten of the best Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" segments of all time.

HOMER'S NIGHTMARE

Treehouse of Horror II (1991)

PREMISE: Mr. Burns attempts to use Homer's brain to power a giant robotic laborer.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: I don't think I realized before putting this list together just how much this segment really began pushing how graphic these episodes could get. The previous segments up to this point were relatively tame, and then "Homer's Nightmare" comes up and features body mutilation. Burns is downright insane in his quest to replace human workers with robotic ones, stubborn to listen to reason from Smithers and even imagining nothing but his scared assistant's brain floating above his head ripe for plunder. The moments where Burns beats a bagged up Homer with a shovel to shut him up and then later wearing Homer's removed brain on his head like a Davey Crocket hat are both horrifying and hilarious.
But the freakiest part about this segment, especially when I was a kid, was the ending where they showed Burns' head sewn on to Homer's body followed by a "Next time..." bumper acknowledging the change. As a kid, I had no concept of canon so there was a part of me waiting for this next episode to air. To go along with this, there was one brilliant detail I noticed this time around I missed before. See, Treehouse of Horror II had a framing device of Lisa, Bart, and Homer having nightmares from eating too much candy. While Lisa and Bart's dreams had a dissolve effect at the beginning of theirs, Homer's did not, foreshadowing that his nightmare was anything but. 

THE SHINNING

Treehouse of Horror V (1994)

PREMISE: The Simpsons are hired as caretakers at Mr. Burns' mansion.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: To many, self included, this is the best Treehouse of Horror segment of all time. A parody of "The Shining", the Simpsons bring many comedic twists to the classic film's scariest moments, including Homer going crazy in just one day compared to how long it took Jack. Though honestly, I think Homer writing all over the walls can be seen as more disturbing than writing the same thing over and over on a typewriter. There are so many laughs to be had from start to finish, featuring one of Homer's best freak-out moments and I'm not afraid to admit I've memorized Homer's lines word for word from when he starts smashing through doors with an axe. Without question, "The Shinning" is the gold standard when it comes to the Simpsons at Halloween.

CITIZEN KANG

Treehouse of Horror VII (1996)

PREMISE: Kang and Kodos impersonate Bill Clinton and Bob Dole in order to win the 1996 presidential election.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: As a kid, I didn't really appreciate this one that much. Growing up and understanding politics more, "Citizen Kang" is a real treasure. What really helps this segment is its timelessness and the attitudes toward politics. Replace Clinton and Dole with other presidential nominees through the years and you wouldn't have to change much (although 2016 and this year's election would be an unwinnable challenge). Political jokes aside, it is also funny watching Kang and Kodos impersonating their nominees with no change to their voices and nobody believing Homer about their true identities. On top of all that, this segment brought us the "twirling towards freedom" and "I voted for Kodos" lines that would go on to become minor memes.

HOUSE OF WHACKS

Treehouse of Horror XII (2001)

PREMISE: The Simpson family buys a new house, who falls in love with Marge and attempts to kill Homer.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: What I really like about this one is the build-up from fun to scary. We go from the Simpsons enjoying the high tech upgrades to their house to the AI system with Pierce Brosnan's personality falling in love with Marge and attempting to kill Homer and take the family for himself. The guest voice of Brosnan himself really helps with the tone changes the segment goes through as we hear him go from charming servant to obsessive creep. There's a moment I love where he tries to laugh off the situation: "Homer, you're alive!...Which is good." In the end, our villain gets his just desserts when he's passed off to suffer under new owners Patty and Selma.
The near death of Homer is also a good fake out with the blood splattering on the walls. When we do see he survived, it was not unscathed as a large enough chunk of the back of his head is missing where his brain is exposed, the first time we see it a bit unsettling. Though I do enjoy how it isn't just a one-off joke since they call back to it moments later when Lisa points out Homer is attacking the water softener with an axe rather than the house CPU, to which Homer replies "Well, I am missing the back of my head! I think you could cut me some slack?"
"House of Whacks" may be an underrated and overlooked segment in the grand scheme of the Halloween specials, though I think it's one that deserves more recognition.

