The Making of a Hero: "Kevin's Big Score"
Aug. 5th, 2008 03:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akinoameKevin meets with an old lowlife friend of his, Argit, to try and find a piece of Plumber tech. Argit agrees to broker the deal, but Kevin needs a good amount of money to pay. Later, agreeing to help repair the Rustbucket, he takes the opportunity to steal the Rustbucket, fighting off Ben to do so. But when he has Argit appraise the tech, he's doublecrossed and the ratboy steals it and strips it of all alien tech. After Team 10 fights off and questions Argit, Kevin deserts his friends to meet with the dealer alone--Ben's old enemy Vulkanus. But Kevin's also betrayed him in the past, so if he wants the tech, he's going to have to pay him back.
Before going into any analysis, I have to give credit where credit is due. The writer this time around is another Justice League Unlimited veteran--Matt Wayne. Toonzone may give him a lot of flack, but he wrote a solid episode here, giving Kevin a damn good piece of development and dealing with the consequences of his joining the team--something that was neglected in previous episodes.
There is something about heroic ex-cons that just appeals to fans. Han Solo. Jack Harkness. And now, Kevin Levin. In fact, Kevin's deal with Vulkanus sounds exactly like Han dealing with Jabba the Hutt (or trying to cut a deal with Greedo)--with Kevin having left Vulkanus holding the bag when the Plumbers came, just as Han had dropped the cargo when he was boarded by the Imperial fleet. At the end of the episode, Kevin explains his reluctance to talk on his past sins, that he'd been so horrible that Ben and Gwen would never forgive him if they knew just what he'd done--"So when I say drop it, drop it." It's a nice little hint about the years in-between Ben 10 and Alien Force, and you wonder just what he might have done. And remembering that he is indeed an ex-con, this episode deals with something the previous three hadn't--Ben's distrust. Ben brings up the good old days, pointedly remarking that Kevin had been one of the bad guys, to which Kevin responds that he knows Ben's only there to keep an eye on him.
And finally, the Kevin/Gwen feels a little better handled. It's more subtle, though that may not say much. It comes off a lot better when you see Gwen struggling between wanting to trust him when he's clearly stealing from them and apparently warning Argit of her attack (though this one is proven to be Kevin trying to warn her to watch out for his paralyzing/sedating needles). And ultimately, when she puts her hands on his face, apparently allowing him to absorb the properties of human skin again to get out of the taedenite-induced mode lock, the scene says a lot more than the rather awkward handling of their relationship thusfar (though admittedly, given they're teenagers, this may be the point).
Ben uses the forms Echo Echo and Big Chill in this one, showing off his ability to fight creatively. Echo Echo puts his cloning and sonic powers to good use with the Wall of Sound attack--strategically placing clones in different locations to bounce a soundwave (and an attack) in just the direction he needs to hit an enemy. Echo Echo is also seen to need to account for all clones before demorphing, leading to the silly scene of them finding one last clone still asleep with a thorn stuck in its butt, snoring with the sonic distortion Dee Bradley Baker uses for their voice. Big Chill is also a great example of Baker's voice acting abilities, managing a cool, somewhat creepy voice reminiscent of Steve Blum's Ghostfreak. He has the abilities of ice, invisibility, and intangibility, and his MO will later become phasing through something, freezing it all throughout. However, the intangibility leads to a moment of "He could have dodged that!" (the cry of Flash and Superman fans in early Justice League) when Vulkanus squirts oil into his eyes and sends him crashing into a wall.
As for Vulkanus...again, I haven't watched much of series one, so I can't judge for sure on differences between then and now. I can say that the whole "small guy in a big suit" revelation reminded me greatly of Skulker from Danny Phantom. As stated above, he plays the role of Jabba to Kevin's Han. But where Jabba accepted a carbonite Han-sicle as payment for the blown deal, Vulkanus prefers a different kind of 'nite--taedenite, a rare living gem reminiscent of King Bumi's rings in Avatar's "The King of Omashu" that trapped Katara and Sokka. Looking at it and its effects on Kevin, you wonder if it might be from the Petrosapien homeworld, revealed by Tetrax in Secret of the Omnitrix to have been destroyed by his actions and Vilgax's tyranny.
More Grandpa Max info was revealed in this episode--first off, that this Rustbucket is Mark 2, and the original had been towed sometime after Ben 10 (complete with a photo of the event, with Ben picking his nose while Gwen gives him a disgusted look and Grandpa tries to pretend it's a happy picture). But the real meat of this is the MacGuffin Kevin's after--another holodisk, this time urging Ben to create a team of Plumbers' kids to battle the alien threat. It does nothing to explain the mysterious flash of a DNAlien in the previous holodisk ("Ben 10 Returns") and Max even says that he has no time to explain anything and that if Ben has this disk, things must be bad. It leaves you guessing how terrible the threat is, until "Max Out" gives you the answer, that is.
And finally, rewatching this episode on Youtube for my review led to a pretty unexpected revelation. This episode was uploaded from its premiere--complete with credits. It must have been aired as a marathon then, because the credits were for multiple episodes. And by "multiple episodes," I mean damn near everyone from episodes 1-13. Starting off with the continuation of Dee Bradley Baker's list are spoiler credits for many new characters. While some are missing, there are credits for Ken Tennyson, Paradox, and some others that we have yet to see: Emperor Milius (or Mitius--it's not clear enough to read well) who must be from "X Equals Ben Plus Two," and someone named "Sevenseven." At ComicCon, the cast and crew revealed that a new version of Sixsix would appear, and it's a fairly safe bet this is who they're talking about. Though, given the name pattern, I must pity the poor guy who was stuck with the name “Twotwo.” Other voice actors slated to reappear are another badass Kevin—Kevin Conroy, previously known as Batman—and the previous Ben actor herself, Tara Strong.
