Changes: Above and Beyond

Latest revision as of 05:12, 26 March 2024

This article belongs to the Classic Continuity

Above and Beyond is the fifteenth episode of the second season of Ben 10: Alien Force, and the forty-first episode overall.

Synopsis

The Plumbers' Helpers are called upon by Grandpa Max to rescue him from an abandoned space station where he is being attacked by - Ben!^{[note 1]}

Plot

At their base of operations, the Plumbers' Helpers are waiting around on Max's orders. Manny, impatient as always, wants to head out for some action and he and Pierce briefly clash when Pierce asserts his leadership in Max's absence. Just when Alan gets involved, they receive an encrypted incoming message from Max, who is on board Plumbers' Research Satellite Delta where he tells them that he is under attack from Ben. The transmission breaks up, and when it comes back, Ben as Humungousaur tells the Plumbers' Helpers not to interfere, lest they face the destruction that will soon befall Max.

The Plumbers' Helpers fly to the station. Alan is nervous, but the others are determined to handle the situation, especially since Gwen and Kevin are on a mission halfway across the galaxy. They speculate as to whether or not Ben would willingly attack those closest to him and they make it their mission to find Max, believing he will know what to do. When they approach the space station, Pierce tells Alan that this station is for storing technology too dangerous to keep on Earth and arrive via the docking bay. Once inside, they see the corridors in ruins and Helen finds a remote access terminal that she uses to discover a message from Max. Max says that he is hiding in the cargo hold at the far end of the station and gives them direct orders that they need to stick together and work as a team. Helen pinpoints his location and runs off.

She arrives and tries to call out for Max, but there is nothing but one creepy bump after another until the lights go out. Instead, Ben sinisterly emerges from the shadows. Ben transforms into Echo Echo and attacks her. Helen fights Echo Echo off pretty easily at first, but she is overwhelmed quickly. The clones scream at her from all directions, and she passes out. Ben transforms back and tells her to tell Max that he's looking for him. He disappears as the other Plumbers' Helpers arrive to her aid. Manny and Helen run off to hunt down Ben and send Pierce and Alan to look for Max, despite Pierce's objections. Alan gets the idea to track Max with his badge like Ben did the first time they met. Once they locate a signal, they head off. As they head through a corridor, Alan hears a whoosh behind him, but as Pierce continues on, they get separated by an unopenable door. Pierce tries to reach Alan to no avail and continues on alone. When he comes to a dark room, he finds that Ben has lured him into a trap with Max's badge. He tries to run, but Ben traps him and transforms into Goop.

Goop tricks Pierce into thinking that he is being controlled, and then springs for the attack. Goop has Pierce at his mercy inside him, but Pierce is able to use one of his arm quills to knock away Goop's Anti-Gravity Projector. Pierce escapes and climbs to higher ground, but Goop melts the structure Pierce is on to make it tip over. This provides Pierce with enough cover to escape, and Ben transforms back, declaring that there is nowhere on the station Pierce can hide from him. Manny and Helen keep looking for Ben and Helen accesses a command terminal. Whoever is jamming the Plumber's badges needs the terminals operational to work and to that end, she finds a promising human signal the opposite end of the satellite. They run to it and Manny and Helen end up separated and redirected. Manny ends up in an engine room with Ben and they do battle. Ben dodges all of his blasts and knocks away one before transforming into Rath. Rath and Manny fight and Manny appears to have the upper hand, but Rath turns the tables quick with multiple alien wrestling moves. The final attack sends Manny into multiple important-looking machines, and he passes out. Ben transforms back and walks away.

A gyroscopic machine ceases due to a block in its holding pattern caused by one of the dents sustained from Manny's crash. An electronic interface reveals that this machine is the station's gravity scope, a machine that keeps the station in its stable orbit, which has shut down from seizing up and the central core is damaged, announcing the initiation of the station's emergency procedure. The whole station starts shaking as Helen comes across Manny as he wakes up. When they hear somebody approaching, Helen is prepared to stand their ground together. It is revealed to be Pierce, who asks if they've seen Alan. Manny goes off to look for him, but Pierce insists that they stick together so Ben won't be able to hunt them down one by one again. Alan is in the station's greenroom which sustains its atmosphere when Ben appears and transforms into Big Chill. Alan and Big Chill fight, but it's a standoff. As Big Chill easily gains the upper hand, the others arrive and have him surrounded. Ben gives a sinister laugh and phases through the floor. Manny tries to stop him from getting away, but with everything that's happened, Pierce reveals Ben's retreat shows that as a team, they have him on the run. When Helen tells the others she can probably continue use with the terminals to find Max, the station quakes again. The Helpers go to the bridge, intending to locate Max and find out what keeps making that happen. When they arrive, they are beset by Ben who reveals himself in the command chair and he transforms into Humungousaur.

