Prison break: “Escape From Aggregor”
May. 22nd, 2010 11:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akinoameDr. Animo is back—and back to his original name now that he’s no longer the Great and Powerful D’Void. He has control over a Yeti and is using it to fight Ben while Kevin and Gwen calmly disable the DNA bomb he plans to use to transform every human on the planet into a Yeti (yes, this sounds suspiciously like Grodd; no, Luthor does not show up to shoot him). Brainstorm manages to disable the mind control and the others dismantle the bomb, and Animo needs to be carted off to jail. But as the Plumbers arrive for pickup, they ask why the team isn’t in Bellwood, where there’s a battle going on right now.
A turtle-like alien is on a rampage, but Gwen notices that he’s not actually hurting anyone. Suggesting that it’s another case like the Dragon (“Be-Knighted”), she gets them to try using their badges as a universal translator (as in “Unearthed”). Sure enough, the alien, Galapagus, is relieved to be able to communicate with them and reveals that he knew going on a rampage was the only way he could get Ben’s attention. For he is one of the five Andromedans kidnapped byAgreggor Aggregor Agoraphobe…
You know what? I’m just gonna call him “Greg.”
Galapagus had lived a peaceful life on his home planet of Aldabra until “Greg” arrived, attacking his people and capturing him. While trapped in a cell with a device that neutralized his powers, Galapagus met four others, Bivalvan, Andreas, Ra’ad, and P’andor. Together, they managed to escape, but not for long. Bivalvan hoped to take control of the ship and P’andor wanted to kill Greggo and his troops. They were all recaptured, but not before Bivalvan managed to get out a distress signal. Magister Prior Ghilil (“Darkstar Rising”) arrived to check it out and didn’t buy Agregory’s story that it was a malfunction and these were not the droids he was looking for. After some poking around, he found the Andromeda Five, but before he could do anything, Greg struck him down.
With the Ghilil down and out, the Five tried to escape, but they all got separated. Galapagus managed to catch up to the others, and they head to the bridge, but Greg was waiting for them. It turned out that he struck a deal with Galapagus—he neutralized their powers in exchange for his freedom. But Greg decided to alter the terms of their agreement, but fortunately for the other Four, so did Galapagus. He used his own powers to blast the neutralizer on Greggo’s chest, while they escaped. But their pod was damaged and had to crash-land in Central Florida. Bivalvan insisted they stay with the ship, but the others decided to split up and try to find a way to survive on the strange new world.
Having heard the story, the team tells Galapagus that they found Bivalvan and had the Plumbers send him home (“Fame,” though they didn’t know that Greggo intercepted the signal). Galapagus is thrilled when they promise to call for a ride for him too, and he’s never been so relieved to see a Plumber. But his hope turns to horror as the Plumber removes his helmet and reveals himself as L’eggo My Greggo himself…
We finally get a chance to meet all of the Andromeda Five this time, after meeting Bivalvan in the series premiere. Where Bivalvan didn’t have much of a chance to develop a personality, we see here that he is clearly the level-headed leader of the group. He insists on getting out a distress signal so they can be rescued and frequently reminds the others (particularly the dim-witted Andreas) that they’re on a spaceship and lost in a new galaxy. P’andor is his exact opposite—a Russian-sounding guy stuck in a furnace-looking suit that keeps his powers contained but doesn’t do a thing for his temper. Where the water elemental is even-tempered and logical, the fire elemental is hotheaded and reckless. Ra’ad we don’t really get a feel for at all, and Andreas appears to be all muscle and nothing upstairs. Galapagus, however, is an air elemental and a pacifist. His people spent their days in peace, hovering around, eating grass, and philosophizing. He’s extremely naïve, knowing nothing of fighting or prison or deception until his capture. But he’s a fast learner, and he manages to manipulate Greggo into trusting him with the neutralizer, which allows him to stop him and let them all escape. He also realizes that the only way to get Ben’s help is to attack his hometown, which would get him running in a heartbeat, and he does just enough damage to make himself look like a threat.
Presumably, all of them are from the Andromeda Galaxy, though Galapagus remarks that Ben is famous in “song and story all across the galaxy” (emphasis mine). This implies that he’s hearing this all over the Milky Way (where, you know, he actually did all his work) and not necessarily the Andromeda or Pegasus or Arollean Galaxies. But it probably only bugs me because of Lost Galaxy, so I’m just going to chalk it up to “I learned it in prison.”
