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akinoameThe Alien Force is taking time off at the lake. While Brainstorm wins a playful fight against Kevin, Gwen is depressed. She explains that the lake was Grandpa Max’s secret fishing spot, where he’d taught her how to fish. But she’s not the only one taking the time to remember: a mysterious cloaked woman places an odd pink flower underneath a tree with the words “Max + Verdona” carved into it. And it’s not the first time she’s been there, judging by the number of wilted flowers. Gwen can’t track her, so the kids decide on a stakeout.
While the boys are picking on each other, Gwen leaves to find a restroom. Sure enough, as soon as she’s gone, the boys find themselves in trouble: the old woman’s returned, and when they confront her, she attacks with magical abilities identical to Gwen’s. The boys fight back and generally get their asses kicked, at which point Gwen shows up to save them. But the woman is shocked to see Gwen’s power. Upon Gwen revealing that Max was her grandfather, the woman grabs her in a hug, completely disregarding Ben when he admits he doesn’t have the same powers. The woman, Verdona, promises to see Gwen again soon before vanishing, and Ben comes to the realization that he and Gwen have just met their long-lost grandmother.
Later, Gwen talks to her father, revealing that she’s been keeping her magic secret from him. He laughs it off, insisting there’s no such thing as magic; but when she shows her powers, he sits down in shock. Frank Tennyson reveals that he was afraid she would develop those powers and both he and his wife were relieved when it looked like she hadn’t. Then he drops the second bombshell Gwen’s received that night: her powers aren’t magic, but inherited alien powers. Verdona is an alien, making Frank and his brother half-alien and their kids a quarter-alien. Stunned, Gwen sits down to try and think, and then yells at the boys to stop eavesdropping from the roof. Ben and Kevin apologetically climb through the window, leading to Frank assuming Kevin is Gwen’s boyfriend and the two having vehement denials. When Gwen says she doesn’t know what her grandmother wants, Frank reveals he’s sensed Verdona eavesdropping the entire time. She confesses that he always could tell when she was watching and had always hoped it was the “spark,” but it had never shown anything. She then teleports everyone out of Gwen’s room and downstairs to the living room, where Gwen’s mother, Natalie, is less than happy to see her mother-in-law.
Over tea and cookies, Verdona explains things to Gwen and the others: she is from a race of energy beings known as Anodytes. Despite the Anodytes’ generally staying out of mortal affairs, Verdona had fallen deeply in love with Max. Still, after their kids were grown, she felt she needed to move on and returned to her home planet of Anodyne, while Max was with the Plumbers. And now that she knows Gwen has the Anodyte spark, Verdona offers to teach her to master the manipulation of life energy, or mana. Unfortunately, mastering her powers would mean Gwen would have to leave for Anodyne. Uncertain whether she wants to leave, Gwen heads to the roof to think, where Kevin and Ben join her. Ben tries to be supportive, but Kevin’s not buying this crap and he’s annoyed that nobody’s telling Gwen not to go. He admits that he wants Gwen around and thinks that all this talk of her leaving is “lame.” Thrilled, Gwen kisses him on the cheek and runs back inside to tell Verdona she doesn’t want to go. But Verdona’s not taking no for an answer. She sheds her human shell and reveals her true Anodyte form, deciding that if Gwen is going to master her powers, she’s going to need to give up her human body to do that.
The boys jump to Gwen’s defense, and another fight breaks out. And it goes about as badly as the last one. Even with his new alien, Spidermonkey, Ben is soundly defeated, as is Kevin. Gwen is left to try to talk Verdona down. She advocates the joys of being human and reminds Verdona of how much she’d loved Max, pointing out that it was the reason Verdona had returned to Earth in the first place—to remember the times she missed, deep down. Verdona tries one more time to convince Gwen to come with her, promising her that she’d unlock so many more powers, but Gwen stands her ground and insists she’d rather stay with her family and friends. Verdona finally relents, repairing all of the damage she’d caused in the fight before leaving, promising that she’ll stop in to check up on Gwen—something Natalie is just thrilled to hear. But she leaves behind one more flower. Gwen, her parents, and her friends return once more to the tree at the lake to leave the flower in remembrance.