The Plumbers' Helpers initiate a choreographed onslaught on Humungousaur at full size. They don't land any critical blows and when Humungousaur makes a charge for Alan, he dodges and his crash unbalances the entire station. They attack together and keep Humungousaur on the run until finally reaching the docking bay. Thanks to Helen, Pierce is able to make a quick getaway and they seal the off the gateway. With Humungousaur trapped, Manny opens the airlock and sends him flying out into space with the team's ship along with him. Helen revels in their victory while Alan is in shock that they ejected Ben Tennyson into outer space. Pierce says that as Humungousaur, Ben can survive outside for a few minutes. Without their ship, Manny asks how they're going to retrieve Ben and Helen intends to do so by finding Max, activating the terminal. To her horror, she finds that Manny's battle with Ben as Rath caused catastrophic damage to the station's control systems. The tremors felt before were actually signs that the station is entering a decaying orbit with the gravity scope offline, sending the satellite on a collision course with the city of London. With no means of propulsion and no way to change course, Pierce declares that there's only one option remaining: Detonate the satellite before it crashes.

The station starts to disintegrate as it hits the atmosphere and the Plumbers' Helpers reach the bridge. Helen says that three Plumber badges are needed to activate the auto-destruct and Manny tells the others to head back to their ship while he activates it. However, Helen reminds him they blew their ship out the airlock and they all realize that detonating the station would mean sacrificing themselves for the millions of people they're on a collision course with. They all decide it's for the greater good, which is exactly what being Plumbers is all about. They bid farewell to each other and activate the self-destruct, but when the countdown runs out, nothing happens. Helen tries to jury-rig the damaged computer systems, but Max and Ben enter the bridge. Ben transforms back, still shaken up from his friends ejecting him into space. Max uses the emergency thrusters to put the station back into a safe orbit and he and Ben reveal that this station was never a storage facility, but a training station the two of them sent them to for a test Ben and Max orchestrated for all of them. While they really did knock the station out of orbit and threatened to flatten London, they passed the test with flying colors with their willingness to sacrifice themselves to save millions. And with that, Ben declares that they are ready for official training at the Plumbers' Academy and the four of them revel in their victory as the sun shines upon the station.

Noteworthy Events

Major Events

Alan, Helen, Manny and Pierce pass Max's test and are ready for real training at the Plumbers' Academy.

Characters

Aliens Used

Humungousaur (x2; first time was on a video recording)
Echo Echo
Unidentified Alien (off-screen)^{[note 2]}
Goop
Rath
Big Chill

Quotes

Manny: I'm sick and tired of waiting around. Let's go out and find some action!
Pierce: No way, Manny. The Wrench told us to wait here.
Manny: So what?
Pierce: So when he's not here, I'm in charge. You wanna go on a field trip? First, you have to get by me.
Manny: Sounds like almost ten seconds of pure entertainment!

Pierce: Gwen and Kevin are on a mission halfway across the universe.
Helen: By the time they get back, it might be too late.

Pierce: (While fighting Ben, gaining some time to speak to Ben) Ben, whatever's controlling you, you have to fight it!
Goop: (putting up an act) Help me, Pierce. I can't stop myself! You're my only hope!
Pierce: What can I do to help? (suddenly Goop throws some goop on Pierce's face)
Goop:(laughs, then mockingly says) "What can I do to help?" You're pathetic!

Manny: I know you're in here. Come out and show yourself! The others might be afraid, but I'm not scared of you!
Ben: That's because the others are smarter than you.

