Ship, ship, ship! “Pier Pressure”
Sep. 1st, 2009 12:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akinoameSomewhere in the woods, a small, doglike Galvanic Mechomorph (Upgrade) oozes out of the wreckage of a ship. It slithers toward the highway and hijacks a truck, leaving the driver stranded on the side of the road in shock.
But this is unknown to the Alien Force, who are attending one of Julie’s tennis matches. While Gwen encourages Ben to talk to the girl, pointing out his virtues, she finds her own love interest lacking in certain qualities. After Julie wins the match, Gwen shoves the abnormally shy and incoherent Ben at her, repeatedly sending him back to ask her out before she has to drag him off.
As a highway patrolman finds the missing truck, the alien thief strikes again, stealing his car.
Fretting over his date, Ben finds he’s got no other choice but to ask Kevin for a ride to the Pier. Ben’s surprised when Kevin agrees, but he soon realizes that Kevin’s only going to tease the hell out of him in the car. And sure enough he does, making Gwen snap back at him, which only embarrasses Ben all the more. After what for Ben is probably a very long and unbearable ride, he and Julie are dropped off at the Pier, where the small alien thief decides to follow them.
Ben struggles between going alien to fend off the carnival rides the alien has possessed and trying to keep his identity secret from Julie. Sadly, Julie is suspicious of Ben’s frequent disappearances and starts to think he’s not interested. But just when he’s finally convinced her otherwise, the alien goes in for the cockblock, attacking the both of them and finally kidnapping Julie. Ben is forced to go Jetray to chase after them, and when he finally finds the alien, he blows his identity by calling Julie by name. Fortunately for him, Julie takes the revelation well, and they finally manage to come to the bottom of the alien kidnapper mystery. The alien, which they dub “Ship,” has been trying to get Ben’s help for a rescue. The Galvanic Mechomorph pilot of a crashed spaceship is trapped in the wreckage while the warp drive is about to explode. Ben quickly turns Humongousaur to dispose of it, sheltering Julie from the explosion…and holding on a little too long.
After rescuing the pilot and helping repair his ship, Ben and Julie are left to walk back home, with the Omnitrix recharging and Ship left in their care, bouncing at their heels. But the next thing they know, the alien puppy sees a truck pass by and does what all dogs do and chases after it, disappearing into the horizon…at least, until next season.
This episode comes in at a very odd point in the season one timeline. Between the trauma of “Max Out” with the revelation of what the DNAliens are and Grandpa Max’s sacrifice, and the revelations of the next episode, “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” this episode serves as a light-hearted buffer. Call it filler if you like, but it does provide some needed breathing room.
It’s no secret that this episode is a shipping-centric one, and this time, the shipping focuses on Ben. From her first appearance in the beginning of “Ben 10 Returns,” Julie Yamamoto is set up as Ben’s love interest for the series. And this episode proves that she’s the one person who can truly intimidate the Hero of the Omnitrix: Taking on evil aliens is one thing; talking to girls is another. Ben trips over his words and needs to be guided by Gwen in how to ask her out, amusingly making him look like a normal teenager instead of the young man responsible for leading a team of half-alien kids to save the world from total annihilation. And Ben desperately tries to prove to Julie that he’s nothing more than normal, going to extraordinary lengths to try and keep her from getting suspicious during the attacks, which only serves to make her more suspicious. And in a nice change from the typical setup, this time the hero’s girlfriend is clued into his job and accepts it; contrast Dana from Batman Beyond and Laura from Max Steel, who often berated their boyfriends for missed dates because they didn’t know what was going on (though the Justice League Unlimited episode “Epilogue” put Dana in the know, fifteen years later). Fans will complain about Julie for not getting much development—sadly, a side-effect of being a secondary character (likely set that way on purpose to avoid the hate that comes with a hero having a steady girlfriend who’s on the main team)—but this choice in her development is definitely an improvement in storytelling in general.
Ship, a Galvanic Mechomorph symbiote created by the alien pilot, serves as the episode’s unwitting antagonist and cockblocker. Named for the one word he can say, he behaves like a puppy, at one point nuzzling Ben’s leg and panting like a dog a little later, not to mention chasing after cars. He tries to get Ben’s help in rescuing his former host, but between his well-intentioned mischief and Ben’s growing panic, the message doesn’t come across clearly. Luckily for him, at least Julie thinks he’s cute.
Ben’s new alien this episode is also his first accidental transformation, caused by the rocking of the pier knocking the dial to another setting. Brainstorm is also the first alien this series where we see the active process of naming. In the original, Ben considered half the fun of having the Omnitrix being that he could name each alien anything he wanted. Previously in Alien Force, the names have seemed instinctive, with Ben announcing the name immediately after transforming. However, this time, we see Brainstorm thinking hard about his name before announcing it. Brainstorm combines a genius-level intellect with energy manipulation, creating forcefields and energy blasts.