THE NED ZONE

Treehouse of Horror XV (2004)

PREMISE: Ned Flanders' head injury gives him the power to predict others' deaths.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: When you take one of the most wholesome characters on the show like Ned Flanders and burden him with the ability to see visions of people's deaths, it makes for some interesting TV. Admittedly, what's really scary about this segment is just how stupidly incompetent Homer is made out to be. Not only does he cause Ned's injury that gets the ball rolling for the story, but both he and Ned are in varying degrees responsible for the ensuing deaths.
On the funny side of things though, the final moments of the segment are hilarious as the viewer can share in Ned's feelings of frustration and nervousness as he attempts to keep Homer from causing a nuclear meltdown.
I will be frank in saying that the segment doesn't quite live up to its' potential and may have worked better as a "Final Destination" type parody, but the concept and comedy we are given still help "The Ned Zone" stand out.

SURVIVAL OF THE FATTEST

Treehouse of Horror XVI (2005)

PREMISE: Homer and various other male characters find themselves on a reality show where Mr. Burns hunts humans for sport.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: As we get into the show's more mediocre seasons, I may tend to select segments that would probably fit in well with the classics. That being said, I'm kind of surprised that it took them sixteen years to do a parody of the "The Most Dangerous Game."
This segment just works on many levels. The idea itself of yet another psychotic version of Mr. Burns hunting various characters and how they're so callously killed is perfect for the Halloween special. The pacing is done well, not feeling too rushed with the humorous moments hitting the mark in quick succession.
Though the part of the segment that is both funny and kind of scary is how they legitimize Burns' manhunt as normal. Not only does Burns' lawyer draw up a document that would protect him in court (followed by being shot by Burns himself), but then you have it broadcast on TV like a sporting event with Terry Bradshaw providing commentary.
At a time when the show was getting stale, "Survival of the Fattest" was a reminder of the greatness that the Simpsons can still bring, Halloween or not.

IT'S THE GRAND PUMPKIN, MILHOUSE

Treehouse of Horror XIX (2008)

PREMISE: Milhouse summons a demon pumpkin who goes berserk when it sees humans carving its brethren into jack-o-lanterns as part of Halloween tradition.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: What really helps this one stand out to me is how it completely goes off the rails. As a parody of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (with the background and character wardrobe paying homage to this), it initially follows the source beat for beat with Milhouse filling Linus' role of the only one believing in the obscure Halloween figure. Things take a turn though when the Grand Pumpkin actually appears thanks to Milhouse's childlike belief. While the Grand Pumpkin has a delightful demeanor at first, that quickly vanishes when he discovers pumpkin atrocities committed by humans, such as being cooked into food and carved into jack-o-lanterns (we'll just ignore his own head is one), vowing revenge.
A similar parody had been done on Robot Chicken a few years prior to this (which was also good in its own right), but the Simpsons is able to play up the comedy more with the Grand Pumpkin's villainous turn being so unexpected and him having more of a personality. The ending matches the craziness with Lisa using Milhouse's childlike belief to create a Thanksgiving figure, Tom Turkey, to save them. The cycle begins again though when Tom finds out what happens to turkeys.
Whether you see it as paying tribute to or butchering a holiday classic, there's no denying that the Simpsons have left their trademark Halloween stamp on the Peanuts special.

OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL D'OH!

Treehouse of Horror XXIV (2013)

PREMISE: In this twisted parody of Dr. Seuss' children's books, Homer abducts Bart, Lisa, and Maggie and rides around Springfield wreaking havoc as "The Fat in the Hat".
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: I guess I have a thing when it comes to the Simpsons adapting children's stories. Compared to "It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse", "Oh, the Place You'll D'oh!" cranks the homage levels up with Springfield and the Simpsons' grand cast completely Seuss-ified. And it wouldn't be Dr. Seuss if there weren't constant rhyming, which is the cherry on top in this treat of a segment. Homer as the "Fat in the Hat" is quite entertaining in his psychotic role, bringing a level of hilarious chaos you'd expect from the Joker. The funniest thing though is despite the segment's violent nature, it still probably has more respect for Seuss than a certain Mike Myers movie.

