Bright Lights, Black Hearts

Bright Lights, Black Hearts is the twenty-first episode of the first season of Ben 10, and the twenty-first episode overall.
==Plot==
Max, Gwen, and Ben are in Miami, at a movie set. Ben is clearly upset about that they aren't at the beach, but Gwen reminds him that they're at a movie set. Gwen gasps and notices Michael Morningstar, while Ben remarks that he doesn't "worship" celebrities. Gwen reminds him of his encounter with Mr. Munch, and a flashback is shown. The flashback ends, and Max asks one of the employees about the location of the film canisters. The employee mentions that they've switched to digital, and he speaks to someone on his earpiece, mentioning how he thinks that Max will work for free. Max walks away with the employee, leaving Ben and Gwen to their antics. Ben and Gwen briefly argue about Morningstar, and that leads to Gwen mentioning one of Morningstar's well-known roles, "The Un-Alivers", in which he played Sebastian Belmontez, a high school student that falls in love with a character named Jenna. In the film, Sebastian is eventually revealed to be "un-alive" and Jenna is revealed to be a werewolf. Their arguing gets them both kicked off the set. Gwen is upset at being kicked out, stating that it's unfair that they always do what Ben wants to do, and never what she wants to do. Ben agrees to help her meet Mornignstar. Ben transforms into Wildvine and walks over the gate. They both make it back to the set, and Gwen is excited to witness their acting. Ben times out as he gets tired of this. Michael absorbs the life energy out of Jenna, and the director ends the scene. Michael walks towards Ben and Gwen, and throws Ben to the side. Michael begins absorbing Gwen's energy as he talks to Gwen. He is then interrupted by the director. She informs him that the stunt he requested is too dangerous. Michael responds in rage, and demands they do the stunt anyway.
During the next scene they film, the stunt is preformed. The stunt car begins falling off the tracks. Ben transforms into Diamondhead and saves the guy behind the wheels. Gwen runs over to Michael, who is injured. She is thrown aside by two fan girls who helps Michael get up. He offers Gwen to join him for lunch to talk. Meanwhile, Diamondhead is being interviewed.
Micheal is talking to the girls, telling them one of his stories. Gwen asks a fan question, and Michael laughs at the fact that she likes this stuff. Gwen walks away, disappointed. Michael, however, follows her. Gwen then notices the two girls on the floor, and Michael absorbing their life energy. He proceeds to absorb Gwen's life energy as she asks him questions about what she likes about him. Ben then arrives, demanding Michael to leave his cousin alone. Ben transforms into Heatblast to fight him. Michael soon absorbs enough life energy to the point where he's unstoppable. Gwen informs Ben that he won't beat him unless he steals the spotlight. Heatblast then begins showing off to get everyone's attention. They soon draw their attention away from Michael, and onto Heatblast. Heatblast delivers the final blow to Michael, leaving him in a hideous form. An agent that use to represent Michael offers for Heatblast to join him, Heatblast, however, declines. Max and Gwen congratulates Ben on saving everyone. They then leave to the beach.
Meanwhile, a girl walks up to Michael, and helps him up as he process to absorb a bit of her life energy.
==Major Events==
===Character Debut===
*Michael Morningstar
==Characters==
===Main Characters===
*Ben Tennyson
*Gwen Tennyson
*Max Tennyson
===Antagonists===
*Michael Morningstar (first appearance)
===Other Characters===
*Mr. Munch (first appearance; flashback)
*Charmcaster (off-screen)
==Aliens Used==
*Wildvine
*Diamondhead
*Heatblast
==Quotes==
==Naming and Translations==
==Cast==
==Allusions==
*This episode's title is a reference to Bright Lights, Big City.
*The Un-Alivers is a parody of The Twilight Saga film series, a series of five fantasy romance films based on the novel series of the same name.
**They were originally a novel series before being adapted into a hugely popular film franchise.
**Jenna being a werewolf is a reference to the character Jacob Black being a werewolf. However, her being the female lead makes reference to the female lead of the series, Isabella "Bella" Swan.
**Sebastian Belmontez being "un-alive" is a clear reference to the male lead of the series Edward Cullen, who is a vampire. Michael glittering while absorbing energy is also a reference to the fact that vampires in the Twilight series glitter in sunlight instead of burning in it as they do in most media.
*The last name of Sebastian Belmontez is a reference to the Belmont Clan from the Konami video game franchise Castlevania. More specifically, his name references Simon Belmont, the main protagonist of the very first game in the series.
**This is ironic as the Belmont Clan are hunters of vampires and other creatures of the night (such as werewolves, like Jenna), while Sebastian is "un-alive", with vampires usually being classified as undead creatures.
*The slate seen during the recording of scene 10A credits "M. Beck" as the cameraperson. This may be in reference to Deena Beck, who is credited for storyboarding and additional writing on this episode.
==Errors==
*In the scene where Michael is talking to his fans, the sweater is not properly colored.
*In one scene, the sky above Michael had black writing on it. The first word is illegible, but the second word is "sky."
*For one frame, Michael did not have a mouth.
Error.png|Wrong color sweater
Darkstar Error.png|No mouth
==Trivia==
*It is later revealed in The Charm Offensive that the person who helped Michael in the end of the episode was Charmcaster.
==References==
===Maribel Pozos===
es:Luces brillantes, corazones oscuros
pt-br:Luzes Claras, Corações Negros
Category:Episodes
Category:Ben 10 Reboot Episodes
Category:Ben 10 Reboot Season One Episodes
Category:Episodes Aired Out of Production Order