Lucky Girl (Episode)

Lucky Girl is the tenth episode of the first season of Ben 10, and the tenth episode overall.
==Synopsis==
Ben battles an evil sorcerer whose power emanates from mystic charms, one of which turns Gwen into her own superhero named Lucky Girl.
==Plot==
The Tennysons are at a witchcraft museum. Ben is looking through a tribal mask, while Gwen and Max are with an elderly female tour guide. The guide is describing a book in a display case called the Archamada Book of Spells, said to contain exceedingly strong and powerful ancient spells, rituals, witchcrafts, and incantations, dating back to the sixteenth century. As the guide explains this, Gwen repeats her words perfectly. The guide says that Gwen should work at the museum. After she walks off, Ben makes Gwen feel better by saying that she's probably older than the book itself and makes a face to illustrate that fact. Gwen laughs at this. All of a sudden, everyone is suddenly lifted off the ground and pinned to the ceiling. Max makes the obvious observation that this isn't part of the tour. From a window, a stream of red smoke passes through and materializes into a man that is wearing a red-and-black-colored robe. He carries a wooden staff with a bird's head and a necklace with dozens of magical and mystical charms on it. As he breaks the bookcase with a verbal spell, the man calls the book to him, saying that all of its immense power will soon be his. With the magician focused on the book, Ben prepares to activate the Omnitrix. Before he can do so, however, the man stops whatever was pinning them to the ceiling, causing them to plummet. Luckily, Ben transforms into XLR8 and gets ahead of everyone. He ties off a large hanging banner to act as the slide, catching everyone before they fall to the ground. He orders them all to go outside. Max warns him to be careful, since he does not know what the man is capable of.
Running off to fight the magician, XLR8 finds that he is quite dangerous. The magician's name is Hex, but this is never mentioned. By speaking a few words, Hex is able to light the banner on fire and have it chase XLR8. He also fires a barrage of red-colored crystals from his staff at XLR8, but neither succeeds in stopping him. When XLR8 tries to face Hex head-on, he's met with a bright light from Hex's staff, causing him to slide by and slam into some cases on the wall. As Hex turns to finish him off, he's hit with a couple of trash cans thrown by Gwen and Max, though they regret doing so in hindsight. He uses his power to throw them across the room. Luckily, XLR8 gets back up and surprises Hex, encircling in a blur of motion and hitting him until he loses consciousness. During the fight, one of charms is knocked away. XLR8 collects it as a souvenir. When Max congratulates XLR8, he says he only did what he needed to do and kept it low-key. He soon does the complete opposite by allowing people to photograph him outside the museum while he calls himself a hero. As they take pictures, Hex is carted off in an ambulance.
In the RV, Gwen is complaining about Ben getting all the attention when she had helped. Ben tries to say that being a hero isn't about getting attention, but Gwen points out his earlier display while in front of the cameras. Max says that he noticed Gwen, but he's family so he doesn't count. Ben points out that throwing a trash can doesn't exactly qualify as hero work, but Gwen says that the Omnitrix is the only thing that makes him a hero and gets him all the cool souvenirs. She'd be the hero if she found it. As a peace offering, Ben gives her the charm he got from Hex. Max hints at Gwen to thank Ben, and she does, but she still calls him just plain lucky.
In the ambulance, an EMT is monitoring Hex. One of his charms suddenly glows bright yellow and he wakes up. He blows out the back of the ambulance and floats off, claiming that his destiny will be fulfilled.
In a restaurant, the trio are eating crawfish. By this time, Gwen has made the charm into a necklace. Down to just one crawfish, Gwen claims that Ben has had more than her. When he tries to take it anyway, she knocks the fork out of his hand, her charm glowing yellow at the same time. The fork hits a waitress in the foot, causing her to toss the glasses on her tray in the air in pain. One of the glasses catches on a chandelier, causing it to spin. The glass is then tossed into the kitchen, disrupting the cook and making him run into a cart with a bowl of live crawfish. The cart then rolls back into the table that Ben and Gwen are sitting at, sending the bowl of crawfish straight onto Ben. Gwen collects the last crawfish and eats it. As Ben tries to get the other crawfish off, one crawls up his nose. Gwen and Max get a good laugh out of this. Gwen also notices her bright yellow glowing charm, which stops glowing just afterward.
