IMPORTANT BREAKDOWNS UPDATE: th-cam.com/video/8Oqc8hWh94M/w-d-xo.html ALSO - Lots of people defending the Flying Car as it only slowed their decent, but at the end of the episode, the car flys straight into the air, out of the hole. So yes, it can really fly.
Ben: What does claustrophobic mean? Kevin: It means she’s afraid of Santa Claus. Gwen: No it doesn’t! Ben: HO HO HO! Kevin: STOP IT BEN YOU’RE SCARING HER!
"I've come all this way to tell you that war just isn't cool" Unironically one of the funniest things Ben has ever said. I'm usually not a fan of Ben's personality change in season 3 but I actually found him really funny in Don't Fear The Repo Man and Simple.
Starting to feel all these "intergalactic laws" being thrown in and causing trouble for our MCs might be the writers subtley referring to Cartoon Network interference with the season. "Hey, things would be fine if it weren't for these arbitrary laws"
Sounds about right, in line with the golden sh*t episode also being some kind of commentary… what’s next executive meddling being represented as this otherworldly entity who is manipulating the world and set things up to create an incredibly dramatic story for its own entertainment but plans for the story to end in their victory only to be defeated by the heroes and realizing their own role in this woven story… oh wait this isn’t Brave Express Might Gaine and Takara isn’t funding Ben 10
Ya'know. The Girl from Simple could've come back as an intergalactic warlord later and the episode would probably retroactively become part of a much harder hitting saga or something.
Nah, def not a saga. Maybe she's just a main villain in 1 filler episode of Omniverse and call it a day. That concept kind of reminded me of Atea tho, maybe have them appear in the same episode. That'd be cool.
The whole Argit and Kevin hustle from “Simple” were the highlights for me. Yeah, it turned Kevin’s criminal aspect to 11, but I still had a fun time watching it. The “that’s what poor people have instead of money” was a pretty funny line. Messed up, but funny
I feel like that line would’ve made more sense coming from Argit than Kevin. Imagine if when chaos ramped up Argit had to bail with them and had to ditch the money to save Kevin or himself. That sounds more like an Argit thing to say than a Kevin thing.
I think the moral lesson of “Simple” is not about war itself, but the fact Ben is so full of himself he underestimates how complicated and full of implications war is and even a superhero can’t just go to the battlefield and believe he can end the conflict by himself
I feel like the idea of “Simple” was SUPPOSED to be that Ben marches into a situation that he knows nothing about and thinks he can solve it only to be proven wrong. He goes into a WAR, between opposing factions, and tries to shut it down without knowing ANYTHING about the war, the cultural and socioeconomic context behind the war, or either side’s traditions or beliefs. And for his arrogance, he is punished. But then they also like… make the warring factions explicitly irrational and their leaders corrupt, which completely undermines the story.
I feel like that would totally work if it was handled better, but seeing Ben at least make some kind of progress that isn't them uniting against him would've been good too. Ending it bleak with no resolution doesn't usually happen in Ben 10 and would normally get a future episode where it goes back to that plot, but that never happens here. That's why I think it could've worked to at least see more progress than everyone getting mad at Ben. And he's somewhat experienced in diplomacy, the only thing holding him back from being good at it is the network making him more arrogant
@@angelparada9904 I feel that if this episode came a bit later, like halfway through this season, while we’ve had enough time to stew through arrogant Ben, this so could’ve been the turning point where he starts to return to his alien force character
I don’t know Completely irrational and corrupt leaders spouting nonsense seems pretty realistic (not commentary about current leadership just a fact of history).
@@accidentalmadness1708 Realism isn't the issue tho. It's that Ben is supposed to be the one at fault, but the fact that they are so irrational and corrupt means that Ben never stood a chance at helping them even if he went into it as tactfully as possible.
I don't know about "the Worst". "Simple" was a wake up call to Ben that despite his abilities, most problems are too complicated and nuanced for him to solve by just butting in and saying "it's hero time".
I like how it throw jabs at both sides of a war I don't remember the episode, but I assume the war has been going on long enough that a few generations have come and gone during the fighting to a point that it's just fight for the sake of it
For the Speeding Tickets, I say a bit of character growth. In Season 1, he was still trying to fit in with Ben and Gwen, but still keep his “devil may care” attitude because they were still getting used to him and they hadn’t yet become a close knit team. Now, in Season 3, Ben and Gwen have accepted him completely and Kevin has started to learn to care about more than just himself. He cares about others’ opinions, because they genuinely care about him. But he’s still a bit of a renegade, so does his own style of growing up that still counts as maturing.
8:18 Getting aggressive and argumentative is a symptom of claustrophobia, so it actually does kind of make sense for her. Claustrophobia triggers that "cornered animal" reflex that we had from when we were wild animals, so getting aggressive is a defense mechanism to attempt to scare away a predator or escape whatever dangerous situation you got yourself in.
One thing I can say I actually like about these episodes is that they try to explore more aspects of the greater alien society, with a bunch of new space laws and conduct coming into play, Ben having to become a diplomat, etc. I mean they failed spectacularly, but it was an interesting attempt.
Kuro isnt harsh enough on these Episodes, including but not limited to the reason that Cartoons can be incredily inspirational. Teaching via Humor about War, that’s what the Blue vs Red Episode could have been about, but no, it’s not nearly like ‚War is Bad’ by „Somre More News“!
I remember watching that “Simple” episode as a kid and being so pissed off of that episode’s entire plot and conclusion. It felt like a giant waste of time.
@@misterdewott8766 Someone commented that this serves a wake up call to Ben,because he can't save everyone,which unfortunately is true but still THIS EPISODE WAS A WASTE OF TIME !!!
45:20 It's probably unintentional reference to 1984 where wars are being used as a tool to keep people compliant, it's just now the war is against Ben and since he can never be caught or defeated... The war is permanent
Half of me feels this is a parody of the "Superman arrests Stalin and Hitler" comic. Ben even kidnapped the red and blue leaders! Another part thinks the writers were just looking to spite the audience with the ending because there were a lot of ways the debate could've been solved so easily. And another thinks this is a hilariously dark reflection of our real world.
@@Eric6761 on what grounds being if anything ben might be the one who gets arrested being he did kidnap two leaders and destroyed a very important landmark.
In defense of the claustrophobia scene, i feel like the point was that Gwen IS claustrophobic, and her response was meant to convey that she was insecure about it. Since she says she’s scared of being in tight spaces, and it wouldn’t surprise me if her phobia was flaring up as Kevin was prodding her about it. This isn’t to take away from your point, but I think that situation was justified.
The problem here is we have to look through every Ben 10 episode, does Gwen ever encountere enclosed space like elevator or something and not showing uncomfort.
@blackholeghost1875 I think that she got drowned in hatchling factory by DNAalien xenocite in Ben 10 Alien Force Season 1 Episode 7 Max Out and she has this condition later on in Ben 10 Alien Force Season 3 Episode 3.
One thing I love to do is that I watch the episode Kuro is going to breakdown, write down my opinions then watch Kuro's and differentiate and find our similarities
For the inconsistency with Max claiming Bigfoot was "a guy in a suit"... I have an easy answer. The fact that Rook was convinced that Chupacabras don't exist in the same Omniverse episode the Saturday Family appear in... it is clear that the Plumbers are not aware of the existence of some (if not most) of the Cryptids on earth (props to the Saturdays, who's job is to keep them hidden), So really, even though Max supposedly worked with the Saturday's before, perhaps he didn't think Bigfoot was one of the "Real" cryptids (or it is just an excuse he automatically makes to avoid making the Saturday's job harder). When it was revealed that all the fighting was about rather or not that big statue guy was red or blue in color... I was expecting a twist of him actually being purple... have to say, was real disappointed by the way that ended..... at least the purple color actually did show up, so I got that for me.
