well, I don't agree that there was a lack of character development. Ben got a lot this episode, if there was anything about this episode that was bugging me, IMO it'd be the plot not being that challenging,they didn't really make it obvious that Vulkanus who sent the Techadon. It was really a shift between Gwen and Ben as the main characters. Overall I don't believe there's a lack of character development, so much as a focus on comedy, Ben, Gwen and Kevin are used as comic relief and I don't believe that's a bad thing. I don't think a lack cohesive story is going against this season. If anything it's for that reason I'm enjoying it so much, Gwen's getting lot of great moments. I don't believe in life altering stories too always be the key for a season to be a success. Plus we've got tons of guest characters to explore there development.