Spider-Noir: Double Cross

The alternate reality of Spider-Noir has been great so far, and I’m continuing to be impressed. There were a lot of ways this could have gone badly, and none of them happened. The adventures of Ben Reilly, PI, and his assorted friends have been very well executed, and that continues in “Double Cross.”

After Silvermane’s goons visited the office last episode, Ben is doing his best to repair the damage, under the mocking supervision of Robbie and Janet. After musing about the strange fallout from the Addison case, Robbie leaves to follow up on a lead, and then things get really strange as Silvermane himself stops by. Janet isn’t pleased, and who could blame her, but this seems to be a much friendlier visit than last time, even including an apology from the thugs, who are very much acting like kids that have been forced to say “I’m sorry” with absolutely no sincerity behind it. Silvermane is actually there with a job offer, and his own grandiose statements give Ben a big clue about part of what’s going on. This would be one of those “an offer you can’t refuse” situations, and Ben does his best with it.

On the case, and probably just plain curious himself at this point, Ben begins his investigation, initially looking at the raid on Silvermane’s bootlegged booze shipment last episode. Ben gets to run a few variations of roughly the same con as he pursues answers, and gets some interesting results. Later, he gets some more intel by lying about something that modern audiences might well never have experienced. Such is the magic of a period piece. Off on his own, Robbie is trying to find the missing Flint, and ends up locating Lonnie as well, just as the cops decide to “clear” the Hooverville. Flint and Lonnie make a stand, showing normal cops are no match for the newly emerging powered people, and Robbie gets lots of great pics.

Ben’s next expedition is trying to find out who paid him to get the compromising pictures of the mayor and Cat. He gets more surprises, and isn’t sure what to make of it. His spider-sense kicks in and he decides it’s time to go. I think that this particular incarnation of Spider-Man might be the one where his spider-sense gets the most use, and it’s written fairly consistently, which makes a nice change. Making his retreat, Ben pays a call on Cat, for a lot more banter and some more info about her arrangement with Silvermane. After some warnings from Cat, Ben leaves and has a run-in with Winston, Silvermane’s right-hand man. Winston here is like Wesley in the early seasons of Daredevil. Now there’s a thought: what would a noir version of Daredevil look like?

Robbie rushes back to Ben’s office to use his darkroom, hoping the pictures he got of the Flint and Lonnie vs. the cops fight is going to get him his old job back, or something better. This leads to a conference between Ben, Robbie, and Janet, and the sudden surge of powered people seems to have a common link, which Ben clearly doesn’t want to talk about. Probably to distract Robbie, Ben starts talking about his current job from Silvermane, and triggers a flashback again, but this time with a notable difference. Back out on the street, Ben is being followed again, and he uses a clever trick to shake them that doesn’t rely on his powers at all.

Having dealt with his complications, at least for now, Ben goes to see Vera, Addison’s widow. She’s certainly not lost in grief over the passing of her husband, and there’s more of the great dialog this show does so well. All this brings Ben back to Silvermane yet again, and they have a wide-ranging talk covering some degree of philosophy before Silvermane starts pushing about results for what he hired Ben for. The PI takes his leave, but does something to allow for a return visit later. Robbie makes his pitch at the Bugle, and we see he doesn’t have the best relationship with his former boss. Robbie is very much a smartass, but then, so is almost everyone on this show.

Ben uses another clever dodge to throw off his watchers and sneaks out for some Spider reconnaissance. He finds Silvermane’s safe, but is very restrained in what he does afterward. Meanwhile, not content to sit around and wait for more news, Cat has gone out on her own mission, and manages to reconnect with Flint. They try and make some plans, but his condition shows that he’s not exactly stable right now, and both of them are shaken and upset.

Getting home without additional incident, Ben gives one of his allies some instructions, which seems to amuse them. The next morning, Robbie is out and about, and not at all pleased with some “editorial changes” made to his story. Ben gets approached on the street yet again, but this time the thugs work for someone else, which gets Ben curious at the very least. Brought to yet another powerful man in the city, Ben gets a surprising request. Clearly, he’s being maneuvered between several large powers, and that’s never a good place to be. Getting some news from a source (which would have been a lot easier in the age of cell phones), Ben rushes off to find someone.

This leads us toward the end of the episode as Ben’s meeting is interrupted by some unwelcome arrivals. Ben and Cat end up brought to another location, which is never a good thing, and there’s a very suspenseful scene with ominous props and constantly increasing tension. The episode comes to an abrupt end on a big cliffhanger.

What I Liked: As I’ve said before, just about everything. The show has great production values, especially the acting and the dialog. Ben is clever, and perfectly capable of plying his trade without overly relying on his powers, but he’s also smart enough to not refuse to use them on principle. I like his allies, and they all get to contribute in some way. As a longtime comics fan, I’m really intrigued by the changes in familiar characters for this world.

What I Didn’t: Again, really not much. I think my only quibble is that I have a lot of unanswered questions, and that probably means that A) I’m invested in the story and B) I just need to be patient.

I will give this a 4.5 out of 5. It’s a really enjoyable show and they are consistently doing a great job on every level.