Spider-Man TV (1967) - Season 2, Episode 13

Background

Neptune was the Roman god of the water and seas and currently the last planet in our solar system. Pluto, 2006 - never forget. A nose cone is the topmost part of a missile. Since these two terms don't go together under normal circumstances it is safe to assume this episode will involve the American space program.

Story 'Neptune's Nose Cone'

The Neptune I is launched from Cape Canaveral. It's mission is to launch a device into low orbit from its nose cone that will help scientists at NASA measure the Earth's magnetic field. [Offhand, I'd say it's as big as the Earth itself. But I'm no rocket scientist.]

The missile malfunctions sending the nose cone and the very expensive device off course, landing in the Antarctic Ocean. Jonah sends Peter on an assignment with pilot Penny Jones to the Antarctic to recover the nose cone (and take pictures) or find the wreckage (and take pictures). Either way Jonah begins to daydream about the awards he'll get for this.

Penny and Peter fly in the Daily Bugle plane to the Antarctic. They encounter a massive storm that causes the plane to ice up. Unable to radio for help, Peter uses his spider-sense to land them on an uncharted part of the continent. And by "land" I mean "crash land". And by "uncharted" I am referring to an uncharted tropical jungle in the middle of Antarctica that is not the Savage Land.

Peter awakens to find that Penny has been kidnapped by natives. Changing to Spider-Man he makes his way through the jungle [Which is not the Savage Land] He finds that the natives [green-skinned natives] have both Penny and the nose cone. He overhears the chief of the tribe speak to his volcano god that they will offer both the "great white egg" and the girl to him for warmth. Spider-Man sets out to stop them, knowing that the nose cone will block the volcano and ultimately destroy the island [All at once? You would think this would take time. Plus you have the HUMAN SACRIFICE aspect to deal with].

This begins a generic chase through the jungle and a cave. [Somehow he's close enough to hear them, but not close enough to catch up to them easily.] When they arrive at the volcano, the cavemen are prepared to offer their sacrifice to their god. Spider-Man webs the nose from several sides to secure it. When they push the blindfolded Penny in, he is there to save her from the magma. For reasons that are never clearly explained, the propulsion system of the nose cone reactivates and it continues on its mission. [Ignoring the fact that it needs the other parts of the rocket to reach escape velocity.]

Later on Peter explains to Penny that the cavemen [All of whom are their allies now are willing to help them fix their plane and return to civilization. Unable to give Jameson his scoop about the nose cone, Peter finds a substitute: a newly hatched flying snake. This comes in handy when Jonah doesn't believe their story.

General Comments

I don't understand why the show's producers and writer's didn't just call this place the Savage Land. It's really easy and you don't have to introduce Ka-Zar or Zabu this round.

Given the failed science behind the rocket launching it would have just been easier to send them their to take pictures of a strange new world that scientists have just discovered. But no it makes more sense to have rocket science and cavemen in the same episode.

Overall Rating

1 web. The ideas for this episode should have been split into two smaller episodes and it would have worked out much better.

The sudden shift in the natives from being hostile to their best friends is very difficult to believe. I guess the rule in effect was that all episodes must have a happy ending.