Road to redemption: “The Final Battle”
Mar. 27th, 2010 05:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akinoameMyaxx reports to Azmuth a theft of his greatest invention yet, the Ultimatrix. Azmuth is disappointed, but not too worried—he never completed the energy core, so the thief can’t do much with it. But Myaxx brings up the security footage, and Azmuth feels a sense of dread. The thief’s profile is clear as day in the green-tinted footage: an exact match to Ben Tennyson.
Having got some chili fries, Albedo installs an energy core (possibly the one stolen from his Omnitrix in “Good Copy, Bad Copy”) into the Ultimatrix. Thrilled that he can finally return to his original form, he searches through the database, only to find that the Ultimatrix too is synched to Ben’s Omnitrix. Vilgax appears from the shadows and offers an alliance, but Albedo is suspicious until Vilgax claims he doesn’t want the Omnitrix; right now, all he cares about is that he kills Ben and conquers his world. Albedo agrees to the terms.
Meanwhile, Kevin and Gwen take Ship to rescue Ben, who’s been kidnapped by Krabb (the bounty hunter from “Hunted” and a few other episodes of the original). They arrive on the ship and fight Krabb, but the stabilizers on the ship are blown, forcing Kevin to navigate through an asteroid field and Gwen to throw a shield up to protect them from the rocks. Ben tells them to head back to Ship while he gives cover fire for them to escape. It works, but he returns to them, depressed that he failed to save Krabb. But they reveal to him that they knew he wouldn’t have time, and they’d brought Krabb back anyway (in a nice nod to “Vendetta,” Kevin swears that Gwen made him save Krabb). Ben recovers all too quickly from the trauma and blows off the seriousness as he looks forward to a Sumo Slammers marathon. While Gwen is studying with Julie (who doesn’t go to the same school as Gwen and thus wouldn’t have the same homework…not shipping!), Kevin suffers through Ben’s marathon for a little while before deciding to drive off. But he nearly runs over Albedo, who uses the Ultimatrix to transform into Diamondhead (and as a nice touch, his alien forms have his red eyes). They fight, but Albedo overpowers Kevin and takes him back to Vilgax, expressing his doubts about the plan. Vilgax says that the only reason Ben has managed to beat either of them is because he’s had his friends to rely on, and without them, Ben will be easier for the two to defeat together. He also promises again that he doesn’t want the Omnitrix—he just wants Ben alive long enough to watch his beloved planet fall.
Gwen calls Ben in the middle of the marathon to say that Kevin hasn’t come to pick her up yet, but Ben isn’t too worried. Gwen decides that she’ll just walk home, but she discovers Kevin’s car flipped over with Diamondhead crystals inside (which hadn’t actually happened in the battle), surrounded by police officers. She runs off, taking one of the crystals, but she runs into Albedo. Albedo transforms into Swampfire and defeats her, but Albedo’s attempts to take out Max fail miserably. The old man is too badass for him and manages to escape. Max drops in on Ben and tells him about Albedo’s attack, but Albedo hacks Ben’s TV and puts up the typical ransom video—he shows off his hostages and tells Ben to come and get them. Max warns Ben repeatedly that it’s a trap, but to his amusement, Ben has picked up his habit of disappearing like Batman.
Ben reports to the cave, refusing to enter as he shouts that he knows it’s a trap. Unfortunately, he’s woefully unprepared for Albedo’s use of the Ultimatrix and his transformation to Ultimate Humongousaur, who soundly defeats Humongousaur Original. Vilgax then shows himself, bringing along the hostages, and gives Ben and ultimatum: his Omnitrix for his friends’ lives. Despite Gwen and Kevin telling him not to, Ben can’t play with their lives and activates his voice command code, giving the command for the Omnitrix to release. It detaches and he transforms back, handing over the watch. Unfortunately for both Ben and Albedo, Vilgax planned a doublecross—he puts the Omnitrix on himself, and the DNA is tied to the biofields of his robot minions, who all transform into copies of Humongousaur. They also all can only say the name, but for some reason, my brain went to “I’m Spartacus” and “I’m Brian and so’s my wife” instead of the obvious Pokémon joke, but that’s me. Max arrives to save the kids, providing Gwen with her old spellbook and a nifty teleportation spell that gets them the hell out of dodge. Albedo tries to fight the robots, but even Ultimate Humongousaur can’t stand up to a thousand of the original, and they dogpile him until he’s forced to transform back. Curse Vilgax’s sudden but inevitable betrayal!
