Heartwarming / Ben 10 (2016)

This show was meant to be a Lighter and Softer version of the original show, it was definitely meant to have its cute moments.

One of many, many heartwarming family moments.

Spoilers Off applies to all Moments pages, so ALL spoilers are unmarked! Proceed with caution.

In General

• Ben and Gwen’s relationship is just plain adorable. While they still argue a lot, it’s significantly less frequent than in the original show: Gwen is less of a Sarcastic Devotee and Ben isn’t as much of an Idiot Hero as he used to be, making them much more likely to agree on the same things. Likewise, Ben is more patient with Gwen and doesn’t actively try to ruin or avoid the things she wants, while Gwen is more laid-back with Ben’s silly attitude and often goes along with his plans without complaining or making fun of him whenever he’s doing something wrong. Whereas only an undeniable life-and-death scenario would get them anywhere close to openly admitting that they care about each other back in the original series, the 2016 cartoon has them make no secret that they see the other as their best friend.
• Max is very open-minded with his grandchildren and doesn’t hesitate to give them advice whenever they’re distressed or don’t know what to do. He’s also a bit more carefree with Ben and Gwen’s doings, letting them solve their issues by themselves but still stepping in if he needs to.
• Kevin is more of a thoughtless Jerkass here, rather than the homicidal psychopath he was in the original series. He is almost as likely to team up with Ben as to fight with him, and has especially mellowed out in Season 4.
• According to the Alien Worlds shorts, the Arburian Pelarota, Cannonbolt's species, is very much alive and well and even becoming friendly allies with the Vaxasaurians (Humongousaur's species) and the Kinecelerans (XLR8’s species). It's a nice thing to see considering that the species was driven extinct in the original series by the titular Big Tick of Cannonbolt's debut episode, with only Cannonbolt as an Omnitrix DNA sample as the last trace of the entire species.

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Season 1

Waterfilter

• Gwen’s main motivation in being Ben’s "filter"? She doesn’t want Ben to destroy too much stuff, yes, but she also doesn’t want him to make a fool of himself or harm himself by fooling around.
• After being beaten by the Hydromander the first time, Ben laments on his defeat. Old fans of the franchise would expect Gwen to rub it in his face or lecture him about not thinking things through. Instead, she expresses that she’s just glad he’s safe now and doesn’t add anything else.
• When Ben battles the tiny Hydromanders, his first decision is to ask Gwen what he should do. Even when she suggests Heatblast (who is obviously disadvantaged in this situation), he doesn’t question her choice and jumps straight into action following her instructions.
  • Similarly, when he struggles to escape the lake, he immediately asks for Gwen’s advice. Except this time, she encourages him to use his "Ben-tuition" without her interference, eventually leading them to discover the Hydromander’s weakness.
• The episode ends with Gwen apologizing about making Ben doubt himself, stating that his "Ben-tuition" would’ve worked fine if she didn’t meddle with it. Ben immediately forgives her and tells that her filter can be right sometimes. She finally points out that they just have their ways of doing things (immediately followed by Ben jumping into the water as Cannonbolt again).
• One of the flashbacks show Ben with a goldfish in his room. Although it’s played for laughs, we later learn in "Can I Keep It?" that he’s highly allergic to most animals, which means whoever bought him the fish had his allergies in mind and allowed him to have a pet without having to worry about his health.

The Ring Leader

• As irresponsible and dangerous as it could get, Gwen goes with Ben in the middle of the night for wrestling and actually coaches him for his battles, advising him and making sure he’s okay.
• Gwen doesn't make fun of Ben for his cheesy wrestling presentation (or the fact he can sew), instead seemingly finding it cool.

Freaky Gwen Ben

• Max gives 10 bucks to each of Ben and Gwen so they can "reclaim their youth". Even though it’s for the sake of comedy, it’s nice to see Max wanting his grandchildren to have fun at the bazar.
• Even though they end up arguing on what to buy, it’s pretty cute to see Ben and Gwen trying to agree on what to buy by combining the money they have.
• Max immediately runs to see if his grandchildren are okay after that Hex cast his spell on them.
• After that Gwen realizes how hard it is to use an alien and that Ben doesn’t always get the alien he wants, he reassures her and explains to her how to properly use Four Arms and Upgrade’s powers.
• The hippie vendor ends up congratulating Ben and Gwen for saving the day by offering them the very same items they wanted to buy but couldn’t due to their clashing tastes.

Take 10

• Towards the end of the episode, Ben records himself, facing the viewer, and makes a heartfelt speech about not letting his ego take over his sense of duty. Too bad Gwen immediately deletes it along with the rest of their footage for the sake of making a cooking show instead.

Animo Farm

• Max insists that Ben goes outside to make friends instead of staying inside the RV all day. Ben isn’t convinced, but the end of the episode very much proves Max was right in doing so, as Ben is now friends with the Accidentals.
  • Early on, Ben meets a group of kids playing football. It only takes one of them complimenting Ben for him to immediately join them against a bunch of bullies. Even when they’re losing, Ben decides to help them with his alien powers, right before being interrupted by the Alphas.
• Doubles as Awesome: Through teamwork and determination, Stinkfly is able to rally the Accidentals to rebel against the Alphas and give them what they deserve by throwing them in the Accidentals’ cage and using the drill to take down the forcefield.
  • Even though he didn’t have much hope, Minitaur followed Ben’s plan with the others. When they overthrow the Alphas, he laughs at Ben’s joke and praises his humor, contrasting with the sour attitude the beginning of the episode portrayed him with.
  • Nugget helped despite his fear of danger and got enough confidence, thanks to Ben saving him and proving his friendship to everyone, to push the Animo statue down onto the forcefield’s generator, freeing everyone in the farm.
  • Chinzilla and Goatadactyl may look monstruous, but their endurance and respective abilities in breathing fire and biting into anything without pain is what helps them teach the Alphas a lesson, all thanks to Ben’s pep talk ridding them of their fear.
• The end of the episode shows Ben playing football against the bullies again with the same kids he met at the beginning of the episode, except this time, the Accidentals are part of the game and thanks to their teamwork, they easily win the game.

