Tombstone: Perhaps, but someone should point out I offered you a handsome salary to do just the sort of thing you did tonight. And instead, you've done the Big Man's business for free. That, my heroic friend, is what grown-ups call irony.
At a gala hosted by L. Thompson Lincoln, Spider-Man is defenestrated. He web-slings back through the window, confronting the Green Goblin, a man dressed in a rubbery, Halloween themed, green-and-purple goblin costume standing atop a bat-shaped jet-glider. Trading insults as they trash the gala, the Green Goblin gleefully attacks Spider-Man with jack-o-lantern-shaped grenades, bat-shaped razor bats, and energy bolts launched from his fingertips. Spider-Man flashes back to earlier in the evening to Midtown High's Fall Formal, where Flash and Liz, Harry and Glory, and Randy and Sally arrive and submit their votes for the King and Queen of the ball. Harry diffuses an argument between Randy and Sally over whether he or Flash should win by offering to treat them at an expensive restaurant, and they run into Gwen and Eddie. Harry ignores Gwen when she greets him, and she laments to Eddie that his newfound popularity is going to his head. However, the arrival of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson steals Harry's spotlight.
At the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson is dressing up while Ned Lee pesters him over getting permission to investigate Spider-Man's true identity. Jameson refuses on account that if Spider-Man is "Joe-schmoe" then the paper's popularity will drop. Jameson's mood instantly improves when his son, astronaut John Jameson, arrives, and he proudly introduces him to the staff, announcing that John is to pilot his first mission on the space shuttle the next week and that he is taking him to a party to celebrate. As Jameson heads out, Robbie Robertson tells Lee to run with the Spider-Man story and see where it goes. At the gala, Gwen sulks as Peter introduces Mary Jane to the faculty, while Harry attempts to become the centre of attention once more, but is cut off by Sally's outburst that "geeks like Parker do not get girls like her!" Peter introduces Mary Jane to "the in-crowd", and she foils Flash's attempt to humiliate Peter over their bet. While the others go off to dance, Harry offers to get Glory a drink, only to find Kenny apologizing to her. Glory accepts and hooks back up with him on the spot, and a distraught Harry runs off, taking a vial of "Globulin Green" from his locker and drinking it before disappearing into the night.
At Oscorp, Otto Octavius is patrolling the lab when he is startled by a man in a green and purple goblin costume, who makes off with the Techflight jet-glider. At an apartment, a trio of Tombstone's thugs work to crack a safe, only for the Green Goblin to burst in and threaten them into joining him. At the gala, which is being hosted by L. Thompson Lincoln, John expresses disappointment that he didn't get to spend his last day just chilling with his dad and Jameson decides to leave, but they are blocked by the three thugs, who are wearing pumpkin masks. The Green Goblin crashes the party and confronts Lincoln, attempting to blackmail him into stepping down as the Big Man. Jameson calls the Daily Bugle and demands that Peter be sent to get pictures. Peter apologizes to Mary Jane, who opts to dance with Randy when Sally attempts to poke fun at her. Spider-Man arrives at Lincoln's gala and takes on the Goblin, who proposes they join forces. Spider-Man refuses, and the Goblin promptly attacks him, leading to Spider-Man getting launched out the window.
At Midtown High, Flash Thompson is crowned the King of the ball, while to everyone's surprise Mary Jane Watson is named the Queen. The fight between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin takes them across the city until Spider-Man finally webs him to the side of a building. The Goblin reveals he left a bomb in the gala room, and Spider-Man rushes to the scene and helps Tombstone evacuate and search for the bomb. John remembers one of the Goblin's quips and realizes the bomb was hidden in the chandelier, allowing Spider-Man to launch it away with only seconds to spare. Tombstone dryly remarks that Spider-Man turned down getting paid for doing exactly what he'd just done. Jameson calls the Bugle and declares that the next morning's headlines say his son saved the gala, but John says that unnecessary publicity would cause him to be pulled from the launch so Jameson gives the credit to Spider-Man. Spider-Man returns to where he'd left the Goblin to find the webbing slashed open, while at Midtown High Sally berates Glory for dumping Harry before their ride home, while Harry secretly watches them before drinking another vial of Globulin Green and walking away. Peter arrives at the school to find the party over and almost everyone gone, but Mary Jane offers to give him the last dance of the evening.
This episode provides examples of:
- Accidental Hero: Jameson accidentally saves everyone at the gala when he calls the Bugle and requests that Peter come and photograph the Goblin's attack. By doing so, he accidentally summons Spider-Man to the scene.
- Actually Pretty Funny: When Peter has to leave Mary Jane at the dance to go fight Goblin, Sally tries to make her feel bad. MJ's not only immune to Sally's brand of bullying, but talks Sally's boyfriend into dancing with her. Glory, in the background, has a hand over her mouth and is visibly trying not to laugh.
- Arrow Catch: Tombstone calmly catches a Razor Bat thrown at him.
- Ax-Crazy: The Green Goblin.
- Bad Date: Harry's date with Glory turns into one when she gets back together with Kenny in the middle of it.
- Call-Back: Flash mentions The Bet from last episode, likely in hopes of Mary Jane feeling used and dumping Peter on the spot. Unfortunately for Flash, it doesn't work and he still has to dress as a cheerleader for Halloween.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: The Green Goblin gives off this impression.