“Pier Pressure” was written by Len Uhley. Julie and Ship were voiced by Vyvan Pham. The pilot was played by Rob Paulsen.
But this is unknown to the Alien Force, who are attending one of Julie’s tennis matches. While Gwen encourages Ben to talk to the girl, pointing out his virtues, she finds her own love interest lacking in certain qualities. After Julie wins the match, Gwen shoves the abnormally shy and incoherent Ben at her, repeatedly sending him back to ask her out before she has to drag him off.
As a highway patrolman finds the missing truck, the alien thief strikes again, stealing his car.
Fretting over his date, Ben finds he’s got no other choice but to ask Kevin for a ride to the Pier. Ben’s surprised when Kevin agrees, but he soon realizes that Kevin’s only going to tease the hell out of him in the car. And sure enough he does, making Gwen snap back at him, which only embarrasses Ben all the more. After what for Ben is probably a very long and unbearable ride, he and Julie are dropped off at the Pier, where the small alien thief decides to follow them.
Ben struggles between going alien to fend off the carnival rides the alien has possessed and trying to keep his identity secret from Julie. Sadly, Julie is suspicious of Ben’s frequent disappearances and starts to think he’s not interested. But just when he’s finally convinced her otherwise, the alien goes in for the cockblock, attacking the both of them and finally kidnapping Julie. Ben is forced to go Jetray to chase after them, and when he finally finds the alien, he blows his identity by calling Julie by name. Fortunately for him, Julie takes the revelation well, and they finally manage to come to the bottom of the alien kidnapper mystery. The alien, which they dub “Ship,” has been trying to get Ben’s help for a rescue. The Galvanic Mechomorph pilot of a crashed spaceship is trapped in the wreckage while the warp drive is about to explode. Ben quickly turns Humongousaur to dispose of it, sheltering Julie from the explosion…and holding on a little too long.
After rescuing the pilot and helping repair his ship, Ben and Julie are left to walk back home, with the Omnitrix recharging and Ship left in their care, bouncing at their heels. But the next thing they know, the alien puppy sees a truck pass by and does what all dogs do and chases after it, disappearing into the horizon…at least, until next season.
This episode comes in at a very odd point in the season one timeline. Between the trauma of “Max Out” with the revelation of what the DNAliens are and Grandpa Max’s sacrifice, and the revelations of the next episode, “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” this episode serves as a light-hearted buffer. Call it filler if you like, but it does provide some needed breathing room.
It’s no secret that this episode is a shipping-centric one, and this time, the shipping focuses on Ben. From her first appearance in the beginning of “Ben 10 Returns,” Julie Yamamoto is set up as Ben’s love interest for the series. And this episode proves that she’s the one person who can truly intimidate the Hero of the Omnitrix: Taking on evil aliens is one thing; talking to girls is another. Ben trips over his words and needs to be guided by Gwen in how to ask her out, amusingly making him look like a normal teenager instead of the young man responsible for leading a team of half-alien kids to save the world from total annihilation. And Ben desperately tries to prove to Julie that he’s nothing more than normal, going to extraordinary lengths to try and keep her from getting suspicious during the attacks, which only serves to make her more suspicious. And in a nice change from the typical setup, this time the hero’s girlfriend is clued into his job and accepts it; contrast Dana from Batman Beyond and Laura from Max Steel, who often berated their boyfriends for missed dates because they didn’t know what was going on (though the Justice League Unlimited episode “Epilogue” put Dana in the know, fifteen years later). Fans will complain about Julie for not getting much development—sadly, a side-effect of being a secondary character (likely set that way on purpose to avoid the hate that comes with a hero having a steady girlfriend who’s on the main team)—but this choice in her development is definitely an improvement in storytelling in general.
Ship, a Galvanic Mechomorph symbiote created by the alien pilot, serves as the episode’s unwitting antagonist and cockblocker. Named for the one word he can say, he behaves like a puppy, at one point nuzzling Ben’s leg and panting like a dog a little later, not to mention chasing after cars. He tries to get Ben’s help in rescuing his former host, but between his well-intentioned mischief and Ben’s growing panic, the message doesn’t come across clearly. Luckily for him, at least Julie thinks he’s cute.
Ben’s new alien this episode is also his first accidental transformation, caused by the rocking of the pier knocking the dial to another setting. Brainstorm is also the first alien this series where we see the active process of naming. In the original, Ben considered half the fun of having the Omnitrix being that he could name each alien anything he wanted. Previously in Alien Force, the names have seemed instinctive, with Ben announcing the name immediately after transforming. However, this time, we see Brainstorm thinking hard about his name before announcing it. Brainstorm combines a genius-level intellect with energy manipulation, creating forcefields and energy blasts.
“Pier Pressure” was written by Len Uhley. Julie and Ship were voiced by Vyvan Pham. The pilot was played by Rob Paulsen.
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