@@Nameless82284 That is True, I know most of the "famous" cryptids never had a major role in TSS, and in "T.G.I.S" Zak expressed some surprise thinking they caught Bigfoot when meeting Ben as Shocksquash. So Yeah, Max might have been 100% honest and truthful there... despite his knowledge of the existence of Cryptids.
@@13KuriMaster To be fair this episode was created years before making Ben 10 and The Secret Saturday be in the same universe. I didn't even like The Secret Saturday, it just didn't stick with me, ironically I love cryptic things that I'm even making a cartoon about it, but that show didn't stick with me.
@@Nameless82284 Yeah, though there were some subtle Ben 10 references in TSS (Enoch and Hex appearing on some pictures, a reference to Galvan Prime from the alien-specaltist of the secret scientists, maybe more that I can't think of but I think that is it). So, who knows, maybe they had a general idea of wanting to have them in the same universe..... not that it was likely to be on their mind when doing that episode.
I legit do not like, no, I kinda hate "Simple", and I try not hate on anything because I'm not that type of person, but the episode has two qualities that really do not like in Ben 10: Nobody learning anything, and out of nowhere goofy alien designs, (which all three episodes here have design wise) The Simple aliens are so jarring, like they belong in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. The Vreedle brothers get away with it because they have a bit more character, but Grandpa Varmint whatever with his dead eyes really made go "What's going on with this show?" Kuro's reaction to Ben's gloating speech was my same exact reaction lol
Took the words right out if my mouth. Simple was such a shit episode. In fairness, I can tolerate the Vreedles since their archetype isn't new (i.e. Bebop and Rocksteady or Roadhog and Junkrat) and they still have that "Ben 10 Flair" so to speak.
This is why I like the designs from Omniverse. Say what you will about the writing but the alien designs and designs for most of the cast were creative and imaginative.
I just realized that in "Simple" Ben has to play as the 'neutral party' between these 2 irrational parties If Ben had worked with Alien X as the Voice Of Reason, this would honestly be close to a walk in the park. Also I sympathize with the Cave Scene as Ben showing complete frustration to this situation, I'd probably do the same thing, however, like with Alien X, him refusing to be "The Voice Of Reason" and just letting them argue it out by themselves is _sooooo_ the wrong move
“Simple” is weirdly one of the episodes I remember the most of. Probably because it weirded me out as a kid. It felt like the episode was made for three purposes: 1) To poke fun at how dumb war can be. 2) Make an arrogant Ben go “I’m a hero, I can solve anyone’s problems” and learn in the end that he can’t all the time. And 3) Just be a dumb and fun episode. It really felt like the writers for this episode weren’t taking it very seriously and wanted a break from the serious plot stuff.
You know given the fact that in an Omniverse future episode, Argit becomes the president of the world...does that mean there was some kind earth political debate between Argit and Vulkanus for running the entire planet at some point? cuz if so I kind of want to watch that.
That'd be hilarious. Maybe Ben and pals convince Argit to run against Vulkanus in the first place since, unlike the latter, he won't wipe out humanity. After all, Argit can't be a con artist if there's no one left to con!?
Hey Kuro, two things: 1. I love the breakdowns so much. 2. I hope you don’t let ppl make you feel pressured to drop super frequently. You come first man, we can wait.
Dude stop with this shit, he said himself he's fine, he does them at his pace, and he does them caus he enjoys them. Stop pretending you care just to fish for likes
@@Handles_be_dumb ah that’s good to know. I just see some ppl in the comments like, “where’s the breakdown Kuro” and although they mean well, as a content creator myself I know that that type of stuff can feel demanding
@@officialasa to be fair, he has said he's going to make some of the less important episodes 60 second shorts instead of full breakdowns, but that seems to be for the sake of easing the workload. He still says he's passionate about the breakdowns themselves.
When you turn on the thermostat to cool your house, it actually uses up MORE energy to turn it off and on again then if you just leave it on. Same could be said about his quick swaps. It could be argued that ben doesn't keep swapping cause it would use WAY more of the omnitrix's energy thus reducing the amount of hero time he has left before the watch times out and needs to recharge. We saw this in the hybreed invasion when he tries to cure all the DNAliens which gave cooper the idea to make cure guns. How ben has to use the watch in limited amounts otherwise he over-uses it and it needs to recharge.
Kuro doesn't really think stuff through. He overcomplicates everything. Also your right considering we've already seen the quick swaps do use a lot of energy in darkstar rises and that's with an omnitrix that isn't broken.
@@darkestlight660 except switching lessens that time so switching to another alien in a lot of cases would be to risky. This definitely being one that would be to risky.
Maybe it's just the coming and going of one-off writers, but it's odd that each of the trio get given a random, one-off trait like Gwen's claustrophobia, Kevin being a great detective, and Ben having photogenic memory. Feels like a shortcut to actual characterisation. It is really weird how little she appears. Only 6 more times over the next 3 seasons, and one of them is a cameo. Alien Force did so much to set up the Plumber's Helpers, Julie and others that could've all become regulars but just didn't. I like Simple quite a lot despite all the flaws. Ben getting doxxed is funny though. I'm guessing Ben hitting the Lodestar hologram in WotW was the first real mistransformation post-recalibration. Kinda makes sense if it's a result of the High Breed DNA rewriting.
I'm pretty sure Ben's good memory comes back a couple times actually, at least in Ultimate Alien with him nearly acing his Plumbers exam and remembering the symbols to get into legerdomain
I actually find the simple episode pretty thought provoking. I mean the fact that even a little girl went from "I hate war" to "I hate the cause of the war" and then to "doesn't matter I've got money", really made me wonder if the wanted to satirize some aspects of human nature. Even in real life, we had wars during our modern times and yet those not involved in them didn't give a shit, but the moment a war started in Europe everyone wanted to be supportive. Also the conflict itself being presented in this childish manner kinda underlines how many times wars don't actually much sense and could be solved just with better communication.
Honestly every fan can agree that these are some of the worst episodes of Ben 10 ever and it wouldn't even matter if they just would never exist Feeling bad for kuro to review the worst of Ben 10
23:31 Now I know why I wasn't that confused when I saw the ship suit in omniverse, I kind of forgot it existed while still having it at the back of my mind until seeing it again.
Simple is the kind of episode that teaches kids that shows that you love can have very bad episodes. I remember watching that epsode as a kid and being beyond pissed
In terms of the secret saturdays thing, Big Foot isn't ever directly seen, but I believe mentioned somewhere. You also get to see things like the Hibagon and the Yeti show up, which are connected or associated with Big Foot.
I think the speeding ticket issue is character growth. Early on, doing crime was part of Kevin’s bad boy cred. Speeding tickets were like collectibles. But now he doesn’t find it as fun because it’s become trivial. Bad boy cred isn’t necessary when your friends know you. So getting stopped by the cops when you’re in a hurry becomes annoying.
I strongly believe that Kuro has a handsomely paid private hairstylist that he goes to in order to switch things up right before recording every video.
'Simple' was such a bad episode that they straight up recycled the story and used it for the Upchuck home world one....and done it so so so much better
13:40 i feel like the reason why Jetray's transformation sequence is like that is because i think it's because he is going to be Humungosaur but ended up as Jetray but it's kind of debatable bcs when Ben gets the wrong transformation, it's a unique transformation
But then again. It's better for him to watch it all at once and get it outta the way instead of trying to make 3 individual videos which might have to be extended. Honestly I wouldn't mind if he broke the whole season in an hour since it's not that great.