Manny: My Blasters!
Ben: You don't need them to take on little old me...
Manny: You got that right!
Ben: Too bad you're not fighting just little old me (Transforms into Rath) RATH!
Manny: I always wanted a piece of you anyway.
Rath: LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN', MANNY ARMSTRONG!!! YOU WANNA PIECE OF RATH?!!! YOU GOT A PIECE!!! BUT YOU JUST BIT OFF AN EYE BIGGER THAN YOUR STOMACH CAN CHEW!!!!!
Manny: That made no sense!
Rath: (Angry) ... I know!!
Manny: Is that all you got? 'Cause that was weak. (Continues fighting Rath, gets Rath in headlock) You're not so tough! I don't know why everyone's so scared of you!
Rath: THEN LEMME SHOW YA, PIPSQUEAK!!! (Starts using wrestling moves against Manny) POLARIS PILEDRIVER!! ANTARIAN ARM BAR!! OPHIUCHUS FACE-PLANT!! SIRIUS BUTT-KICKING!!
Manny: So, is that "Sirius" like the star, or "serious" like important?
Rath: Like the star!
Manny: Just... wondering. (passes out)
Rath: So are you scared yet?!

Helen: Ben did this to you?
Manny: Lucky punch. Followed by a lucky hammer lock, lucky kick, another lucky punch...
Helen: (Smiles) I see.
Manny: Then it all starts to get a little fuzzy. But there were several more pieces of luck involved.

Manny: (to Helen) You know why I like you? Because you're not totally useless.
Helen: You're gonna spoil me with all the sweet talk.

Ben: (trying to make himself warm) I can't believe you guys ejected me into space! (shivering) That's-that's just wrong!
Pierce: (shocked with the others to see Ben alive) What's going on over here?
Max: Let me use the emergency thrusters to put us back into a safe orbit and then I'll explain.
Ben: This satellite isn't a storage facility. It's a training station.
Pierce: This was all just a test?
Max: The "Ben being out of control and attacking me" scenario was a test.
Ben: But not "the satellite about to crash into London" part. We really knocked this thing out of orbit.
Manny: Cool! (gets hit by Helen by her elbow) What?
Max: You put the safety of others ahead of your own lives.
Ben: Next stop, Plumber's Academy.
Alan: (shocked with the others, questioning Helen) Did he just say Plumber's Academy?
Helen: We're gonna be real Plumbers!
Max: Make me proud.
(Helen and Ben both hug Max, while Pierce, Manny and Alan get into a little conversation thus ending the episode)

Naming and Translations

Language	Name	Origin
French	Travail D'équipe	Team Work
Hungarian	Fent és Lent	Above and Beyond
Italian	Ben fuori controllo
Polish	Na Satelicie	On a Satellite
Portuguese (Br)	Acima e Além	Above and Beyond
Romanian	Mai Presus, Mai Departe	Above, Further
Spanish (HA)	En Órbita y Más Allá	In Orbit and Beyond
Spanish (Spain)	Arriba y Más Alla	Above and Beyond

Cast

Voice Actor	Role(s)
Yuri Lowenthal	Ben Tennyson
Dee Bradley Baker	Big Chill Goop Echo Echo Humungousaur
Paul Eiding	Max Tennyson
Zeno Robinson	Alan Albright
Khary Payton	Manny Armstrong
Juliet Landau	Helen Wheels
Adam Wylie	Pierce Wheels
John DiMaggio	Rath Computer Voice

Continuity

When the Plumbers' Helpers discuss Ben's odd behavior, Manny suggests that Ben needs to lay eggs again, referencing the events of Save the Last Dance.
Alan mentions that Ben tracked him by his Plumber badge the first time they met, which occurred in Everybody Talks About the Weather.

Errors

Echo Echo, Rath and Big Chill's holograms face away from Ben.
When Pierce fights Ben as Goop, he breaks a single shoulder spike off and throws it, but in the next shot, two spikes are shown flying at Goop.
When Goop makes the tower collapse, Pierce's eyebrow is white.
When Manny fires his blasters at Ben and Ben kicks them away, only one blaster falls to the ground but both Manny's hands are empty. Also, Ben comments that Manny no longer has his blasters despite Manny still having two others in his lower arm holsters.
Somehow, Helen knows Manny fought Rath, even though she wasn't around when the fight happened.
When Humungousaur chases Pierce, he smashes the airlock ledge that Pierce leaps over which dents and cracks the ledge. However, in the next shot, the ledge is shown to be intact.
Alan, Pierce and Helen give their badges for the self-destruct of the ship, but when Pierce places the last one, Alan's badge is still on his chest.
The trajectory of the satellite shown on the monitor would not have it crash anywhere near London, but instead, Northern Wales.

