In Charm's Way

In Charm's Way is the ninth episode of the second season of Ben 10: Alien Force, and the thirty-fifth episode overall.
==Synopsis==
Kevin is charmed by a beautiful girl and finds himself under her spell (literally) as Charmcaster has returned and is forcing Kevin to do her biding.
==Plot==
While the team is having an outing together at the beach, Kevin is in a bad mood. A kid accidentally throws his ball at Kevin and hits him on the head, much to his annoyance. When the kid asks for it back, Kevin rudely deflates the ball, before sarcastically saying "Here you go". After the kid and his friend stomp off angrily, Ben tries to cheer Kevin up and tries to get him to cool off. Gwen steps in and calms him down, but unexpectedly the beachgoers begin retreating, and they find out that the commotion is caused by one of Charmcaster's Rock Monsters. The trio tries to hold him off, but the creature is immune to Gwen's attacks. Accidentally, one of her mana discs is reflected back, hitting Kevin's ID Mask, and breaking it (making him even angrier in the process). Ben attempts to transform into Way Big, but he transforms into Goop instead. The monster defeats Kevin, but Goop jumps on and starts melting it. Just then, a vortex appears, sucking the monster in. 
Goop reverts back to Ben and compliments Gwen on the vortex, but she says that it wasn't her doing. The kid with the destroyed ball earlier confronts Kevin and says he understands why he did what he did, telling him he is just a monster beneath the heroics. Gwen tries to comfort Kevin after the kid walks off, but Kevin talks to her rudely, saying that she doesn't do much of anything. At a nearby cave, Charmcaster sees everything that happened and voices her deep hatred for Gwen. Since Gwen took her spellbook, she plans to take what's precious from her as well, referring to Kevin.
After Kevin fixes his ID Mask and is about to eat a burger, a tennis ball hits Kevin's head, and he drops his burger. A blonde girl runs there to apologize and then introduces herself as Caroline. She tries to lure Kevin to her, but Kevin states that he's seeing someone. Clearly ticked off, Caroline tries again. When Kevin goes to his car, Caroline talks about his car and it is to Kevin's astonishment that she loves cars, so they both ride together as Kevin is giving in. While waiting at a traffic light, a kid distracted by his toy almost gets hit by a truck. Kevin wants to help, but Caroline displays her powers and saves the kid. Caroline leads Kevin to the beach, telling him a fake life story in an attempt to make him care.
She tells him that she knows what's inside and takes his ID Mask off. The conversation leads to Caroline pursuing him to let her be his girlfriend instead of Gwen, telling him that she would not care about his outer appearance and that she only cares about the inside. She blames Gwen for not fixing him back for selfish reasons, as no girl would want Kevin with the mutation. Persuading him even more, she tells Kevin if she were his girlfriend, she would spend every of her time helping him return to normal. She also grows jealous when Kevin states that she has magic, but Gwen is made of magic. Caroline kisses Kevin, puts him in a trance, and changes back to herself, Charmcaster. She orders Kevin to bring Gwen to the planetarium by midnight, as she wants to put her plans into action to gain Gwen's power, using the full blaze of the moonlight to steal it. Kevin goes off after being given an amulet by Charmcaster, to complete his orders.
Ben and Gwen sit on the porch of Gwen's house, having a conversation in which Gwen defends Kevin's actions. Ben then asks if she would like to go to Mr. Smoothy, but Gwen turns down the offer as she is going to "hit the books". Kevin then arrives and tries to make Gwen to come with him, using various excuses. Gwen refuses each one, while Ben gets excited about them and starts rambling on incoherently. Kevin proceeds to carry her over his shoulder and tries to take her with him by force, knocking Ben into the garbage can. Clearly feeling suspicious, Ben attempts to transform into Humungousaur, but he transforms into Diamondhead instead and he and Kevin fight. Gwen tries to stop them, but Kevin runs through her shield. Kevin defeats Diamondhead, but Gwen stops him from killing Diamondhead. Diamondhead reverts back to Ben and Kevin grabs him. Gwen notices the amulet and tells Ben to take it off, which he does. Gwen then pins Kevin to a tree. He goes back to normal, and Gwen and Ben fill him in while he tells his story.