Clown College

• Ben and Gwen seem genuinely interested in Max’s college life. Granted, Ben is mostly in for pranks, but it’s pretty nice to see them so admirative of their grandfather’s past.
• Although it fails terribly, Ben’s prank was an attempt to befriend the college students and wasn’t out of malice.
• Max reuniting with his old team and trainer before gathering once again to show Zombozo not to mess with the Wolves, even if they’re now old men.

Something I Ate

• Early on, Gwen catches on that the Slurpstack is in pain and seems genuinely concerned for it (until it eats Max). Nonetheless, she’s able to tame it and by the end of the day, it seemingly has taken a liking to her, listening to her and smiling when she calls him a "good boy".
• Grey Matter sounds genuinely proud of himself when he’s able to make a perfect Double Helix while inside the Slurpstack, right before he inevitably loses it.
• Gwen tells off Animo by the end of the episode by crushing his robot, clearly motivated by the adorableness and innocence she witnessed coming from the Slurpstack.

Ben 24hrs

• Gwen seems annoyed but does make an effort to stay with Ben while he’s catching up on his sleep.
• Gwen does her best to wake Ben up by mentioning that they’re at the amusement park and goes out of her way to get him out of sleep, sacrificing her own share of sleep for that.
• Max is here to pick Ben and Gwen up after fixing Adrenaland. The first thing they do when they see him? They immediately run into his arms and he gently carries them to the Rustbucket.

The Clocktopus

• 6-year old Ben in a sailor suit is definitely adorable.
• Max and Gwen doing their best to get Ben back into action. It doesn’t immediately rid him of his squid phobia, but it works for a good moment before his fear gets the best of him again.
  • Max’s speech about letting go of the past and try learning of his mistakes definitely qualifies as Heartwarming. It can remind some old fans of Max’s lessons in the original series and his role as a father figure to Ben and Gwen.
  Max: Ben, I know that day was traumatic for you, but if I’ve learned anything today, is that if you hold on to the past too tightly, it will only hold you back. What you - we need to do, is to make sure that those lessons we carry with us help us move forward.
  • Ben finally confronts his fear of squids and gives Steam Smythe’s Clocktopus the beatdown it deserves.
    Max : It’s time to start making new memories, Ben! Good ones!
    Four Arms: Good ones... Grandpa Max is right! I have plenty to fight for! Video games... camera phones... (breaks out of the Clocktopus’ metallic tentacles) Oh yeah! And family! I have plenty to fight for!
• After Steam Smythe’s escape, Max reassures Ben he did a good job and tells him he’s proud of him for getting over his fear of squids.
• The episode ends with Ben asking if he can try some of the squid ink ice cream he avoided when they arrived at Squid City. He’s finally letting go of his phobia, thanks to Gwen and Max’s encouraging him.

Growing Pains

• Ben and Gwen get de-aged by Nanny Nightmare’s baby powder. They end up as toddlers instead of mindless babies, but the final result is definitely adorable.
• While they’re fighting Nanny Nightmare on the roof, Ben keeps being insolent and burps whenever she talks, angering her. Gwen lightheartedly tells him it’s gross while laughing at his antics, and Ben makes a very proud smile.
• Ben and Gwen both panicking when they find dust on the ground, thinking Max was aged until he died. It turns out he was just inside the tents, but it definitely shows how much they care about their grandfather even when he doesn’t know what’s going on.
  • Max hugging the kids and comforting them when they realize he’s still alive.

Shhh!

• Even if he’s terrible at doing it, Max does his best to communicate with Esther and while he ends up looking ridiculous, she doesn’t seem that much offended by the end of the episode.
• Gwen immediately fits in with the people living at the Docile Dragon Domicile, respecting the vow of silence and going to meditate with Starshine.
• Starshine proves herself to be very resourceful in her debut appearance. She’s very patient and friendly with the Tennysons, even helping them fix the RV after aiding Diamondhead in putting the Docile Dragon back to sleep.
• The people of the Docile Dragon Domicile after Ben covers the dragon’s temple entrance with diamonds immediately rejoice when they realize they don’t have to follow the vow of silence anymore.

Brief Career of Lucky Girl

• Even though she doesn’t have any powers or the Charms of Bezel like her original counterpart did, Gwen manages to save the day as her favorite hero Lucky Girl.
• Max and Gwen are both excited to go to the Cos Con to show their costumes as fans of their favorite series.

Adventures in Babysitting

• Gwen’s instant crush on Ryan, even though it ends poorly with him ignoring her the entire time.
• The Sez family show themselves to be friendly to the Tennyson family in their own ways:
  • Maxine suggests some water to Max when he’s dehydrated and relates about having a troublesome grandson with a super-powered device.
  • Ryan helps Ben out when Simon is about to hurt him without complaining, even though he spent nearly the entire episode on his phone ignoring Gwen. He also befriends Ben by playing video games with him.
  • Simon acts very friendly towards Ben whenever they talk and only tries to hurt him when Ben is being mean to him. He also seems genuinely happy when Ben tells him he understands his feelings about being ignored by everyone like what he says doesn’t matter.
• Even if Simon annoyed the hell out of him, Ben does his best to be patient and immediately apologizes when he snaps at him.

