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Recap / The Spectacular Spider-Man S1 E9 "The Uncertainty Principle"

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We all wear masks, Spider-Man. But which one is real? The one that hides your face, or the one that is your face?
The Green Goblin

As Halloween approaches, Spider-Man continues searching for the Green Goblin. In space, John Jameson's shuttle is struck by a meteor, disabling its navigation system and destroying the heat shields. At the Daily Bugle, Jameson and the staff tensely watch the news report while awaiting news from Foswell, who had been sent to California. Hammerhead is attacked by the Green Goblin, who defeats his chauffeur and captures him, taking him to a smelter. The Goblin offers him a chance to get rid of the Big Man and join him, but Hammerhead refuses, citing that Lincoln is the only man he is afraid of and that beneath the philanthropist persona Tombstone is a psychopath who wouldn't think twice about disposing of him.

At Midtown High, Peter and his biology classmates watch the news as the announcer states that John Jameson has repaired the shuttle as best he could and intends to pilot it manually. Gwen spots Harry slinking through the halls and confronts him at his locker, discovering the Globulin Green. She confronts him but he rebukes her, crediting his recent successes and rise to stardom to the drug, and Peter walks in just as he leaves. At Lincoln's tower, Tombstone calls Hammerhead only to find the Green Goblin seated in his chair and in possession of Hammerhead's cellphone. The Goblin reveals that Hammerhead had a jump drive containing incriminating evidence that would reveal Tombstone's identity as Lincoln, and arranges a rendezvous. Confronted by Spider-Man immediately afterwards, the Goblin relays the exact same message. Spider-Man heads to Oscorp to confront Harry and spots the Green Goblin. Suspicious, he enters the Osborns' penthouse, where he observes Norman's collection of grotesque masks and watches him exit a secret room, coming to the conclusion that Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin are one and the same. Harry arrives and Spider-Man retreats, not wanting to reveal his suspicions while Norman is in the vicinity. He calls Harry from a nearby cafe, but Harry rebukes him and says he needs to "get in costume" and will see Peter in an hour.

At the Halloween festival, a young woman in a form-fitting black costume carrying a bag of money slinks through the crowd, while Liz - dressed as a pirate, Sally - dressed as a genie, and Glory - dressed as a cat, distribute candy. Gwen walks past, looking for Peter, and runs into Mary Jane, who is dressed as a vampiress and is also looking for Peter. They are distracted by the football team, who are dressed as cheerleaders and performing a cheer. Flash flirts with Mary Jane, while Randy checks in on the news about John, much to Sally's displeasure. At the Daily Bugle, Jameson speaks to Foswell over the phone, and Foswell expresses doubt that Jameson can make the landing but tells Jameson he'll give the results to him straight. As John brings the shuttle into the atmosphere, Peter arrives at the Bugle and after a few tense seconds the shuttle successfully touches down. Jameson expresses relief, and then immediately reverts to his usual gruff exterior, snapping at his employees to get back to work, throwing out Peter's pictures of Spider-Man fighting the Green Goblin and declaring that the headlines will cover John's heroics.