B.F.F. R.I.P.

Treehouse of Horror XXVII (2016)

PREMISE: Lisa's imaginary friend kills her real friends.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: Much like "Survival of the Fattest", this is another instance where a segment can come off as a classic during a time of mediocrity (in this case, particularly when it comes to pacing). The idea of an old imaginary friend seeking revenge for being discarded is actually pretty original though. There's true elements of horror in this segment with the deaths shown, first coming off as supposed accidents and then the imaginary friend Rachel reveals herself by straight-up asphyxiating  Milhouse. Rachel is also voiced by Sarah Silverman, who brings the right kind of crazy you'd expect from both character and actress.
From what I can tell, not a lot of people talk about this one, possibly because it's part of what I found to be a pretty lackluster year for the Treehouse of Horror series. In any case, I still say "BFF RIP" is worth a look if you're curious.

MMM...HOMER

Treehouse of Horror XXVIII (2017)

PREMISE: Homer cannibalizes himself after he runs out of food while Marge and the kids are away from home.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: We round out the list with what I consider to be the most disturbing Halloween segment in Simpsons history. What else needs to be said? Homer eats himself.
After accidentally cutting off and grilling his finger, Homer tries it and finds he's the taste that can't be beat and begins using piece by piece of himself in various dishes. I'm just going to assume Homer's arteries are so clogged that it keeps him from bleeding out from the process. Marge soon enough finds out (seen in the picture), and her reaction is priceless. Homer is then met by famous chef Mario Batali, who uses the rest of Homer as ingredients across various restaurants. As Homer gifted his body of flavor for the enjoyment of others, he looks down from heaven while eating his angels wings, indicating the cycle continues.

And those are ten of what I consider to be some of the best the Simpsons have brought us from the Treehouse of Horror series. I have to say that watching these back to back has been a lot of fun, and there were so many close choices that I may return with a sequel list. This also allowed me to witness the Simpsons' evolution on an annual basis. The specials and series as a whole has had its ups and downs, but while some have fallen off, I'll keep watching the Simpsons until one of us reaches the end of the line; and I'm half expecting the series to outlive us all.

TV Review: Doom Patrol Season Two - Weird Lite

The inaugural season of Doom Patrol was a surprise hit last year, putting the relatively obscure superhero team in the spotlight and bringing one of the weirdest live action comic book adaptations to date. When it comes to the second season, I don't really have too much new to say. It's still a really great show, retaining much of what made the first season so loved.
The characters are well acted with their best moments shining in their most vulnerable moments. Said moments really make you feel for them and work well with the themes of trauma and mental health the show is about.
The rogues gallery grows further with more villains each bringing their own brand of strangeness. You have the more silly threats in Dr. Tyme and the Scants, the latter of which are microscopic creatures who feed on stupidity. There's also the disturbing and terrifying in Red Jack and our main villain of the season Candlemaker. Candlemaker doesn't have the same charisma Alan Tudyk had as Mr. Nobody last season and is really just a CGI monster, but he still has a scary look coupled with Lex Lang's voice acting.

If there are any new themes this season brings to the show, it's that of legacy, family, and connections, with each of the main characters trying to better themselves.
* The most obvious has to do with Niles Caulder, not just in trying to be there for his daughter, but also hoping to make amends with the rest of the group for what he did to each of them.
* Cliff/Robot Man, trying to prove himself a better father than Niles as well as his own dad, tries to reconnect with his grown up daughter. This plotline is a bit hard to watch, being a bit cringey as well as sympathetic. Though this does bring me to my biggest problem, or rather nit-pick, with the season: Cliff's Flanderization (look it up). He's constantly dropping f-bombs, and while it was a lot more funny in the previous season, it's now like an explosion in a Michael Bay movie. It happens so much that it's lost much of its impact.
* Larry/Negative Man returns to his family after the death of one of his sons, reconnecting with his other son as well as meeting his grandson and great grandson. This was my favorite plotline in regards to the legacy theme, as it brings as much emotion as his arc last season. I think of all the characters, Larry has the most baggage from the life he left behind.
* Rita/Elastiwoman recovers a repressed memory of her mother while Vic/Cyborg kindles a relationship with a woman he met in a support group.
* Jane has a more inner conflict with her other personalities who are growing unconfident in her role as "primary." This leads to another seemingly normal and more well adjusted personality named Miranda to eventually take over. The legacy aspect isn't as prominent here, having more to do with learning more of the traumas that lead the character to who she is today.