Steam is the Word

• When Ben fails to stop Steam Smythe, Gwen cheers him up by saying he gave it a great shot.
• Ben says he knows how much Max loves the Rustbucket, and impresses him by turning into Upgrade to make it able to fly.

Riding The Storm Out

• Ben and Gwen collaborate in perfect harmony to set up the tent, smiling all way and taking pride in their job. The result is… terrible, but that doesn't dampen their good mood.

Cutting Corners

• Geezer Bob is patient with Ben’s antics and isn’t mad at him when he lets the Boblins loose. He’s also the one suggesting that Ben helps out if he wants some pocket money for his video game.
• Gwen admits she kind of feels bad for having a picnic without Ben. It shows that, when Ben isn’t causing too much trouble, she really enjoys his company.
• The Boblins’ leader seems at peace after Wildvine grows plants all around their village, contrasting with his violent behavior during the rest of the episode.

Don’t Let the Bass Drop

• Ben and Gwen both having fun at the Earth Day’s concert, dancing in coordinated synchronized moves and playing around all while listening to their favorite DJ’s music. Moments like these remind you that, regardless of all their heroics, they’re still kids who want to have fun during summer vacation.
• Max misinterprets Gwen’s call as wanting to stay a bit longer at the concert, and allows her to without arguing.

Villain Time

• Ben and Tim Buktuu seem impressed by each other for the brief moment they have before their egos make them compete against one another.
• Max and Gwen reveal they investigated what caused all the recent accidents and reveal to Ben the only reason he lost to Tim was because Tim was a liar that caused the dangers he saved people from, giving Ben the confidence he needs to out Tim to the public.
  • While they’re telling him how they came to the conclusion Tim was the one responsible for the day’s threats, Ben imagines them as a pair of investigators in different costumes without any hint of humor, showing he takes them seriously enough to imagine them as detectives like the ones he sees in the movies.
• After saving the day again, Ben receives a wooden statue of himself as a reward, referencing the beginning of the episode where he felt like he needed a reward worth his heroic actions. He’s content with it.

Bright Lights, Black Hearts

• Gwen’s reaction when she sees Michael Morningstar in person is adorable (unless you already know who Michael is from watching Alien Force), until he turns out to be an energy-hungry jerk.
• It’s revealed the Tennysons go to the places the kids want when they ask, like when Ben goes to meet Mr. Munch at a Monster Truck competition and receives an autograph (he’s even more excited than Gwen when he meets his idol, expressing his joy by shouting and still having the autograph on his face by the time the episode takes place).
• The premise for "The Un-alivers" is actually very cute from a certain point of view: an "un-alive" boy, Sebastian Belmontez, falls in love with his classmate Jenna, a werewolf girl, neither of them knowing the other’s identity.
• After Ben and Gwen are prevented from looking at the movie set, Ben accepts to help Gwen meet Michael by using the Omnitrix. Bonus points for him being the one suggesting using the watch and getting them in a restricted area to just meet Michael rather than bring them back where they originally looked at the movie set from.
• Max is very excited about learning how the movies nowadays work and doesn’t find much of an issue in having his services exploited when he gets to learn something new.
• Even though he’s extremely bored and doesn’t want to stay, Ben doesn’t leave Gwen and stays by her side when she finally meets Michael like she wanted to.
• When she realizes that her real crush wasn’t on the actor but on the character, Gwen leaves Michael. As he tries to steal her energy, Gwen is able to fight his control over her and doesn’t look the least weakened, not letting her former crush on him get the best of her.
  • She does the same by the end of the episode, using Heatblast’s impressive moves and attacks as a way to prevent Michael from feeding off people’s energy, ruining his plan and at the same time giving Ben the fame he’s been asking for.
• When Ben has the option of becoming famous, he refuses to by pointing out he doesn’t want to end up like Darkstar, showing that he learned his lesson about being an attention hog.

Recipe for Disaster

• Ben, Gwen and Max having fun at the Yum Yum festival, tasting all kinds of ingredients and types of food.
• The Tennysons’ reaction to the Tri-Chefta showing off their cooking skills. The "Steven Universe" eyes appearing multiple times don’t even begin to describe the excitement they have to see the show the chefs have in store for them.

All Wet

• Ben doesn’t take it very well to see that Frieda stole his and Gwen’s "cousins forever fist bump".
• Gwen genuinely thinks of Frieda as a friend and (wrongly so) takes her defense whenever Ben is "bothering her".
• After finding out Frightwig’s plan, Gwen apologizes numerous times and admits she should have stood up for Ben instead of letting him be taken away by the life guards.
  • Note that Ben could’ve escaped splash jail anytime but instead waited for Gwen to apologize because he trusted that she’d figure Frieda out on her own. Shows how much he knows she’s smart enough to see through the masquerade (even though it took her time) and he wanted them to reconcile.
• Ben and Gwen teaming up to take down Frightwig.
• At the end of the episode, Gwen is frustrated by Ben’s bad puns, yet she still agrees to fist bump him.

Story, Bored

• Even though he finds the reading boring and full of nerds, Ben stays at the castle with Gwen and doesn’t use XLR8 to leave and catch up to the Rustbucket.
  • It turns out Ben is also fan of the Grimoire Girls book series, and waits until Gwen is out of sight to get his autograph from I.J. Crowling. He even took his own copy of the book with him without Gwen knowing. She just doesn’t know how much she and her cousin have in common.