Norman Osborn enters Oscorp's lab, surprising the secretary, who didn't expect him to enter through the front door. While sitting in his office, Osborn is surprised by explosions and rushes into the hall to find the Green Goblin stealing more equipment, including a prototype gun, before exiting through a skylight. As Spider-Man is web-swinging, he receives a phone call from Gwen and drops from the wall, unwittingly landing beside her. He passes off his costume by claiming he dressed as Spider-Man for Halloween, and receives compliments from the girls. Harry doesn't show, but Peter notices exploding pumpkin bombs amidst the fireworks and follows them to the Goblin's factory. He meets Tombstone, and they agree to work together to take the Goblin out despite it being a trap. Goblin suspends Hammerhead over a vat of molten metal, and when Tombstone coldly accuses him of betrayal Hammerhead tells him there never was a jump drive. The Green Goblin attempts to drench them in molten metal, flooding the factory, and Spider-Man knocks Tombstone out of the path of a vat. Tombstone returns the favour by hitting the Goblin with a length of pipe as he tries to impale Spider-Man, telling him he'll call things even if Spider-Man defeats the Goblin. Tombstone saves Hammerhead, and the Goblin detonates hundreds of pumpkin bombs in an attempt to kill Spider-Man. At the festival, Flash flirts with Mary Jane, who rebukes his advances, and Gwen frustratedly laments about both Harry and Peter being absent. The Green Goblin and Spider-Man continue their brawl as the factory falls apart, and Spider-Man confronts the Goblin over his identity, accusing him of being Norman Osborn. The Goblin reveals he installed the stolen gun, which fires a green adhesive, into the Goblin Glider, and snares Spider-Man, dragging him across the factory roof, but Spider-Man breaks free and reflects a pumpkin bomb back at him. The bomb knocks the Goblin off his glider and he lands hard, getting up with a broken leg. Spider-Man finds he is out of webbing, but follows the Goblin back to Oscorp.

He finds the Goblin seated on the couch struggling to remove his mask, revealing none other than Harry Osborn beneath it. Harry expresses confusion and tries to stand, but collapses clutching his leg in pain just as Norman, who is not limping, enters the room. Norman spots an empty vial of Globulin Green and tells Spider-Man it was an experimental performance enhancer that was highly unstable and addictive. When Norman furiously confronts him, Harry lashes out, throwing him across the room and confessing to stealing the Green for the sake of his father, who had never appreciated him, before swooning and claiming to have blacked out, breaking down and sobbing. When Spider-Man asks why Harry would attack the Big Man, Norman confesses that he had had dealings with the Big Man in the past and tried to back out, and that Hammerhead had been sent to threaten him, speculating that Harry developed a split personality to deal with the Big Man. In order to protect Harry, Norman offers to confess to being the Goblin, saying that since he invented Globulin Green he would be the obvious suspect. Spider-Man refuses to turn Norman in, and Norman pleads with Spider-Man to not turn in Harry, in return for the Goblin disappearing. At the Bugle, Jameson is furious to find the Globe's Spider-Man scoop outsold the Bugle's coverage of the space shuttle and tells Robbie to give Parker an exclusive deal. At school, Mary Jane reveals she is now a student at Midtown High and Gwen tells Peter that Harry is taking a leave of absence in Europe to get the help he needs. At the airport, Foswell and John notices a black smear on the hull of the space shuttle, and as John leans in to examine it, tendrils reach towards him.

This episode provides examples of:

