Well, Cartoon Network aired the next six episodes of Steven Universe…exclusively on the CN App and On-Demand. They might air sometime on the network itself next month, and these are reportedly the last episodes for the next six months. The episodes are: Dewey Wins, Raising the Barn, Gemcation, Back to the Kindergarten, Sadie Killer, and Kevin Party. These are unlinked, one-off (mostly) Beach City episodes, but these eps actually contain significant changes to the status quo in Beach City (Nanafua replaces Mayor Dewey, Sadie quits her job at the Big Donut, Lapis leaves Earth, and Steven and Connie have their first falling out.)
I downloaded the app just to watch these, and it was well worth the time. As per the usual pattern, big revelations about the Gems in the homeworld episodes are balanced by lower key Beach City episodes and relationship stuff.
The only big Gem History revelation is Pearl. It becomes clear that she is physically unable to share certain information with Steven, no matter how much she wants to. What used to seem like a tic or a habit- clamping her hand over her mouth when important Gem stuff comes up- Is revealed to be involuntary. More obsessive fans than I will have to rewatch and catalog when this happens, and infer what information is being hidden.
The most memorable example of Pearl clamping her hand over her mouth I can think of is in “Back to the Moon”, when Eyeball says she saw Rose Quartz kill Pink Diamond.
Since they’ve finally been broadcast, I guess it’s OK to discuss the last batch of episodes (Dewey Wins to Kevin Party).
Notable bits from this last string of episodes include.:
-Nanefua looks sharp in that suit.
-Mrs. Beriga has good aim with that tomato.
-“Kevin Party” doesn’t quite make Kevin seem sympathetic, but it does make him seem pathetic.
-I’d like to see ex-Mayor Dewey take over the Big Donut and maybe re-purpose the Deweymobile to hawk donuts.
-Lion is awfully cold to Steven in these episodes.
-“Twelve People! That’s half the town!” A nice self-referential dig at SU’s limited animation style that always makes Beach City look like a ghost town with twenty or so people living there.
-How To Talk To People is a throwback to “Sworn to the Sword”
-Steven and Connie’s emotional arc strikes all the right notes for me in these eps.
-…Except for Steven blaming himself for everything that happens to everybody.
-Ronaldo’s texts about Koala Princess are probably the funniest use of the character ever.
-Garnet goes into story mode about Pink Diamond and Steven just shut her down.
-Poor Peridot. Poor Lapis.
-Friends don’t let friends lie in the bathtub for days at a time.
-Smoky Quartz rides again! Who will Steven fuse with next?
-And a Famethyst shout-out.
-Remember when the Cool Kids used to just call Sadie “Donut Girl”? It’s great to see her hanging with them.
-“TheWorking Dead” might be the best song to appear in this show.
-From Steven’s Wanted Poster for Lion-Likes: Naps, Lion Lickers Dislikes: Enthusiasm
-Poor Derek.
-Connie’s new haircut looks cute.
–Sabine is the girl who Kevin let get away. Could she also be Mystery Girl, whose name also starts with S.
-Kevin can’t help Steven with a friendship problem because he doesn’t have any real friends.
CN is promising a Steven Universe special event in January, but no details.
Not the first time they’ve done that - after Steven got upset that his dad couldn’t perform with him at one of the festival things, he complained that ‘the whole town’ was going to be there. ‘Yeah, but that’s, like, 20 people.’
While I do feel sorry for Lapis for all she’s gone through that’s…somewhat dulled in this block, given her playing the classic abusive girlfriend to Peridot.
Guess I didn’t look hard enough. The special event is “Stranded” and starts at 7:30pm on January 5.
I might need to re-watch “Raising the Barn”, but I didn’t see the Lapis/Peridot relationship as abusive or as girlfriends. Peridot treats Lapis like a disturbed/depressed roommate that people are overly solicitous towards because they don’t want to trigger her, which ended up being good for neither Peridot nor Lapis in the long run.
I’m sure Lapis will return in a dramatic fashion.
I can see disagreeing on ‘girlfriend’, but I have a hard time coming up with a non-abusive interpretation of this exchange:
Absent her delivery, Peridot’s line be taken as trying to protect Lapis’s wellbeing, but between her ‘please don’t hurt me’ attitude while saying it, and Lapis’s reaction… Yeah, no.
“Stranded” is a half-hour special event and, judging from the promo clip, will consist of the episodes “Lars of the Stars” and “Jungle Moon”
Just a reminder that new eps are on tomorrow at 7:30pm
Make that Friday at 7:30pm.
Thank you for the heads up!
So lots happened there and I think I need to rewatch and process before discussing … but boy!
Hey, if you Google search with the keywords: steven universe message board, this thread shows up on the first page!
A great pair of episodes. Space pirate Lars is great, and revelations from Jungle Moon open up interesting new areas of speculation. Is it possible that pink Diamond was smaller than the others because of the dream, or was she in the ground too long, like amethyst.
Think about this: the four diamonds are counterparts of the four crystal gems- the stoic, efficient yellow/garnet, the emotional blue/pearl, the childlike pink/amethyst. White is the leader, like rose Quartz. Both groups are dealing with loss.
Well, those were two episodes with a lot going on that will generate endless speculation. We have the light-hearted Space Pirate Captain Harlock pastiche “Lars of the Stars” and the far more serious “Jungle Moon”
-We’ve not only got a Captain Harlock homage, Lars’ fighter’s tricked-out cockpit is a homage to Megas XLR.
-Lars is effective because none of the Off-Colors (except maybe Rutile) can make a decision.
-…and because he’s invisible to Homeworld security systems.
-I wonder if the Off-Colors will be able to get any development other than their one-note personalities and Greek chorus role, nut it might be hard to do if they always appear together.
-Emerald seems like a fun character.
-I don’t mind Lars temporarily regressing after (needlessly) thinking that Sadie has moved on from him, as he was able to snap out of it pretty quickly.
-The design team really went to town on the alien landscape and wildlife, as well as the dream sequence.
-That shaving kit Garnet gave to Baby Steven back in “Three Gems and a Baby” would’ve come in handy. I can’t imagine it’s easy shaving with Rose’s sword.
-Connie’s survival skills and careful packing are a lifesaver (Remember Steven packing for his first mission?)
-Stevonnie has Steven’s dreaming powers, but filtered through Connie’s experiences and perceptions.
-Does anyone find it disturbing that Stevonnie sees Yellow Diamond as Dr. Maheshwaran?
-…And probably the biggest wham moment in the series since “Back to the Moon”
Who knows when we will next see Steven Universe episodes?
Looking at “Jungle Moon” for things to extrapolate:
-The Pink Diamond we see here looks different than the admittedly stylized depictions of PD we’ve seen. Perhaps she was poofed and reformed at one point?
-Confirms that Centipeetle is a Nephrite.
-Scotches the theory that Pink and Blue were in love/loves and Yellow had Pink shattered because she was jealous.
-Adds credence to the theory that Pink is an off-color and that is why Yellow has her shattered.
Not reading all the posts in this thread because I just started Season 4 and don’t want spoilers. But I wanted to say that episode with Stevonnie and “Here’s a thought” song in Season 4 about killed me. Both me and the husband were crying. Lord this show. It’s so freaking brave.
Hurry up and get caught up, Spice Weasel!