Xingo

• Ben acts very childlike and amused while watching "The Xingo Show" on TV. We rarely ever see him watch cartoons or play video games in the series, so it’s nice to see him have fun like any normal kid would on a normal day.
  • Eventually, when Xingo is released from his cartoon world, Ben is just as excited as anyone would be when seeing his favorite cartoon character come to life.
• Ben and Xingo immediately hit off as friends thanks to their shared sense of humor. Too bad Xingo’s idea of fun involves hurting Ben and his family.
• Four Arms throws himself under a pile of anvils to protect Max and Gwen from Xingo’s dangerous cartoon gags.
• Although it is played for laughs, Ben shows that he still likes Xingo even after the whole misadventure they’ve had.

Drive You Crazy

• Ben’s daydream at the beginning looks nice and anyone who’s ever dreamed of being a racer as a kid can relate to him.
  • Upon closer inspection, the other racer who friendly/teasingly waves to Ben at the beginning of the imaginary race looks suspiciously like Rook with his suit resembling the blue Proto-Tech Armor, which might hint that if Ben and Rook ever meet in this continuity, they might quickly become friends.
• The Tennysons gladly accept to participate in the Cali 1000 to help Komal fix her shop.
• The entire plot of the episode is Ben getting in a real race like he wanted to, and winning!

Hole in 10

• Rather than arguing about their ruined date again, Sally tells Todd to take things slowly and instead immediately blames Ben when danger comes around rather than blaming her fiancé like she did in past episodes, recognizing that Todd isn’t responsible for every misfortune the couple had to deal with over the course of summer vacation.
• Ben listens to Max’s advice and saves the day thanks to his grandfather’s wisdom.
• After defeating the Ground Hawg leader, Ben becomes their new leader and instead of getting them into jail, he makes them fix the mini-golf course that he disliked and even gets them to get revenge on Animo for messing with them.

The Beast Inside

• The episode begins with Ben and Gwen’s in sync reaction to Max’s plans for the day. Even if they don’t agree all the time, they do think alike.
  • Gwen makes fun of Ben by calling him a savage, and Ben retaliates by biting down on the campus map. Not once does one of them stop smiling during the scene. They don’t take each other’s behavior bad and just friendly tease each other.
• Gwen snapping Lester out of his rampage by reminding him of his sister.
• Ben and Gwen find a picture of Young Aloysius Animo with his father, and he doesn’t look remotely close to the Animo we know today. A reminder that, at some point, some villains were just as innocent and adorable as Ben and Gwen are as children.
  • Gwen later uses that same picture to free Animo from the Animerger’s effects.
• Animo is just so determined to live up to his father’s legacy that he throws himself into danger, catching his hot burning and melting Animerger and staying close to its explosion.
• Ben and Gwen immediately shift their attention to saving Max when they see him in danger, only stopped from freeing him when Animo attacks.

Tomorrow Today

• Although they are somewhat annoyed by Max’s insistence to go to the exhibit, Ben and Gwen do have fun when they arrive.
• Ben, Gwen and Max’s reactions upon discovering the wonders of the Buddy Bungalow.
• Ben assumes and rightfully so that whatever Buddy Buddanski built wasn’t made to hurt people after realizing everything he saw at Buddy’s Vision Of Tomorrow was meant to entertain kids. He triggers the MFB, revealing it to actually be a "Mobile Fun-Base" and proving Steam Smythe wrong about his idea that someone as smart as Buddy would be as stuck in the past as him.
  • The Tennysons all go have fun at the exhibit at the end of the episode.

Forgeti

• Gwen spends the majority of the episode believing the Forgeti will help them despite everyone making fun of her and/or telling her the Forgeti isn’t real. Even if no one remembers the truth at the end, guess who was right about the mythical creature’s existence?
• Ben immediately turns into Diamondhead to scare off Melvin and Tevin for making fun of Gwen.
• Max’s (literally) starry-eyed reaction when seeing a salamander on Animo’s truck, distracting him from the fact that he’s kidnapped and inciting him to take a picture of it (never mind the fact that Animo plans to merge him with it).
• Gwen suggests using Grey Matter to help Max and Ben accepts without any complaint, recognizing her good choice in using aliens. They’ve both come a long way since "Waterfilter".
• Ben immediately surrenders when he sees Animo threaten Gwen. Even if he could try to shoot Animo to free Gwen, he doesn’t take the risk of hurting her and gives up the fight before the Forgeti intervenes.

Scared Silly

• Carl w/a C endangers himself just to make sure Ben, Gwen and Max make it out of the haunted hotel alive (unlike him). Too bad for him that his methods of scaring away the patrons lured Ben’s family in instead. He does try to fix it, even if he fails by only scaring Ben.
• The episode in general is a reversal of "Ghostfreaked Out", as a ghost character instead tries to help Ben and his family by scaring them rather than trying to hurt them.
• It only takes the first time Ben claims there’s a ghost to convince Max and Gwen to capture it. They may think Ben is acting ridiculous, but they do take in consideration what he says, as absurd as it can be.