We also get our first real introduction to our villain this season, whose name I will continually butcher. But hey, I like “Greg.” L’eggo My Greggo is an Osmosian (or at the very least, extremely heavily implied to be one), and he makes even Kevin 11,000 of the Futureverse look sad in comparison. Where we saw Devin use energy absorption and Kevin use both energy and matter absorption (as well as the Omnitrix-cockups that I will get to in a moment), Greg can absorb the powers directly from any alien, though at 1/10 the power. Kind of like a twisted mockery of the Omnitrix. His first act on arrival to Aldabra is to leap from the sky, slamming down an energy staff, and then drain an Aldabran dry like the Wraith of Stargate Atlantis. And yeah, I think that guy’s dead, Jim. This allows him to temporarily take the necessary features for the wind powers and use them. However, again, it’s only 1/10 the strength of the original. This ties into Kevin 11 way back in the original—when he absorbed the Omnitrix and ended up with his twisted form, we now know that each portion of alien power was only at 1/10 the Omnitrix original. In fact, Ben had even told him that he needed to take it up to eleven—that he had an eleventh template in there, human (/Osmosian hybrid), that would give him the edge he needed to win in “Grudge Match,” by combining the features of multiple aliens in order to fight (yes, I did see at least part of this episode. Shut up). It also means that Kevin may have just “gotten better” after the absorption wore off, much the way it did for Greg.
To solve the annoying problem of having only 1/10 of any alien’s power, Greg plans to use a device that will allow him to use all of the power, and apparently, the Andromeda Five are the key to making that happen. Gee, a villain who takes the power from multiple alien heroes and decides to use it to make himself more powerful than, say, the famous Ben 10? I really hope he puts it to better use than Vilgax ever did. But right now, his plans are a little derailed due to having a power nullifier stuck on his chest, so we’ll have to see just how much trouble he will personally give the team.
I’m not going to say outright that Ghilil is dead. The last time I counted out a Plumber, “Voided” proved me wrong. So let me just quote Avatar’s “The Ember Island Players” when I say that it’s “really ambiguous.” But Greggo’s got his uniform and ship, which allowed him to fool Ben and the others. This also explains how easily he was able to find Bivalvan; he has easy access to the police scanners and can listen in, just the way the team did during the Highbreed arc of Alien Force, back when the Plumbers really didn’t want to do anything to help them. This could make him that much more dangerous and that much more intriguing a character.
As a funny note, the writer for this episode also did “Unearthed,” so she of course made a callback. Kevin was annoyed when Gwen suggested that Galapagus only wanted to talk, asking if she thought he was another lost baby. He also insisted that he wasn’t changing the diapers this time, which begs the question of just what the team did about that part of their babysitting duty. Er, no pun intended.
Alien puns this episode: Galapagus from the Galapágos tortoise (of the islands of the same name); the planet Aldabra from the Aldabra giant tortoise, found on the coral atoll of the same name (the world’s largest) in the island group also of the same name; and the apparent god Adwatia from Adwaita, an Aldabra giant tortoise at the Alipore Zoological Gardens who had been the oldest living animal in Kolkata, India, until his death in 2006 (carbon dating puts his age at around 255 years). Bivalvan, of course, refers to a bivalve—a type of shellfish, like a mussel or a clam. Ra’ad is apparently a Persian word for “thunder,” and Andreas refers to the San Andreas Fault in the western U.S. P’andor appears to refer to Pandora’s Box, indicating the dangers that will come if he’s unsealed from his can, as we’ll probably see next episode.
“Escape FromGreg Aggregor” was written by Charlotte Fullerton. John DiMaggio played Galapagus. Dee Bradley Baker played Andreas, P’andor, and Ra’ad. Dwight Shultz reprised his role as Dr. Animo, and JK Simmons reprised his role as Ghilil.
