Oh, I don't mind the humor. I actually appreciated it a lot when it was in the first season of Alien Force, and then when the second became more lighthearted. But I have to argue about Ben getting a lot of character development this episode. See, the keyword there for me is "development"--this isn't really anything developing. As I said in the review, it's addressing and challenging an established character trait--which is a good start, but it fails to become development when there's no resolution. What does Ben do with this new knowledge that he seems like things come too easily to him and he thus doesn't treat them with the seriousness they deserve? What does he do now that he knows that his friends think of him like this? That his girlfriend with whom he has a rocky relationship with thinks of him like this? Instead, they make the resolution of the battle really easy, which doesn't teach him anything or settle the matter. It doesn't have to be life-altering, but just some kind of resolution.

And I also argue that guest characters who only show up sporadically count. Especially if they don't tie into the overall story arc (Simian, for example), it doesn't make up for it lacking in the main series characters.