This episode is the first one to focus on Gwen, and it’s very much needed. After seven episodes of Gwen’s characterization mostly being tied to her interactions with Ben and Kevin, she finally gets some standalone development. In the original series, Gwen began using magic after acquiring first the Charms of Bezel, then the Keystone of Bezel, and finally Charmcaster’s spellbook. Fans had complained early on that Gwen’s powers had changed from various spells and the glow of blue energy to (Justice League) Green Lantern-style beams and bubbles in pink energy. However, this episode reveals that Gwen’s powers are now the result of her alien heritage (but Dwayne McDuffie promises that season 3 will reveal it’s not a retcon of Gwen’s powers in the original; simply an evolution). Gwen admits to the boys that she’s always felt a bit like an outsider—something neither supported nor contradicted by either series, since the focus has rarely been on her—and now she realizes her Anodyte heritage is the reason why. Despite being the responsible one on the team, it’s clear that Gwen wants to follow her own heart on this matter, and she can’t find anyone to tell her to stay. When her parents say they won’t interfere with her choice, she runs away. When Ben admits that they’d need her, she feels a little better, but she’s then deflated by his affirmation that they’d still have the Plumber Kid Army to fall back on (which was admittedly in poor taste). Ben then insists that Gwen make the decision on her own, just as she had told him about the Omnitrix in “Ben 10 Returns.” However, it’s Kevin’s insistence that “the whole thing’s lame” that settles the matter for her; not only is he finally admitting to some degree that he likes her, he’s also telling her what she really wants to hear and giving her a reason to stay. And in a series focusing so much on the alien aspect of human/alien hybrids, Gwen decides to celebrate her human heritage more than her alien one.
Verdona, Ben and Gwen’s grandmother, is Grandpa Max’s alien ex-wife, giving insight into the potential problems of the human/alien relationships in the series backstory. The Anodytes prefer not to meddle in the affairs of other races, yet Verdona let herself get involved with Max. However, it appears to have come in conflict with her Anodyte identity and she broke up with him to return to her home planet. It’s difficult to tell without seeing what she was like before heading back home, but it seems that she became less inclined to get involved again, judging by her denials that she was “just a kid having her fun” in those days. When her grandchildren were born, she only stopped in long enough to test the kids for the spark and then left, never considering that they might develop it later in life or that maybe she should stick around for other reasons. And those who don’t have the spark are barely a blip on her radar. While she’s fairly sensitive to her son, Frank, she all but ignores everyone else. Natalie she bosses around. Ben she writes off and scolds for asking questions. Kevin she doesn’t even bother to remember. However, Max was always a soft spot for her, and she admits that when he was younger, he was very much like Kevin—the first compliment she gives the boy, despite the fact that she can’t remember his name and tells him not to interrupt. She also comes to accept Ben by the end, even though he’s (in comparison) an ordinary human, praising him for standing up for Gwen. In her one appearance, Verdona proves to be a complicated character and give a glimpse of the complicated life of human/alien families.
Because Alien Force is more character-driven than the original was, it can’t always afford to give the new aliens completely satisfying introductions. While some like Swampfire and Alien X get the chance to show off their power in a major fight and emerge victorious (albeit, for Alien X, a momentary victory until the mode lock and arguing personalities pose a problem), some appear to be shoehorned in, like Brainstorm in “Pier Pressure” and Spidermonkey in this episode. Ben chooses Spidermonkey apparently at random, which seems a little odd given that he usually tries to fit the alien to the fight. Spidermonkey pretty much lives up to his name, power-wise. He can spin webs like a spider and he’s agile like a monkey. And that’s about it. While his webs are moderately useful in this fight—for example, catching Gwen when she takes a hit—sometimes they seem oddly out of place, like when he and Gwen use one as a slingshot for an energy bubble, which is fairly impractical given that Gwen can throw it herself or create an energy construct to do that for her. Honestly, Spidermonkey’s main role in this episode is to get tied up in his own web so he can’t interfere when Gwen confronts Verdona alone.
This episode is the first time ever that we see Gwen’s parents, who are apparently well off, judging by the size of the house. Natalie clearly doesn’t like Verdona, and given some of the stuff going on in this episode and the fact that she’d ditched the family, it’s pretty understandable. Frank, however, still loves his mother and insists that even though he didn’t have the spark, she taught him a great deal. And while he may not have the spark, he is a little unusual himself, as he’s always been able to recognize his mother’s presence whenever she was invisible. It’s unclear if this is a low-grade ESP or if he can somehow recognize a mature Anodyte’s energy, but by Verdona’s reaction, it isn’t exactly normal. However, chances are that we will not see anything become of it.
Finally, we see that Max was apparently terrible at keeping his secret life as a Plumber a secret. We get a silhouetted flashback frame of Max in his younger years fighting alongside other Plumbers, apparently in command, and the shot, looking like a homage to the Green Lanterns, looks very badass. Frank admits that Max thought Verdona didn’t know about it, which reveals they both knew, and Max had wanted to protect his family by keeping secrets. This becomes a major issue in the second season episode “Grounded,” regarding Max’s other son, Carl.
“What Are Little Girls Made Of?” was written by Matt Wayne. Human-form Verdona was voiced by Barbara Bain, while Anodyte-form Verdona was played by Juliet Landau, who also played Natalie. Frank was played by George Newbern.