A turtle-like alien is on a rampage, but Gwen notices that he’s not actually hurting anyone. Suggesting that it’s another case like the Dragon (“Be-Knighted”), she gets them to try using their badges as a universal translator (as in “Unearthed”). Sure enough, the alien, Galapagus, is relieved to be able to communicate with them and reveals that he knew going on a rampage was the only way he could get Ben’s attention. For he is one of the five Andromedans kidnapped by
You know what? I’m just gonna call him “Greg.”
Galapagus had lived a peaceful life on his home planet of Aldabra until “Greg” arrived, attacking his people and capturing him. While trapped in a cell with a device that neutralized his powers, Galapagus met four others, Bivalvan, Andreas, Ra’ad, and P’andor. Together, they managed to escape, but not for long. Bivalvan hoped to take control of the ship and P’andor wanted to kill Greggo and his troops. They were all recaptured, but not before Bivalvan managed to get out a distress signal. Magister Prior Ghilil (“Darkstar Rising”) arrived to check it out and didn’t buy Agregory’s story that it was a malfunction and these were not the droids he was looking for. After some poking around, he found the Andromeda Five, but before he could do anything, Greg struck him down.
With the Ghilil down and out, the Five tried to escape, but they all got separated. Galapagus managed to catch up to the others, and they head to the bridge, but Greg was waiting for them. It turned out that he struck a deal with Galapagus—he neutralized their powers in exchange for his freedom. But Greg decided to alter the terms of their agreement, but fortunately for the other Four, so did Galapagus. He used his own powers to blast the neutralizer on Greggo’s chest, while they escaped. But their pod was damaged and had to crash-land in Central Florida. Bivalvan insisted they stay with the ship, but the others decided to split up and try to find a way to survive on the strange new world.
Having heard the story, the team tells Galapagus that they found Bivalvan and had the Plumbers send him home (“Fame,” though they didn’t know that Greggo intercepted the signal). Galapagus is thrilled when they promise to call for a ride for him too, and he’s never been so relieved to see a Plumber. But his hope turns to horror as the Plumber removes his helmet and reveals himself as L’eggo My Greggo himself…
We finally get a chance to meet all of the Andromeda Five this time, after meeting Bivalvan in the series premiere. Where Bivalvan didn’t have much of a chance to develop a personality, we see here that he is clearly the level-headed leader of the group. He insists on getting out a distress signal so they can be rescued and frequently reminds the others (particularly the dim-witted Andreas) that they’re on a spaceship and lost in a new galaxy. P’andor is his exact opposite—a Russian-sounding guy stuck in a furnace-looking suit that keeps his powers contained but doesn’t do a thing for his temper. Where the water elemental is even-tempered and logical, the fire elemental is hotheaded and reckless. Ra’ad we don’t really get a feel for at all, and Andreas appears to be all muscle and nothing upstairs. Galapagus, however, is an air elemental and a pacifist. His people spent their days in peace, hovering around, eating grass, and philosophizing. He’s extremely naïve, knowing nothing of fighting or prison or deception until his capture. But he’s a fast learner, and he manages to manipulate Greggo into trusting him with the neutralizer, which allows him to stop him and let them all escape. He also realizes that the only way to get Ben’s help is to attack his hometown, which would get him running in a heartbeat, and he does just enough damage to make himself look like a threat.
Presumably, all of them are from the Andromeda Galaxy, though Galapagus remarks that Ben is famous in “song and story all across the galaxy” (emphasis mine). This implies that he’s hearing this all over the Milky Way (where, you know, he actually did all his work) and not necessarily the Andromeda or Pegasus or Arollean Galaxies. But it probably only bugs me because of Lost Galaxy, so I’m just going to chalk it up to “I learned it in prison.”
We also get our first real introduction to our villain this season, whose name I will continually butcher. But hey, I like “Greg.” L’eggo My Greggo is an Osmosian (or at the very least, extremely heavily implied to be one), and he makes even Kevin 11,000 of the Futureverse look sad in comparison. Where we saw Devin use energy absorption and Kevin use both energy and matter absorption (as well as the Omnitrix-cockups that I will get to in a moment), Greg can absorb the powers directly from any alien, though at 1/10 the power. Kind of like a twisted mockery of the Omnitrix. His first act on arrival to Aldabra is to leap from the sky, slamming down an energy staff, and then drain an Aldabran dry like the Wraith of Stargate Atlantis. And yeah, I think that guy’s dead, Jim. This allows him to temporarily take the necessary features for the wind powers and use them. However, again, it’s only 1/10 the strength of the original. This ties into Kevin 11 way back in the original—when he absorbed the Omnitrix and ended up with his twisted form, we now know that each portion of alien power was only at 1/10 the Omnitrix original. In fact, Ben had even told him that he needed to take it up to eleven—that he had an eleventh template in there, human (/Osmosian hybrid), that would give him the edge he needed to win in “Grudge Match,” by combining the features of multiple aliens in order to fight (yes, I did see at least part of this episode. Shut up). It also means that Kevin may have just “gotten better” after the absorption wore off, much the way it did for Greg.