Bad Penny

• This episode introduces Penny Heaven, Ben’s childhood friend and babysitter, and for her debut, she’s one of the characters in the series that showed an extremely big amount of concern over Ben’s safety.
• Even if Penny is being a bummer, Ben tries to get her to have fun with him at the Big Bacon Pig Parade.
• When she thinks Four Arms did something to Ben, Penny doesn’t hesitate and starts smacking him with her purse to know where Ben is.
• Gwen successfully convinces Penny that it’s okay to take risks to protect others from being hurt, which in turn encourages her to fight the Bugg Brothers to help Ben from getting hurt.
  • Penny’s protectiveness with her newfound sense of adventure leads her to climb on a flying building and attack Maurice and Sydney. Never mess with a babysitter or the child she takes care of.
• Ben, Gwen and Penny chatting all together at the festival at the end of the day.

Max to the Max

• Gwen visibly feels uncomfortable hurting Max’s clones. Even if she knows it’s the only way to bring him back to normal, she doesn’t want to hurt her Grandpa and instead opts to get them to hurt themselves until there’s no clone left.
• Ben and Gwen going out together to enjoy nature.

Zombozo-Land

• The episode begins with Ben and Gwen singing an ode to Max for taking them all to Adrenaworld, followed by their excited screams when they arrive.
• Ben doesn’t seem hurt when Gwen doesn’t believe what he says about Frightwig being in the park again, showing that he doesn’t resent her for not believing him last time.
• Ben gets easily distracted when he sees all the attractions, a reminder that he’s still a kid at heart even in alien form.
• Ben is concerned about the woman he accidentally bumped into while escaping one of the Hypno Tower’s rays and promises he’ll avenge her when he realizes she’s under Zombozo’s control.
• Ben, Gwen and Max all share a family moment on the Monster-Coaster at the end of the episode and even have a picture of it, celebrating Ben being right about the villains in the park and having fun in general (except for Max).

Don’t Laze Me, Bro

• Ben and Gwen are both very excited to go to Laser Town, and are understandably annoyed to know they have to wait until the day after if they want to play.
• Despite their rivalry and the fact that they despise each other, Billy agrees to team up with Ben and Gwen to get rid of the robots gone rogue.
  • Before they both backstab each other, Ben and Billy seem to agree that they had good teamwork, with Billy about to shake Ben's hand after the entire robot issue was over. Too bad their shared love for laser tag and the announcer reminding them that they were originally in a duel made them forget that teamwork and caused them both to shoot each other to win the game.
• Ben quotes Max word for word when Billy throws a tantrum about his birthday party, showing that he did take Max’s advice at heart while still being impatient.
  Ben: You don’t always get what you want when you want it.

Omni-Tricked: Part 1

• Max and Gwen reassure Ben that he did his best against Animo’s Teramite and ask him if he’s okay while inside the RV.
• Gax’s debut mostly consists in him jumping around like a child and having fun using his powers. It’s oddly cute to see an exact replica of Vilgax behaving the way Ben does.
• Ben immediately gets attached to Gax, using him again as soon as the Omnitrix recharged. It can remind some fans of how much fun Ben had as Feedback during the Omniverse flashbacks.

Omni-Tricked: Part 2

• In the original series, Phil was a greedy Plumber that used his experience and weapons to get money for solving crimes he himself caused. Here, he’s a regular worker that takes the safety of his coworkers very seriously and doesn’t think twice before threatening to take down Gax when he thinks the other workers are in danger.
  • Even after a long time without seeing each other, Phil immediately recognizes Max’s voice calling out to him and Ben.
  • When Ben doubts his abilities without Gax’s powers, Phil reassures him that he already has all the power that he needs, encouraging Ben to get them out of the train before hitting a dead end.
  • Whether or not this version of Phil turns out to be bad, he’s definitely friendlier and nicer than his original counterpart for a good part of his debut.

Omni-Tricked: Part 3

• Gax’s excitement when he uses his heat vision to burn down trees and later on manages to reduce a tree to dust without causing a forest fire.
• Vilgax of all people has some of this. Even though it's just to trick Ben and regain his powers, he's shown to be incredibly patient and helps Ben harness his powers for the short while he has them. And to his credit, it works. Ben is ecstatic and openly trusts Vil when he sees his advice paying off. Sadly, it barely lasts a few minutes.
• Max, Gwen and Phil immediately rush to Ben’s side after that he got defeated by Vilgax, making sure he’s okay.

Omni-Tricked: Part 4

• Gwen does her best to humor Ben while the Omnitrix is broken, and while the previous episode showed her frustrated at Ben alien-jumping all the time, here she stays patient and even takes the time to make him dinner, since the constant transformations prevented him from eating anything.
• While they’re approaching Mt. Megalodon, Gwen shows unconditional support to Ben and encourages him to win the fight against Vilgax.
• This episode is definitely the most Heartwarming episode of all season 1: Gwen throws herself at Vilgax’s ship to help Ben and sprinkles Vilgax with her fire extinguisher. Ben immediately takes her away from him and shields her with Diamondhead’s crystals. Here, they have a long heartfelt talk about Ben being capable of defeating Vilgax, with Gwen giving Ben the confidence he needs to keep fighting. Four Arms then throws her back to Max, making sure she’s safe before resuming the battle for the galaxy’s fate.
  • This scene just shows that, while Gwen doesn’t act the same as her original counterpart, she cares just as much about Ben as she did in the original series and sequels
• Max reassures Gwen that, while Ben is scared, he can pull through it.
• Max, Gwen and Phil all mourn Ben when they see the Chimerian Hammer sinking into the volcano, with Max comforting Gwen with a hug. Then they hear sniffing behind them...
  • Ben apologizes for not telling everyone that he was okay, saying that he didn’t know how to interrupt without being a jerk about it. He’s immediately hugged by Max and Gwen and they all laugh in joy now that the entire issue is over.
• Ben shows off to Gwen by telling her how he defeated Vilgax, and she doesn’t get tired of him bragging.
• Max tells Ben and Gwen that he understands if Ben and Gwen want to go back home early instead of following their road-trip. Ben and Gwen worryingly stare at each other, before Max reveals that he was joking and races them to the Rustbucket.
• The season ends with Ben raising the newly upgraded Omnitrix in the air, expressing that he really enjoyed this summer.
  Ben: Best summer of my life !