After watching Albedo go down via some of Max’s spycubes he left at the scene, the team looks to Ben for a plan. But Ben is frustrated with himself for giving Vilgax the Omnitrix and bringing about the end of the world. After a brief argument with Kevin, he shouts at Max to stop the Rustbucket and let him out. Gwen tries to stop him, but he runs off into the forest in the middle of a storm. Kevin makes a comment about Ben’s attitude as a quitter, and Gwen argues that Ben’s never given up on him. Max breaks up the fight and Kevin apologizes, but the guys think that Ben just needs some time to himself. Gwen thinks differently and chases after him. She finds Ben sitting under a tree, soaked from the rain. She tries to offer him his jacket, but he throws it aside, arguing that it’s supposed to belong to a hero. Seeing that his self-esteem is down to the same point it was in Secret of the Omnitrix when he’d lost the Omnitrix then, she tries to give him another peptalk, arguing once again that it isn’t the watch that makes him worthwhile but the other way around. She says that it’s the man, not the tool that matters, but Ben argues that for the strongest weapon in the galaxy, it is the tool. She realizes that she can’t help him this time and leaves him be, and he runs off again to break down in another part of the forest, crying for Azmuth to help him. Miraculously, Azmuth shows up right behind him. He criticizes Ben for being a fool, and Ben shamefully accepts the blame. He asks Azmuth for advice, but now, Azmuth is okay with giving it to him: a little hint that it’s hard to fight without the Omnitrix. Ben realizes what he means and runs back to the others with a plan.
They teleport aboard Vilgax’s ship, and Ben defiantly stands up to him, refusing to fight and saying that Vilgax will hand over the Omnitrix of his own free will. When Vilgax mocks him, Ben uses the voice command to activate the self-destruct, keyed in for thirty seconds. Vilgax calls Ben’s bluff and says he wouldn’t threaten the universe, but Ben points out that he’s only letting the energy build up for a few seconds instead of a few days—it would only destroy the watch and hurt Vilgax. When Vilgax fails to believe Ben, the Omnitrix explodes, sending him flying back. Ben runs over to check on the watch while Vilgax is unconscious, but the watch is completely beyond repair—much of it is a mess of broken metal. But to everyone’s surprise, after the Omnitrix’s destruction, Kevin feels strange and blacks out. He collapses to the ground, and his body changes back to normal. When he wakes up, the Tennyson family is surrounding him with huge smiles. His mutation had been linked to the Omnitrix’s biofield, and once the thing exploded, he was cured. But Vilgax isn’t very forgiving toward Ben for his trick, and he goes to strike him—only for Kevin to hold him off, having absorbed some metal now that his old powers were back. Vilgax sets a course for Bellwood and damages the controls, planning on destroying Ben’s hometown and everything else in a hundred mile radius when his ship’s fusion drive explodes. While the others fight Vilgax, Ben runs over to free Albedo, giving him the same ultimatum—hand over the Ultimatrix, or Ben will destroy it and come up with another plan. Albedo tries to call his bluff, but Ben holds up the slagged Omnitrix and points out Vilgax didn’t listen either. Albedo finally agrees and detaches the Ultimatrix, handing it over to Ben, who looks through it casually, pointing out that he misses the Omnitrix, before shutting down the self-destruct. While Albedo conveniently vanishes, Ben transforms into Swampfire. Ben and Kevin fight off Vilgax while Gwen and Max try to turn the ship around from the engine room, but they’re already in re-entry. Instead, they angle toward the ocean (which is apparently near Bellwood), and Ben upgrades Swampfire to Ultimate to fight Vilgax. As the sinking ship takes on water, Ben tells Kevin to evacuate with the others while he finishes Vilgax, who goes to his own Ultimate level. Ultimate Vilgax overwhelms Ultimate Swampfire and swallows him, but Ben switches to Jetray to escape. Above water, the others watch in horror as the fusion drive explodes in a fiery mushroom cloud, but Jetray flies out unharmed. Transforming back after he gets in Gwen’s improvised boat, Ben is immediately hugged by his family and Kevin—who’s embarrassed to admit that he got caught up in the relief that Ben made it out alive. As for Vilgax, Ben is almost sure he’s survived this just like everything else, but they’ll all be ready when he shows up again.
