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akinoameWhen news of a Level 20 piece of technology on Earth reaches the team, they scramble around Bellwood trying to find it. When they do, it’s a green glowing box in an alley and naturally, Ben goes over to touch the potentially dangerous glowy thing. After all, if it worked out the last time. But when he gets close, the box reacts to him and becomes a robotic duplicate that can only mimic his words and actions. The same happens when Kevin gets close, but when Kevin hits it, the double hits back with twice the force. It results in a fight until Gwen realizes that the robot only copies what it sees and hears, so if they’re nonviolent toward it, it’ll be nonviolent toward them. Unfortunately, the Vreedle Brothers (“Don’t Fear the Repo”) have heard about it and want it for themselves, to auction off to the highest bidder. After another fight, this time against the Vreedles and the robot, the Vreedles take the robot and head off.
With nothing they can really do about it, the team heads to Mr. Smoothy, only for the Vreedle Brothers to drop off the robot and tell them it’s their problem now. When the Vreedles reacted violently to a toll booth (Boid swears he had no choice but to blow it up—he didn’t have any change; seriously, has the rest of the galaxy never heard of the EZ Pass?), the robot became violent in reaction, and now they can’t stop it. As it turns into a chimera of the Omnitrix aliens it copied before and goes on a rampage, destroying the Mr. Smoothy, the team is forced to fight back with massive levels of collateral damage. Finally, they realize that the robot’s power core is located behind its copied Omnitrix symbol, and Lodestar manages to rip open a crack Kevin created so Gwen can remove the core. The rest of the body falls to pieces, and the team knows they have to destroy the power core because of the danger it poses to the galaxy. But before Lodestar can destroy it, an energy being arrives from another plane and says that the device was a toy her daughter lost when they visited our plane. When Kevin says that he’d never let one of his kids play with something like that, the energy being points out that they’re all too young—the toy is clearly marked “Not for children under three million years of age.” Yes, Ascended Beings put a damn warning label on their technology even if you can’t get close enough to read it or understand what it says, which is a lot more than we can say for the Galvan. When the energy being leaves and takes the toy with her, Kevin says he’s glad that it’s over and they don’t have to deal with any more robotic doubles…only to hear a metallic version of Ben’s voice behind him. But it’s just the dweeb talking through a tin can, and the others glare at him as it fades to black.
In a way, this episode continues the whole “true purpose” of the Omnitrix begun in Secret of the Omnitrix and supposedly concluded in “War of the Worlds.” The device at the center of this episode was viewed as a weapon by everyone in the Milky Way, but for the energy beings of another plane, it’s just a toy. And it’s easy to see how any little kid would want a plaything that can mimic you when you get close to it and copy everything you say or do. After all, human kids are always copying someone else to annoy them, why wouldn’t a toy like this be considered fun? It would fly off the shelves like the Tickle-Me-Elmo or Buzz Lightyear of another plane of existence.
But this toy story becomes a Consumer Product Safety Commission report when it falls into the hands of a very young race. Earth’s tech level is only Level 2, and the device was over Level 20—more advanced than anything in the galaxy, including the Omnitrix. And it’s clear that the galaxy is not ready for that kind of level of technology. Instead of considering peaceful purposes for it, everyone considers it a weapon and treats it as such, only causing massive amounts of property damage when they simply don’t treat it with the proper care. It’s similar to the history of gunpowder—black powder can be used for fireworks and rockets or for guns and explosives. Anything can become a weapon, depending on the user’s intent. And when the user is too young to understand how its true purpose, then the results can be catastrophic.
This episode introduces another race of energy beings other than the Anodytes and explains that they live on another plane of existence—similar to the Ascended Beings of the Stargate series. There’s not much to say about them, except that at the very least, this particular energy being views humans simply as children, rather than with the more pronounced arrogant disdain many other aliens have professed (i.e. the Galvan).
We also learn that of the levels of technology in the Milky Way Galaxy, Level 20 is the highest, and the Omnitrix is the only thing in the galaxy at that level. It is in fact the most technologically advanced artifact in the galaxy, and it’s stuck to the wrist of this kid. No wonder so many people have a problem with Ben.
And finally, we see some cool things with Gwen’s powers. Following her encounter with Charmcaster, she apparently decided to hit the spellbooks again, as she uses a wind spell to break Kevin’s fall during battle. The tornado is surrounded by pink energy, indicating the source of Gwen’s powers. She also decides to take advantage of a problem she’s had—in previous episodes, particularly “Good Copy, Bad Copy,” she has had trouble tracking technology or getting a fix on mana off of something mechanical. Much like cold iron and Nth metal disrupt magic in Gargoyles and Justice League, technology gives Gwen’s powers a problem that either is resolved by Alien Swarm or the writers simply didn’t remember at the time. In any case, she uses it as a radar, spreading out her power and following the disruption created when it reacts to a piece of technology, creatively solving the team’s problem and her own.