Kevin describes Caroline and Gwen realizes that she is Charmcaster. He mentions that she kissed him, and Gwen becomes angry about that. Though they clearly know it is a trap, Gwen insists they'd be there by the planetarium. The team arrives and Rock Monsters come out to fight them. Gwen projects mana at the Rock Monsters, but they have no effect on them. Kevin fights them and Ben tries to transform into an alien form, but the Omnitrix needs to recharge. Gwen gets past the Rock Monsters and goes inside. Charmcaster is seen waiting inside. Upon seeing each other, Charmcaster sarcastically comments on Gwen's hair, and they begin a battle. Their mana comes clashing in the middle point and with effort, Gwen overpowers her. It turns out that Charmcaster wants Gwen to step into some runes to trap her. After Gwen steps into the trap, Charmcaster opens the circle of runes, trapping and agonizing Gwen. Charmcaster then opens the roof to expose the full moon onto Gwen, forcing Gwen onto her knees while crushing her powers. After fully subduing Gwen, Charmcaster then lifts her up and starts draining her powers to be in her possession, as Gwen screams in pain. She comments that Kevin wasn't kidding, Gwen is really full of mana. She drains all her energy and Gwen falls to the floor, unconscious.
Kevin and Ben don't stand a chance against the Rock Monsters, as they are enhanced. Charmcaster suddenly appears and says not to bother them anymore, as she has what she needs. When Kevin demands to know where Gwen is, Charmcaster says that they are all powerless to stop her, then disappears after laughing in triumph. Ben and Kevin go in to find Gwen getting up. Gwen and Kevin get into a verbal fight, where Kevin blames Gwen again for not making him return to normal as no other girl would want him. Gwen ends the fight by saying that they're not having this conversation and she needs to get Charmcaster.
On the roof top of a building, Kevin tells Charmcaster that he isn't loyal to the Tennysons after being told that Charmcaster has no interest in dating the good guys. Kevin implies that what she said earlier was true and that it made sense. He tells her that he helps Ben so just he could get closer to Gwen in which he implies doesn't matter to him anymore. He tricks Charmcaster when he mentions the amount of power Gwen still possess, making Charmcaster want to confront Gwen again. Charmcaster believes she supposedly drained Gwen dry and that any power Gwen has left belongs to her.
Gwen and Ben are drinking smoothies at Mr. Smoothy's, when Charmcaster comes with Kevin and her rock minions. She scans Gwen of any mana left in her but realizes Kevin had tricked her when she finds none. She angrily summons a vehicle to come alive and attack Kevin and makes the Mr. Smoothy mascot come to life to attack Ben. Ben is grateful that the Omnitrix is functioning, and he transforms into Murk Upchuck, thus drinking the smoothie. Charmcaster sends her Rock Monsters to attack Gwen. With no powers, Gwen uses her martial arts and gymnastic skills to handle them, challenging Charmcaster to a one-on-one fist fight. Charmcaster nonchalantly refuses, opting to kill Gwen with a destructive bolt of energy. Gwen lets herself get hit and powers herself up, turning the tables by casting a spell to gain back her powers, to Charmcaster's horror. Gwen overpowers Charmcaster's bolt of mana, and hits Charmcaster's hand. In a burst of pain, Charmcaster backs down her hand and it hits her chest.
