It's Not Easy Being Gwen

It's Not Easy Being Gwen is the tenth episode of the third season of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, and the thirtieth episode overall.
==Synopsis==
You think it's easy being Gwen? Well you'll have second thoughts after you check out a typical day in the not-so-typical life of Gwen Tennyson.
==Plot==
In the park, Dr. Animo is riding on his mutant frog, carrying a canister of radioactive isotopes. While believing he lost some people who were chasing him, he learns that Kevin, Gwen, and Big Chill have surrounded him. Big Chill freezes the mutant frogs' legs, trapping them in his ice, but they get free and escape. Ben drops off Gwen at her house, and she goes to bed, but gets to sleep for only a little while when her alarm clock beeps for 5:30 in the morning, much to her chagrin.
Gwen starts her day by jogging and studying French. She then comes home to take a shower and gets ready for school. When she is about to leave, her mother asks her to write out invitations for a formal family reunion. Realizing that there are too many invitations, Gwen tries to use a spell to make her pen write the invitations by itself, but the cards end up catching fire. At school, Gwen meets with Emily, who says she has a piano concert tonight and she hopes Gwen can come. Gwen promises to be there, despite being very overbooked with activities, invitations, and helping her friends track down Animo. When her lunch break comes, Gwen meets with Kevin. His shirt is ripped up and tattered; he says that he found Animo.
While driving in Kevin's car, Gwen's mother calls and berates her about not finishing the invitations. Gwen tells Kevin that, just because he doesn't go to school, she does not want him to fight their enemies. Kevin is shocked that she knows about him not going to school. They later talk in her room, where Gwen says that she realized that he did not go to school since he did not attend either of the two high schools in Bellwood. Kevin says that he was in the Null Void for a long time and, by the time he got out, he had outgrown fifth grade. Gwen says that he is smart at math and history and offers to help him get a GED. The two almost kiss but are interrupted by Ben as Jetray. Before Kevin leaves to help Jetray take down Animo's mutant frogs, Gwen gives him a protection charm. Gwen goes back to school to finish the rest of her studies and notices Animo making a threat on the internet and Humungousaur is battling the mutant frogs. She also has to cover for her Algebra teacher's class and do karate. Once the school day is over, Gwen finishes her list of duties for the day by writing the last of the invitations, and meeting with Emily to attend her concert. However, Spidermonkey arrives and tells Gwen that they can't defeat Animo without her, now making Gwen's schedule even tighter.
Emily is angry that Gwen would put saving the world from Animo over getting to her concert. When she berates Gwen for always leaving her to save the world, Gwen gets hurt and goes with Ben to help. In an open field, Kevin is battling Animo and his army of mutant frogs. While being picked up, he drops the magic pendant Gwen gave him. As Kevin was about to be killed by Animo, Gwen and Cannonbolt arrive to help him. While battling Animo, Emily prepares for her concert and is saddened to learn that Gwen is not in the seat she reserved for her. Emily starts playing, while Animo fires his transmodulator ray at both Gwen and Kevin, but they manage to survive, thanks to Gwen's shields. Cannonbolt and Kevin work together while Gwen rests from protecting Kevin from the transmodulator ray. Cannonbolt transforms into Ultimate Cannonbolt and finally defeats Animo, then destroys the mind-control headband that allowed Animo to control his mutated frogs. Soon, Emily stops playing the piano and while she is gifted with applause, she believes Gwen never showed up at her performance, but is surprised to see Gwen in the audience. When Gwen comes home, she tells Natalie she got the invitations done in the car and Natalie allows Ben and Kevin to join them for dinner. Natalie hugs her and asks how her day was, to which she responds, "the usual" and yawns.
==Noteworthy Events==
===Major Events===
*Animo becomes a threat again.
*Gwen tries to manage her normal life with her life as a hero.
====Character Debuts====
*Emily
*Sensei (Ultimate Alien debut)
*Sparring Partner (Ultimate Alien debut)
*Mutant Frogs (Ultimate Alien debut)
===Minor Events===
*It is revealed that Gwen's regular outfit in this series is actually her school uniform.
*It is revealed that Gwen takes her spellbook to school.
*It is stated by Kevin that Ben has a pass to go off campus anytime he wants.
*It is revealed that Ben once took Emily on a date, but it ended badly when he left her stuck to a radio tower.
==Characters==
===Main Characters===
*Gwen Tennyson
===Supporting Characters===
*Ben Tennyson
*Kevin Levin
*Natalie Tennyson
*Emily (first appearance)
===Antagonists===
*Dr. Animo
**Mutant Frogs (first reappearance)
===Other Characters===
*Trina (cameo)
*Pierce's Girlfriend (cameo)
*Sensei (first reappearance; cameo)
*Sparring Partner (first reappearance; cameo)
==Aliens Used==
*Big Chill (off-screen activation)
*Wildmutt (off-screen)
*Jetray (off-screen activation; cameo)
*Humungousaur (off-screen activation)
*Spidermonkey (off-screen activation; cameo)
*Cannonbolt (x2; first time was an off-screen activation; second time was a cameo)
**Ultimate Cannonbolt (off-screen activation)
==Spells Used==
*Scribo in incendia
*Super Theca
==Naming and Translations==
==Cast==
==Continuity==
*Kevin is seen adding an electrolysis machine (which converts water into oxygen) to his car, as part of his ongoing efforts to make it submersible.