Moreso than Vilgax’s revenge, the story of season three is Ben’s pride. And just like the saying goes, it led to his fall. After eighteen episodes of his ego getting the better of him (not counting “Time Heals,” as he really wasn’t in it all that much, and even then it was mostly the AU version who stood out), he finally loses the bravado, revealing that underneath it all, he isn’t nearly as strong as he pretends to be. When Kevin asks him what the plan is, he explodes and runs off. He angsts in the middle of a storm, evoking memories of Zuko learning to redirect lightning. Gwen fails to talk him around, and he just runs off again. His self-esteem is shot to hell, and to be honest, it wasn’t all that strong in the first place. “Ben 10 Returns” showed his fears of taking command without Grandpa Max, which returned at the end of “Voided.” In “Primus,” he asked what good he was without the Omnitrix. Now, everyone’s looking to him as the leader, but without the Omnitrix, what is he? He’s made mistakes, and the biggest one is giving Vilgax the Omnitrix. And it won’t just be him paying for it; it’s the whole world.
So, at his lowest point, he finally breaks down. Yelling like a much younger kid and dropping to his knees in defeat, he prays to Azmuth to help him one last time—but not for him specifically, but so he can help everyone else. As he gets to his feet, he turns around to see Azmuth sitting on a tree branch behind him. And I absolutely love the way this scene was drawn; with Azmuth on that branch, he’s above Ben’s line of sight—Ben has to look up to him. Azmuth points out every mistake in Ben’s career—that he was never supposed to have the Omnitrix, that Max convinced Azmuth to let Ben keep it, that Ben betrayed Azmuth’s trust, and now he’s given it to Vilgax. Ben quietly admits another sin to the list—that he caused the explosion that mutated Kevin. He asks for help, and Azmuth makes a remark that he knows Ben will be able to figure out. To anyone else, it would sound like criticism; but he knows that Ben is creative enough to turn it into a viable plan. With that, they’re finally back on good terms, and Ben heads back, determined to make things right and save the world. He recovers his jacket and runs into the Rustbucket, taking command and telling them about his plan. The leader from season two is back.
Furthermore, when Kevin is cured, their friendship is back. It’s subtle—not spoken beyond Ben asking Kevin if he’s got his back—but they work together flawlessly, with the same trust they’d spent all of seasons one and two building. Season three, Ben and Kevin hardly fought together. And their teasing was more mean-spirited than before. Half the time, it was amazing Kevin could even stand Ben. Now, it’s clear that he’s forgiven Ben.
This episode introduces the Ultimatrix—the new transformation device for the new series. Azmuth considers it his greatest creation yet, even greater than the Omnitrix, as it can evolve aliens to their highest level (think Pokémon or Digimon) in addition to performing apparently all the functions of the original Omnitrix. Think of it as a combination morpher and battlizer; each alien has a “higher evolution” or “ultimate form” that they can achieve in certain circumstances. Vilgax’s species is at its strongest in water, and in the sinking ship, he evolves into Cthulhu. Albedo uses “Ultimate Humongousaur” against Ben’s Humongousaur, and Ben uses “Ultimate Swampfire” against Vilgax. Neither form has been named yet, nor have they really shown off a whole lot, so I’ll wait until Ultimate Alien to analyze them. As for the evolutions themselves, I just hope that humans have an evolved form too and that it’s Wolverine.
Probably the funniest moment in the episode is when Ben is forcing Kevin to watch the Sumo Slammers marathon and critiquing its new incarnation, Hero Generation. Obviously, it’s a reference to the criticisms of Alien Force (which was under the working title Hero Generation), but I think the real humor is that Ben is pointing out how unrealistic it is that after five years, Kenko turns to the light side and joins up with Ishiyama—while talking to Kevin. I’m starting to think that these two have completely forgotten they used to hate each other.