To Charmcaster's dismay, Gwen drains Charmcaster's powers and the power Charmcaster stole earlier. Gwen remarks that Charmcaster's problem is that she only relies on her magic, whereas magic is only one aspect to whom Gwen is. Powerless, Charmcaster begs for help from her Rock Monsters to make one last stand against Gwen. Gwen then conjures a vortex to suck them inside. Charmcaster quickly holds on to her minions as they are being sucked in. Being tired of being talked down to, the minion she was holding on to lets go of the pole purposely, getting them both sucked into the vortex. Kevin comes by and comments that it was good timing. Gwen took care of Charmcaster, as he is having difficulties with the mad vehicle, admitting it was embarrassing. Meanwhile, Upchuck throws up smoothie gunk on Kevin to which he says was much of an embarrassment to Gwen, while she slightly smiles at him. Upchuck then transforms back into Ben.
Kevin and Ben go to the beach to wash up. Kevin asks where Gwen is. Ben says that she went home and that he hurt her pretty bad. Kevin replies that it is unlikely for Gwen to be the one who's hurt as he's the one who "looks like this". Furious, Ben reveals that Gwen has actually been devoting every moment of her spare time to looking through her spellbooks in order to find a cure for Kevin's condition ever since the accident. Kevin is taken aback, wondering why Gwen didn't tell him. Ben retorts, "Should she have had to?" before storming off, leaving Kevin in a state of deep regret.
==Major Events==
*It is revealed that Gwen has been trying to cure Kevin of his mutation ever since the accident happened.
===Character Debuts===
*Charmcaster (Alien Force debut)
*Rock Monsters (Alien Force debut)
==Characters==
===Main Characters===
*Ben Tennyson
*Gwen Tennyson
*Kevin Levin
**Kevin's Alien Force Mutation
===Antagonists===
*Charmcaster (first reappearance)
**Rock Monsters (first reappearance)
**Mr. Smoothy Mascot
==Aliens Used==
*Goop (intended alien was Way Big)
*Diamondhead (selected alien was Humungousaur)
*Murk Upchuck
==Spells Used==
===By Charmcaster===
*Actum
*Actum! Eradico!
===By Gwen===
*Reverto meus ops mihi
==Quotes==
 
==Naming and Translations==
==Cast==
==Continuity==
*Charmcaster mentions that Gwen stole her spellbook, which occurred in A Change of Face.
==Allusions==
*The episode title is a reference to the 1965 war film In Harm's Way.
==Errors==
*Throughout the episode, whenever Ben activates the Omnitrix, the aliens' holograms face away from him.
*When Ben intends to transform into Way Big, Echo Echo and Goop's holograms are displayed after Way Big's hologram without Ben turning the dial. Furthermore, Ben slams down on the core when Goop's hologram is displayed, even though he intends to transform into Way Big.
*Kevin says he is going to fix his ID Mask, but he leaves the beach without it.
*When Kevin usually puts on his ID Mask, it disguises him as human beginning from the top of his body, but when he puts on his ID Mask, it turns him to human from bottom to top. 
*When Charmcaster disguises herself as Caroline, her hair color is on the very top of her forehead in two shots.
*In one shot, Gwen's eyes are light green.
*Charmcaster has blue eyes for most of the episode.
*Before Ben turns into Diamondhead, the Omnitrix's dial is sideways.
*After Ben turns into Diamondhead, the banana peel disappears from his head. His jaw also does not move when he speaks.
*Kevin snaps out of the trance after Ben takes the amulet away, even though Charmcaster kissing him caused the trance, not the amulet.
*When Ben tries to go alien near the planetarium and sees the Omnitrix recharging, the dial of the Omnitrix is facing him from his perspective, but in the next shot, it's sideways.
*Just before Charmcaster teleports after stealing Gwen's powers, for a split second, Charmcaster's mouth is missing.
*A few seconds after the moonlight shines on her, the color of Gwen's hair is darker except for her ponytail.
*When Gwen is outside near the planetarium, the armpit area on her right side is the same color as her skin.
*The closed captions on the Ben 10 Alien Force: Volume 8 DVD misspell the following spells:
**Actum as "Oktoom".
**Actum! Eradico! as "Oktoom eradico".
**Reverto meus ops mihi as "Reverto maeus opsmihi".
*In one shot, the giant Mr. Smoothy's straw is a darker red.
