Aldrius writes...

Just to clear one thing up before writing my little ramble on Criminology.

You said in response to my ramble on Engineering 101:

"We were absolutely NOT going for the idea that his arms were the Master Planner. What we were going for was the idea that Otto was a big, fat faker in "Reinforcement". And I would think that his conversation with Electro in "Shear Strength" made that pretty clear."

Just to be clear, I was speaking about when the arms show up during Reinforcement. *Prior* to watching Shear Strength, I didn't believe that the arms themselves were responsible for what was going on, which is what other people I spoke to seemed to believe, I wasn't even sure what the show was trying to imply with that scene. It was just to confuse us, wasn't it? All I was saying was that, that didn't particularly confuse me. I mostly just thought it was a big red herring.

Anyway, hope that didn't sound harsh, not my intention. Trying to spread clarity not disparity!

Now, on to what is arguably my favourite arc of this season.

**Spider-man spoilers**

Criminology!

Love Captain George Stacy. Everything he says is cool, everything he does is cool. My only real complaint (and this is barely a complaint, it's certainly not legitimate) is that we're not seeing enough of Norman Osborn to see the contrast between Peter's two father figures, but I guess there just wasn't room.

Speaking of people not appearing, I personally thought Tombstone took a little too long to show up, and his limited role in his grand return, as well as his sudden disappearance an episode later were both a bit disappointing. I know that there's just so much stuff to cram into 13 episodes, but as someone who's only mildly interested in Peter's love life, and who's very interested in the shenanigans of the mob bosses, I didn't particularly appreciate this.

Anyway, now that I've got my very minor complaints out of the way! Time for the praise. I really did enjoy Tombstone's lines and demeanor as usual. And Jeff Bennett's Shocker is as always a real treat. (Josh Keaton's reaction and mockery of "Squash the Bug" had me howling with laughter.)

Also really liked Silvermane. Loved his voice, made me think of an old tough, street thug. Also really liked Silver Sable. Nothing in particular, but the design, voice and personality really added up to a pretty cool character. Also loved the history involved in the gangs. I wonder what Tombstone's story is. Probably something to explore in season 3.

All the fights were good, and I loved the opera music and the Black Cat cameo. Though when I originally watched this I wondered if that was all we were going to get of her this season. I figured we'd see her again, though.

George Stacy and Foswell made nice narrators for this arc. And I liked that we got to see a bit more into Foswell's history here too. Just as it's nice to see Stacy behaving like a real detective, it's nice to see Foswell as a real investigative reporter. And I love Stacy's 'something wrong, Son?' to Peter. Also the muscial theme that plays whenever Stacy implies he knows Spider-man's secret is unintentionally hilarious, but I love it anyway.

Oh, and though it's unlikely, I'd love to see an OST of the series. The Green Goblin's theme, the theme that played through out Accomplices and George Stacy's theme are all awesome.

Overall, by far my favourite arc so far (that I've reviewed) of this season, and nothing but good episodes therein.

Couple of questions this time.

1) Would you say that Venom is something of a bastard? I initially thought of him as more of a trickster (especially when he was posing as Spider-man) but then it struck me that maybe he was more of a failed trickster (i.e. attempting a tactic that somebody else has already tried, and doing a not very good job at it.) so I've come to the conclusion that he's actually just a bastard.

2) Why the fusion between Silvermane's daughter and Silver Sable? As I said I enjoyed the character, so this isn't a complaint. (Though I was a fan of the Silver Sable in the Ultimate Spider-man video game as well)And I'm not actually familiar with the 616 version of the character, so was this a large change for Sable? Was it a large change for for Silvermane's daughter? Was it a case of needing an identity for Silvermane's child, or was it a way to make Silver Sable more relevant to the events of the arc? (Or more likely, was it both?)

3)Was there a specific reason for Tombstone's absence during most of the season? Or was he just occupying his usual role of manipulating things from the shadows?

I had more questions, but I can't remember them right now, so look forward to those in future rambles!

Thanks a lot for taking the time to respond, Greg.