To solve the annoying problem of having only 1/10 of any alien’s power, Greg plans to use a device that will allow him to use all of the power, and apparently, the Andromeda Five are the key to making that happen. Gee, a villain who takes the power from multiple alien heroes and decides to use it to make himself more powerful than, say, the famous Ben 10? I really hope he puts it to better use than Vilgax ever did. But right now, his plans are a little derailed due to having a power nullifier stuck on his chest, so we’ll have to see just how much trouble he will personally give the team.
I’m not going to say outright that Ghilil is dead. The last time I counted out a Plumber, “Voided” proved me wrong. So let me just quote Avatar’s “The Ember Island Players” when I say that it’s “really ambiguous.” But Greggo’s got his uniform and ship, which allowed him to fool Ben and the others. This also explains how easily he was able to find Bivalvan; he has easy access to the police scanners and can listen in, just the way the team did during the Highbreed arc of Alien Force, back when the Plumbers really didn’t want to do anything to help them. This could make him that much more dangerous and that much more intriguing a character.
As a funny note, the writer for this episode also did “Unearthed,” so she of course made a callback. Kevin was annoyed when Gwen suggested that Galapagus only wanted to talk, asking if she thought he was another lost baby. He also insisted that he wasn’t changing the diapers this time, which begs the question of just what the team did about that part of their babysitting duty. Er, no pun intended.
Alien puns this episode: Galapagus from the Galapágos tortoise (of the islands of the same name); the planet Aldabra from the Aldabra giant tortoise, found on the coral atoll of the same name (the world’s largest) in the island group also of the same name; and the apparent god Adwatia from Adwaita, an Aldabra giant tortoise at the Alipore Zoological Gardens who had been the oldest living animal in Kolkata, India, until his death in 2006 (carbon dating puts his age at around 255 years). Bivalvan, of course, refers to a bivalve—a type of shellfish, like a mussel or a clam. Ra’ad is apparently a Persian word for “thunder,” and Andreas refers to the San Andreas Fault in the western U.S. P’andor appears to refer to Pandora’s Box, indicating the dangers that will come if he’s unsealed from his can, as we’ll probably see next episode.
“Escape From
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 03:54 am (UTC)On a semi-serious note, the episode did show us the other aliens who had been abducted from their homeworlds as we heard about in Fame. (Speaking of which, if the next episode is referred to as Pandora's Box...XD) Even if the only type of action Ben, Kevin and Gwen got was in the opening and the first half of the episode, it seems that things have finally calmed down somewhat from the serious drama when Ben's parents-Gwen's aunt & uncle-were targeted.
Still waiting to see if Kevin ends up living in a brick house by the end of the season, being hunted by a big, bad wolf.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-23 04:44 am (UTC)One thing I've noticed so far is that the team dynamic is shifting again. First off, Ben's not a leader anymore. He's got nothing to lead. When you're a three-man team, being the leader really doesn't mean a whole lot. Look at Scott with just Summer and Flynn, or Conner with just Kira and Ethan. In their cases, they were more field commanders answering to their mentors, Dr. Initial (yeah, like K and O escaped my notice). He's got no reason to really strategize or anything; he doesn't have an enemy who's testing him on that level, not since the Highbreed or the one fight in The Final Battle. Which means I'd like to see more of Albedo or one of the other smart villains like him. And as for Kevin, he's becoming more of a voice of reason on the team, the way Gwen usually was or how Ben would act as mediator between them. He's the one going, "Guys, does this sound really stupid, or is it just me?" So I'll be interested to see how the new roles develop.