- Continuity Nod: The Daily Bugle is still wrecked from the Rhino's rampage earlier that day.
- Deadly Euphemism: The Green Goblin is fond of these. Lincoln also uses one when addressing the three turncoat thugs.
- Deadpan Snarker: Mary Jane proves supremely talented in this respect. The Green Goblin revels in this just as much as Spider-Man.
- Destination Defenestration: Spider-Man gets knocked through the window and lampshades it at the beginning of the episode.
- Doting Parent: J. Jonah Jameson to his son John. It seems to be deserved: Colonel Jameson is a respected astronaut who's Loved by All and a genuinely Nice Guy.
- Drugs Are Bad: The Globulin Green is an obvious steroid metaphor.
- Enemy Mine: Spider-Man teams up with Tombstone to evacuate the gala. Lampshaded by Tombstone, who remarks that Spider-Man passed up an opportunity to be paid for doing exactly that.
- Everybody Do the Endless Loop: The dancing scenes at the formal.
- Evil vs. Evil: Green Goblin launches an attack on a gala hosted by rival crime lord Tombstone.
- Expressive Mask: Spider-Man's and the Green Goblin's.
- Female Gaze: PG version. When Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson enter the dance, Flash asks out loud how Peter got a date with a girl like MJ. Glory comments that "Petey cleans up nice." Liz nods and smiles, still staring at him.
- Foreshadowing:
- Harry's use of the Globulin Green and the Osborns' collection of grotesque masks.
- A Freeze-Frame Bonus shows Harry still at the prom while Spider-Man is still fighting the Green Goblin.
- Mary Jane and Glory Grant have a conversation about the high school's theater department during the dance. Not only does this foreshadow their both having roles in the school play in the next season, but Mary Jane transfers schools two episodes later saying that the theater department won her over.
- Liz is caught a few times staring at Peter Parker, hinting at how, in the coming episodes, she'll start developing a crush on him.
- Friendship Bribe: Harry is clearly gaining the popular kids' favor by giving them limo rides and offering to take them all to dinner at a fancy restaurant.
- Hand Blast: The Green Goblin fires blasts from his fingertips due to his gloves.
- Heroic Bystander: John Jameson, as he tries to fight back when the Goblin attacks and is the one to help Spider-Man find the bomb. It looks like JJJ isn't exaggerating about his son being a good man.
- How We Got Here: The opening of the episode shows Spider-Man fighting against the Green Goblin before a flashback shows how he went to being at a school dance from to fighting against a new enemy.
- Irony: Duly lampshaded by Tombstone, who points out that Spider-Man turned down a job offer from him only to end up doing the job Tombstone wanted done for free.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: This episode highlights that while J. Jonah Jameson may be a blustering, greedy, cantankerous jerk, he's a big softie when it comes to his son. He even gives Spider-Man the credit in the paper for saving their lives when John insists his name not be mentioned, as revealing his involvement could get him scrubbed from the upcoming space mission (though he clearly isn't happy about it).
- Large Ham: Jameson, but especially the Green Goblin.
- Laughing Mad: The Green Goblin.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The shared reaction when Peter's friends and the popular kids see him enter the dance with MJ.
- Mythology Gag: Spider Man nicknames the Goblin the "Emerald Elf" while he's quipping.
- Never Say "Die": Used heavily in this episode, as any death threats are substituted with carefully-worded threats (see above).
- Nothing Personal: When Sally is berating Glory for dumping Harry for Kenny before they could get a ride home from him, she momentarily pauses to tell Kenny, who was standing right there, "nothing personal". Kenny shrugs his shoulders slightly, as if to say he understands.
- Parental Bonus: "Forget the crowbar, blow it up." "Eh, blow yourself up."
- Pie in the Face: J Jonah Jameson gets hit with a chocolate cake.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Tombstone is actually innocent here (innocent being a relative term), and throughout the episode focuses mainly on keeping his guests safe (thus protecting his public image), even staying to help Spider-Man find a pumpkin bomb Goblin planted. The most villainous thing he does the whole episode is tell Spider-Man that he just did for free what Tombstone had offered to pay him for last episode.
- Psycho Serum: The Globulin Green.
- Sarcasm Failure: Spider-Man can only say wow when the Green Goblin jumps over a building.
- Say My Name: When Spider-Man enters the gala, Goblin, Tombstone, and Jameson all say his name at once: Goblin because he wants to fight him, Tombstone because he realizes that Spidey's the best chance he and his guests have at leaving the party alive, and Jameson because he'd find a way to blame Spider-Man for a cloudy day.Spider-Man: Can I come in this way or do I have to break my own window?Goblin, Tombstone, JJJ: Spider-Man!
- Slasher Smile: The Green Goblin's mask gives this impression.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Spider-Man vs. The Green Goblin.
- Superpowered Evil Side: The Green Goblin is hinted to be Harry Osborn's.
- We Can Rule Together: The Green Goblin proposes this to Spider-Man. His response when turned down: "Oh well. Your loss... of LIFE!"
- You Fight Like a Cow: The Green Goblin, who is more than capable of matching wits with Spider-Man.
