Episode #9 - Flash Memory
Original Airdate August 29, 2003

Dr. Zellner tests his “smart drug” on Peter Parker’s high school bully Flash Thompson, and Flash immediately displays dramatic spikes in intelligence. However, along with the IQ boost comes a potentially fatal side affect. With only minutes to find an antidote, Zellner takes Flash’s suggestion that he experiment on an already intelligent candidate: Peter Parker.

Credits
Screenplay By: Whip Lipsey, Scott Lipsey
Directed By: Tim Elerad
Music By: John Digweed, Nick Muir and William Anderson
Animation By: Mainframe
Guest Starring: Jeffrey Combs as Dr. Zellar, David Delouse as Mack and Jack., Devon Sawa as Flash Thompson, Angelle Brooks as Indy.

Review: This episode finally sees another character introduced, or re-introduced in this show, as Flash Thompson finally makes his small screen presence found carrying on from the movie.

Thankfully, Flash he was nothing like his awful dull 2 dimensional movie counter-part, who simply hated Parker for the hell of it, here Flash doesn't like smart people at all. He’s still about as 3d as a sheet of cardboard in this series, only he’s pretty amusing to watch. It’s done in a very, very stupid manner, of course.

The villain was something a little bit more original than some of the previous offerings, he actually reminded me of The Scarecrow from Batman: The Animated Series, which may be what the producers wanted as they are both voiced by the same person. Zeller was experimenting the effects of trying to make stupid people (Flash) into geniuses. Jeffrey Combs once against proves that he is the master of voicing creepy/weird characters, only this time he’s not obsessed with boy-bands.

The twins were lame, there’s no denying it. Despite some clever dialogue after they become intelligent, they were simply dull. There designs weren’t anything special compared to the other villains we’ve seen, their voice work wasn’t anything that stood out and there motive was lacking once again. Good thing Zellar made up for these too.

Mary Jane seemed a little off in this episode, I'm not sure why she was so drawn to Flash, as he treated her like a jerk in high school, and they used to be engaged, if the press releases about this show being tied into the movie are right. There are far too many inconsistencies to believe that this show is tied into the movie. This is simply another to add to the list.

The episode wasn't short of its amusing moments, particularly Spider-Man being injected with so much morphine that his webs kept screwing up, and just how much of a dumb ass Flash actually is. Indy popped by, but she wasn't as annoying in this episode as she is in most, I even got a chuckle out of when she got out-scooped. She even served a purpose other than being Peters 'other' girl, the foil for the MJ relationship. She actually proved useful in this episode too, as she helped Spider-Man capture the villain, in what was again, a beautifully animated fight on the train. The lighting style really brings a lot of life to these characters, especially how the animators shade the characters and how they use the shadows. It makes for some great looking models; it animates well, and offers a little something to the eye.

Overall, the episode was enjoyable, even if you're just looking for a laugh, or you want to see some damn nice animation from Mainframe. Once again, nothing too deep, but… we are talking about an episode focused on Flash here.

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