Season 2

Out To Launch

• Ben gushing over his idol, Captain Betts Mc Cabe.
  • Ben ignores Gwen's suggestions and jumps guns blazing into action. When he is in trouble later, instead of teasing or taunting him (as she would have surely done in the Original Series) she immediatly starts searching a way to help him.
  "Hang in there, cous! Help is on the way!"

Mayhem in Mascot

• Ben feels guilty from ruining Gwen's chance to take a photo with all the town's mascots (and apparently this isn't the first year it happened) so he sneaks out with her at night to take the last one.
• Gwen takes an immediate liking to Yawk, feeling sorry for him and swearing to set him free. Ben isn't so convinced and with good reasons but still fights the other mascots to protect him and Gwen.

The 11th Alien

• During the whole episode, while Ben was having fake problems caused by the Omnitrix, Gwen stays by his side, despite the danger of the Weather Manipulation the device is causing, encouraging him to test his new alien to fully master him.
• While Ben is feeling depressed about the tornado he believed he created almost killing people, Gwen quickly points out he is also the reason they are safe.
  • She was also clearly extremely worried about leaving him fighting the Weatherheads and Vilgax, only leaving because Max insisted.
• The conversation Gwen and Ben share after Max goes to sleep could be the sweetest moment the two ever had in the whole franchise, as well as one of the best written: Gwen is not only very supportive and encouraging, but also keeps switching naturally from cheering him to joking with him back and fort, showing how amazingly at ease she is with Ben.
  Ben: "Gwen, what am I good at?"
  Gwen: "Well, you are definitively not good at minigolf, but you are great at being a hero!"
  Ben: " AAARGH! But what if Vilgax was right?"
  Gwen: " What are you talking about? You saved everyone today!"
  Ben: " I saved them… from me! My new alien caused that tornado. What happens if I really end up hurting someone next time? What if I hurt you? Or grandpa? I think that maybe I really need to give up the watch…"
  Gwen: " You know what you need?" (takes out some "mystical" crystal) "Self-reflective energy!"
  Ben: " Aaah… not this again!"
  Gwen: " Uuuh… Uuuuuh..."
  Ben: " Stop doing that!"
  Gwen: " Nnnope! I know things didn't go great last time, but you can't just give up! Maybe these will help." (gives them to him) "The pamphlet said that when you look into the crystals you can find all the answers you are looking for!"
  Ben: (gets up) " I'm going for a walk!"
  Gwen: " See? You are doing it!"
  Ben: " I'm just taking a walk!"
  Gwen: (cheers) " TELL IT TO THE CRYSTALS!" (smiles, while Ben can be seen both pouting and blushing) " You'll make the right choice!"
• When Ben is having an Imagine Spot about himself as an old man who never used the Omnitrix again, it's shown he is keeping the photo of him and Gwen on the roller coaster, showing he cherished that moment.
• When he decides to give the Omnitrix to Vilgax to protect the world, Ben takes the time to say goodbye to all his alien forms, showing he considers them more than simply Dna's sample.

Bounty Ball

• Earlier in the episode, Ben made Gwen leave the train to protect her while fighting Tetrax, Sixsix and Kraab. So he is surprised to see her back on a little later. Her response?
  Gwen: " I couldn't leave you alone with these creeps!"
  • At the end, when Ben is nervous due to Tetrax's warning that others will come for him, Gwen and Max both try to cheer him up.
  Gwen: "C'mon! Who can defeat the invincible Ben Tennyson?"
  Max: " Team Tennyson can take everything the universe throw at us!"

Creature Feature

• While Hex makes it clear he is only sparing Ben's life because of the rules of magic, Ben insists it's because Hex has a coscience and don't want to hurt someone who saved his life. While he is probably wrong it's still nice to see Ben believes one of his enemy isn't completely evil.

Animorphosis

• Animo was seconds away from killing Ben but, since the Dna he stole from the Omnitrix had a time limit, he is left hurt on the ground on the top of a mountain. Ben somewhat unwillingly still call 911 to get him help.
  • In the beginning of the episode Ben and Gwen were competing to see who could find more fossils. At the end the competition is all but forgotten, and the two (plus Max) simply enjoy Gwen's coockies.

Safari Sa'Bad

• With Ben under his control thanks to a Voodoo doll, Tim Buktu plans to make him hurt people to destroy Ben's reputation, leading to this exchange:
  Tim: "In mere moments they are about to have the ride of their life courtesy of your cousin, the so-called hero!"
  Gwen: "He is a hero!"
  • What really makes it works is how quickly and without esitation she said it, as if it was common kwnoledge.

The Charm Offensive

• Gwen runs with no hesitation to Charmcaster's defense when she understand how Michael Morningstar is abusing her and keeping her around just as a source of food, even if the girl did nothing but attack her and Ben during the episode. She helped the sorcerer for no other reason than it's the right thing to do.
  • Ben is amazingly supportive of Gwen: when his cousin admits to feel useless when some fans run up to him but don't even recognize her, he is genuinely shocked she thinks this way, considering how often her quick thinking had been useful; later, when she devise a plan to show Charmcaster that Michael is just using her, he happily goes along with it, even admiting she is acting as a hero; at the end of the episode, when Max is congratulating him, Ben is quick to point out that Gwen deserves the credit.