While the boys are picking on each other, Gwen leaves to find a restroom. Sure enough, as soon as she’s gone, the boys find themselves in trouble: the old woman’s returned, and when they confront her, she attacks with magical abilities identical to Gwen’s. The boys fight back and generally get their asses kicked, at which point Gwen shows up to save them. But the woman is shocked to see Gwen’s power. Upon Gwen revealing that Max was her grandfather, the woman grabs her in a hug, completely disregarding Ben when he admits he doesn’t have the same powers. The woman, Verdona, promises to see Gwen again soon before vanishing, and Ben comes to the realization that he and Gwen have just met their long-lost grandmother.
Later, Gwen talks to her father, revealing that she’s been keeping her magic secret from him. He laughs it off, insisting there’s no such thing as magic; but when she shows her powers, he sits down in shock. Frank Tennyson reveals that he was afraid she would develop those powers and both he and his wife were relieved when it looked like she hadn’t. Then he drops the second bombshell Gwen’s received that night: her powers aren’t magic, but inherited alien powers. Verdona is an alien, making Frank and his brother half-alien and their kids a quarter-alien. Stunned, Gwen sits down to try and think, and then yells at the boys to stop eavesdropping from the roof. Ben and Kevin apologetically climb through the window, leading to Frank assuming Kevin is Gwen’s boyfriend and the two having vehement denials. When Gwen says she doesn’t know what her grandmother wants, Frank reveals he’s sensed Verdona eavesdropping the entire time. She confesses that he always could tell when she was watching and had always hoped it was the “spark,” but it had never shown anything. She then teleports everyone out of Gwen’s room and downstairs to the living room, where Gwen’s mother, Natalie, is less than happy to see her mother-in-law.
Over tea and cookies, Verdona explains things to Gwen and the others: she is from a race of energy beings known as Anodytes. Despite the Anodytes’ generally staying out of mortal affairs, Verdona had fallen deeply in love with Max. Still, after their kids were grown, she felt she needed to move on and returned to her home planet of Anodyne, while Max was with the Plumbers. And now that she knows Gwen has the Anodyte spark, Verdona offers to teach her to master the manipulation of life energy, or mana. Unfortunately, mastering her powers would mean Gwen would have to leave for Anodyne. Uncertain whether she wants to leave, Gwen heads to the roof to think, where Kevin and Ben join her. Ben tries to be supportive, but Kevin’s not buying this crap and he’s annoyed that nobody’s telling Gwen not to go. He admits that he wants Gwen around and thinks that all this talk of her leaving is “lame.” Thrilled, Gwen kisses him on the cheek and runs back inside to tell Verdona she doesn’t want to go. But Verdona’s not taking no for an answer. She sheds her human shell and reveals her true Anodyte form, deciding that if Gwen is going to master her powers, she’s going to need to give up her human body to do that.
The boys jump to Gwen’s defense, and another fight breaks out. And it goes about as badly as the last one. Even with his new alien, Spidermonkey, Ben is soundly defeated, as is Kevin. Gwen is left to try to talk Verdona down. She advocates the joys of being human and reminds Verdona of how much she’d loved Max, pointing out that it was the reason Verdona had returned to Earth in the first place—to remember the times she missed, deep down. Verdona tries one more time to convince Gwen to come with her, promising her that she’d unlock so many more powers, but Gwen stands her ground and insists she’d rather stay with her family and friends. Verdona finally relents, repairing all of the damage she’d caused in the fight before leaving, promising that she’ll stop in to check up on Gwen—something Natalie is just thrilled to hear. But she leaves behind one more flower. Gwen, her parents, and her friends return once more to the tree at the lake to leave the flower in remembrance.
This episode is the first one to focus on Gwen, and it’s very much needed. After seven episodes of Gwen’s characterization mostly being tied to her interactions with Ben and Kevin, she finally gets some standalone development. In the original series, Gwen began using magic after acquiring first the Charms of Bezel, then the Keystone of Bezel, and finally Charmcaster’s spellbook. Fans had complained early on that Gwen’s powers had changed from various spells and the glow of blue energy to (Justice League) Green Lantern-style beams and bubbles in pink energy. However, this episode reveals that Gwen’s powers are now the result of her alien heritage (but Dwayne McDuffie promises that season 3 will reveal it’s not a retcon of Gwen’s powers in the original; simply an evolution). Gwen admits to the boys that she’s always felt a bit like an outsider—something neither supported nor contradicted by either series, since the focus has rarely been on her—and now she realizes her Anodyte heritage is the reason why. Despite being the responsible one on the team, it’s clear that Gwen wants to follow her own heart on this matter, and she can’t find anyone to tell her to stay. When her parents say they won’t interfere with her choice, she runs away. When Ben admits that they’d need her, she feels a little better, but she’s then deflated by his affirmation that they’d still have the Plumber Kid Army to fall back on (which was admittedly in poor taste). Ben then insists that Gwen make the decision on her own, just as she had told him about the Omnitrix in “Ben 10 Returns.” However, it’s Kevin’s insistence that “the whole thing’s lame” that settles the matter for her; not only is he finally admitting to some degree that he likes her, he’s also telling her what she really wants to hear and giving her a reason to stay. And in a series focusing so much on the alien aspect of human/alien hybrids, Gwen decides to celebrate her human heritage more than her alien one.