At the witchcraft museum, Hex is sorting through all of the books looking for the Archamada Book of Spells. While he does this, the guard is stuck floating in the air. Unable to locate it, he questions the guard. The guard points him to the vault. With little effort, the door is torn from its hinges. Hex then takes the book and tries to absorb its immense powers and abilities into himself but cannot. He then realizes that one of the charms is missing, stolen by XLR8 during their battle.
At a street market, Gwen and Max are still laughing at Ben's expense. Gwen thanks Ben for the charm again, and then decides to get something for him, so she walks over to a hot dog cart. Before she can get anything, she hears a woman saying that someone stole her purse. The culprit appears quickly, being a street thug with a couple of buddies. Max stops them in their tracks. They aren't intimidated and close in on him. One of them also focuses on Gwen's charm. Ben is behind the hot dog cart and attempts to transform into Diamondhead. Unfortunately, the Omnitrix does not work. Since he can't use it, he pushes Gwen out of the path of the thug. Her charm lights up again. Gwen stumbles back into a juggler on a unicycle. He falls over, sending the unicycle into one of the thugs. The distraction allows Max to grab the one that was after Gwen and get him in a headlock. Getting up, Gwen heads back to help. She steps on a mustard container, spraying mustard in the hot dog vendor's face. He pushes his cart away while grabbing at the mustard, causing it to hit the other thug. One of the thugs attempts to get up, but a flowerpot on a balcony above falls over and lands on him. With the incident over, the woman calls Gwen a hero. She's not quite sure of that at first, just calling herself lucky, but gets an idea when she sees a mask shop.
In the RV, Ben and Max are sleeping. Max is snoring rather loudly, so Ben looks to Gwen, who happens to be missing. She is in a basketball court with the charm active, tossing a basketball at the hoop behind her without looking. The ball does not even hit the basket, but yet another series of improbable events lead it directly to the net. Gwen implies that she's done this several times already. Ben takes the ball and asks how she managed to do that. She says that whenever the charm glows, everything goes her way. Max wakes up, asking them if they want breakfast. Just then, at a nearby construction site, an explosion causes the cables on a lift to break, leaving two workers stranded high above the ground and hanging by a thread. Ben figures that it's time to help, but is interrupted by Gwen, who figures she should help and takes off. Ben ignores this and transforms into Wildmutt.
As Wildmutt heads off to save the workers, Max finds another person trapped in his truck by a giant steel bar. Gwen then shows up, dressed in a purple jumpsuit and a strange mask, calling herself "Lucky Girl." Using the incredible power of the charm, Lucky Girl is able to rescue the man simply by jumping on a nearby wooden board. The board hits a demolition crane which drops its large wrecking ball, knocking the bar away. The bar sets off an elevator in the process. Wildmutt has made it to the workers, but the elevator hits him and sends him flying. He breaks it into pieces when he falls back down, which heads straight for Lucky Girl. She is warned by Max and dodges the falling debris, eventually finding her way to a cement truck. She accidentally releases the brake, causing it to roll back and hit a large metal chute. The chute hits Wildmutt, who's clinging to a rope, and sends him into the cement. At the same time, the chute lands in the perfect position for the workers to slide down it. There's a soft cushion already in place for them to land on.
With everyone saved, Wildmutt climbs out of the cement and shakes the cement off. Lucky Girl is being interviewed by reporters, who're asking her just how she rescued everyone. She's not the least bit modest about it, saying she did it with luck. She then repeats XLR8's earlier statement while waving at Wildmutt. Wildmutt just walks away annoyed. Meanwhile, in another part of town, Hex is searching for the charm. He catches the report about Lucky Girl on television and sees the charm around her neck.
In the RV, Gwen has cross-referenced magical mystical charms and the Archamada Book of Spells. She finds that her charm is one of the five Charms of Bezel, specifically, the one for luck. The others are fire, levitation, reincarnation, and one other unnamed charm (for lightning and electricity). It is said that all five charms are required for all of the spells and incantations to be used all their full power and potential. Max thinks that they should turn the charm back to the museum. Both Ben and Gwen would rather not, though for different reasons. Ben wants to try it out himself. Gwen wants to remain a superhero. The two get into a quick fight about how it is not really them doing the work, but rather their respective items. A news report cuts them off. It seems that a famous haunted house museum has come to life, trapping dozens of visitors inside. The trio head there at once.
