User blog comment:Theworldismine/How awesome is omniverse now?/@comment-121.217.103.205-20130406161151/@comment-71.55.210.41-20130525155123

Here's the problem though. When you watch someone grow up over time, you have some context for why they've changed, why they're a different person than they used to be. The fact is, watching the first couple of episodes of Alien Force? I was annoyed by just how different Ben was. There was a total disconnect between the bratty, gross, hilarious kid we knew in the original series, and this new guy, who, as Gwen described him, is suddenly "sensitive" and "well-mannered". The five year time skip was a detriment, because we didn't get to see any of what he went through that made him change, and the changes were too drastic. To show you another example of a show with a similar time skip, I'd like to mention the Young Justice series and it's sequel, Young Justice: Invasion. The characters in that show went through a similar time skip as well, and had matured, but they still kept the core elements of who they were to begin with, and were easily recognizable. They were still "Robin" and "Superboy", just with added maturity that we noticed as the show went along. Alien Force had none of this, and some of the changes to other character, like Kevin for example, were so extreme, they might as well be totally different people. Hell, they are totally different people, considering the total retcon to Kevin's backstory. So yeah, I like that Ben's more childish now, because it feels more like Ben, without making him a total brat like he used to be. He is more mature than in the original show, but he's also more himself now, too.