Funny how the plot of Simple was already done SO much better by Dr. Seuss of all people. The Butter Battle Book was a book about two nations at war over how they ate toast: butter side up or butter side down. The book ended with both factions escalating in weapons and violence. It was later adapted as part of the second season of the Green Eggs and Ham Netflix series, where they resolved it by basically doing a Romeo and Juliet/James Bond pastiche that led to the creation of a "butter sandwich". Basically, Get 2 bread slices. Toast. Spread Butter on the bottom of one slice and the top of another. CoMbInE. Not bad, but a little tangy for my taste.
If I remember correctly changing the aliens shortens the transformation. But that still makes no sense in cases like when Ben turns into Clockwork and just runs for the entire duration of the transformation. TURNING BACK HUMAN WOULD'VE BEEN FASTER.
Boy I had forgotten how much I hated “Simple.” The whole episode is just a joke about Ben thinking he can resolve a war only to end up uniting the people against him. Kevin is unlikeable, Ben is way too egotistical and arrogant, and everyone else a basically caricature.
So "Simple" is basically the "The Divide" episode of Avatar the Last Airbender. Except it's worse here because well established characters are being written poorly (from the classic Ben 10 and first 2 seasons of Alien Force, as opposed to The Divide in Avatar where that was like halfway through Season 1, when things were still being developed.
Kuro seems really hung up on Kevins car being able to fly, despite that not being what happens in the scene. Kevin's car decelerates, the jets don't seem powerful enough to provide lift, only to slow it down
It was always going to happen, not many shows can have so many great episodes and go without a few bad ones. But man some of these episodes are just not likeable at all. However I do think season 3 had some entertaining episodes like the rath one.
4:57 Something you missed the chance to comment on: It looks like the ID Mask makes Kevin look shorter, and he sort of grows when he takes it off. 13:01 Look, after he bought the planet and permits, rented out the equipment, _and_ paid all his goons, he was a little short on budget. 23:03 Something I think about sometimes is what constitutes 'technology' that Mechamorphs can merge with. Back in Season 1 of the first series, Upgrade was able to merge with weight machines, and I'm pretty sure one of them was just a pulley system. 37:56 Did everything she did in War of the Worlds burn out most of her powers or something? Okay, so maybe I was a little wrong about Season 3 being 'Fanservice: The Season'
What’s interesting about lodestar first transformation, is that the hologram is lodestar when he transformers but ben wants to get humungousaur. So does that count as a mistranformation if the alien matches the hologram shown?
The episode is stupid, but I like Simple for three reasons: 1. The debut of Lodestar 2. Seeing Ben turn into so many aliens in a single episode is always great. 3. It's the first time since War of the Worlds that we get to see Humongosaur & Way Big in the same episode.
The loadstar inconsistency could mean that Ben's initial transformation in War of the Worlds was a mistransformation, so it could mean that is his first legitimate transformation.
26:31 I think if they're going to do the transparent/glowy mana thing with Gwen's powers it should be dependent on how the powers work. Transparent is standard Anodyte powers, glowy is her magic amplifying the powers, to the point where maybe she could get a Super Anodyte form.
I think taking Simple at face value, which was intended to be a fun one-off that doesn't really matter, makes the episode far more enjoyable. I'm sure there was a message intended or whatever but the whole episode is meant to be a clash of egos and it's kind of awesome. I know Kevin's sudden cartoonish attitude can be annoying, especially considering Season 3 is following some great characterization that played it 100% straight, but taking Season 3 episodically, I find it amusing. His final line in that episode is hilarious to me, and his antics were by far the most enjoyable part. Maybe it's a personal thing, but the entertainment factor for me was through the roof. Of course, if you analyze Simple too closely or compare it to literally 1 season ago, it is a colossal piece of shit.
8:40 I always read Gwen freaking out because she secretly is claustrophobic and it’s embarrassing for her to admit it. Gwen is such a perfectionist I could see her being insecure about such a common phobia.
As someone who consumes a lot of history stuff, I can assure you that actual, real people have found dumber reasons than handshakes to go to war. Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan until the Meiji-Restauration, for example once took the engraving on a bell that could be considred an insult if you really stretch the definition of that word to go to war.
I kinda hate when Julie just standing there in the Ship suit and take every shot because she didn't feel anything but she still using her pet as a shield I think she should be worried about Ship taking a damage even a lttile bit
The idea of Vulcanus legally buying earth is so maddening. So he can legally just kill off the whole planet by terraforming, that’s legal? And if he didn’t actually buy earth as I see some speculate why mention that?
This is probably going to be quite long, but I'm going to bat for Simple. I actually think it's one of, if not the, best episode of Alien Force, or at least of Season 3. Rather than being a flat condemnation of war as a concept, it's actually stinging indictment of well-meaning interventionists who think they can solve long-standing cultural conflicts like it's no problem. Ben decides to try and immerse himself in a culture he knows nothing about. In that regard, the fact that the two factions are so blatantly identical fits the story perfectly. Far from being irrational, it's a perfect display of a foreign society Ben never bothered to learn the first thing about before landing in the middle of it and destabilising the situation. The show never usually goes for such pointed political storytelling like this, so its something I find quite refreshing, setting Simple apart from most episodes. Through all this however, what makes it work so well for me is that Ben's ego is tempered by the fact he's so morally hopeful during the whole thing. I find his white-hot anger at the generals incredibly compelling, and probably one of the most on-point bits of characterisation ever applied to him. Despite all his naivety he wants only the best for the people of this planet, and is so frustrated by the bleak cynicism everyone else reflexively assumes. Kevin and even Gwen are positioned as a contrast to this, taking advantage of the conflict or choosing to sit out. For all that Ben ends up making thing worse, he's the only person with the simple decency to try and help. Even the darkly comic ending, with Ben forced to flee, is tempered by the optimistic moment of Probity finding Kevin's abandoned gems. There are some other little things I think are neat about Simple. It's the first episode to take advantage of Ben's newfound universal fame, which is something that will be iterated on dozens of following episodes, particularly in Ultimate Alien. It's also the first Season 3 episode to really puncture Ben's growing ego problems, by having him 'lose' for once. Lodestar's debut is nice in that it returns us to the OG series status quo where Ben can get new aliens randomly, freeing us from the same 9 he was always using in Seasons 1 and 2 of AF. It's also quite a good display of his skills, showing that he can disarm the whole army, while reminding us Ben is inexperienced using him (he overdoes it and gets covered in guns). I like the brighter planet setting after all the darkness in AF so far. To me this is one of Season 3's obvious highlights, using the freedom of being uncoupled from a wider arc plot to tell a lovely self-contained little story. It may not have any world-shaking dramatics, but I still love what it tries to do within the format of Ben 10.
I'd say the issue is that the story plays it more like Ben's bumbling his way into making the situation worse rather than it being the result of him choosing to ignore r go againts their culture.
About the “his car can fly now” I don’t think it’s actually flying. It’s only used when the car is falling to slow it down. I think it’s much less of a problem if it’s the equivalent of a parachute.
Since they were trying to make S3 more like classic, Ben always wanting to turn into Humungasour but always mistransforming could be a callback to how young Ben always wanted Fourarms but would get other aliens instead. Sorry for my spelling, I'm sure a good chunk of it is wrong.
I've honestly thought about the Episode simple a lot. with the ending i've almost imagined that she grows up to be a planetary dictator who has a vendetta against ben, and that she eventually will show up again. as a badguy.
Should we have a new counter for every time Ben specifically want to go Humongasaur but doesn't? Because it kinda becomes a running joke that Humongasaur becomes his go-to (especially in Omniverse). Although that's basically just the wrong alien counter with an emphasis on what Alien he wanted
@@danielsurvivor1372 That’s more Ben being an idiot and not paying attention to the dial. Like when he said he was gonna go XLR8, quickly picked Rath, turned into Rath, then complained about getting the wrong alien
For the record Simple is one of my favourite episodes simply because of the ending with Kevin, saying Hearts are what poor people have instead of money and then the little girl that wanted war to stop starts splashing in the money Kevin left behind its great comedy This is my favourite Kevin because of how terrible a line it is, like from a writing perspective its bad but from an episode alone its perfect
I don't mind Ben being a little egotistical if he learned lessons. I think Simple is really good, and would work even with season 1 Ben. And his friendship with Domstol is pretty funny. I love this trope of a character who thinks our loser hero is this hyper competent genius. That's why I liked Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda.