"Kevin's Big Score" was written by Matt Wayne. Argit was played by Alexander Polinsky and Vulkanus by John DiMaggio.
Edit: And tonight, a commercial just aired confirming that Sevenseven is indeed the new version of Sixsix, and it's reasonable to assume he will appear in "X Equals Ben Plus Two."
Before going into any analysis, I have to give credit where credit is due. The writer this time around is another Justice League Unlimited veteran--Matt Wayne. Toonzone may give him a lot of flack, but he wrote a solid episode here, giving Kevin a damn good piece of development and dealing with the consequences of his joining the team--something that was neglected in previous episodes.
There is something about heroic ex-cons that just appeals to fans. Han Solo. Jack Harkness. And now, Kevin Levin. In fact, Kevin's deal with Vulkanus sounds exactly like Han dealing with Jabba the Hutt (or trying to cut a deal with Greedo)--with Kevin having left Vulkanus holding the bag when the Plumbers came, just as Han had dropped the cargo when he was boarded by the Imperial fleet. At the end of the episode, Kevin explains his reluctance to talk on his past sins, that he'd been so horrible that Ben and Gwen would never forgive him if they knew just what he'd done--"So when I say drop it, drop it." It's a nice little hint about the years in-between Ben 10 and Alien Force, and you wonder just what he might have done. And remembering that he is indeed an ex-con, this episode deals with something the previous three hadn't--Ben's distrust. Ben brings up the good old days, pointedly remarking that Kevin had been one of the bad guys, to which Kevin responds that he knows Ben's only there to keep an eye on him.
And finally, the Kevin/Gwen feels a little better handled. It's more subtle, though that may not say much. It comes off a lot better when you see Gwen struggling between wanting to trust him when he's clearly stealing from them and apparently warning Argit of her attack (though this one is proven to be Kevin trying to warn her to watch out for his paralyzing/sedating needles). And ultimately, when she puts her hands on his face, apparently allowing him to absorb the properties of human skin again to get out of the taedenite-induced mode lock, the scene says a lot more than the rather awkward handling of their relationship thusfar (though admittedly, given they're teenagers, this may be the point).
Ben uses the forms Echo Echo and Big Chill in this one, showing off his ability to fight creatively. Echo Echo puts his cloning and sonic powers to good use with the Wall of Sound attack--strategically placing clones in different locations to bounce a soundwave (and an attack) in just the direction he needs to hit an enemy. Echo Echo is also seen to need to account for all clones before demorphing, leading to the silly scene of them finding one last clone still asleep with a thorn stuck in its butt, snoring with the sonic distortion Dee Bradley Baker uses for their voice. Big Chill is also a great example of Baker's voice acting abilities, managing a cool, somewhat creepy voice reminiscent of Steve Blum's Ghostfreak. He has the abilities of ice, invisibility, and intangibility, and his MO will later become phasing through something, freezing it all throughout. However, the intangibility leads to a moment of "He could have dodged that!" (the cry of Flash and Superman fans in early Justice League) when Vulkanus squirts oil into his eyes and sends him crashing into a wall.
As for Vulkanus...again, I haven't watched much of series one, so I can't judge for sure on differences between then and now. I can say that the whole "small guy in a big suit" revelation reminded me greatly of Skulker from Danny Phantom. As stated above, he plays the role of Jabba to Kevin's Han. But where Jabba accepted a carbonite Han-sicle as payment for the blown deal, Vulkanus prefers a different kind of 'nite--taedenite, a rare living gem reminiscent of King Bumi's rings in Avatar's "The King of Omashu" that trapped Katara and Sokka. Looking at it and its effects on Kevin, you wonder if it might be from the Petrosapien homeworld, revealed by Tetrax in Secret of the Omnitrix to have been destroyed by his actions and Vilgax's tyranny.
More Grandpa Max info was revealed in this episode--first off, that this Rustbucket is Mark 2, and the original had been towed sometime after Ben 10 (complete with a photo of the event, with Ben picking his nose while Gwen gives him a disgusted look and Grandpa tries to pretend it's a happy picture). But the real meat of this is the MacGuffin Kevin's after--another holodisk, this time urging Ben to create a team of Plumbers' kids to battle the alien threat. It does nothing to explain the mysterious flash of a DNAlien in the previous holodisk ("Ben 10 Returns") and Max even says that he has no time to explain anything and that if Ben has this disk, things must be bad. It leaves you guessing how terrible the threat is, until "Max Out" gives you the answer, that is.
And finally, rewatching this episode on Youtube for my review led to a pretty unexpected revelation. This episode was uploaded from its premiere--complete with credits. It must have been aired as a marathon then, because the credits were for multiple episodes. And by "multiple episodes," I mean damn near everyone from episodes 1-13. Starting off with the continuation of Dee Bradley Baker's list are spoiler credits for many new characters. While some are missing, there are credits for Ken Tennyson, Paradox, and some others that we have yet to see: Emperor Milius (or Mitius--it's not clear enough to read well) who must be from "X Equals Ben Plus Two," and someone named "Sevenseven." At ComicCon, the cast and crew revealed that a new version of Sixsix would appear, and it's a fairly safe bet this is who they're talking about. Though, given the name pattern, I must pity the poor guy who was stuck with the name “Twotwo.” Other voice actors slated to reappear are another badass Kevin—Kevin Conroy, previously known as Batman—and the previous Ben actor herself, Tara Strong.
"Kevin's Big Score" was written by Matt Wayne. Argit was played by Alexander Polinsky and Vulkanus by John DiMaggio.
Edit: And tonight, a commercial just aired confirming that Sevenseven is indeed the new version of Sixsix, and it's reasonable to assume he will appear in "X Equals Ben Plus Two."