Unfortunately, these plotlines and more will remain unresolved until next season, as with the other current DC shows, production had to be shut down due to the pandemic. Only nine of the ten ordered episodes were able to be completed. Part of me wishes this season had been longer like the last season, as then we were able to explore more of the characters' backstories and personalities and connect more with them. But since production had to be shut down, it's probably good we were at least able to get 90% of what was planned.
That said, the finale we did get was probably my favorite of the season, even if it does end on a cliffhanger. With the characters having to face their old imaginary friends, it felt like the episode that embraced weirdness the most. Just a heads up though, without spoiling anything, the more religious will probably be as angry at this as an episode of Family Guy.

Overall, Doom Patrol continues to be one of the best and weirdest DC shows out there, even if we don't get as much this time around.

Analysis: "Spider-Man: Maximum Venom" Part One

When it comes to the third season of 2017's Spider-Man animated series, sporting the tagline of "Maximum Venom", there's a lot of significance to its production. For one thing, it will not only be the final season of this Spider-Man series, but also marks the end of what could be considered the Disney XD era of Marvel animation. As both "Avengers Assemble" and "Guardians of the Galaxy" wrapped up their runs in 2019, Spider-Man's third season is also meant to bring closure to the somewhat shared universe that the shows encompassed, which means there are a lot of superhero guest stars teaming up with Spidey this season.
There's also a lower episode count and odd release schedule. As opposed to over twenty episodes from the last two seasons, "Maximum Venom" will compose of six hour long episodes, or twelve normal episodes made up into six two-parters, however you look at it. While it would have been nice to watch the whole season over the course of six weeks, they apparently decided to space it out to one new episode a month; while that is kind of ridiculous, it's nothing compared to the wait between new episodes Gravity Falls and Steven Universe fans had to endure.
Given the lower episode count, I considered waiting to talk about the whole season in one post. But compared to the past seasons, "Maximum Venom" is more serialized with significant moments to talk about and includes much less filler. So to keep with the pattern I've done when talking about the series, I'll talk about the first half of the season and give the second half its own post once the final episodes have aired.
With that out of the way, let's dig into "Spider-Man: Maximum Venom".

The season begins with the first hour, "Web of Venom." In the first half, Peter discovers Max Modell in a secret lab where he has created a synthetic symbiote, a non-living clone of the Venom symbiote based on a sample Max still had in his possession. While Max is hopeful for the synthetic symbiote's medical applications, Peter is obviously wary. Things change though when a Technovore, a machine that can eat and incorporate any technology into its being, mysteriously appears in Horizon High. With Spidey's webshooters eaten and any other tech vulnerable to consumption, Max believes the only solution to stop the Technovore is for Spidey to use the synthetic symbiote, in the process revealing to Peter he figured out his identity. They're successful and Peter decides to work with Max on the synthetic symbiote to make sure it's ready to reveal to the public. However, we learn that Dr. Curt Connors, who had just joined the Horizon staff, is the one responsible for the Technovore's rampage, and is acting on orders from an as of yet unnamed employer.
While this is the first time I've talked about Connors over the course of these posts, I should mention that Connors had appeared as the Lizard back in season one in part two of "The Rise of Doc Ock". Since he wasn't the main focus of the story, it didn't seem necessary to bring him up.

