Why The Spectacular Spider-Man Holiday Episodes Work

One of the unique elements that sets The Spectacular Spider-Man aside from other Spidey shows was that it established a clear timeframe. A lot of cartoons have episodes that can happen anytime of the year unless a specific holiday is being mentioned. With Spectacular Spider-Man, the two seasons of the series take place from Fall to early Spring of Peter Parker's junior year in high school; the intent was to reach five seasons culminating in Peter's graduation had the show not been cancelled. I believe this aspect can be attributed to series developer Greg Weisman as the use of a clear timeframe would later be seen in Young Justice, another series he worked on.
As such, The Spectacular Spider-Man incorporated some holidays into certain episodes, five in total. During a recent rewatch, I started to think a little deeper and that the themes of the holidays presented worked as part of the story and not just a simple backdrop. So let's analyze what makes these holiday episodes of the Spectacular Spider-Man work so well.

HALLOWEEN: THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE

Halloween is a time of fear, costumes, and trickery. Which Spider-Man villain do these attributes fit better with than the Green Goblin (who has screaming pumpkin bombs in this series to boot). His depiction here is fun and scary with Steven Blum's voice performance as the character comparable to Mark Hamill as the Joker. The Goblin was the main villain of the show's third arc, culminating in episode nine, "The Uncertainty Principle." 

On Halloween, the Goblin plays his own kind Trick or Treat by luring both Spider-Man and Tombstone to a steel refinery enticing them with the promise of hard evidence of the latter's criminal activities that would put him away. The two go in prepared for a trap, which it is as the Goblin shamelessly admits everyone involved knew it would be. The battle that ensues involves lots of red lighting and molten steel pouring out everywhere, which invokes some hell-like imagery and gave me some vibes of Freddy Krueger's boiler room; the green smoke coming from the screaming pumpkin bombs throws in a good contrast and even more chaos to the situation.

The episode reveals the Goblin's identity as Harry Osborn, apparently donning the costume during blackouts resulting from his use of an OsCorp experimental performance enhancer Harry had stolen to do better in school and play football. The keyword in that sentence was "apparently." The series finale of the show "Final Curtain" would reveal even more disguises and deceit were at play in this episode. In actuality, Norman Osborn was the true Goblin and used a blacked-out Harry to his advantage to throw Spider-Man off the trail of his identity, dressing his son in the costume for the hero to discover; it's scary how Norman "father of the year" Osborn could do that to his own son without qualm. Additionally, there was a scene in "Uncertainty Principle" where Norman and the Goblin were seen together, but it would also be revealed in "Final Curtain" that the Norman seen there was the Chameleon in disguise committing corporate espionage.

There's also a subplot involving J. Jonah Jameson's astronaut son, John, who is attempting a risky reentry into Earth's atmosphere after his crew's shuttle had been damaged by an asteroid. There's a chance they won't survive, creating a sense of dread and fear of loss for those close to him. The shuttle makes it through and lands successfully, but the episode's end reveals that the asteroid left behind a guest on the shuttle's hull in the form of a certain alien made of black goo, closing out as a horror movie would with one final scare.

THANKSGIVING: NATURE VS. NURTURE

The fourth arc of the series dealt with the symbiote and alien costume. In the penultimate episode "Intervention", Peter realized the symbiote's sinister intentions but becomes trapped in his mind. The symbiote forces Peter to relive the memory of his worst failure in Uncle Ben's death, bringing Peter to his lowest point in its bid to bond permanently and take the life he deserves. But this awakens Ben's memory, helping Peter realize that he decided against his darker thoughts before when he caught Ben's killer, as well as all the good he's done as Spider-Man and all the people who care about Peter himself. This gives Peter enough positive affirmation to take back control and remove the symbiote. As the story goes though, the symbiote later bonds with Eddie Brock, creating Venom. In this series, Peter and Eddie have been friends since childhood, borrowing from the Ultimate comics where their parents worked together and died in the same plane crash. As the series plays out, Peter makes some questionable choices due to his life as Spider-Man that slowly dissolves their friendship, eventually leading to Eddie hating someone he considered a brother. This might be the best origin story for Venom because it makes Eddie's hate for Peter and Spider-Man feel more legitimate. Whereas other versions show Eddie blaming Spider-Man for his own mistakes, Peter's choices in this series have had a direct impact on Eddie despite his good intentions.