“Busy Box” was written by Jake Black.
With nothing they can really do about it, the team heads to Mr. Smoothy, only for the Vreedle Brothers to drop off the robot and tell them it’s their problem now. When the Vreedles reacted violently to a toll booth (Boid swears he had no choice but to blow it up—he didn’t have any change; seriously, has the rest of the galaxy never heard of the EZ Pass?), the robot became violent in reaction, and now they can’t stop it. As it turns into a chimera of the Omnitrix aliens it copied before and goes on a rampage, destroying the Mr. Smoothy, the team is forced to fight back with massive levels of collateral damage. Finally, they realize that the robot’s power core is located behind its copied Omnitrix symbol, and Lodestar manages to rip open a crack Kevin created so Gwen can remove the core. The rest of the body falls to pieces, and the team knows they have to destroy the power core because of the danger it poses to the galaxy. But before Lodestar can destroy it, an energy being arrives from another plane and says that the device was a toy her daughter lost when they visited our plane. When Kevin says that he’d never let one of his kids play with something like that, the energy being points out that they’re all too young—the toy is clearly marked “Not for children under three million years of age.” Yes, Ascended Beings put a damn warning label on their technology even if you can’t get close enough to read it or understand what it says, which is a lot more than we can say for the Galvan. When the energy being leaves and takes the toy with her, Kevin says he’s glad that it’s over and they don’t have to deal with any more robotic doubles…only to hear a metallic version of Ben’s voice behind him. But it’s just the dweeb talking through a tin can, and the others glare at him as it fades to black.
In a way, this episode continues the whole “true purpose” of the Omnitrix begun in Secret of the Omnitrix and supposedly concluded in “War of the Worlds.” The device at the center of this episode was viewed as a weapon by everyone in the Milky Way, but for the energy beings of another plane, it’s just a toy. And it’s easy to see how any little kid would want a plaything that can mimic you when you get close to it and copy everything you say or do. After all, human kids are always copying someone else to annoy them, why wouldn’t a toy like this be considered fun? It would fly off the shelves like the Tickle-Me-Elmo or Buzz Lightyear of another plane of existence.
But this toy story becomes a Consumer Product Safety Commission report when it falls into the hands of a very young race. Earth’s tech level is only Level 2, and the device was over Level 20—more advanced than anything in the galaxy, including the Omnitrix. And it’s clear that the galaxy is not ready for that kind of level of technology. Instead of considering peaceful purposes for it, everyone considers it a weapon and treats it as such, only causing massive amounts of property damage when they simply don’t treat it with the proper care. It’s similar to the history of gunpowder—black powder can be used for fireworks and rockets or for guns and explosives. Anything can become a weapon, depending on the user’s intent. And when the user is too young to understand how its true purpose, then the results can be catastrophic.
This episode introduces another race of energy beings other than the Anodytes and explains that they live on another plane of existence—similar to the Ascended Beings of the Stargate series. There’s not much to say about them, except that at the very least, this particular energy being views humans simply as children, rather than with the more pronounced arrogant disdain many other aliens have professed (i.e. the Galvan).
We also learn that of the levels of technology in the Milky Way Galaxy, Level 20 is the highest, and the Omnitrix is the only thing in the galaxy at that level. It is in fact the most technologically advanced artifact in the galaxy, and it’s stuck to the wrist of this kid. No wonder so many people have a problem with Ben.
And finally, we see some cool things with Gwen’s powers. Following her encounter with Charmcaster, she apparently decided to hit the spellbooks again, as she uses a wind spell to break Kevin’s fall during battle. The tornado is surrounded by pink energy, indicating the source of Gwen’s powers. She also decides to take advantage of a problem she’s had—in previous episodes, particularly “Good Copy, Bad Copy,” she has had trouble tracking technology or getting a fix on mana off of something mechanical. Much like cold iron and Nth metal disrupt magic in Gargoyles and Justice League, technology gives Gwen’s powers a problem that either is resolved by Alien Swarm or the writers simply didn’t remember at the time. In any case, she uses it as a radar, spreading out her power and following the disruption created when it reacts to a piece of technology, creatively solving the team’s problem and her own.
“Busy Box” was written by Jake Black.