Trivia

This is the first and only episode of Alien Force to not feature Gwen and Kevin.
- This is the first episode of the franchise to not feature Gwen.
Rath either made up his wrestling moves himself or learned them from someone.^{[ES 1]}
- The moves were named by Dwayne McDuffie.^{[ES 2]}
Cooper is the only member of the Plumbers' Helpers to not appear in the episode because his powers would've exposed the satellite's true nature and the reason why they were brought there.^{[DM 1]}
Eugene Son wrote Pierce in this episode thinking of how any competitive guy would react to being around Ben. In his words, "No one likes being number 2, but you either quit or you use it to motivate yourself to be better." He saw Pierce as that guy who didn't like being the second best Plumber and used it to motivate himself to become better.^{[ES 3]}
The scene leading up to Manny's battle with Rath was storyboarded by Leeahd Goldberg.^{[LG 1]}

Notes

↑ The original synopsis provided on the Cartoon Network website reads: "The Plumber's Helpers are called upon by Grandpa Max to rescue him from an abandoned space station where he is being attacked by - Ben!^{[CN 1]}
↑ When Pierce encounters Ben, the sound of the Omnitrix reverting can be heard, accompanied by a green flash that engulfs Pierce. This indicates that Ben used an alien to access the platform he's later seen sitting on, however the identity of the transformation remains unknown.

References

↑ link unavailable

Leeahd Goldberg

↑ https://youtu.be/pRV4DyBRm1s

Cartoon Network

↑ File:Above and Beyond CN Synopsis.png

Ben 10: Alien Force Episodes

Season 1	Ben 10 Returns: Part 1 • Ben 10 Returns: Part 2 • Everybody Talks About the Weather • Kevin's Big Score • All That Glitters • Pier Pressure • Max Out • Be-Knighted • What Are Little Girls Made Of? • The Gauntlet • Plumbers' Helpers • Paradox • X = Ben + 2 • Alone Together • Darkstar Rising • Good Copy, Bad Copy • Save the Last Dance • Undercover • Birds of a Feather • Grounded • Pet Project • Unearthed • Voided • Inside Man • War of the Worlds: Part 1 • War of the Worlds: Part 2
Season 2	Vengeance of Vilgax: Part 1 • Vengeance of Vilgax: Part 2 • Inferno • Don't Fear the Repo • Simple • Fool's Gold • Singlehanded • If All Else Fails • In Charm's Way • Trade-Off! • Ghost Town • Busy Box • Con of Rath • Primus • Above and Beyond • The Secret of Chromastone • Vendetta • Time Heals • The Final Battle: Part 1 • The Final Battle: Part 2
Movies	Ben 10: Alien Swarm

Season 1	Ben 10 Returns: Part 1 • Ben 10 Returns: Part 2 • Everybody Talks About the Weather • Kevin's Big Score • All That Glitters • Max Out • Pier Pressure • What Are Little Girls Made Of? • The Gauntlet • Paradox • Be-Knighted • Plumbers' Helpers • X = Ben + 2
Season 2	Darkstar Rising • Alone Together • Good Copy, Bad Copy • Save the Last Dance • Undercover • Pet Project • Grounded • Voided • Inside Man • Birds of a Feather • Unearthed • War of the Worlds: Part 1 • War of the Worlds: Part 2
Season 3	Vengeance of Vilgax: Part 1 • Vengeance of Vilgax: Part 2 • Inferno • Fool's Gold • Simple • Don't Fear the Repo • Singlehanded • If All Else Fails • In Charm's Way • Ghost Town • Trade-Off! • Busy Box • Con of Rath • Primus • Time Heals • The Secret of Chromastone • Above and Beyond • Vendetta • The Final Battle: Part 1 • The Final Battle: Part 2
Movies	Ben 10: Alien Swarm

[4] The original synopsis provided on the Cartoon Network website reads: "The Plumber's Helpers are called upon by Grandpa Max to rescue him from an abandoned space station where he is being attacked by - Ben!^{[CN 1]}

[5] When Pierce encounters Ben, the sound of the Omnitrix reverting can be heard, accompanied by a green flash that engulfs Pierce. This indicates that Ben used an alien to access the platform he's later seen sitting on, however the identity of the transformation remains unknown.

[1] File:AF Production Order Proof.png

[2] File:AFProd.png

[6] File:Rath's Wrestling Moves.png

[7] File:Dwayne Named Rath's Wrestling Moves.png

[shock-9] File:Eugene Son's Reaction to Pierce's Death.png

[8] link unavailable

[10] ttps://youtu.be/pRV4DyBRm1s

[3] File:Above and Beyond CN Synopsis.png

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[TJC 2]

[note 1]

[note 2]

[ES 1]

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[DM 1]

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