At the haunted house, Ben gets ready to help. Once again, he's cut off by Lucky Girl. As the three head inside, things are exactly as what the reporter said. Most of the house is alive, moving about randomly and endangering the people within. Hex is there too, having set up the whole thing to lure her. He continues to bring the house to life in an attempt to get the charm from Lucky Girl. His efforts only end up badly for Ben, who indirectly becomes the target of most of the debris flying about. Ben gets under the stairs and transforms while Gwen tries to rescue the people on the balcony. Hex continues his magic, causing Gwen to be stranded on a pillar. The people on the balcony have now been moved to the middle of the room and are about to fall. One actually does, but Max catches her. Four Arms then shows up to catch the balcony before it tips over completely. As he holds on to it, Lucky Girl goes to save them, rocking the pillar so she can grab onto the chandelier in the middle of the room. She then swings to the people so they can grab it, as well. As they swing back to safety, Four Arms is tossed away by the swinging balcony, nearly hitting the woman that Max saved. Meanwhile, the chandelier that Lucky Girl and the others are hanging from collapses. Again, the charm keeps that from being a problem, since the wire that is connected to it stops it just before they hit the ground. The last of the people run out of the house just as Hex seals it.
With the house sealed, Hex restrains Lucky Girl with yellow-colored magical mystical energy and tosses her across the room, demanding that she give up the charm. As is expected, the charm turns the situation in her favor, causing her to land on a curtain. The curtain then falls on Hex and tips over a suit of armor. With him out of commission, Lucky Girl says that he should have said please and runs off. Hex gets up right after and follows. Lucky Girl ends up in a study with no way out. Again, the charm guides her, leading her to a switch for a secret door. As she heads down the passage, Hex follows. Meanwhile, Four Arms and Max are following them.
Within the passage, Lucky Girl and Hex end up in the catacombs of the house. Hex finds her rather quickly, but the charm once again allows Lucky Girl to escape. This time, she leans on a stone and knocks it out of place, dropping the roof on Hex. He shields himself and continues to chase her. As he tries to blast her, Lucky Girl's charm drags her to the floor, making an opening for her that leads into the graveyard.
In the graveyard, Lucky Girl tries to hide behind a tree. Unfortunately, Hex has thought ahead and uses some branches to restrain her. Her charm does no good this time, and Hex takes it from her. He then completely seals her within the branches. Four Arms pulls them off of her after a short period of time. They then look for Hex, who's floating in the middle of the graveyard. With all five charms now in his possession, as well as the Archamada Book of Spells, he starts attacking the city with lightning and a rather large swirling vortex in the sky. Four Arms interrupts before he can do any major damage, tackling Hex into a nearby mausoleum. Annoyed, Hex brings some of the animal statues to life - two gargoyles (one small, one large) and a Minotaur - to attack Four Arms. The small gargoyle grabs Four Arms and scratches his face. The large gargoyle jumps onto him, wraps its tail around his head, and bites his left shoulder. The minotaur tackles him to the ground. The statues prove to be somewhat effective, succeeding in taking Four Arms away from the scene. As Hex starts to recast his earlier spell, he's hit in the knee with a rock. Lucky Girl and Max are on the ground. Lucky Girl tells Max that luck only takes you so far, and then throws another rock at Hex. This one hits him directly between the eyes, knocking him unconscious and causing him to fall to the ground below.
Even with Hex unconscious, his magic persists in the stone creatures. The smaller gargoyle tries to attack Lucky Girl and Max. Max lifts up a large pipe with some cement attached and hits the creature with it, reducing it to dust. Meanwhile, Four Arms is tossing around the two larger ones. The larger gargoyle is tossed into a wall, destroying it. Four Arms then gets the Minotaur in a headlock. He squeezes until its head breaks apart. With the creatures out of commission, Lucky Girl takes Hex's charms. Hex wakes up and notices this, Four Arms grabs him and throws him into a coffin. Max then shuts the lid on him. Lucky Girl, still holding the charms, thinks that she could be unstoppable with the five Charms of Bezel. She then goes back on that, saying that she could just be Gwen. She picks up a nearby shovel and smashes the charms, releasing blue-colored energy into the sky, creating a short light show.