This brings us to the finale of the arc and season one with "Nature vs. Nurture." On Thanksgiving, Venom makes his presence known, attacking Peter and revealing his plan to make him suffer by going after those he cares about. After initially planning to go after Aunt May, who is in the hospital following a heart attack two episodes prior, Venom snatches up Gwen Stacy and places her in a precarious position by dangling her to a balloon during the Thanksgiving day parade on a web line that's slowing unraveling. Spidey is able to save her with an assist from their Midtown High friends before turning his attention back to Venom. Realizing he's outmatched, Peter offers himself back to the symbiote, saying he's nothing without it. The symbiote takes the bait, leaving Eddie and attempting to bond again with Peter. However, as the symbiote feeds off negative emotions, Peter's positive thoughts of his friends and family are enough to repel it from taking hold, essentially starving it. As it attempts to return to Eddie, Peter is able to snatch up the weakened symbiote and dump it in a cement mixture at a construction site, trapping it in concrete. Peter's support system being the catalyst for Venom's defeat works very well for Thanksgiving, as it's clear how much Peter cares for those in his life and that they give him as much strength as his spider-powers (though why Sally Avril is included is a mystery to me). Compare that to Eddie where the episode makes it evident that he had a harder life compared to Peter after their parents died and he doesn't have as strong a support system in his life, or he at least doesn't hold them in as high regard. It certainly made him easy prey for the symbiote to bond with and makes me wonder more about his upbringing. Come to think of it, I think it might have heightened some sociopathic tendencies Eddie has considering he knows many of the same people Peter does but is still willing to harm them.

Along with the main conflict, Thanksgiving worked in two other ways in the episode's plot. The first is Peter contemplating giving up being Spider-Man to be there more for his loved ones, feeling guilty about not being there sooner for May after her heart attack due to Spidey stuff. He'd even go so far as to remove his powers by taking a vial of gene cleanser that had cured Curt Connors of being the Lizard in episode three. The end of the episode shows Peter pouring the vial down the sink drain, being grateful for both parts of his life. The other involves Gwen. After Thanksgiving dinner with the Parkers, her dad, and Dr. Bromwell (who brought May home), Gwen kisses Peter before leaving. My thought is after her brush with death, I'm sure she was feeling grateful for many things, though it may have been what helped facilitate her to reveal her true feelings for Peter because she almost didn't have the chance.

CHRISTMAS: REINFORCEMENT

The Master Planner arc started off both the show's second season as well as what would have be its first winter season. This would mean a snowy backdrop for awhile, which was nicely animated and lead to some of the best fight scenes of the series. The first half of the arc were introductory episodes for Mysterio and Kraven while the second gave us a twofer of holiday episodes with Christmas and New Year's.

While "Reinforcement" more prominently takes part seemingly on Christmas Eve, it is still the season with plenty of Christmas decor and music to match the spirit. Two big parts of Christmas are gathering with loved ones and surprising them with something special. For Peter, these elements are seen with him skating with friends at Rockefeller Center and the ending showing him give Aunt May a framed family picture as a present, a touching moment given it's their first Christmas without Ben.

But since "Reinforcement" is more of an action heavy episode, these elements are more prominent with the show's second incarnation of the Sinister Six. This time, the Six change tactics by attacking Spider-Man in waves. Electro and Vulture are at bat first causing a ruckus at Rockefeller Center, but Spidey doesn't initially give them his full attention expecting four more villains to pop out. After incapacitating the two, Spidey gets surprised by the appearance of Rhino and Sandman. Once Spidey dispatches them (with Rhino's defeat being one of the funniest moments of the whole series), he's all ready to take on Shocker and Doctor Octopus. This leads to his last surprise with the final villains to defeat are actually Mysterio and Kraven, finishing the two and the six as a whole at a shopping mall.