I did have a moment where I felt like the Nostalgia Critic, however, and it was the scene with the police officers and Gwen. I have no experience with crime scene investigations. All I know is what I see on CSI original. But my inner Grissom was facepalming when CSI: Bellwood just let Gwen crawl into their crime scene, thereby contaminating the car with her fingerprints, and run off with a piece of crystal. This last part is especially bad because she’s stealing evidence, and they just let her walk away with it. God, Bellwood must never get any crimes solved with this kind of sloppy police work! Anyone up for a CSI/Ben 10 crossover to remedy this?
I think my biggest criticism (other than of the Bellwood Police Department) comes down to one thing I’ve felt throughout the entire show: I’d really like to see more of Ben fighting as a human. Yes, he’s got the self-esteem issues, but at the same time, he’s a really good fighter. Gwen trained him herself (as referenced in “Be-Knighted”), and he’s shown off his skills in the past. His fights against Pierce in “Voided” and “Above and Beyond” prove that even in human form, he kicks ass. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to hold off Vilgax for long, but at the same time, he really shouldn’t write himself off so quickly. I hope that in Ultimate Alien we do get more of a chance to see what Ben Tennyson—not just his aliens—is capable of.
“The Final Battle” was written by Dwayne McDuffie. Yuri Lowenthal played Albedo, the Omnitrix, and the Ultimatrix. James Remar played Vilgax. Paul Eiding played Grandpa Max, and Jeff Bennett played Azmuth and Krabb. Vyvan Pham played Ship and Myaxx.
Having got some chili fries, Albedo installs an energy core (possibly the one stolen from his Omnitrix in “Good Copy, Bad Copy”) into the Ultimatrix. Thrilled that he can finally return to his original form, he searches through the database, only to find that the Ultimatrix too is synched to Ben’s Omnitrix. Vilgax appears from the shadows and offers an alliance, but Albedo is suspicious until Vilgax claims he doesn’t want the Omnitrix; right now, all he cares about is that he kills Ben and conquers his world. Albedo agrees to the terms.
Meanwhile, Kevin and Gwen take Ship to rescue Ben, who’s been kidnapped by Krabb (the bounty hunter from “Hunted” and a few other episodes of the original). They arrive on the ship and fight Krabb, but the stabilizers on the ship are blown, forcing Kevin to navigate through an asteroid field and Gwen to throw a shield up to protect them from the rocks. Ben tells them to head back to Ship while he gives cover fire for them to escape. It works, but he returns to them, depressed that he failed to save Krabb. But they reveal to him that they knew he wouldn’t have time, and they’d brought Krabb back anyway (in a nice nod to “Vendetta,” Kevin swears that Gwen made him save Krabb). Ben recovers all too quickly from the trauma and blows off the seriousness as he looks forward to a Sumo Slammers marathon. While Gwen is studying with Julie (who doesn’t go to the same school as Gwen and thus wouldn’t have the same homework…not shipping!), Kevin suffers through Ben’s marathon for a little while before deciding to drive off. But he nearly runs over Albedo, who uses the Ultimatrix to transform into Diamondhead (and as a nice touch, his alien forms have his red eyes). They fight, but Albedo overpowers Kevin and takes him back to Vilgax, expressing his doubts about the plan. Vilgax says that the only reason Ben has managed to beat either of them is because he’s had his friends to rely on, and without them, Ben will be easier for the two to defeat together. He also promises again that he doesn’t want the Omnitrix—he just wants Ben alive long enough to watch his beloved planet fall.
Gwen calls Ben in the middle of the marathon to say that Kevin hasn’t come to pick her up yet, but Ben isn’t too worried. Gwen decides that she’ll just walk home, but she discovers Kevin’s car flipped over with Diamondhead crystals inside (which hadn’t actually happened in the battle), surrounded by police officers. She runs off, taking one of the crystals, but she runs into Albedo. Albedo transforms into Swampfire and defeats her, but Albedo’s attempts to take out Max fail miserably. The old man is too badass for him and manages to escape. Max drops in on Ben and tells him about Albedo’s attack, but Albedo hacks Ben’s TV and puts up the typical ransom video—he shows off his hostages and tells Ben to come and get them. Max warns Ben repeatedly that it’s a trap, but to his amusement, Ben has picked up his habit of disappearing like Batman.