In the second half, Connors finds Max's lab and the Venom symbiote sample. Connors confronts Max, using the excuse that he's endangering the students by performing dangerous experiments. While holding the symbiote in its container, it lunges at Connors, scaring him into dropping it and setting it free. The symbiote takes hold of Connors, though since it's only a partial sample, it doesn't cover Connors all over. However, Venom is able to make himself whole again by absorbing the synthetic symbiote off of Peter. Venom then expels Connors, since the symbiote evolved to no longer need a host last season. After Venom makes its escape, Spidey is able to track the symbiote back to the meteor crash site where it first landed on Earth. Venom retrieves a seed and morphs around it, creating a red beam to shoot up into the air (yes, even in cartoons, there has to be a freaking sky beam). With the darkened sky and seismic activity, Spidey and Max believe it's terraforming the planet. Spidey is able to disrupt the process though with a strong enough electrical current from equipment left behind by the crash investigators. All that's left of the Venom symbiote are flakes floating in the air while Spidey retrieves the seed and brings it back to Horizon. However, after his actions are brought up to the school board, Max is suspended while Connors is placed in charge. Meanwhile, in the depths of space, the red beam from Earth goes by large asteroid where we see multiple symbiotes awakening, ending "Web of Venom".

Hour two, "Amazing Friends", sees Peter returning home through his bedroom window as Spider-Man for lunch plans with Aunt May and the Watsons. As he's changing, he discovers Baby Groot (who is just as adorable here) in his closet. It's worth noting that Peter had met Groot and the rest of the Guardians over in their show in a two-parter that involved Thanos and the Venom and Carnage symbiotes. Groot has Star-Lord's Walkman that contains a message from the outlaw for Peter, but the cassette becomes unraveled before the important parts can be disclosed. Groot wraps Peter's webshooter around himself and swings downstairs. Peter rushes down to catch him when he almost runs right into Mary Jane (voiced by the brilliant casting choice of Felicia Day). Ignoring that he referenced her back in season one, this is being treated as the first meeting of the two. There's a brilliant touch when he almost crashes into her as his Spider-Sense triggers and he blushes red. While the Spider-Sense could be seen as warning him about running into her, combining that with the blush implies what I believe is him experiencing feelings he didn't expect; to simplify, it's love at first sight. Since Groot's downstairs, Peter has to keep May and MJ from seeing him and his hijinks, and that results in Peter appearing really strange to the two (yeah, that old bit). Despite this, MJ finds Peter funny and seems to roll with Peter's weirdness, which appears to make Peter infatuated with her even more. Man, after nothing romantic developed with Gwen, I really hope they don't waste any potential with Peter and Mary Jane with what remains of the series.
But back to the plot, Peter is able to catch Groot and takes him to Horizon so he and Miles can try to translate his language since the tape was unsalvageable. When that doesn't work, the two suit up and head to Avengers Tower hoping they'd have something to translate Groot. They encounter Riri Williams, a young superheroine named Ironheart and part of the Avengers intern program, who reveals that the Avengers are off in space on a mission. Unfortunately, their meeting is interrupted by AIM, who want to capture Groot for themselves. While the heroes are able to subdue the AIM soldiers, Groot goes missing. Peter and Riri search for Groot as Miles goes to recruit Doctor Strange to help translate Groot's message. As it turns out though, Strange isn't the only sorcerer involved as Baron Mordo is working with AIM. The first half ends with Groot being captured by AIM while Mordo casts Miles and Strange into a slowly vanishing pocket dimension, leaving Peter and Riri to figure out what to do.

Going into the second half, Peter and Riri are able to trace Mordo's magic to a secret AIM island base, where they are now joined by another Avenger intern, Amadaues Cho, the (ugh) "Totally Awesome Hulk." Admittedly, I haven't read much comics involving the Cho Hulk, but I really hope he isn't as annoying as he is in this show where he keeps bragging about how smart and strong he is. The three infiltrate the base and we learn Mordo and AIM are combining magic and science to use Groot's essence to create and army of Wood Golems (which look like if Groot became a Ghost Rider) to, of course, take over the world. During the battle, Miles and Strange are able to open a portal to get back home, which they then use to lure the Wood Golems into thanks to them inheriting Groot's love of ice cream and the surprising abundance of ice cream vending machines AIM has on location (which makes me wonder if they have a regular vendor to keep those things stocked). Anyway, the day is saved.
With the immediate danger gone, Strange uses a spell to show Groot's memory of Star-Lord's message: a symbiote invasion is on its way to Earth. At that time, the Milano was already being infiltrated by symbiotes, but Star-Lord was able to shoot Groot off in an escape pod before being taken over himself.