**This machine was first mentioned in In Charm's Way, and Kevin is 10 minutes away from finishing it in The Beginning of the End.
*In Time Heals, when trying to prove her identity to her past selves, Gwen mentioned that the lock on her locker was broken. In this episode, she is shown unlocking her locker, indicating that the lock has been fixed.
*It was previously hinted in The Final Battle: Part 1 that Kevin does not go to school.
==Allusions==
*The title is based on the song "It's Not Easy Bein' Green" from The Muppets character Kermit the Frog.
*Natalie asks what Mogwai is and Gwen says that "it tastes like chicken". This references both the creatures from the Gremlins movies and the saying "everything tastes like chicken".
*At her concert, Emily plays the piano piece Fantaisie-Impromptu in C- Sharp Minor, Op. 66 by Chopin.
==Errors==
*When Gwen puts her headphones on the table and gets her spellbook out, neither the headphones nor the MP3 player is there. Furthermore, the spellbook is colored with only one shade of purple instead of the usual two.
*When Gwen walks down the hallway, there is a perspective error, as the students passing by her are a lot smaller.
*When Emily is holding the bagel, some of her fingers are not shown, even in the next shot.
*When Humungousaur fights the mutant frogs at Gwen's school, he is first shown to be level with the second window, but a few shots later, he is shorter. In the next shot, he is further away from the window.
*The students rush to see Humungousaur fight the mutant frog, but they are missing in one shot.
*The equation Gwen writes on the chalkboard does not distinguish between using "x" as a multiplication symbol or variable.
*When Emily first places her fingers on the piano keys, they are layered above the keys for a few frames.
*During most close-up shots of her fingers, Emily is playing the piano incorrectly and does not match the audio of the Chopin piece.
*When the team fights the mutant frogs during Emily's piano recital, the headbands are much larger than they were earlier in the episode.
*When Kevin helps Ben in the observatory, only one of his arms is a blade, but when the mutant frog wraps his tongue around his wrist, both are blades. Then, after breaking free, there's just one blade again.
*When the fog clears out after Ultimate Cannonbolt gets whipped around by the mutant frog and lays down, the four spikes on his Ultimatrix symbol are gone.
*Ultimate Cannonbolt reverts to Ben without reverting to Cannonbolt first.
*Ultimate Cannonbolt is listed in the end credits despite having no lines.
INEBG (100).png|Missing MP3 player and headphones/Spellbook error
INEBG (124).png|Perspective error
INEBG (129).png|Missing fingers
INEBG (203).png|Humungousaur is level with the second window
INEBG (205).png|Humungousaur is shorter
INEBG (206).png|Humungousaur is further away from the window/Missing students
INEBG (227).png|Equation error
INEBG (310.5).png|Layering error
INEBG (326).png|Mind control headband size error
INEBG (392).png|One arm is a blade
INEBG (401).png|Both arms are blades
INEBG (404).png|One arm is a blade again
INEBG (418).png|Ultimatrix symbol error
INEBG Voice Credits (2).png|Ultimate Cannonbolt in the credits
==Trivia==
*Gwen is the only girl in her school wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and a red pullover. All other girls wear a short-sleeved white shirt, grey skirt, grey stockings and black shoes and nothing over their shirt. Some girls wear a red scarf with the uniform, like Emily.
*The episode used an episode of House M.D. as a template.
*The third act of the episode was storyboarded by Jae Hong Kim. There are a few differences between the storyboards and the final version of the episode:
**Ben and Kevin's roles are switched, with Ben staying outside to fight the mutant frogs as Goop (having switched from Cannonbolt), and Kevin going inside to confront Dr. Animo.
**Ultimate Cannonbolt is not present in the storyboards. After transforming into Cannonbolt for the second time, Ben changes into Humungousaur off-screen and defeats Animo as him.
**Emily sheds a tear at the end of her performance, heartbroken that Gwen seemingly did not show up. 
**Gwen breaks the fourth wall at the very end of the episode by smiling at the camera as she hugs her mother.
==References==
===Crew Statements===
====T.J. Collins====
====Matt Wayne====
====Jae Hong Kim====
===Cartoon Network===
es:No es nada fácil ser Gwen
pl:Niełatwo być Gwen
pt-br:Não é Fácil ser a Gwen
ro:Nu-i ușor să fii Gwen
ru:Нелегко быть Гвен
Category:Episodes
Category:Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Episodes
Category:Episodes Written by Matt Wayne
Category:Episodes Directed by Matt Youngberg
Category:Filler
Category:Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Season 3 Episodes
Category:Episodes Aired Out of Production Order