With Ben acting like a cocky goofball and with how many times he fails to turn into Humungusaur, it made me think i was watching Omniverse Season 1 for a second
Say what you want about the repo episode it introduced us to two of the best villains in the show. " can you see why someone might consider that action excessive if downright unnecessary boyd" is a line I love a lot
Ben not caring about Ship is part of why him and Julie breaking up was believable for me. Julie could handle Ben when he was in a serious hero mood, but she can't handle his lazy or arrogant sides at all, which is where their relationship struggled constantly. Ben has multiple sides to him that bleed through depending on the situation. Julie never properly dealt with him in casual settings enough. Kai at least acts as someone Ben can bounce off of, no matter the mood he's in, so while their relationship is absolutely rushed, I can see why it worked out in the end.
I will say on the topic of Kevin's car being able to fly: 1) In the clips here, it seems like it's less that it can full-on fly, and more that the rocket jets are there to keep it upright and control its descent. As far as I can tell, it still only goes down, just at a steady pace. Honestly not a terrible idea- The Soyuz capsule and its Chinese copy Shenzhou use retrorockets to slow their descent after re-entry, because they come down on solid ground and a parachute isn't enough to make that a safe landing. 2) Just because it can fly doesn't mean it's a viable space vehicle. It would need to be environmentally sealed, have its own life-support systems, and a heat shield for re-entry.
Their never actually was any bigfoot in Secret Saturday, the closest we got was the yetis which were also in ben 10. Julie should have been the 4th member of the team. Simple was worse than I remember and may be more cringe inducing than duped.
IMPORTANT BREAKDOWNS UPDATE: th-cam.com/video/8Oqc8hWh94M/w-d-xo.html
ALSO - Lots of people defending the Flying Car as it only slowed their decent, but at the end of the episode, the car flys straight into the air, out of the hole. So yes, it can really fly.
it's totally understandable. you do what you gotta do, Kuro.
@@christianparrish6647 hey man
@@bobbyahmad5197 yo
@@christianparrish6647 Hru?
@@bobbyahmad5197 good
At this point, I feel like the top of Kuro’s head has a Lego stud on it where he can just put any hair piece he wants on it
Kuro is secretly a segmentosapien confirmed
@oddrevolver9026maybe it's to hide the fact he is one he's always saying theres no way to think they would actually exist
Bro really just said he's built like Emmett
Ben: What does claustrophobic mean?
Kevin: It means she’s afraid of Santa Claus.
Gwen: No it doesn’t!
Ben: HO HO HO!
Kevin: STOP IT BEN YOU’RE SCARING HER!
Wasn't there a Christmas episode before? Ben and Gwen were elves and Max became Santa Claus?
@@Nameless82284 You realize this is a joke.
@@Nameless82284 yeah that was an episode
@@au7923 You realized that nobody asked.
@@sau7255 Nobody asked you either.
"I've come all this way to tell you that war just isn't cool"
Unironically one of the funniest things Ben has ever said. I'm usually not a fan of Ben's personality change in season 3 but I actually found him really funny in Don't Fear The Repo Man and Simple.
we did it boys, war is no more
**war rate drops to 0%**
That's what we call a "90's moment"
*America dislikes this*
See them leveraging Ben's cockiness for drama is boring. Leveraging it for comedy is pretty fun.
Starting to feel all these "intergalactic laws" being thrown in and causing trouble for our MCs might be the writers subtley referring to Cartoon Network interference with the season.
"Hey, things would be fine if it weren't for these arbitrary laws"
“Subtlety” 😂
Sounds about right, in line with the golden sh*t episode also being some kind of commentary… what’s next executive meddling being represented as this otherworldly entity who is manipulating the world and set things up to create an incredibly dramatic story for its own entertainment but plans for the story to end in their victory only to be defeated by the heroes and realizing their own role in this woven story… oh wait this isn’t Brave Express Might Gaine and Takara isn’t funding Ben 10
Who knows but that feels like something writers would do.
I like this theory.
That theory is very likely.
Ya'know. The Girl from Simple could've come back as an intergalactic warlord later and the episode would probably retroactively become part of a much harder hitting saga or something.
But that fact this whole situation is never brought up again makes the episode even more pointless
@@misterdewott8766 as it should
@@misterdewott8766 That's my opinion on a lot of episodes in the entire Ben 10 franchise. The majority of that being in the UAF section of Ben 10.
Nah, def not a saga. Maybe she's just a main villain in 1 filler episode of Omniverse and call it a day. That concept kind of reminded me of Atea tho, maybe have them appear in the same episode. That'd be cool.
An example of bad writing
The whole Argit and Kevin hustle from “Simple” were the highlights for me. Yeah, it turned Kevin’s criminal aspect to 11, but I still had a fun time watching it. The “that’s what poor people have instead of money” was a pretty funny line. Messed up, but funny
Yeah, maybe a bit OoC, but funny for what I take as primarily a dumb comedy parody type episode on more played straight war commentary plots
@@MagillanicaLouM Indeed
Not that it's a very high bar, but it's easily the most entertaining part of the entire episode.
I feel like that line would’ve made more sense coming from Argit than Kevin. Imagine if when chaos ramped up Argit had to bail with them and had to ditch the money to save Kevin or himself. That sounds more like an Argit thing to say than a Kevin thing.
@@shyguygaming5397 You’re not wrong
I think the moral lesson of “Simple” is not about war itself, but the fact Ben is so full of himself he underestimates how complicated and full of implications war is and even a superhero can’t just go to the battlefield and believe he can end the conflict by himself
Episode still sucks tho
This was always how I read this episode because the war to me was always shown to be so absurd that it couldn't be about that
Thats why i liked the arc where the incurseans take over earth so much in omniverse, ben had to resign and get exiled into space
Well he could if he used absolute force from the get go
@@sebastiansuazo2734 The incursian invasion arc is Simple but good.
I feel like the idea of “Simple” was SUPPOSED to be that Ben marches into a situation that he knows nothing about and thinks he can solve it only to be proven wrong.
He goes into a WAR, between opposing factions, and tries to shut it down without knowing ANYTHING about the war, the cultural and socioeconomic context behind the war, or either side’s traditions or beliefs. And for his arrogance, he is punished.
But then they also like… make the warring factions explicitly irrational and their leaders corrupt, which completely undermines the story.
irrational factions? corrupt leaders? seems very realistic actually
I feel like that would totally work if it was handled better, but seeing Ben at least make some kind of progress that isn't them uniting against him would've been good too. Ending it bleak with no resolution doesn't usually happen in Ben 10 and would normally get a future episode where it goes back to that plot, but that never happens here. That's why I think it could've worked to at least see more progress than everyone getting mad at Ben. And he's somewhat experienced in diplomacy, the only thing holding him back from being good at it is the network making him more arrogant
@@angelparada9904 I feel that if this episode came a bit later, like halfway through this season, while we’ve had enough time to stew through arrogant Ben, this so could’ve been the turning point where he starts to return to his alien force character
I don’t know Completely irrational and corrupt leaders spouting nonsense seems pretty realistic (not commentary about current leadership just a fact of history).
@@accidentalmadness1708 Realism isn't the issue tho. It's that Ben is supposed to be the one at fault, but the fact that they are so irrational and corrupt means that Ben never stood a chance at helping them even if he went into it as tactfully as possible.
