Treachery
The episode opens with Ben and Cat sitting across from each other in a diner. Cat presses him to finally talk about his past, and Ben begins his story by going back to the war.
We see a flashback to Ben, part of a military unit assigned to liberate a town in Eastern Europe from the Germans. On the mission, the soldiers discover a clandestine facility where prisoners of war are used in animal experimentation and genetic mutation.
One of the test subjects, a human spider hybrid, bites Ben on the arm. The attack leaves him weak and confused. Addison and the rest of the team can be seen taking photographs in the background as Ben struggles to stay conscious, suggesting that the incident is more complicated than it first appears.
Back to the present, Ben says that after the incident he had to relearn how to live like a normal human being. He also says he has a personal interest in the Flint case. He is interested in seeing if their powers have a common origin, and if so, whether it can be reversed. Ben’s been chewing over the thought of going back to his old Ben Reilly persona ever since Ruby died.
Robbie gives Walters a new story at the Daily Bugle about The Spider beating the electric-powered villain. He consents to publication, but only on stringent terms: the piece is to be published unedited, a correction issued about the earlier story about Lonnie and Flint, and Robbie is to have his old desk back.
Meanwhile, Flint runs into Lonnie and tells him Silvermane has offered him a job. Lonnie refuses though, but Flint makes him reconsider.
Ben, Robbie and Janet meet later in the office. Janet and Robbie discover that everyone with a new power is connected to a doctor called Alethea Faber. She seems to know about the German POW experiments, and she’s been looking for survivors.
Flint and Lonnie come, and Cat meets Silvermane at The Alcove. Flint warns Silvermane if he threatens him he will get hurt. Cat hides her shock and keeps her cool. Silvermane tells Cat to find a new direction for her music career, to look for a younger audience before he leaves.
Robby goes to a hospital in Queens and confronts Dr. Faber. She and her secretary Ogden are interrogated about her relationship with the four men who gained powers after the treatment. Faber defends herself saying she has done everything for a reason.
Meanwhile Ben sneaks into Faber’s office to snoop around. He finds secret files in a secret compartment. But Faber and Ogden return unexpectedly. Ogden recognizes Ben as one of the men involved in the wartime experiments in France, but Ben quickly pretends to be a confused patient and escapes.
That night, Flint and Lonnie break into a police facility and find Mr. Leyden, the man who has electricity-based powers. They take him to Silvermane and he offers him a job with his organization. Leyden agrees, and they release him from custody.
Ben and Robbie talk about Faber’s research and end up concluding that her treatments may have inadvertently turned on dormant mutations in her patients she was trying to help. Ben, who wants to talk to Cat first, asks Robbie for time before he tells the truth. Robbie grudgingly gives one day.
Later, Ben is contacted by Silvermane and meets him in person. He is surprised to see Flint, Lonnie, and Leyden already at Silvermane’s side. Silvermane warns Ben to keep The Spider out of the fight between him and the mayor. Ben nods. As Flint walks out, he whispers to him that he knows about Cat and that he won’t get another chance.
Ben then goes to Cat and tells her that Flint’s condition is getting worse and his powers might be killing him slowly. The cat is bombarded with information and tells Ben to go. But Ben tells her that Ruby and Flint are in the past, and he and Cat could have a real future together. He even suggests they leave everything behind and go to Santorini, a dream Cat once dreamed of with him. At last she consents.
Ben then has breakfast with Janet. She senses a change in him and he confesses that he intends to leave with Cat. Cheerfully Janet responds, but you can tell that she’s concerned.
Meanwhile, Lonnie enlists Cat’s help, explaining that Flint is getting worse. Cat goes to their hideout and there is a tense confrontation. Flint accuses her of not believing in him and storms out. “There may be one possible solution left,” Lonnie tells us. “Dr. Faber believes it is the Spider. She proposes that Ben’s more stable mutation might be the key to a cure for the others.
At the hospital Cat confronts Dr Faber as she is leaving. Cat wants reassurance that Ben will be safe helping Flint and the others. Faber concurs. In a final plot twist, Cat reveals to her that Ben is The Spider.
Episode Summary:
Episode 5 is a little bit of a mixed bag. The romance between Ben and Cat is the main weakness and still feels under-developed. The relationship moves too quickly for the decision to elope to feel uncontrived and unforced. Solid individual performances from the cast.
The episode does manage to build on Ben’s backstory, however. The flashback to the war adds meaningful context to his trauma and his relationship to the experiments that influenced the current story. Cat’s final decision also offers a solid narrative twist, even if somewhat foreshadowed by the episode title.
Dr. Faber’s introduction raises the stakes by connecting all the powered characters, and placing Cat in a moral dilemma between Ben and Flint. Robbie’s plotline is also a highlight, especially his run-in with Walters, which reasserts his authority within the Daily Bugle.
The downside is that Flint’s connection to Silvermane feels less plausible and underdeveloped, making that subplot harder to fully buy.
Overall, the series is definitely shifting gears. The investigative mystery elements are being replaced by larger themes involving mutation, cures and political power struggles between Silvermane and the mayor. This change, while lessening the detective-driven tone of earlier episodes, sets up a larger conflict for later episodes.
The underdeveloped romance feels like the weakest part of the narrative, and the story would benefit from more attention to Ben’s identity as The Spider.