Summary
Things get bleak for Peter in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Episodes 6, 7, and 8, setting the stage for a blockbuster ending (and potentially a second season.)
The classic line that has always summed up Peter Parker’s life is reworked in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, but Episodes 6, 7, and 8 nonetheless embrace its sentiment. “Duel with the Devil”, “Scorpion Rising”, and “Tangled Web” all continue to develop the subplots and conflicts introduced in Episodes 3, 4, and 5, but things are getting a lot more serious on all fronts, and Peter is beginning to doubt his ability to save the day.
This is a classic Spider-Man arc, of course, but thanks to the changes to the usual status quo and the near-constant influx of new cameos and crossovers, it feels pretty distinct. I, for one, have no real idea what’s going to happen in the final two episodes, but I guess we’ll find out.
The Devil is in the Details
Episode 6 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man revolves pretty heavily around the sudden appearance of Daredevil, which is right on time considering Born Again is due to release and continue the character’s story from the Netflix series after an underwhelming She-Hulk cameo. Peter encounters him breaking into the Oscorp building, and it’s Matt who alerts Peter to the possibility of Norman potentially hiding something.
But there’s more going on here besides this. All the time Lonnie is spending with the 110 leads to him being booted from the football team and placed on academic suspension while a cameoing Secretary Ross gives us a better idea of the timeline – it seems like the events of Captain America: Civil War are currently ongoing, with Steve Rogers still on the run.
Norman and Ross have a cozy arrangement exchanging contracts and security tech so that Spider-Man can roam about New York unmolested, but this does seem to mesh with Daredevil’s accusations that Osborn is up to something. And at least Peter says something about it.
Eight Legged Freaks
Norman reckons Daredevil was working for Otto Octavius, which helps to fold him into the plot a little better. This version of Otto is a little dorky, but the dangers he presents are established quickly in how powerful his tech can make otherwise unimpressive villains.
This is how Scorpion gets involved in both Lonnie’s subplot and Spider-Man’s. He actually stabs Spidey half to death, forcing Osborn to extract him on a glider, but during his recovery, Peter isn’t exactly reassured by Norman, who tells him that if he can’t up his game they might have to stop working together. (The rich guy throwing his resources around feels much more like the classic interpretation of this character.)
Norman uses his connection to Ross to get Otto arrested (with help from Iron Man), but it does feel like he’s being positioned to slip into the Big Bad role himself, especially with his bastardization of that classic Spider-Man line: “With great power,” he tells Peter, “comes great respect.” How very Norman.
Daredevil in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man | Image via Disney+
Peter’s Secret Is Out
A big part of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Episodes 6, 7, and 8 is Peter’s alter-ego being revealed to Nico, inadvertently through Harry. This causes Nico and Peter to fall out since he didn’t trust her with the secret in the first place, but it also prompts Harry to try and make amends, which leads to him spending some one-on-one time with Nico himself.
A driving lesson that turns into an impromptu street race might feel a little disconnected from the wider goings-on, but it helps to create a bond between Harry and Nico and also introduces Nico’s amulet, which contains some family-oriented magical power. We’re making a little progress in this regard and it probably won’t come to the fore in this season, but it’s nice that all of the familiar supporting characters are developing in their own stories.
It’s the same with Lonnie, who becomes even more devoted to the 110 in these three episodes and ends his relationship with Pearl, freeing her up for her own subplot – and perhaps a relationship with Peter – in the future. Lonnie, crucially, doesn’t know that Peter is Spider-Man, but it seems inevitable they’re going to come into conflict soon.
With only two episodes to go, a lot of this feels like groundwork for a second season, which I wouldn’t mind. But it’s hard to argue that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man isn’t shaping up to be a really worthwhile Spider-Man story in its own right.