Ben reports to the cave, refusing to enter as he shouts that he knows it’s a trap. Unfortunately, he’s woefully unprepared for Albedo’s use of the Ultimatrix and his transformation to Ultimate Humongousaur, who soundly defeats Humongousaur Original. Vilgax then shows himself, bringing along the hostages, and gives Ben and ultimatum: his Omnitrix for his friends’ lives. Despite Gwen and Kevin telling him not to, Ben can’t play with their lives and activates his voice command code, giving the command for the Omnitrix to release. It detaches and he transforms back, handing over the watch. Unfortunately for both Ben and Albedo, Vilgax planned a doublecross—he puts the Omnitrix on himself, and the DNA is tied to the biofields of his robot minions, who all transform into copies of Humongousaur. They also all can only say the name, but for some reason, my brain went to “I’m Spartacus” and “I’m Brian and so’s my wife” instead of the obvious Pokémon joke, but that’s me. Max arrives to save the kids, providing Gwen with her old spellbook and a nifty teleportation spell that gets them the hell out of dodge. Albedo tries to fight the robots, but even Ultimate Humongousaur can’t stand up to a thousand of the original, and they dogpile him until he’s forced to transform back. Curse Vilgax’s sudden but inevitable betrayal!
After watching Albedo go down via some of Max’s spycubes he left at the scene, the team looks to Ben for a plan. But Ben is frustrated with himself for giving Vilgax the Omnitrix and bringing about the end of the world. After a brief argument with Kevin, he shouts at Max to stop the Rustbucket and let him out. Gwen tries to stop him, but he runs off into the forest in the middle of a storm. Kevin makes a comment about Ben’s attitude as a quitter, and Gwen argues that Ben’s never given up on him. Max breaks up the fight and Kevin apologizes, but the guys think that Ben just needs some time to himself. Gwen thinks differently and chases after him. She finds Ben sitting under a tree, soaked from the rain. She tries to offer him his jacket, but he throws it aside, arguing that it’s supposed to belong to a hero. Seeing that his self-esteem is down to the same point it was in Secret of the Omnitrix when he’d lost the Omnitrix then, she tries to give him another peptalk, arguing once again that it isn’t the watch that makes him worthwhile but the other way around. She says that it’s the man, not the tool that matters, but Ben argues that for the strongest weapon in the galaxy, it is the tool. She realizes that she can’t help him this time and leaves him be, and he runs off again to break down in another part of the forest, crying for Azmuth to help him. Miraculously, Azmuth shows up right behind him. He criticizes Ben for being a fool, and Ben shamefully accepts the blame. He asks Azmuth for advice, but now, Azmuth is okay with giving it to him: a little hint that it’s hard to fight without the Omnitrix. Ben realizes what he means and runs back to the others with a plan.
