Tourist Trap

Tourist Trap is the eighth episode of the first season of Ben 10, and the eighth episode overall.
==Synopsis==
While messing with the World's Largest Rubberband Ball at a tourist trap, Ben accidentally releases some mischievous electrical creatures.
==Plot==
The episode begins with the Tennysons on the road. Ben is locked in a gross-face-making contest with a kid in the car next to them, which he ultimately wins by turning into Stinkfly and terrifying everyone in the car. Stinkfly bursts into laughter. Gwen tells him he may have taken the prank too far, but Stinkfly insists that "funny is funny". Max stops the Rustbucket, as a propane truck has overturned up ahead, and the driver is stuck as the truck catches fire. Stinkfly uses his goo to extinguish the flames and save the driver.
The Tennysons continue their trip, which Max is keeping a surprise from Ben and Gwen. They set foot in a town called Sparksville, and are greeted by its monotonous mayor Earl. It is a tourist trap, full of nothing but tacky exhibits of oversized everyday objects. Max is ecstatic and checks them into a hotel, however Ben and Gwen think it's lame. As they tour the town, the kids discover the star attraction of the town: "It". Past many promotional and warning signs enhancing the mystery of "It", it is finally revealed to be a giant ball of rubber bands. Ben, feeling like they've been scammed, turns into Four Arms and starts tossing the ball around to have some fun. He loses control of it, and it bounces around the town, knocking into buildings and causing damage to some exhibits. As they discuss what to do, Four Arms turns back to Ben, and he leans against the ball. Unbeknownst to him, electricity from the Omnitrix gets siphoned into the ball. An electric bolt escapes from the ball and materializes into a small yellow creature, who cackles at the destruction the ball caused.
Later, Ben and Gwen are sleeping when Max wakes them up and tells them to come see. Outside, they are surprised when the town is trashed way more than what Four Arms had done, and lie that they didn't cause any damage. The creature suddenly arrives, making faces and pranking Gwen before leaving just as quickly. Earl comes by and informs them the creature is called a "Megawhatt", which they surmise is a rogue alien. The Megawhatt causes more destructive trouble, forcing them all to take cover. Earl continues, saying Megawhatts feed on electricity and have a dangerous sense of humor. Earl provokes Ben and Gwen into admitting that they let it out, and leaves it up to the Tennysons to stop it. As the Megawhatt's attention turns solely toward picking on Max, Ben tries to take it down as Upgrade. He ends up splitting it in half with a manhole cover, though this just causes the two halves to become two whole Megawhatts, making the problem worse.
Max uses the attraction of the world's largest thermometer as a lightning rod to ground the two Megawhatts, although Earl points out that the ground will just act as a conductor, and the Megawhatts will find their way back to the surface through the phone lines. Soon enough, every phone starts ringing, and the Megawhatts emerge, having consumed enough electricity to multiply significantly. They congregate and zip over to the planetarium exhibit, taking control of it and piloting it like a mech. They oddly steer it away from the town. Earl thinks they'll head toward the hydroelectric dam to power up, to then go cause trouble in other towns. Gwen notices the world's largest fishbowl exhibit, which gives her and Ben an idea on how to take them down. Ben as Heatblast finds the mech at the dam and fights with it, during which gaining better control over his powers, such as learning how to fly on a ball of fire. He eventually manages to torch the mech to force the Megawhatts out and baits them into following him under a tarp. Max pulls the tarp off to reveal them having flown in the giant fishbowl. Heatblast uses his fire to seal the opening, trapping the Megawhatts inside, much to their sadness.
Back in town, Earl thanks them for their help in capturing the Megawhatts. Max apologizes for any problems and setbacks they might have caused the town, to which Earl denies them having delayed anything. He reveals to them the newest attraction: the world's biggest lightbulb (which the Megawhatts are stuck inside powering). He says that everything will be all right if the people just mind the signs. As they head back to the RV, Ben mentions he's had his fill of pranks. When he opens the door, though, a bucket of water falls on his head, and Max admits that "funny is funny", especially when it's not on him. He and Gwen have a laugh at Ben.
==Noteworthy Events==
===Major Events===
*Team Tennyson learns about and battles the Megawhatts.
====Character Debuts====
*Earl
*Megawhatts
==Characters==
===Main Characters===
*Ben Tennyson
*Gwen Tennyson
*Max Tennyson
===Supporting Characters===
*Earl (first appearance)
===Antagonists===
*Megawhatts (first appearance)
===Other Characters===
*Residents of Sparksville
==Aliens Used==
*Stinkfly
*Four Arms
*Upgrade (accidental transformation)
*Heatblast
==Quotes==
==Naming and Translations==
==Cast==
==Allusions==
*The Scooter Soda vending machine is named after Scooter Tidwell, who directed this episode.
==Errors==
*At the beginning of the episode, the Omnitrix's dial is white and green instead of grey and green.
*When Ben is making funny faces at the kid in the car next to him, the kid eats a burger that has a brown bun and red patty, but when he sticks out his tongue, it's all green.
*When Stinkfly laughs and slides across the floor, his tail is turned around instead of being upside down.
*In one of the photos, the cat logo on Gwen's shirt is missing.
*The "This is It!" sign seems to just be floating in the air.
*For split second, Four Arms' lower stripe is white.
*When Ben places his hand on the rubber ball, the Omnitrix's dial faces the wrong way. This error occurs again when the Megawhatt first appears.
*Gwen's model is seen on the top layer in one shot.
*When Upgrade stops running from the Megawhatt, there is no manhole next to his feet. In the next shot, however, there is one next to his feet.
*Before Upgrade changes back, there are four green lines down his back, even though there are only supposed to be three.
*When Ben is grabbed into the truck, he is grabbed from the left, but he sits on the right.
*When the Megawhatts flatten all the tires in town, in all the next scenes with vehicles in them, none of the tires are flattened.
*The Omnitrix activates and the dial pushes out without any interaction from Ben prior to the fight at the dam.
*Near the end of the episode, when Ben gets pranked, the Omnitrix is missing from his wrist.
Tour (7).png|Omnitrix dial color error
Tour (13).png|Green food
Tour (41).png|Incorrect tail
Tour (197).png|Missing cat logo
Tour (226).png|Floating sign
Tour (320).png|White stripe
Tour (356).png|Omnitrix dial error
Tour (433).png|Omnitrix dial error
Tour (483.1).png|Gwen's model on top layer
Tour (703).png|Sudden manhole
Tour (726).png|Extra line
Tour (741).png|Ben is grabbed from the left
Tour (742).png|Ben sits on the right
Tour (751).png|Platform disappears
Tour (789).png|No flat tires
Tour (925).png|Automatic activation
Tour (1196).png|Missing Omnitrix
==Trivia==
*Earl's hat sports a stylized version of Texas' flag on it, although missing the "Lone Star". This, paired with the desert environment, may be where Sparksville is intended to be located.
==Notes==
==References==
===Production Material===
====Backgrounds====
===Cartoon Network===
de:Staffel 1/Folge 7: Touristenfalle
es:Trampa para turistas
it:Trappola per turisti
pl:Iskrowice (odcinek)
pt-br:O Pega Turista
ro:Capcana turistică
ru:Ловушка для туристов
tr:Turist Tuzağı
Category:Episodes
Category:Ben 10 Episodes
Category:Ben 10 Season 1 Episodes
Category:Episodes Directed by Scooter Tidwell
Category:Episodes Aired Out of Production Order