Verdona, Ben and Gwen’s grandmother, is Grandpa Max’s alien ex-wife, giving insight into the potential problems of the human/alien relationships in the series backstory. The Anodytes prefer not to meddle in the affairs of other races, yet Verdona let herself get involved with Max. However, it appears to have come in conflict with her Anodyte identity and she broke up with him to return to her home planet. It’s difficult to tell without seeing what she was like before heading back home, but it seems that she became less inclined to get involved again, judging by her denials that she was “just a kid having her fun” in those days. When her grandchildren were born, she only stopped in long enough to test the kids for the spark and then left, never considering that they might develop it later in life or that maybe she should stick around for other reasons. And those who don’t have the spark are barely a blip on her radar. While she’s fairly sensitive to her son, Frank, she all but ignores everyone else. Natalie she bosses around. Ben she writes off and scolds for asking questions. Kevin she doesn’t even bother to remember. However, Max was always a soft spot for her, and she admits that when he was younger, he was very much like Kevin—the first compliment she gives the boy, despite the fact that she can’t remember his name and tells him not to interrupt. She also comes to accept Ben by the end, even though he’s (in comparison) an ordinary human, praising him for standing up for Gwen. In her one appearance, Verdona proves to be a complicated character and give a glimpse of the complicated life of human/alien families.
Because Alien Force is more character-driven than the original was, it can’t always afford to give the new aliens completely satisfying introductions. While some like Swampfire and Alien X get the chance to show off their power in a major fight and emerge victorious (albeit, for Alien X, a momentary victory until the mode lock and arguing personalities pose a problem), some appear to be shoehorned in, like Brainstorm in “Pier Pressure” and Spidermonkey in this episode. Ben chooses Spidermonkey apparently at random, which seems a little odd given that he usually tries to fit the alien to the fight. Spidermonkey pretty much lives up to his name, power-wise. He can spin webs like a spider and he’s agile like a monkey. And that’s about it. While his webs are moderately useful in this fight—for example, catching Gwen when she takes a hit—sometimes they seem oddly out of place, like when he and Gwen use one as a slingshot for an energy bubble, which is fairly impractical given that Gwen can throw it herself or create an energy construct to do that for her. Honestly, Spidermonkey’s main role in this episode is to get tied up in his own web so he can’t interfere when Gwen confronts Verdona alone.
This episode is the first time ever that we see Gwen’s parents, who are apparently well off, judging by the size of the house. Natalie clearly doesn’t like Verdona, and given some of the stuff going on in this episode and the fact that she’d ditched the family, it’s pretty understandable. Frank, however, still loves his mother and insists that even though he didn’t have the spark, she taught him a great deal. And while he may not have the spark, he is a little unusual himself, as he’s always been able to recognize his mother’s presence whenever she was invisible. It’s unclear if this is a low-grade ESP or if he can somehow recognize a mature Anodyte’s energy, but by Verdona’s reaction, it isn’t exactly normal. However, chances are that we will not see anything become of it.
Finally, we see that Max was apparently terrible at keeping his secret life as a Plumber a secret. We get a silhouetted flashback frame of Max in his younger years fighting alongside other Plumbers, apparently in command, and the shot, looking like a homage to the Green Lanterns, looks very badass. Frank admits that Max thought Verdona didn’t know about it, which reveals they both knew, and Max had wanted to protect his family by keeping secrets. This becomes a major issue in the second season episode “Grounded,” regarding Max’s other son, Carl.
“What Are Little Girls Made Of?” was written by Matt Wayne. Human-form Verdona was voiced by Barbara Bain, while Anodyte-form Verdona was played by Juliet Landau, who also played Natalie. Frank was played by George Newbern.
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-03 12:10 am (UTC)Grounded was focused mainly on Ben without a doubt, but Gwen gets in some screentime which I found humorous since she was pissed at Ben due to the fact that both cousins aren't just sharing a birthday-they shared punishment. ^^
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-03 02:38 am (UTC)Oh yes. Half the time, the best parts were from Gwen and Kevin trying to deal with Ben being grounded.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-03 02:40 am (UTC)I still think one of the best parts was when Ben got caught sneaking out as Echo Echo. XD
(no subject)
Date: 2009-09-03 03:17 am (UTC)