26:00 kuro basically cringing his life away as soon as ben started is peak comedy
Yes 10/10 comedy
He's so done.
The scream made it so good
This isn't The Worst of Ben 10, this alien was unlocked in omniverse
That's a good one
I disagree, simple is still worse for me.
@@luisfabiano1810 i was talking about the alien The Worst, its just a joke
(Sorry if you were joking too and it just flew over my head)
@@davicejudo7148 now i agree with you, simpler it's better than worse.
@@davicejudo7148 and oh yeah i got the joke, and also sorry for bothering you, you were really cool.
I don't know about "the Worst". "Simple" was a wake up call to Ben that despite his abilities, most problems are too complicated and nuanced for him to solve by just butting in and saying "it's hero time".
agreed, i loved the episode. while it was a little stupid at times, it made me happy to show that ben can’t save everyone and everything
Yeah next time we got oh boy the Golden Poop episode
@@duncananderson2113 Ah...that was classic.
I like how it throw jabs at both sides of a war
I don't remember the episode, but I assume the war has been going on long enough that a few generations have come and gone during the fighting to a point that it's just fight for the sake of it
Again, idea is fine but the execution is horrid
For the Speeding Tickets, I say a bit of character growth.
In Season 1, he was still trying to fit in with Ben and Gwen, but still keep his “devil may care” attitude because they were still getting used to him and they hadn’t yet become a close knit team. Now, in Season 3, Ben and Gwen have accepted him completely and Kevin has started to learn to care about more than just himself. He cares about others’ opinions, because they genuinely care about him. But he’s still a bit of a renegade, so does his own style of growing up that still counts as maturing.
And then he sells guns
"Devil May Care"?
Did you mean "Devil May Cry"?
@H B devil may care is an expression
@@tahaqamar5507 Ah, ok.
And plus he’s probably low on funds after all the damage his car has taken
"Aw Kevin you do have a heart."
"Yeah that's what poor people have instead of money"
As out of character this line is, it still cracks me up 😂
8:18 Getting aggressive and argumentative is a symptom of claustrophobia, so it actually does kind of make sense for her. Claustrophobia triggers that "cornered animal" reflex that we had from when we were wild animals, so getting aggressive is a defense mechanism to attempt to scare away a predator or escape whatever dangerous situation you got yourself in.
Poor Loadstar. He had such a cool build up and yet was utilised in such an underwhelming episode
Don't mind me saying lode*
Because I would make the same mistake.
Fortunately there is a better episode for him to appear.
To be honest, I would have liked if ben used loadstar more.
He was the first alien to be used by the full omnitrix. So that's something.
Yeah its weird. Lodestar’s powers should make him one of the most OP aliens ever but in execution, he is a C Tier at best
One thing I can say I actually like about these episodes is that they try to explore more aspects of the greater alien society, with a bunch of new space laws and conduct coming into play, Ben having to become a diplomat, etc. I mean they failed spectacularly, but it was an interesting attempt.
Kuro isnt harsh enough on these Episodes,
including but not limited to the reason that Cartoons can be incredily inspirational.
Teaching via Humor about War, that’s what the Blue vs Red Episode could have been about,
but no, it’s not nearly like ‚War is Bad’ by „Somre More News“!
that guy Moldywarp always did and still does give me the Heebie Jeebies 😬
Oh good, it's not just me. Dude gives me creeper vibes like if Jared Fogle possessed one of the FNAF animatronics.
I remember watching that “Simple” episode as a kid and being so pissed off of that episode’s entire plot and conclusion. It felt like a giant waste of time.
EXACTLY!!
@@misterdewott8766 Someone commented that this serves a wake up call to Ben,because he can't save everyone,which unfortunately is true but still THIS EPISODE WAS A WASTE OF TIME !!!
So its a filler episode
@@reptile1687 lol 😂
@@duncananderson2113but in this situation it was possible, the generals really were the problem
45:20 It's probably unintentional reference to 1984 where wars are being used as a tool to keep people compliant, it's just now the war is against Ben and since he can never be caught or defeated... The war is permanent
Half of me feels this is a parody of the "Superman arrests Stalin and Hitler" comic. Ben even kidnapped the red and blue leaders!
Another part thinks the writers were just looking to spite the audience with the ending because there were a lot of ways the debate could've been solved so easily.
And another thinks this is a hilariously dark reflection of our real world.
The dark reflection is bad and poorly writen and like, can't Ben arrest the 2?
@@Eric6761 on what grounds being if anything ben might be the one who gets arrested being he did kidnap two leaders and destroyed a very important landmark.
@@frankspick7544 he can prove they are corrupt and he is stronger enough to beat both armies
In defense of the claustrophobia scene, i feel like the point was that Gwen IS claustrophobic, and her response was meant to convey that she was insecure about it. Since she says she’s scared of being in tight spaces, and it wouldn’t surprise me if her phobia was flaring up as Kevin was prodding her about it.
This isn’t to take away from your point, but I think that situation was justified.
The problem here is we have to look through every Ben 10 episode, does Gwen ever encountere enclosed space like elevator or something and not showing uncomfort.
@@blackholeghost1875 that issue holds true for a lot of things about this show to be honest.
@blackholeghost1875 I think that she got drowned in hatchling factory by DNAalien xenocite in Ben 10 Alien Force Season 1 Episode 7 Max Out and she has this condition later on in Ben 10 Alien Force Season 3 Episode 3.
One thing I love to do is that I watch the episode Kuro is going to breakdown, write down my opinions then watch Kuro's and differentiate and find our similarities
That sounds fun!
same this is what make the breakdown FUN
The whole fandom is sharing their opinion they had for a long time about these episodes.
Volcanus wants to terraform the earth when theres a planet just as he describes right next door
For the inconsistency with Max claiming Bigfoot was "a guy in a suit"... I have an easy answer.
The fact that Rook was convinced that Chupacabras don't exist in the same Omniverse episode the Saturday Family appear in... it is clear that the Plumbers are not aware of the existence of some (if not most) of the Cryptids on earth (props to the Saturdays, who's job is to keep them hidden), So really, even though Max supposedly worked with the Saturday's before, perhaps he didn't think Bigfoot was one of the "Real" cryptids (or it is just an excuse he automatically makes to avoid making the Saturday's job harder).
When it was revealed that all the fighting was about rather or not that big statue guy was red or blue in color... I was expecting a twist of him actually being purple... have to say, was real disappointed by the way that ended..... at least the purple color actually did show up, so I got that for me.
You know Big Foot may not exist in Ben 10 but the Yeti does it's like the closest thing to Big Foot.
@@Nameless82284 That is True, I know most of the "famous" cryptids never had a major role in TSS, and in "T.G.I.S" Zak expressed some surprise thinking they caught Bigfoot when meeting Ben as Shocksquash.
So Yeah, Max might have been 100% honest and truthful there... despite his knowledge of the existence of Cryptids.
@@13KuriMaster To be fair this episode was created years before making Ben 10 and The Secret Saturday be in the same universe. I didn't even like The Secret Saturday, it just didn't stick with me, ironically I love cryptic things that I'm even making a cartoon about it, but that show didn't stick with me.
@@Nameless82284 Yeah, though there were some subtle Ben 10 references in TSS (Enoch and Hex appearing on some pictures, a reference to Galvan Prime from the alien-specaltist of the secret scientists, maybe more that I can't think of but I think that is it).
So, who knows, maybe they had a general idea of wanting to have them in the same universe..... not that it was likely to be on their mind when doing that episode.
@@13KuriMaster Maybe it was just an Easter Egg.
I legit do not like, no, I kinda hate "Simple", and I try not hate on anything because I'm not that type of person, but the episode has two qualities that really do not like in Ben 10: Nobody learning anything, and out of nowhere goofy alien designs, (which all three episodes here have design wise)
The Simple aliens are so jarring, like they belong in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. The Vreedle brothers get away with it because they have a bit more character, but Grandpa Varmint whatever with his dead eyes really made go "What's going on with this show?"
