By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting

This is a repost of a blog post that I published years ago on a blog that no longer exists. I admit that I am being a bit lazy here by reposting this with some edits, but I never quite got the feedback I was looking for then, and I kind of hope I can get some now. So, if you like Ben 10 too, I hope you will read this and share your thoughts. Thank you for reading!

I want to start by stating that I love Ben 10—all of the different series. I have been watching Ben 10 since it aired in 2005 on Cartoon Network. I really love this series… which is why I am struggling with watching Omniverse. I have quite a few criticisms for this series, but the biggest one is on character development (especially Ben).

One of the things that I have loved since the beginning of the show is that the series stayed consistent. There was never, at least in what I can remember, an episode that flashed back to include something that had never happened before. (Until now.) Incidents, big life-changing events, that happened in one series were sometimes mentioned in the later ones and the important character development always showed between each series. I feel like that has fallen apart in Ben 10: Omniverse, which–based on context–is a continuation of Ben’s story that started with the original Ben 10 show in 2005, Ben 10: Alien Force (AF), and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (UA).

My biggest criticism is on the character development of Benjamin Tennyson. Rather, the lack thereof.

Ben from Omniverse is so close to the ten-year-old reckless Ben that it is almost like all the growing up he did in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien has disappeared. Ben is far more destructive, he doesn’t appear to show any guilt for some of his actions, and he shows very little respect toward other cultures. He doesn’t even try to understand them, which is evident in Charmed, I’m Sure, and the episodes around it (Episode 47 of Omniverse). This latest arc only adds to the annoying fact that Ben, and others, have lost serious character development.

Not to mention that the set ideas (the morals and ethics of Ben’s role) built in the previous series have been overrun by Omniverse episode plots mixing up the past. These plots make me feel like the writers made stuff up and started connecting bits and pieces of their new plot to the original story by throwing it against a wall and glued it to wherever it landed. (If that makes sense to anyone.) An example would be the latest arc where the Plumber’s kids are now children who were turned into alien-spliced spies. It fits the new narrative, but it took me a lot of work to accept the idea. (I still do not like it as it takes away and disregards a lot of what was vital to the other series).

Frankly, I hate what the writers have done to the show. They have so many good things, but the bad stuff keeps outweighing the good. I did not complain about the sudden growth spurt Attea had from a child to a teenager old enough to be a potential love interest (but I wanted to). I didn’t post about how, after three different series where Gwen had no freckles, Gwen suddenly has freckles (but I wanted to). These are really nitpicky things and have more to do with character design than the character itself, so those are things I can look past. However, I want to point these things out because it is becoming a serious issue for me (and I can’t talk about it with anyone). As a fan since the first aired episode, it feels really awful to watch the quality of writing go down so much in Omniverse (despite how much I like parts of the series).

I do not mean a drop in animation quality. I did not care for the art style at first, but it grew on me. I love the comedy aspects, the new characters, and especially the new aliens. I love Rook and Ester. I love how Grandpa Max still has strange tastes in food. I love Feedback. (The speech Ben gives about Feedback in Omniverse is the most character-telling I have seen in the series so far.) A lot of the time, the things I love outweigh the things I do not like about the show… but after the last episode of the series, I feel the need to rant about these issues.

Most notable is that Kai and Ben have become the endgame. I mean, sure–many felt that they were canon in the original series, but I am not so sure that this is the best “endgame” for Ben.

Kai, from her first appearance in Ben 10, has always been an interesting character. I like her well enough, but the idea of her and Ben ever being together is ridiculous. Why? Because she is a person who demeans Ben constantly. If the writers were going for an “opposites attract” or a sort of teasing flirtation by Kai toward Ben that he simply doesn’t get—they failed. Period. She is rude to him (almost, if not exclusively, so), and she tries to degrade him in front of others constantly. If they are the concluding canon, the relationship Ben 10‘s story ultimately leads to for Ben’s character, Kai had better have some serious character development and it should be in the show. Personally, I don’t think they should be together at all with the way the series has been set up so far. In addition, Ben 10 should return to the quality of writing seen in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien.

Updated side note: I think that, from what I have seen of Ben 10 (2016-2021), while having good parts, it similarly suffers from poor writing/development. Ending on that note, I am looking for a discussion and/or feedback. Do you agree, or disagree, and why (please!)?

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Copyedited by: Katherine Cañeba | @kcserinlee