They teleport aboard Vilgax’s ship, and Ben defiantly stands up to him, refusing to fight and saying that Vilgax will hand over the Omnitrix of his own free will. When Vilgax mocks him, Ben uses the voice command to activate the self-destruct, keyed in for thirty seconds. Vilgax calls Ben’s bluff and says he wouldn’t threaten the universe, but Ben points out that he’s only letting the energy build up for a few seconds instead of a few days—it would only destroy the watch and hurt Vilgax. When Vilgax fails to believe Ben, the Omnitrix explodes, sending him flying back. Ben runs over to check on the watch while Vilgax is unconscious, but the watch is completely beyond repair—much of it is a mess of broken metal. But to everyone’s surprise, after the Omnitrix’s destruction, Kevin feels strange and blacks out. He collapses to the ground, and his body changes back to normal. When he wakes up, the Tennyson family is surrounding him with huge smiles. His mutation had been linked to the Omnitrix’s biofield, and once the thing exploded, he was cured. But Vilgax isn’t very forgiving toward Ben for his trick, and he goes to strike him—only for Kevin to hold him off, having absorbed some metal now that his old powers were back. Vilgax sets a course for Bellwood and damages the controls, planning on destroying Ben’s hometown and everything else in a hundred mile radius when his ship’s fusion drive explodes. While the others fight Vilgax, Ben runs over to free Albedo, giving him the same ultimatum—hand over the Ultimatrix, or Ben will destroy it and come up with another plan. Albedo tries to call his bluff, but Ben holds up the slagged Omnitrix and points out Vilgax didn’t listen either. Albedo finally agrees and detaches the Ultimatrix, handing it over to Ben, who looks through it casually, pointing out that he misses the Omnitrix, before shutting down the self-destruct. While Albedo conveniently vanishes, Ben transforms into Swampfire. Ben and Kevin fight off Vilgax while Gwen and Max try to turn the ship around from the engine room, but they’re already in re-entry. Instead, they angle toward the ocean (which is apparently near Bellwood), and Ben upgrades Swampfire to Ultimate to fight Vilgax. As the sinking ship takes on water, Ben tells Kevin to evacuate with the others while he finishes Vilgax, who goes to his own Ultimate level. Ultimate Vilgax overwhelms Ultimate Swampfire and swallows him, but Ben switches to Jetray to escape. Above water, the others watch in horror as the fusion drive explodes in a fiery mushroom cloud, but Jetray flies out unharmed. Transforming back after he gets in Gwen’s improvised boat, Ben is immediately hugged by his family and Kevin—who’s embarrassed to admit that he got caught up in the relief that Ben made it out alive. As for Vilgax, Ben is almost sure he’s survived this just like everything else, but they’ll all be ready when he shows up again.
Moreso than Vilgax’s revenge, the story of season three is Ben’s pride. And just like the saying goes, it led to his fall. After eighteen episodes of his ego getting the better of him (not counting “Time Heals,” as he really wasn’t in it all that much, and even then it was mostly the AU version who stood out), he finally loses the bravado, revealing that underneath it all, he isn’t nearly as strong as he pretends to be. When Kevin asks him what the plan is, he explodes and runs off. He angsts in the middle of a storm, evoking memories of Zuko learning to redirect lightning. Gwen fails to talk him around, and he just runs off again. His self-esteem is shot to hell, and to be honest, it wasn’t all that strong in the first place. “Ben 10 Returns” showed his fears of taking command without Grandpa Max, which returned at the end of “Voided.” In “Primus,” he asked what good he was without the Omnitrix. Now, everyone’s looking to him as the leader, but without the Omnitrix, what is he? He’s made mistakes, and the biggest one is giving Vilgax the Omnitrix. And it won’t just be him paying for it; it’s the whole world.
So, at his lowest point, he finally breaks down. Yelling like a much younger kid and dropping to his knees in defeat, he prays to Azmuth to help him one last time—but not for him specifically, but so he can help everyone else. As he gets to his feet, he turns around to see Azmuth sitting on a tree branch behind him. And I absolutely love the way this scene was drawn; with Azmuth on that branch, he’s above Ben’s line of sight—Ben has to look up to him. Azmuth points out every mistake in Ben’s career—that he was never supposed to have the Omnitrix, that Max convinced Azmuth to let Ben keep it, that Ben betrayed Azmuth’s trust, and now he’s given it to Vilgax. Ben quietly admits another sin to the list—that he caused the explosion that mutated Kevin. He asks for help, and Azmuth makes a remark that he knows Ben will be able to figure out. To anyone else, it would sound like criticism; but he knows that Ben is creative enough to turn it into a viable plan. With that, they’re finally back on good terms, and Ben heads back, determined to make things right and save the world. He recovers his jacket and runs into the Rustbucket, taking command and telling them about his plan. The leader from season two is back.
Furthermore, when Kevin is cured, their friendship is back. It’s subtle—not spoken beyond Ben asking Kevin if he’s got his back—but they work together flawlessly, with the same trust they’d spent all of seasons one and two building. Season three, Ben and Kevin hardly fought together. And their teasing was more mean-spirited than before. Half the time, it was amazing Kevin could even stand Ben. Now, it’s clear that he’s forgiven Ben.