This leads into hour three, the aptly name "Vengeance of Venom" (which I will explain soon). The heroes begin to prepare for the invasion, tracking down and informing other New York heroes they can find, including Cloak and Dagger and the rest of the Spider-Team (Spider-Girl, Ghost Spider, and Hobgoblin). Peter himself is informing Aunt May about the impending situation; while she doesn't take him seriously at first, she accepts a case Peter had acquired from the space administration that we find out later contains a sonic weapon for her to protect herself. Afterwards, Peter regroups with the heroes at Avengers Tower to think of solutions to the threat when the Avengers' ship arrives back from space. As you might have guessed, the Avengers onboard (made up of Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Thor) have all been possessed by symbiotes. While they initiate the tower's containment defenses, the symbiote controlling Tony is able to disable it. This is a nice touch that isn't used often with these symbiote invasion stories. Usually in those situations a symbiote takes over a person and basically they become a monster, including heroes. I always found it weird that Spider-Man's symbiote (that would become Venom) seems to be the only one to exploit its host's memories. A symbiote making use of Tony Stark's genius brain is a good change of pace.
Anyway, while Miles is thrown off the tower and Doctor Strange is knocked into a portal to a dimension he intended to banish the symbiotes to, the rest of the heroes are slowly but surely soon infected by symbiotes (with Symbiote Tony also able to track down those in the Avengers database), save for Ironheart and Spider-Man. Riri discovers an even larger ship containing symbiotes on its way to Earth while Peter realizes that the seed from "Web of Venom" was acting as a homing beacon, with the Venomized Avengers being a hunting party to take out the other heroes before the full invasion began. Riri draws the symbiotes away while Peter heads to Horizon to get the seed. Riri herself is soon enough infected though, though she's able to transfer access to the Stark network over to Peter. Peter gets to Horizon but is surrounded by the Venomized heroes. But help arrives in the form of Miles and the rest of the Spider-Team. They hold off the symbiotes as Spidey gets to the seed and successfully destroys it, forcing the larger symbiote ship to reverse course. But while this is a shorter season, it isn't that short. A Venomized Doctor Strange reappears (now going by the title of Symbiote Supreme) and uses the Time Stone to rebuild the symbiote seed and bring the ship back on course. As the rest of the Spider-Team soon become infected as well, Peter finds himself truly alone. He's able to escape though when he falls into the river after taking the blast of one of Harry's pumpkin bombs, hiding and clinging on to a passing ship. Soon enough, Peter watches the symbiote ship appear above New York as it explodes and rains down symbiotes all over the city, taking over any citizens caught in the downpour.