  • Annoying Arrows: Tombstone takes several Razor Bats in the back and all he does is growl. Granted, it’s implied he’s not fully human.
  • The Cameo: The werewolf mask in the costume store in the very first shot shares its design with Man-Wolf.
  • Continuity Nod: Because Flash lost the bet he and Peter made in "The Invisible Hand", he is dressed as a cheerleader for Halloween.
  • Convection, Schmonvection: The Goblin's factory is full of molten metal, which fails to ignite those in close proximity to it.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Discussed in-universe. King jokingly asks if he and Glory would break up over a cookie.
  • Double Entendre: Upon seeing Peter in his Spider-Man "Halloween costume", Liz says that he can "web her up anytime."
  • Early-Bird Cameo:
    • Black Cat appears before her formal introduction in the next episode.
    • Season 2 would reveal that the "Norman" seen during Goblin's raid on Oscorp was actually a disguised Chameleon.
  • Eating the Eye Candy: Mary Jane and Liz are both quite taken with Peter’s Spider-Man costume.
  • The End... Or Is It?: When the black ooze on John's shuttle suddenly moves.
  • Enemy Mine: Spider-Man and Tombstone team up to stop the Green Goblin.
  • Fake Boobs: The football team's cheerleader costumes, complete with bouncing.
  • For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: Peter passes off being caught in his Spider-Man costume as this.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • While in Tombstone's office, the Green Goblin picks up a picture of Norman and Lincoln together.
    • Later, the Goblin laughs when he comes face-to-face with Norman. You're made to think this is because Harry is the Goblin, but Season 2 would reveal it was Norman all along, and he was thrilled that a disguised Chameleon unknowingly gave him an alibi.
    • Norman is seen downloading files onto his laptop before the Green Goblin's attack. This is because it's really Chameleon disguised as Norman, who is infiltrating Oscorp to steal its company secrets for a competitor.
    • The guard at Oscorp is somewhat disturbed that Norman is coming in through the main doors. Because Chameleon doesn't know where Norman usually enters.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Gwen is visibly jealous when MJ and Liz compliment Peter on his Spider-Man costume.
  • Halloween Episode: You know it. Peter takes advantage of the party to be an unmasked Spider-Man in plain sight.
    • It also works as a Green Goblin episode, seeing as how the Goblin's overall motif (the pumpkin bombs, batwing arrows, calling himself "the Goblin") screams Halloween.
  • Irony: Spider-Man vowed to never "look the other way" when there are any wrongdoings involved. For the sake of his best friend, he does exactly that so Harry can get the help he needs.
  • It Will Never Catch On: Jonah rebuffs Peter's pictures of Spider-Man—focusing on the space shuttle coverage and mockingly telling the kid to try selling the pics to the Daily Globe. Robbie later reports, though, that the Globe slaughtered the Bugle in sales in part because of Peter's pictures. Jameson has no one to blame but himself.
  • Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Played for Drama. After both seeing Harry in the Green Goblin costume and possessing a vial with some of the Gobulin Green formula, Norman offers to turn himself in and take the blame since he made the chemicals. He then asks Spider-Man of another option: to forget all this so he can take care of his son without the police getting involved. Not wanting his best friend to suffer behind bars, Spidey begrudgingly accepts to leave the incident alone as long as the Goblin is gone forever.
  • Luminescent Blush: Peter gets one when Mary Jane and Liz complement his costume and flirt with him.
  • Meaningful Name: Hammerhead says this of Tombstone's moniker—saying that's all that's left if anyone dares to cross him.
  • Mythology Gag: Jameson briefly mentions that the Daily Globe will print anything, a Shout-Out to Eddie Brock's backstory in the mainstream comics. "Spider-Man: Threat or Menace?" was introduced in the 1980s comics.
  • No OSHA Compliance: The factory the Goblin rigs is ridiculously dangerous.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When it looks like Colonel Jameson might not make it back from his mission, JJ Jameson is unusually quiet, doing little more than watch the news, pace his office, and look at pictures of him and his son. The second he learns that John is safe, he takes a moment to sigh in relief about his son making it home, then starts yelling at everyone to start working on the headline for the next day's paper, which will be all about Colonel Jameson.
  • Pet the Dog: Tombstone saves Spider-Man from being impaled by the Green Goblin.
  • Put on a Bus: Harry disappears until halfway through Season 2.
  • Sanity Slippage: Harry gets hit hard with this.
  • Schmuck Bait: Tombstone, Spider-Man, and even the Green Goblin lampshade how obvious the latter's trap is, but as he notes: "What choice do you have?"
  • Secret-Identity Identity: Hammerhead proclaims that L. Thomson Lincoln is the mask the Big Man wears in public, but that his true face is Tombstone. The Green Goblin also provides one of the page quotes to Spider-Man.
  • Slasher Smile: Harry sports one while berating his father.
  • The Starscream: Green Goblin suggests Hammerhead switch from Tombstone's crew to his.
  • Superpowered Evil Side: Harry according to Norman develops one due to the Globulin Green.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Harry gives Norman a (very-much deserved) one while under the effects of Globulin Green.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Harry ends up getting worse the more he takes Gobulin Green, to the point of lashing out at Gwen and Peter.
  • Two-Faced: When Harry peers through a vial of Globulin Green half his face appears as the Green Goblin's.
  • Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: Harry while under the influence of the Globulin Green.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Tombstone threatens to pull this on Hammerhead when believing Hammerhead to have betrayed him.

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