Bomzobo Lives

• While Max takes with good humor the jabs at his age from the guy at the DMV, his grandkids do not. Gwen even asks Ben to smack-talk the jerk back, only for Max to stop him.

Chicken Nuggers of Wisdom

• Before realizing she was just using it as a distraction, Animo actually enjoyed his therapy session with Gwen.
  • Gwen offering psychological help to Ben and Grandpa Max to help them stop fighting.
  • At the end of the episode Ben once again admits how useful Gwen was, while affectionally petting her hair. Gwen's response? She just smile. It is a HUGE contrast from the original series, where every time there was physical contact between the two which didn't include violence was, at best, awkward.

Drone On

• Except for a competition and argument at the beginning about paper planes, Ben and Gwen work together well on Gwen's glider to take out Vilgax's drones.
  • Then, when Vilgax gets away with his rebuilt ship at the end of the episode, we have this exchange:
  Gwen: "You'll get him next time!"
  Ben: " We will!"

The Sound And The Furry

• When Ben decides to snowboards as Stink Fly, Gwen warns him that the alien feet are too big for his harness. Ben decides to use Stink Fly's goop to attach himself, which makes Gwen admit it is a smart move.
  • When Gwen stop Stink Fly from rolling over others, Ben starts throwing snowballs to her. Instead of getting upset, she laughs and join in, leading to both having a good time.
  • Ben trusted Gwen's choice on which alien to use against Lord Decibel. She is genuinely thankful for it.

Ben Again and Again

• While Past Gwen isn't so sure her Ben is the right person to wield the Omnitrix, she still encourage him to fight when Vilgax's drones appear.
  Past Gwen:(while fading away due to the timeline fixing itself) "Then what you are waiting for, hero of the universe?"

Dreamtime

• After Ben, trapped in a nightmare by Zombozo, floods the Rust Bucket as Overflow, the place is a mess. Max asks Gwen to help him clean up, but finds the girl (who has been kept awake all night long by Ben's screamsleeping) has fallen asleep. He just smiles, tucks her in bed and wishes her good night.

Innervasion

• Like Vilgax himself did as Vil in Omni-Tricked, surprisingly, Override shows some form of kindness (although just like Vil, it's to manipulate Ben). When Ben finally tunes into his voice, Override guides Ben against Vilgax's robot and praises him when he succeeds at obeying his orders. Both he and Shock Rock even say the same thing in sync as a battle phrase.
  Shock Rock/Override: "Let the energy flow!"
• Double as an Awesome moments: when Ben and Vilgax team-up to stop the Fulmini invasion from inside the Omnitrix Gwen and Max, despite being mere flies to Vilgax, make perfectly clear they aren't going to let him betray Ben.
  Gwen: "We'll stand guard! If Ben comes out anything but safe and sound…"
  Max:(whipping out a laser cannon) "There'll be calamari on the menu!"
• The Tennysons immediatly warming up to Glitch. Max even says their family just got bigger.
• As the page picture shoes, the Tennyson hugging after Ben breaks free of the High Override's Mind Control. The fact he could only do this due to the love for his family is another.
• Max and Gwen doesn't even try to run when a mind-controlled Ben, as Shock Rock, is given the order to attack them: instead they are confident he can break free.
  Gwen: "Ben! This isn't who you are!"
  Max: "You are part of Team Tennyson! Traveling coast to coast, remember?"
  Gwen: "And you hate being told what to do!"
  Max: "You're Ben Tennyson!"
  Gwen:(dropping her voice) "And you'd never hurt your family!"
  • Then it seems to fail, and Ben attacks… the two Fulminis that were sneaking up to his family.
• After The High Override expresses disbelief and that nobody can override him, Ben proudly announces that Team Tennyson can, instead of trying to take the whole credit to himself.
• After stopping The High Override, Ben is reclutant to wear the Omnitrix again, wondering if Vilgax wasn't right about him being too childish to use it properly. Max and Gwen immediatly reassures him about it, as well as telling him how proud they are of him for saving the world again. Max even states he wouldn't trust anybody else with that power.
• Right after putting it on again, Ben hugs his family, proudly saying they are a great team.

Season 3

This One Goes To 11

• The little girl who sees Ben turns in Humungousaur isn't scared in the slightest; she even suggests the name, which Ben quickly accepts.
• Gwen quickly realizes that Ben is upset about going to Europe, and goes out of her way to ask why. While she is not impressed by the reason, it was still nice.
• Ben trusts Gwen about letting his Omnitrix time out, even if he is in the middle of a fight with Kevin. When it turns out she was right, they smile at each other and Gwen gives him a thumb up.

Charm School Out

• The episode begins with Ben complaining that Gwen has been reading a book… because she promised to spend some time with him. Sure, he was acting as a brat about it, but is sweet he wants her company.
• When he discovered that Charmcaster has swapped place with Gwen, Ben (as Heatblast) is both scared and pissed at the fact he has been attacking Gwen the whole time.
  Ben: "YOU MADE ME ATTACK MY COUSIN!"
• While she may hate Gwen and go on to hate her even more, Charmcaster is still offended on Gwen's behalf when, in the guise of Gwen, Grandpa Max has her go through the absolute Hell of fixing an antique radio, first saying "I can't believe he would make Gwen do this!" and then outright calling him out to his face: "What kind of grandfather would make a child fix a radio like that!?"