Kuro's reaction to Ben's gloating speech was my same exact reaction lol
Took the words right out if my mouth.
Simple was such a shit episode.
In fairness, I can tolerate the Vreedles since their archetype isn't new (i.e. Bebop and Rocksteady or Roadhog and Junkrat) and they still have that "Ben 10 Flair" so to speak.
i agree the simple aliens feel like they would better fit in a Jhonny quesar cartoon not ben 10
This was the point when I started to realize that UAF other alien designs were pretty boring.
This is why I like the designs from Omniverse. Say what you will about the writing but the alien designs and designs for most of the cast were creative and imaginative.
@@zemox2534 It makes me happy that so many people warmed up to the Omniverse designs and artstyle after so many years of discourse
I just realized that in "Simple" Ben has to play as the 'neutral party' between these 2 irrational parties
If Ben had worked with Alien X as the Voice Of Reason, this would honestly be close to a walk in the park.
Also I sympathize with the Cave Scene as Ben showing complete frustration to this situation, I'd probably do the same thing, however, like with Alien X, him refusing to be "The Voice Of Reason" and just letting them argue it out by themselves is _sooooo_ the wrong move
With Omniverse in mind, he probably would've brainwashed the two leaders into a peace treaty lol
@@misterdewott8766 actually no he wouldn't being ben was in a another scenero like this and ended up better. with the two side making peace.
44:26 im sorry but I find this line so fucking funny💀💀
same
“Simple” is weirdly one of the episodes I remember the most of. Probably because it weirded me out as a kid.
It felt like the episode was made for three purposes:
1) To poke fun at how dumb war can be.
2) Make an arrogant Ben go “I’m a hero, I can solve anyone’s problems” and learn in the end that he can’t all the time.
And 3) Just be a dumb and fun episode. It really felt like the writers for this episode weren’t taking it very seriously and wanted a break from the serious plot stuff.
You know given the fact that in an Omniverse future episode, Argit becomes the president of the world...does that mean there was some kind earth political debate between Argit and Vulkanus for running the entire planet at some point? cuz if so I kind of want to watch that.
Honestly sounds like it would’ve been more interesting than early omniverse
I would watch it.
@@Power11112 more interesting than the whole alien force season 3
Very interesting
That'd be hilarious. Maybe Ben and pals convince Argit to run against Vulkanus in the first place since, unlike the latter, he won't wipe out humanity. After all, Argit can't be a con artist if there's no one left to con!?
Hey Kuro, two things:
1. I love the breakdowns so much.
2. I hope you don’t let ppl make you feel pressured to drop super frequently. You come first man, we can wait.
Dude stop with this shit, he said himself he's fine, he does them at his pace, and he does them caus he enjoys them. Stop pretending you care just to fish for likes
I think he's fine. He said in a recent video that his lower energy is actually more true to himself, and he was tired of overacting in the breakdowns.
@@Handles_be_dumb I like genuine kuro more his old stuff was kinda annoying as person that hates loud noises
@@Handles_be_dumb ah that’s good to know. I just see some ppl in the comments like, “where’s the breakdown Kuro” and although they mean well, as a content creator myself I know that that type of stuff can feel demanding
@@officialasa to be fair, he has said he's going to make some of the less important episodes 60 second shorts instead of full breakdowns, but that seems to be for the sake of easing the workload. He still says he's passionate about the breakdowns themselves.
"How did Vulky buy the Earth?"
simple, he bought it from Freeza, lol
Dammit Freeza!
When you turn on the thermostat to cool your house, it actually uses up MORE energy to turn it off and on again then if you just leave it on. Same could be said about his quick swaps. It could be argued that ben doesn't keep swapping cause it would use WAY more of the omnitrix's energy thus reducing the amount of hero time he has left before the watch times out and needs to recharge.
We saw this in the hybreed invasion when he tries to cure all the DNAliens which gave cooper the idea to make cure guns. How ben has to use the watch in limited amounts otherwise he over-uses it and it needs to recharge.
Kuro doesn't really think stuff through. He overcomplicates everything. Also your right considering we've already seen the quick swaps do use a lot of energy in darkstar rises and that's with an omnitrix that isn't broken.
@@lunakingsley.7247 He's probably thinking that if a transformation can get the job done quickly it's worth wasting the energy to transform again.
@@madladdie7069 even then most situations this wouldn't be the case and the lack of time would be to big of a risk.
@@lunakingsley.7247 Exactly, if you solve the problem then you don't need to stay as hero longer
@@darkestlight660 except switching lessens that time so switching to another alien in a lot of cases would be to risky. This definitely being one that would be to risky.
44:40 🤥 are Kevin’s tears in different materials too? I didn’t notice that before
Maybe it's just the coming and going of one-off writers, but it's odd that each of the trio get given a random, one-off trait like Gwen's claustrophobia, Kevin being a great detective, and Ben having photogenic memory. Feels like a shortcut to actual characterisation.
It is really weird how little she appears. Only 6 more times over the next 3 seasons, and one of them is a cameo. Alien Force did so much to set up the Plumber's Helpers, Julie and others that could've all become regulars but just didn't.
I like Simple quite a lot despite all the flaws. Ben getting doxxed is funny though. I'm guessing Ben hitting the Lodestar hologram in WotW was the first real mistransformation post-recalibration. Kinda makes sense if it's a result of the High Breed DNA rewriting.
I'm pretty sure Ben's good memory comes back a couple times actually, at least in Ultimate Alien with him nearly acing his Plumbers exam and remembering the symbols to get into legerdomain
@@Crystal_959 To be fair, we could have seen that trait alot more
@@Crystal_959 ben having perfect memory somehow explains a lot of him sometimes
it helps his "brilliant but lazy" vibe
@@ianr.navahuber2195 also kinda explains that even though he obviously doesn’t care for school, we know he’s not failing
I actually find the simple episode pretty thought provoking. I mean the fact that even a little girl went from "I hate war" to "I hate the cause of the war" and then to "doesn't matter I've got money", really made me wonder if the wanted to satirize some aspects of human nature. Even in real life, we had wars during our modern times and yet those not involved in them didn't give a shit, but the moment a war started in Europe everyone wanted to be supportive. Also the conflict itself being presented in this childish manner kinda underlines how many times wars don't actually much sense and could be solved just with better communication.
26:00 I swear we need to keep count of every time Ben makes a Saviour of the Universe speech.
that's actually a good idea
In fairness, Kevin just wants what Argit owes him.
And he didn't get it because Gwen refuses to help him.
Quick Ben 10 fact:
First episode (in today's Breakdown) is titled "Inferno", which is Polish name for Heatblast in series.
That was the case for Spain too, which made me feel very disappointed since Heatblast didn't show up.
14:31
"I gotta say, this is a rocky start"
Well yeah Kuro, I think that was the point
Honestly every fan can agree that these are some of the worst episodes of Ben 10 ever and it wouldn't even matter if they just would never exist
Feeling bad for kuro to review the worst of Ben 10
Yes Im very sad that these episodes did exist but on the bright side we got rath
Imagine if we got the dragon plotline instead of this.
I am waiting till he reach the episode "Duped".
Well if you watch the update, he won't do them all.
@@cliffturbo2146 god I hate that episode so much, you couldve avoided so much ben-
23:31 Now I know why I wasn't that confused when I saw the ship suit in omniverse, I kind of forgot it existed while still having it at the back of my mind until seeing it again.
Simple is the kind of episode that teaches kids that shows that you love can have very bad episodes. I remember watching that epsode as a kid and being beyond pissed
Can we appreciate the fact a new intro was made just for season 3. Really shows Kuro's dedication to these breakdowns.