ICW (53).png|Hologram error
ICW (54).png|Hologram error
ICW (55).png|Hologram error
ICW (105).png|Missing ID Mask
ICW (113).png|ID Mask error
ICW (142).png|Forehead color error
ICW (183).png|Light green eyes
ICW (195).png|Blue eyes
ICW (241).png|Banana peel/Hologram error
ICW (243).png|No banana peel/Jaw error
ICW (340).png|Armpit area color error
ICW (348).png|Omnitrix dial error
ICW (384).png|Hair error
AF Vol 8 DVD Actum Error.png|Incorrect closed captions on the Ben 10 Alien Force: Volume 8 DVD
AF Vol 8 DVD Actum Eradico Error.png|Incorrect closed captions on the Ben 10 Alien Force: Volume 8 DVD
AF Vol 8 DVD Reverto meus ops mihi Error.png||Incorrect closed captions on the Ben 10 Alien Force: Volume 8 DVD
ICW (532).png|Darker straw
==Trivia==
*A running gag in this episode is Kevin getting hit by different objects, much to his annoyance (the volleyball, Gwen's rebounded mana disc, Charmcaster's tennis ball and Murk Upchuck's vomit).
*Kevin and Charmcaster share their first kiss.
*In the Original Series, Upchuck was unable to consume human food.Ben 4 Good BuddyThe Visitor However, in this episode, Upchuck is able to drink the contents of the Mr. Smoothy mascot without any issues.
**The subtext in this scene was that Mr. Smoothy's smoothies are so far removed from food that even Upchuck can drink it.
*Working titles for the episode were Tragic Magic, Spellbound and Trust Issues.
*Peter David had considered having a whole section with Gwen addressing the notion that any sufficiently advanced form of science is going to be seen as magic and describing her alien nature to Charmcaster but it was just too unwieldy and contrived to make work.
*In an undated script outline:
**The Rock Monsters are capable of speech.
**Onlookers take notice of Ben transforming and Kevin using his powers, and call them monsters, which amuses Ben and aggravates Kevin.
**Charmcaster does not change her appearance when meeting Kevin.
**"Caroline" is Charmcaster's real name, instead of a false name.
**After absorbing Gwen's mana, Charmcaster wreaks havoc on Bellwood.
**At the beach at the end of the episode, Kevin talks to Gwen, who admits to being hurt by Kevin's trust issues with her and tells him she's been looking through spellbook for ways to cure him.
*In the as-recorded script dated January 7, 2009:
**While at the beach, Kevin disguises himself in swim trunks and a T-shirt, Gwen dozes off at the beach with a book covering her face, and Ben drinks Mr. Smoothy.
**The kid whose ball Kevin deflates is the same one from Singlehanded.
**Charmcaster mana is blue.
**Charmcaster's Caroline disguise looks like her Original Series design.
**When Kevin turns away from Charmcaster after she asks why Gwen hasn't found a way to cure him, Charmcaster teleports in front of him.
**Instead of erupting a crystal pillar to block Kevin's path to his car, Diamondhead surrounds him with crystal javelins.
**Gwen enters Kevin's car before deciding to go to the planetarium, instead of standing by the passenger door.
**When Kevin waits for Charmcaster on the rooftop, he sits on the edge instead of standing.
==References==
===Production Material===
====Scripts====
====Script Outlines====
===Crew Statements===
====T.J. Collins====
====Peter David====
===Pop-Up Trivia===
===Cartoon Network===
es:Hechizados
pl:Powrót Czarodziejki
pt-br:Os Encantos da Encantriz
ro:În calea farmecelor
Category:Episodes
Category:Ben 10: Alien Force Season 2 Episodes
Category:Ben 10: Alien Force Episodes
Category:Episodes Directed by John Fang