Big In Japan

• Heatblast is obviously flustered when Gwen asks him if he was really gonna sing to the dragon. It crosses with Funny, but it's definitely adorable to see her tease her cousin.
• When Ben doubts his reasons behind outing Tim as the one behind the dragon attacks, Max comforts him and reassures him.
• Gwen buying Ben a gift.

Show, Don't Tell

• After she got free from Hex's spell, Gwen immediately apologies to Ben for throwing rocks to him, even if she had no control over herself and he was Humungousaur at the time, which means the rocks were merely annoying him.
  • Then, when his transformation runs out, Gwen reassures him they will find a way to stop Hex. After that they do their "cousins forever fist bump".

Beach Heads

• Ben actually finds himself enjoying taking it easy as Gwen suggested. She is very pleased of it, and doesn't even get angry when he asks her to move from the sunlight, instead giggling and saying "All right, hot shot!".

King of the Castle

• After Ben admits to missing Grey Matter (as well as Overflow and Wildvine) Gwen comforts him, reminding Ben he has three new cool aliens to use. It is especially sweet because it comes right after she scared him with a prank, showing it was just in good fun and she wasn't being mean.

Poles Apart

• Gwen's commentary while Ben is fighting a polar bear are half Crowning Moment of Funny and half this, with her clearly worried about her cousin. When he gets away from it, she happily cheers.
• Gwen gets upset with her grandpa when it seems he is leaving without Ben. Considering how much she loves Max, this is telling something.

Bridge Out

• Ben is extremely patient with Simon, trying his best to calm him down gently while protecting people from his rampage.
• When Ben menages to knock Simon's robot down, he offers to play with the kid, which was what Simon wanted all along.
  • Ben actually takes Gwen's advice about chess at heart, guessing Simon's moves and planning ahead to bring him down. He even uses Diamondhead's powers to create chess's pieces shaped as Sumo Slammers to play.
• After they finished playing Ben tucks in a sleeping Simon and leaves him the diamond chessboard.
• It seems Max has developed feelings for Simon's grandma. Despite being 65, he is adorably shy about it.

Introducing Kevin 11

• After Kevin tells Ben to go crying to his Grandpa, a very annoyed Ben replies that at least he HAS someone to run to. This visibly shocks Kevin, who seems about to cry. Ben (despite having every reason to be angry at Kevin) realizes he crossed a line and apologizes.
• After Kevin reveals his eleventh alien (hence the title) Ben thinks about how not only Kevin has more aliens than him, but they had all been upgraded. He then ponders if that means he himself is only an outdated model who can't compete and should give up. Cue Max and Gwen reminding him that not only the new version isn't necessarily better and that he shouldn't measure his worth by comparing himself to someone else, but he has something to compensate the difference… them. A very relieved Ben hugs them while crying happily.
• Kevin helps Ben saving people from the cave-in Kevin himself caused, and Ben even admits they work well together. It's then subverted because Kevin only did it due to his crush on Gwen, and after everybody else is safe he leaves Ben to get buried.
• Ben tries to stop Kevin before the Omnitrix times out, not for revenge or his own safety but because he is afraid Kevin will hurt someone else if Bashmouth loses control again.
  • When he can't do it, Gwen reassures him that they'll get him together next time.
• Max volunteers the Tennysons to help clean the market from the mess caused by the battle and none of his grandchildren complain about it.

Buggin' The Buggs

• When Gwen sees a magazine talking about Ben and asking if he is a hero or a hindrance, she tries to hide it from Ben, worried he may feel hurt.
• When he isn't (since he only focuses on the "hero" part), he starts running happily around the store, showing the magazine to everybody he meets. Most of them are freaked out by his action, but a little kid enjoys it and even join him.
• After Ben trashes the spa as Humungousaur by attacking Maurice and Sydney, the owner threatens to kick out the whole family. Knowing how much Max and Gwen are enjoying the place, Ben offers to fix the whole mess if they are allowed to stay.
• Gwen decides to help Ben in fixing the mess he made, even complimenting him for doing something that allows Max to keep relaxing. She then lectures him that there is a difference between looking for trouble and stopping trouble, but she knows he is just trying to do the right thing.
• After it is revealed that Maurice and Sydney are up to no good, a very enthusiastic Ben gets ready to fight them… then stops and looks to Gwen, silently asking if this is the right moment. She smiles and nods, as if saying "go get them". It seems they remembered their deal from waaaaay back in "Waterfilter".
• After the bad guys had been disposed of, Ben uses his Slapback clones to fix the spa faster… except for one of them, who is giving Grandpa Max a very appreciated massage.
  • Gwen once again compliments Ben on doing the right thing.
  Gwen: "Now that is what I call a hero!"

Billy Bajillions

• After Billy confesses that his bratty beaviour steams from never having someone like him for other reasons than his money, Ben and Gwen say they will be his friends. Max invites Billy to join them for a pic nic, and the kid happily smiles and accepts. Then the Forgeti makes everybody forgets what happened.
• Gwen tries to stop Ben from eating the extremely inedible snow. He doesn't listen, but she is clearly worried about his health.

LaGrange Murraile

• When Ben discover Vin Ethanol in China, he is suspicious it's yet another case of Cardboard Prison. Vin explains he actually turned over a new leaf and he is doing community service. At the end of the episode he even turns LaGrange to the police.
• Ben and Vin actually bond over their passion for fast cars and team up to stop LaGrange.