As the second half begins, Peter's first priority is to head home and check on Aunt May. While he is unable to find her, Peter is soon confronted by the Symbiote Supreme and some other symbiote soldiers. When Peter says he won't let a symbiote bond with him again, Symbiote Supreme reveals that they have no intention of bringing him into the fold as they want to destroy him for what he did to Venom. And that's why "Vengeance of Venom" is a perfect name for this story; it not only shows a level of comradery among the symbiote race but also puts a lot of responsibility of these events on Peter's head, making what would have been a routine invasion for the symbiote race a more personal matter.
As Spidey fights off the symbiotes, he is soon saved by a man with energy based weapons that are able to hold back the symbiotes, escaping down to his lair within the sewers. The man's name is Marc Spector, and he was once the vigilante Moon Knight, who had not been seen in months. To keep with the character's reputation of being mentally unhinged, the version on this series is very standoff-ish and given a bit of a doomsday prepper makeover; it works pretty well if you ask me. It also turns out that he only saved Spidey so can use the Avengers Encryption codes to raid a Stark warehouse for supplies. I'm guessing he just assumed Spider-Man would have those since he is a well known hero, even though he's not technically an Avenger; both Marc and Spidey are lucky they had access to that at the moment or this may gone way differently.
Down in the lair, Spidey gets a call from Max, who says he may have a solution before being cut off by unknown means. Spidey convinces Spector to escort him to Max's residence through the sewer system in exchange for the codes he wants. When they get to Max's residence, they find Max has been able to capture the Venomized Groot (and he's still kind of adorable). While analyzing Groot, Max discovered that Groot's anti-bodies have a stronger resistance to the symbiote and that if they were to amplify them, it could create an Anti-Venom they could use to fight back. They need to get to the space administration for materials to do so, but Marc refuses to escort them, claiming he did his part. Spidey tries to convince Marc to help since he was once a hero. Marc then laments that after he lost someone close to him, there was no point in being a hero. Spidey rightfully calls Marc out on that, saying that he uses the loss and memory of his Uncle Ben as motivation and that "with great power comes great responsibility." With no time to waste arguing, Spidey gives Marc the codes he wants and leaves with Max and the captive Groot before guilt-tripping Marc one more time that they could use Moon Knight's help.
Later, Marc is trying to get into a Stark warehouse when he is swarmed by symbiotes. He is saved though by a small group of people fighting off the symbiotes, lead by Aunt May with the sonic weapon Peter left her. May tells him she's looking for her nephew, but brushes off Marc's cynical thought that the symbiotes probably already got him, choosing to remain hopeful. She also talks about the weapon she has has the power to help and that "with great power comes great responsibility". Marc is surprised by the line (putting two and two together when it comes to Spider-Man) as May explains it's what her husband Ben used to say and how she chose to remain strong after his death.
Spidey and Max arrive at the space administration to find it ransacked, but still attempt to find what they need to help Groot. They're soon attacked by the Venomized heroes, but back-up arrives in the form of Marc, now suited back up as Moon Knight after May's pep talk, along with May and her resistance. Max recognizes May's sonic weapon as the object they need for Groot. Max uses the sonic device on Groot and not only are Groot's anti-bodies increased to where the symbiote possessing him becomes an Anti-Venom, but Groot is also able to release a large amount of spores that cover the city, expelling and eradicating the symbiotes from the heroes and civilians.
In the aftermath, Strange takes the Anti-Venom Groot to the Guardians to clear them up (also planning to get the Anti-Venom symbiote off the little tree after thatl) as Spidey is given his props by the heroes while Moon Knight thanks him and his family for the inspiration he needed to be a hero again. Max walks off without saying a word though, as he's been feeling dejected and partially responsible with everything regarding the symbiotes. Back at Horizon though, we see someone retrieving the symbiote seed (I'm going to guess Connors given what we know so far) as we end the first half of the season on a cliffhanger.

The first half of "Maximum Venom" is pretty decent. While I was a little wary since the symbiote invasion has been done to death, I thought it was handled pretty well in this series. Aside from that, I also enjoy the team-ups featured and thought Peter played well off of both Riri (relating to each other for being teen heroes and geniuses) and Marc (both how they process loss differently and how Peter's hopeful nature compares to Marc's cynicism). There are some silly moments like the symbiotes incorporating motorcycles into their being, but it's not that bad. I'm also a little iffy on May seemingly not figuring out Peter is Spider-Man. It might be too early in the season to tell if she's just being coy about it, but having knowledge and means of defense in regards to an alien invasion should probably be clues.
There's quite a bit I didn't mention here and even though I have a feeling some things will pay off more during the second half, I'll bring up any details that turned out important next time. There is quite a bit to look forward to in the second half though. Who is Connors working for? Will we see more of MJ? And are we really done with symbiotes in a season named after Venom? We'll just have to wait and see (though that last question is probably a "no").