History Recap / TheSpectacularSpiderManS2E05FirstSteps

* OffWithHisHead: Sandman turns into a guillotine to decapitate Spider-Man

* HeelFaceTurn: Sandman, of all people, pulls one.

* ParentalObliviousness: Mrs. Thompson sends an invitation to Peter for Flash's birthday party because she thinks that they're still best friends, not knowing that they [[WeUsedToBeFriends no longer are]].

--> '''Sandman:''' Gee... d'you really think I could be a hero like you?
--> '''Spider-Man:''' Well... yeah. [[ComesGreatResponsibility With great power comes great-]]
--> '''Sandman:''' -[[SubvertedTrope gullibility]]!

* MythologyGag: With Harry's return and sightings of Brock on his mind, Peter ponders all three villains of [[Film/SpiderMan3 Spider-Man 3]] on the way to the museum heist. [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Giant Sandman]] later shows up at the end.
-->'''Spider-Man:''' Man, I'm losing it. Goblin. Venom. Who's next? Sandman.\\

'''Peter:''' Who do you think gave ''Eugene'' his nickname? And hey, [[EmbarassingNickname it wasn’t]] [[NakedPeopleAreFunny because he ran fast]].

* RealityEnsues: Sandman expected a good deal of cash for the job he pulled off. Hammerhead reminds him of how it really works on these kind of jobs, especially when multiple entities (the Big Man and the Master Planner) get sizable cuts.

* MythologyGag: [[Film/SpiderMan3 A giant Sandman.]] Well, at least this one can talk coherently.

--> "Gee... d'you really think I could be a hero like you?"
---> '''Sandman/Flint Marko'''

--> "Well... yeah. [[ComesGreatResponsibility With great power comes great]]-"
---> '''Spider-Man/Peter Parker'''

--> "-[[SubvertedTrope gullibility]]!"
---> '''Sandman/Flint Marko'''

* ParentalObliviousness: Mrs. Thompson sent an invitation to Peter for Flash's birthday party because she thought that they're still best friends, not knowing that they [[WeUsedToBeFriends no longer are]].

* ImplausibleDeniability: Marko's attempt to claim that he wasn't being nice to the little girl on the beach, merely messing with the teens who happened to be bullying her, doesn't really hold up with how nice he was to her ''after'' he had already chased off the teens.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Sandman insists he only helped the little girl to mess with the teens that were bullying her.

While web-swinging that evening, Spider-Man spots Eddie again, but before Peter can confront him the alarm at a museum goes off. Spider-Man investigates to find Sandman, who berates him for always meddling in his attempts to get rich. Spider-Man criticizes him for wasting his powers and potential on the same petty crimes Flint Marko committed, and Sandman appears to undergo a HeelFaceTurn, but [[IgnoredEpiphany blindsides him]] in the middle of his [[ComesGreatResponsibility "With great power" speech]] and leaves. The next morning Harry, Gwen, and Liz pick Peter up and head to Flash's house. Flash's mother, who was the one who gave Peter the invite, reveals that he and Peter were once ChildhoodFriends, much to Flash's horror and the shock of Flash's clique.

At Rockaway Beach, Sandman meets with Hammerhead, who calls him out on his PetTheDog behaviour to a little girl and gives him his payment for the stolen museum exhibit. When Sandman complains about the paltry amount left over after Tombstone and Doctor Octopus took their cuts, Hammerhead tells him to find a way to stop a nearby oil tanker so that the Big Man can rob it. Sandman assimilates the beach and immobilizes the ship. At Flash's party, Peter spots Eddie Brock again, but news of Sandman's attack on the tanker forces him to postpone investigation. At the beach, Hammerhead watches Sandman and Spider-Man fight while his divers begin to drain the tanker of oil. Sandman releases his hold on the tanker to pursue Spider-Man, causing the drainage pumps to detach and spilling oil into the ocean, and assimilates the seafloor to grow even larger. Their fight tears the ship apart and ignites the oil floating on the water and Spider-Man catches a glimpse of Venom watching from the shore, enabling Sandman to finally grab him. As the tanker begins to go the way of the Titanic, Sandman notices crew trapped inside and rescues them, to Spider-Man's surprise. Sandman protests that he was [[OnlyInItForTheMoney only in it for the money]] and never meant for innocents to get hurt, grabbing Spider-Man and throwing him to safety as well. As the tanker self-destructs, Sandman wraps himself around it and the explosion turns him to glass. Spider-Man sadly watches Sandman's glazed body crumble, lamenting his former foe's HeroicSacrifice, but as he web-swings away Sandman materializes on the beach, smiling faintly before dispersing into the wind.

* JumpCut: The episode is interspersed with footage from Flash's birthday party.
* ISurrenderSuckers: Sandman seems to be having a HeelRealization, but sucker-punches Spider-Man once he lets his guard down.

* SpiderSense: Sandman asks if this is how Spider-Man's always wherever he's pulling a job.
* TookALevelInBadass: Sandman's control over his powers have increased significantly, but he's still a ButtMonkey.

* JerkassFacade: Sandman insists he only helped the little girl to mess with the teens that were bullying her.

* PetTheDog: Sandman uses his powers to build a massive sand castle for a little girl after some bullies smash her small one, and is called out on it by Hammerhead.

* CallBack: The new drama instructor, St. John Devereaux, is the actor from ''[[Recap/TheSpectacularSpiderManS1E11GroupTherapy Group Therapy]]''.

--> "Gee... d'you really think I could become a great hero like you?"

* HoldingHands: Liz and Peter do this while walking to class, much to Sally's fury.
* LaughOfLove: After Peter and Liz get together in the previous episode, Liz laughs as she happily grabs Peter by the arm and walks with him to class, with her head on his shoulder.