In terms of the secret saturdays thing, Big Foot isn't ever directly seen, but I believe mentioned somewhere. You also get to see things like the Hibagon and the Yeti show up, which are connected or associated with Big Foot.
I think the speeding ticket issue is character growth. Early on, doing crime was part of Kevin’s bad boy cred. Speeding tickets were like collectibles. But now he doesn’t find it as fun because it’s become trivial. Bad boy cred isn’t necessary when your friends know you. So getting stopped by the cops when you’re in a hurry becomes annoying.
I strongly believe that Kuro has a handsomely paid private hairstylist that he goes to in order to switch things up right before recording every video.
I headcanon that his wife picks the hair for the week.
@@anthonyvillanueva5226 he is married?
Agreed. Or it's probably his wife who does his hair styles.
'Simple' was such a bad episode that they straight up recycled the story and used it for the Upchuck home world one....and done it so so so much better
facts
It's like they saw how bad an episode it was and wanted to try again.
13:40 i feel like the reason why Jetray's transformation sequence is like that is because i think it's because he is going to be Humungosaur but ended up as Jetray but it's kind of debatable bcs when Ben gets the wrong transformation, it's a unique transformation
35:22 Look that wasn't a mistransformation. He dialled Lodestar and expected Humungousaur, something that he does in Omniverse too.
He’s done it in the past too
Technically Kevin's car didn't fly, it was just slow down from the fall. Those rockets couldn't propell the car upwards.
Exactly
But when they were escaping the exploding mine. Kevin's car was FLYING out the explosion
@@misterdewott8766 momentum may help them if they had any, saying that because I do not know if they jumped and immediately activated the rockets
Falling, with style!
It did fly when they were escaping the explosion
I feel bad for Kuro having to watch afs worst episodes back to back
But then again. It's better for him to watch it all at once and get it outta the way instead of trying to make 3 individual videos which might have to be extended. Honestly I wouldn't mind if he broke the whole season in an hour since it's not that great.
I'm literally finding this guy in every comment section
@@S4IF616 Not even this guy in particular just random people with the same pfp.
Funny how the plot of Simple was already done SO much better by Dr. Seuss of all people. The Butter Battle Book was a book about two nations at war over how they ate toast: butter side up or butter side down. The book ended with both factions escalating in weapons and violence. It was later adapted as part of the second season of the Green Eggs and Ham Netflix series, where they resolved it by basically doing a Romeo and Juliet/James Bond pastiche that led to the creation of a "butter sandwich".
Basically,
Get 2 bread slices.
Toast.
Spread Butter on the bottom of one slice and the top of another.
CoMbInE.
Not bad, but a little tangy for my taste.
21:23 I heavily disagree, we know that quick change drains the Omnitrix, Ben probably just doesn't want to take the risk and time out premuterly.
These episodes would probably have worked if they were in the Omniverse series.
At least visually
actually there was an episode in Omniverse that similar to "simple" but with much better execution and called "food around corner"
@@aktivniigomes1989 that's right
@@aktivniigomes1989 that episode was about negotiating, not war happening. But I liked that episode more.
And if these episodes were handled by the Omniverse crew, these episodes would be visually appealing and be more fun.
35:23
If you notice, Ben wants Humongosaur but dials Lodestar. The hologram is clearly Lodestar.
"Brainstorm is drawn very big here" completely ignoring tiny Gwen and toy train tracks/j
"Kevin's car can fly now"
That's like trying to fly a jet to space
Not to mention the fuel needed to fly in space and to flay on earth for a few seconds is vastly different
13:40 they obviously wanted to trick the audience to think that “oh my, he becomes humungousaur” when it’s really “psyche, it’s jetray”
that what I thought they were playing with audience at this part even I thought he was becoming Humungousaur
when I first watch it.
Kuro honestly has more hairstyles than Goku's super saiyan forms
If I remember correctly changing the aliens shortens the transformation. But that still makes no sense in cases like when Ben turns into Clockwork and just runs for the entire duration of the transformation. TURNING BACK HUMAN WOULD'VE BEEN FASTER.
Kuro the Artist is back with Vengeance 😂😂😂
Kuro the fruad
@@scraptrapmemeboy what?
@@scraptrapmemeboy why is that 🤡
Boy I had forgotten how much I hated “Simple.” The whole episode is just a joke about Ben thinking he can resolve a war only to end up uniting the people against him. Kevin is unlikeable, Ben is way too egotistical and arrogant, and everyone else a basically caricature.
I think Kuro should make a counter for when Ben asks for Humungousaur but gets the wrong alien
So "Simple" is basically the "The Divide" episode of Avatar the Last Airbender. Except it's worse here because well established characters are being written poorly (from the classic Ben 10 and first 2 seasons of Alien Force, as opposed to The Divide in Avatar where that was like halfway through Season 1, when things were still being developed.
The worst part is the divide in actual story the two tribes arent nearly as irritating as Ben 10
@9:28
That’s his name?? Holy crap, I got inspired to call Voldemort Moldywart from this guy!! LOLZ!! The ultimate dishonor for a villain!!
Now I want a complication of all of Kuro's hairstyles from throughout the years lol
Kuro seems really hung up on Kevins car being able to fly, despite that not being what happens in the scene. Kevin's car decelerates, the jets don't seem powerful enough to provide lift, only to slow it down
The producers really went ballistic making these episodes after being told they couldn't do their original plans for s3. Gotta respect that.
It’s like a really good actor being apart of what they know is a crappy project so they just ham it up.
It was always going to happen, not many shows can have so many great episodes and go without a few bad ones. But man some of these episodes are just not likeable at all. However I do think season 3 had some entertaining episodes like the rath one.
Every episode that has a fair amount of rath's bs in it is easily my favourite.
Don't forget "above and beyond"
4:57 Something you missed the chance to comment on: It looks like the ID Mask makes Kevin look shorter, and he sort of grows when he takes it off.
13:01 Look, after he bought the planet and permits, rented out the equipment, _and_ paid all his goons, he was a little short on budget.
23:03 Something I think about sometimes is what constitutes 'technology' that Mechamorphs can merge with. Back in Season 1 of the first series, Upgrade was able to merge with weight machines, and I'm pretty sure one of them was just a pulley system.
37:56 Did everything she did in War of the Worlds burn out most of her powers or something?
Okay, so maybe I was a little wrong about Season 3 being 'Fanservice: The Season'
26:04 I can FEEL Kuro’s pain, and we all feel it with you🥲
What’s interesting about lodestar first transformation, is that the hologram is lodestar when he transformers but ben wants to get humungousaur. So does that count as a mistranformation if the alien matches the hologram shown?
NO
he has transformed correctly.
It is just Ben not paying attention to hologram.
^^^
The episode is stupid, but I like Simple for three reasons:
1. The debut of Lodestar
2. Seeing Ben turn into so many aliens in a single episode is always great.
3. It's the first time since War of the Worlds that we get to see Humongosaur & Way Big in the same episode.
The loadstar inconsistency could mean that Ben's initial transformation in War of the Worlds was a mistransformation, so it could mean that is his first legitimate transformation.
26:31 I think if they're going to do the transparent/glowy mana thing with Gwen's powers it should be dependent on how the powers work. Transparent is standard Anodyte powers, glowy is her magic amplifying the powers, to the point where maybe she could get a Super Anodyte form.
The Alien Force deserts during the day in “Inferno” look weirdly Wile E. Coyote-ish.
Maybe that’s why they were there in the night for the first 2 seasons
I think taking Simple at face value, which was intended to be a fun one-off that doesn't really matter, makes the episode far more enjoyable. I'm sure there was a message intended or whatever but the whole episode is meant to be a clash of egos and it's kind of awesome. I know Kevin's sudden cartoonish attitude can be annoying, especially considering Season 3 is following some great characterization that played it 100% straight, but taking Season 3 episodically, I find it amusing. His final line in that episode is hilarious to me, and his antics were by far the most enjoyable part. Maybe it's a personal thing, but the entertainment factor for me was through the roof.