NEW YEAR'S: SHEAR STRENGTH

"Shear Strength" reveals the Master Planner to be Doctor Octopus (which isn't a big surprise for the already initiated) and his goals for global domination. And the timing seems well placed as he enacts his master plan on New Year's Eve. At this point in his machinations, Ock is able to control all the technology in New York as he can his mechanical arms but needs codes from Homeland Security to take his reach worldwide. To this end, he blackmails police Captain George Stacy by kidnapping his daughter Gwen, wanting him to enter HomeSec's New York headquarters and transmit the codes Ock needs. While the timing is applied to be coincidental, Ock taking over the world at the start of the year would have been very fitting; it would have been the Year of the Octopus and beginning of a new world order. Of course, Gwen's kidnapping catches the attention of Spider-Man, who thankfully thwarts Ock's plans by destroying the equipment he's been using to control the technology in the city.

With a new year comes resolutions, and we see how this aspect of the holiday works with Peter in this episode. Another part of this arc has featured Peter reeling from Gwen's kiss at the end of the previous season, trying to talk about it with her and sort out his own feelings. But his attempts to do so are frequently preempted by, among other things, cheerleader Liz Allan and her seduction tactics, taking Peter's attention away from Gwen. When Gwen is kidnapped in "Shear Strength", we see a certain drive in Peter to save her, first by doing a Batman-style interrogation on the Tinkerer that leads him to Ock's underwater base. After thwarting Ock's plan, the villain proves himself a sore loser and sets the base to self-destruct, with some rubble pinning Spidey down and water beginning to submerge him. At first, Spidey's accepting of his fate knowing that he stopped Ock. Realizing Gwen is still depending on him though, Spidey tests the limit of his strength (and his costume's stitching) by lifting the rubble off himself in an homage the original Master Planner story from the 60's comics and is able to get her to safety.

So after everything he went through to save her, Peter seems to have head on straight and feelings for Gwen clear, trying to contact her at home before midnight hits. But this is when Liz shows up at Peter's doorstep, proclaims her feelings for him, and kisses him when the clock strikes twelve, which begins the two's relationship. And that's a New Year's Resolution in a nutshell: making a promise to yourself and breaking it not so long after. Despite not even making it to the new year, Peter had this resolve for Gwen, only to fall into old habits when Liz throws him for a loop. And as much as we love Peter, let's remember he is a sixteen-year-old nerd who's never been in a relationship before; didn't we all at that age want to be with one of the attractive popular kids? It's like Mary Jane says in an earlier episode: "Pete's a smart guy, but he's still a guy."

VALENTINE'S DAY: GANGLAND

Our final holiday episode of the series sees the gang war story arc wrapped up on Valentine's Day with "Gangland" (and I'm just now realizing holiday episodes and arc finales tend to coincide with one another). In what can be called a Neo-St. Valentine's Massacre, we see Spider-Man battle Silvermane, Tombstone, and Doctor Octopus in a four-way battle after a summit between the three leaders goes awry. It's a knockdown drag-out brawl set to opera music that makes for one of the series' best fights and features the long-awaited rematch between Spidey and Tombstone that's been built up since episode six.
But of course, Valetine's Day is meant for love. While the episode continues the love rectangle between Peter, Liz, Gwen and Harry (the latter two having started dating soon after the New Year's episode), there's plenty of other relationships and types of love present. In addition to the established Midtown High couples of Sally/Rand and Glory/Kenny, we have the blossoming romance of Flash and Sha-Shan and the casual relationship between Mary Jane and Liz's brother Mark. Outside the high school demographic, we have a seasoned relationship with J. Jonah Jameson out with his wife Joan (whose voice and seemingly likeness is provided by Jane Lynch), the fractured history between Hammerhead and Silver Sable on display, and a "is there something more going on here?" moment between Aunt May and Dr. Bromwell during a house call check-up. But I think the sweetest example of love in this episode involves the engagement between a man and woman who met after both being saved by Spidey way back in episode eight. They may have only been together for four months at this point, but good for them; it's another positive impact Spider-Man has unknowingly had with his actions.

As evident, holiday settings were just one of the many aspects that showcase how much care went into the production of The Spectacular Spider-Man and why it still remains the web-slinger's best animated show.