Mighty Max - Episode 21 - Along Came Arachnoid

ALONG CAME ARACHNOID

This is the eighth episode of series 2. A giant spider attacks a helicopter in the American city of Seattle which it catches in its giant web. Where has it come from? What does it want?

Episode Captures (Click to enlarge)

Max is sitting at home when the door bell rings. He opens the front door to find a pizza delivery guy standing there offering him a pizza. Max is puzzled as he never ordered a pizza, and in fact he has only just had pizza for lunch. Max is disgusted to learn that the pizza is made up of all sorts of fish; not Max's favourite type of pizza. However, when Max is told that the pizza has already been paid for he snatches it out of the guy's hand and slams the door in his face. He opens the pizza box and finds not just any ordinary pizza but one that has a message written in anchovies: 'Portal at school library'. Max despairs! It's Virgil again with yet another mission, and all Max wanted was a peaceful afternoon.

Max arrives at the school library where he is instantly told to be quiet by the librarian. Poor Max! he hadn't made a sound. He asks the librarian where he might find a portal; "Fiction or non-fiction?" asks the librarian. "Non-fiction, I guess" says Max shrugging his shoulders. He is told where to find non-fiction, and is again told to keep the noise down, but poor Max just can't stay out of trouble. By not looking where he is going he knocks over a book case which pushes him backwards. It looks like Max is going to be crushed, but fortunately for him a portal opens up right behind him, and he falls through it.

Max arrives in the basement of a house in Seattle where he is met by Virgil and Norman. Virgil is explaining the disappearance of an important person when suddenly Norman shouts out and leaps up into the air with such force that he smashes through the ceiling of the basement and right into the living room of an elderly couple who were watching the television. Max pokes his head up through the hole and looks at the surprised couple and informs them that they were looking for his pet chicken. Virgil and Max notice the Norman shaped hole in the front door and clamber out to go after him, Virgil promising that they will be recompensed for damages done.

They find Norman in an alleyway and Max asks him what spooked him, but Norman denies everything. They emerge from the alley and see a police road block. It is not until they reach the road block that they see what appears to be a very large net fixed to several of the buildings which appears to have a helicopter trapped in it. It is not long before they realising that this is no net but a huge spider web. Norman says that he is glad that the spider who made it is not around. "You mean like that one!" Max says as he points out a very large spider moving toward them. "That's a big spider!" says a horrified Norman. The spider aims its attack at the police, allowing Max, Norman, and Virgil to formulate a plan to rescue the occupant of the helicopter. They rush onto the roof of one of the buildings and Max creeps along the web, trying not to attract the attention of the giant spider. He reaches the helicopter only to find that the occupant has been bound up in a cocoon. He removes the stuff from the occupants head in order to speak to him, but is dismayed to find out that the man seems to have gone crazy, and is babbling nonsensical words. Max suddenly hears a noise behind him and looks around. The spider is coming toward him, and it does not look pleased. As the spider reaches Max, with its huge jaws opening, ready to eat him, Max, in desperation, leans into the cockpit of the helicopter and begins pressing buttons. By an extraordinary stroke of luck (and Max really does have the gift of good luck) he presses on button and the rotors start turning. The giant spider is caught by the blades and sliced up, covering him in green spider goo. But wait! The rotors have also cut the web and Max feels himself hanging in mid air, his eyes tightly closed as he hangs on for dear life. "What do I do?" he shouts. "Let go of course" says Virgil. Max opens his eyes to find himself hanging several inches off the ground. He gives an embarrassed smile and drops down to the ground.

In the next scene the trio have found the last possible place that the chap they are looking for could be hiding. The go inside and are confronted with the scientist they are looking for, however, they quickly find out that he has had a terrible accident and has been mutated into a half man half spider creature. They offer to help him find a cure but instead of gratitude the professor turns against them. "You think that was the giant spider?" he laughs when Max mentions the spider they had just defeated. The professor, who tells them that his name is now Arachnoid, throws a switch which opens a huge shutter door. A screeching is heard and a massive spider walks in, which makes the other giant spider look like a kitten in comparison. Norman, who has already confessed his fear of spiders to Max and Virgil, looks ready to wet himself. He smashes his way out of the shutter door and runs off down the road, with Max and Virgil close behind, and, unfortunately for them, with the spider in hot pursuit. Max finds a nursery rhyme running through his head (Incy Wincy Spider, climbing up the spout, down comes the rain and washes poor spider out) and this gives him an idea on how to get rid of the spider. He rushes to a fire hydrant and with the help of Virgil he tries to open it up, but they are not strong enough. Max calls out to Norman who is starring up in fear at the spider. He shakes his head and dashes over to help Max and Virgil. Norman rips the top of the hydrant causing a huge plume of high powered water to lift the spider off the ground. Max is overjoyed to see how his planned has worked, but it is short lived; the spider shoots a thread of web and swings itself of the water. They run away rather rapidly!

The trio soon find themselves trapped on the edge of a dock, with nowhere to go but the icy black water below. The spider comes in for the attack, and it seems that they are doomed, but the ever resourceful Max has another idea. He uses Norman's sword to break of a portal window from a nearby ship. With deadly accuracy he throws the portal like a frisby, and severs the web rope that the spider is using to hang over Norman's head, who is currently hanging on for dear life on the edge of the dock. With a slow, creaking noise the spider topples over into the water.

Having destroyed the giant spider, or so they believe, the team eventually track Arachnoid to a nuclear power plant where he is attempting to put right the accident that has changed his appearance. Max tells Arachnoid that the game is up but unfortunately the giant spider chooses this moment to make a reappearance. Arachnoid leaps onto its back and orders it to kill them all. It lunges for and three and wraps them all up in a cocoon with just their heads poking out. Max is thrown into a chair and is strapped in so that he cannot escape, whilst the other remain in a web that they had been stuck onto. Arachnoid tells him that he just needs some of Max's cerebral cortex fluid to help him become a new being, and a huge needle and syringe moves towards Max's neck. Norman now realising that Max is in mortal danger, and that he was supposed to be the guardian, puts his fears to one side and with a huge effort he breaks out of the cocoon, and with a shout attacks the spider. He manages to get underneath it and rams his sword up into its belly. The spider screeches and falls forward causing Arachnoid to fly off into a vat of bubbling liquid. Norman releases Max and Virgil and they are just about to leave when they see Arachnoid emerging from the pot having undergone another transformation. However, it has changed him not to a human again but into a spider with a mans head. He laughs triumphantly as he realises that this is his destiny and announces his plan to turn the human race into creatures like himself, over which he will rule. But then a huge explosion erupts from the pot engulfing Arachnoid and the giant spider in an orange fire ball. Norman pulls Max in and shields him from the blast.

Once everything has settled down and the team find themselves in safety, Norman looks up with a smile. What was all the fuss about over spiders? he wonders to himself.