Of course, if you analyze Simple too closely or compare it to literally 1 season ago, it is a colossal piece of shit.
8:40 I always read Gwen freaking out because she secretly is claustrophobic and it’s embarrassing for her to admit it. Gwen is such a perfectionist I could see her being insecure about such a common phobia.
I feel like it's not the speeding tickets themselves that give him a headache, but it's Gwen griping at him to pay for them that gives them a headache
As someone who consumes a lot of history stuff, I can assure you that actual, real people have found dumber reasons than handshakes to go to war.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan until the Meiji-Restauration, for example once took the engraving on a bell that could be considred an insult if you really stretch the definition of that word to go to war.
Oh yeah, please upload the VODs. I’d love to see you play the Ben 10 video games. I’ll try to catch the streams, though
I kinda hate when Julie just standing there in the Ship suit and take every shot because she didn't feel anything but she still using her pet as a shield I think she should be worried about Ship taking a damage even a lttile bit
The idea of Vulcanus legally buying earth is so maddening. So he can legally just kill off the whole planet by terraforming, that’s legal? And if he didn’t actually buy earth as I see some speculate why mention that?
them blowing out Kevin's torches was pretty funny.
This is probably going to be quite long, but I'm going to bat for Simple. I actually think it's one of, if not the, best episode of Alien Force, or at least of Season 3.
Rather than being a flat condemnation of war as a concept, it's actually stinging indictment of well-meaning interventionists who think they can solve long-standing cultural conflicts like it's no problem. Ben decides to try and immerse himself in a culture he knows nothing about. In that regard, the fact that the two factions are so blatantly identical fits the story perfectly. Far from being irrational, it's a perfect display of a foreign society Ben never bothered to learn the first thing about before landing in the middle of it and destabilising the situation. The show never usually goes for such pointed political storytelling like this, so its something I find quite refreshing, setting Simple apart from most episodes.
Through all this however, what makes it work so well for me is that Ben's ego is tempered by the fact he's so morally hopeful during the whole thing. I find his white-hot anger at the generals incredibly compelling, and probably one of the most on-point bits of characterisation ever applied to him. Despite all his naivety he wants only the best for the people of this planet, and is so frustrated by the bleak cynicism everyone else reflexively assumes. Kevin and even Gwen are positioned as a contrast to this, taking advantage of the conflict or choosing to sit out. For all that Ben ends up making thing worse, he's the only person with the simple decency to try and help. Even the darkly comic ending, with Ben forced to flee, is tempered by the optimistic moment of Probity finding Kevin's abandoned gems.
There are some other little things I think are neat about Simple. It's the first episode to take advantage of Ben's newfound universal fame, which is something that will be iterated on dozens of following episodes, particularly in Ultimate Alien. It's also the first Season 3 episode to really puncture Ben's growing ego problems, by having him 'lose' for once.
Lodestar's debut is nice in that it returns us to the OG series status quo where Ben can get new aliens randomly, freeing us from the same 9 he was always using in Seasons 1 and 2 of AF. It's also quite a good display of his skills, showing that he can disarm the whole army, while reminding us Ben is inexperienced using him (he overdoes it and gets covered in guns). I like the brighter planet setting after all the darkness in AF so far.
To me this is one of Season 3's obvious highlights, using the freedom of being uncoupled from a wider arc plot to tell a lovely self-contained little story. It may not have any world-shaking dramatics, but I still love what it tries to do within the format of Ben 10.
I'd say the issue is that the story plays it more like Ben's bumbling his way into making the situation worse rather than it being the result of him choosing to ignore r go againts their culture.
"Hey kids, just say no to war. Because if you do war, you go to Ledgerdomain, before you die" - Ben 10
About the “his car can fly now” I don’t think it’s actually flying. It’s only used when the car is falling to slow it down. I think it’s much less of a problem if it’s the equivalent of a parachute.
And what about the ending when they go up the surface?
@@Nameless82284 just looked again. Yeah I missed that part, guess I’m wrong. But to be fair it was like half a second that it was on screen
Since they were trying to make S3 more like classic, Ben always wanting to turn into Humungasour but always mistransforming could be a callback to how young Ben always wanted Fourarms but would get other aliens instead. Sorry for my spelling, I'm sure a good chunk of it is wrong.
I've honestly thought about the Episode simple a lot. with the ending i've almost imagined that she grows up to be a planetary dictator who has a vendetta against ben, and that she eventually will show up again. as a badguy.
Should we have a new counter for every time Ben specifically want to go Humongasaur but doesn't? Because it kinda becomes a running joke that Humongasaur becomes his go-to (especially in Omniverse). Although that's basically just the wrong alien counter with an emphasis on what Alien he wanted
Then the same would go for four arms since Ben wanted to become him multiple times during omniverse and especially classic
In one of the episodes he literally picks Lodestar on Omnitrix but says he wants humongosaur does that count as mistransformation?
@@danielsurvivor1372 That’s more Ben being an idiot and not paying attention to the dial. Like when he said he was gonna go XLR8, quickly picked Rath, turned into Rath, then complained about getting the wrong alien
For the record Simple is one of my favourite episodes simply because of the ending with Kevin, saying Hearts are what poor people have instead of money and then the little girl that wanted war to stop starts splashing in the money Kevin left behind its great comedy
This is my favourite Kevin because of how terrible a line it is, like from a writing perspective its bad but from an episode alone its perfect
I don't mind Ben being a little egotistical if he learned lessons. I think Simple is really good, and would work even with season 1 Ben. And his friendship with Domstol is pretty funny. I love this trope of a character who thinks our loser hero is this hyper competent genius. That's why I liked Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda.
With Ben acting like a cocky goofball and with how many times he fails to turn into Humungusaur, it made me think i was watching Omniverse Season 1 for a second
what a coincidence.
How "simple" should've ended...
red alien general: "Attack"
Ben as Way Big: Alright that's it *fires laser and kills them.*
37:28 NO! That isn't true! When Argite stole Max's Rust Bucket, he became in debt to Kevin. He repays him now!!!
Say what you want about the repo episode it introduced us to two of the best villains in the show. " can you see why someone might consider that action excessive if downright unnecessary boyd" is a line I love a lot
Ben not caring about Ship is part of why him and Julie breaking up was believable for me.
Julie could handle Ben when he was in a serious hero mood, but she can't handle his lazy or arrogant sides at all, which is where their relationship struggled constantly. Ben has multiple sides to him that bleed through depending on the situation. Julie never properly dealt with him in casual settings enough.
Kai at least acts as someone Ben can bounce off of, no matter the mood he's in, so while their relationship is absolutely rushed, I can see why it worked out in the end.
I will say on the topic of Kevin's car being able to fly:
1) In the clips here, it seems like it's less that it can full-on fly, and more that the rocket jets are there to keep it upright and control its descent. As far as I can tell, it still only goes down, just at a steady pace. Honestly not a terrible idea- The Soyuz capsule and its Chinese copy Shenzhou use retrorockets to slow their descent after re-entry, because they come down on solid ground and a parachute isn't enough to make that a safe landing.
2) Just because it can fly doesn't mean it's a viable space vehicle. It would need to be environmentally sealed, have its own life-support systems, and a heat shield for re-entry.
That's pretty nice.
Kevin's car literally flies out the hole later in the episode.
Their never actually was any bigfoot in Secret Saturday, the closest we got was the yetis which were also in ben 10. Julie should have been the 4th member of the team. Simple was worse than I remember and may be more cringe inducing than duped.