When Hex is let out of the coffin, the police are there to arrest him. As the trio drive off in the RV, Max says that Ben and Gwen make a good team. Gwen isn't happy that she lost her lucky powers and asks Ben to tell her that she did a good job. He does so reluctantly and then says he never will again. Gwen says that he no longer has to and then plays a recording of it over and over for him. She laughs as he tries to cover his ears.
==Noteworthy Events==
===Major Events===
*Team Tennyson meets Hex.
*Team Tennyson learns about the Archamada Book of Spells and the Charms of Bezel.
====Character Debut====
*Hex
==Characters==
===Main Characters===
*Ben Tennyson
*Gwen Tennyson
*Max Tennyson
===Antagonists===
*Hex (first appearance)
==Aliens Used==
*XLR8
*Wildmutt (selected alien was Diamondhead)
*Four Arms
==Spells Used==
*Fahta-me-doof
*Bethi-mordor-natta
*Addah-avivi-mona-ratah
*Eterna-mobilis
*Rava-bilatis-galametro
*Citaro-macola
*Darkela-vortium
==Quotes==
==Naming and Translations==
==Cast==
==Continuity==
*All of the "souvenirs" and gifts Ben has received previously throughout the season reappear in this episode, including Dr. Animo's DNA Transmodulator from Washington B.C., the photograph of the Krakken Capt. Shaw gave him in The Krakken, and the pictures that he and Gwen took at Sparksville in Tourist Trap.
Lucky (255).png
==Allusions==
*Wildmutt getting hurt because of Lucky Girl is a nod to classic "cat vs. dog" cartoons.
==Errors==
*In some shots, the Omnitrix's dial faces the wrong way.
*In one shot, Gwen's shoes are all white with no blue on them.
*In some shots, the Charms of Bezel are missing from Hex's sash.
*When Hex revives in the ambulance, the charm to the right of the glowing Reincarnation Charm is the Luck Charm.
*When the trio are at the restaurant, the Luck Charm's top line doesn't glow.
*For a split second, the back of Lucky Girl's hair is missing.
*In one shot, the top of Wildmutt's lips is miscolored orange.
*When Ben selects Four Arms, the Omnitrix's core is grey.
*When Ben and Gwen are at the back of the Rustbucket, Lucky Girl's mask is blue and green.
*In one shot by the end, Ben's eyes are misplaced.
Lucky (22).png|Omnitrix dial error
Lucky (38).png|With blue coloring
Lucky (65).png|Without blue coloring
Lucky (129).png|Missing charms
Lucky (162).png|Missing charms
Lucky (319).png|Luck Charm
Lucky (344).png|Glowing error
Lucky (562).png|Omnitrix dial error
Lucky (760).png|Hair error
Lucky (765).png|Orange lip
Lucky (880).png|Omnitrix core error
Lucky (1466).png|Color error
Lucky (1469).png|Omnitrix dial error
Lucky (1513).png|Misplaced eyes
==Trivia==
*According to pop-up trivia from the enhanced version of the episode:
**This episode takes place in New Orleans.
**Gwen's dad, Frank, is brothers with Ben's dad Carl. Frank would later make his debut in What Are Little Girls Made Of?.
**Gwen has hidden abilities that make her the perfect focus for the charm's power.
**Gwen has an older brother named Ken that Ben worships. Ken would later make his debut in Max Out.
**The combined power of the charms allowed Hex to alter reality, including making the book's spells real.
==Notes==
==References==
===Production Material===
====Backgrounds====
===Pop-Up Trivia===
===Cartoon Network===
de:Staffel 1/Folge 10: Gwens große Stunde
es:La Chica de la Suerte
it:Fortuna Miao (episodio)
pl:Szczęściara
pt-br:Sorteada (Episódio)
ro:Norocoasa
ru:Супергероиня Гвен
tr:Şanslı Kız
Category:Episodes
Category:Ben 10 Episodes
Category:Ben 10 Season 1 Episodes
Category:Episodes Directed by Scooter Tidwell