This episode introduces the Ultimatrix—the new transformation device for the new series. Azmuth considers it his greatest creation yet, even greater than the Omnitrix, as it can evolve aliens to their highest level (think Pokémon or Digimon) in addition to performing apparently all the functions of the original Omnitrix. Think of it as a combination morpher and battlizer; each alien has a “higher evolution” or “ultimate form” that they can achieve in certain circumstances. Vilgax’s species is at its strongest in water, and in the sinking ship, he evolves into Cthulhu. Albedo uses “Ultimate Humongousaur” against Ben’s Humongousaur, and Ben uses “Ultimate Swampfire” against Vilgax. Neither form has been named yet, nor have they really shown off a whole lot, so I’ll wait until Ultimate Alien to analyze them. As for the evolutions themselves, I just hope that humans have an evolved form too and that it’s Wolverine.
Probably the funniest moment in the episode is when Ben is forcing Kevin to watch the Sumo Slammers marathon and critiquing its new incarnation, Hero Generation. Obviously, it’s a reference to the criticisms of Alien Force (which was under the working title Hero Generation), but I think the real humor is that Ben is pointing out how unrealistic it is that after five years, Kenko turns to the light side and joins up with Ishiyama—while talking to Kevin. I’m starting to think that these two have completely forgotten they used to hate each other.
I did have a moment where I felt like the Nostalgia Critic, however, and it was the scene with the police officers and Gwen. I have no experience with crime scene investigations. All I know is what I see on CSI original. But my inner Grissom was facepalming when CSI: Bellwood just let Gwen crawl into their crime scene, thereby contaminating the car with her fingerprints, and run off with a piece of crystal. This last part is especially bad because she’s stealing evidence, and they just let her walk away with it. God, Bellwood must never get any crimes solved with this kind of sloppy police work! Anyone up for a CSI/Ben 10 crossover to remedy this?
I think my biggest criticism (other than of the Bellwood Police Department) comes down to one thing I’ve felt throughout the entire show: I’d really like to see more of Ben fighting as a human. Yes, he’s got the self-esteem issues, but at the same time, he’s a really good fighter. Gwen trained him herself (as referenced in “Be-Knighted”), and he’s shown off his skills in the past. His fights against Pierce in “Voided” and “Above and Beyond” prove that even in human form, he kicks ass. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to hold off Vilgax for long, but at the same time, he really shouldn’t write himself off so quickly. I hope that in Ultimate Alien we do get more of a chance to see what Ben Tennyson—not just his aliens—is capable of.
“The Final Battle” was written by Dwayne McDuffie. Yuri Lowenthal played Albedo, the Omnitrix, and the Ultimatrix. James Remar played Vilgax. Paul Eiding played Grandpa Max, and Jeff Bennett played Azmuth and Krabb. Vyvan Pham played Ship and Myaxx.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-28 03:42 am (UTC)Other than that, I enjoyed the episode very much: Ben handled himself very well when he decided to self-destruct the Omnitrix in lieu of letting Vilgax use it's power, though it was Azmuth who helped him realize the idea. And I'm glad they worked out their issues-he might not have originally believed that Ben was the right guy for the job as wielder of the Omnitrix/Ultimatrix, but Azmuth knows Ben will do what is necessary to save the world-and occasionally, the universe.
I was wondering how Kevin would manage to return to being human and seconds before the Omnitrix blew up, or maybe after, it hit me-with the Omnitrix gone, whatever link that had been created would be destroyed as well. Hence, Kevin gets his old powers back and gets to be human again. My inner Gwen facepalmed at the victory kiss, but then again this is from a canon-strict viewpoint. On a more hilarious note, when I heard Sumo Slammers: Hero Generation, I laughed out loud as I realized that the writers were criticizing themselves during this moment. If there's a mentioning of any kind regarding Sumo Slammers: Evolutions a few years from now I will remember this-and laugh again.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-28 06:25 pm (UTC)I think you can give Kevin a break. He deserved it. Though I will admit I was really, really starting to wonder what they were going for with the whole "homework" bit with Gwen and Julie. I'm trying not to put my ship goggles on, but it still sounds a little suspicious.