Wednesday, September 20, 2017

'Toon Reviews 6: Steven Universe Season 1 Episode 9

Tiger Millionaire








As a character, Amethyst is one of the most entertaining.  While the goals of the Crystal Gems are serious business that require the right attitude, Amethyst just follows her own rules, goes with the flow of things, and does what she can to make her life awesome.  It’s no wonder that she’s the Crystal Gem Steven relates to the most.  However, her attitude leads to a lot of tension between the rest of the team, especially with the uptight and overly-obedient Pearl.  On the one hand, the conflict is understandable since both sides have fair reasons for their feelings.  The missions should be taken seriously true, but it would be wrong to force Amethyst to be someone she’s not.  On the other hand, it’s not very pleasing to watch since no one ever seems to see sense and that factor is the most persistent whenever the conflict comes up, such as in the opening scene of this cartoon.  It’s here where we also learn of a secret of Amethyst on how she deals with Pearl and Garnet not accepting her for who she is.  She sneaks out at night to take part in wrestling matches under the name of Purple Puma.  It’s here where she can be exactly who she is without anyone telling her what to do and have fun beating people up.  Steven finds out about the secret and, considering how easily impressed with the world around him he’s been so far, decides to join Amethyst as Tiger Millionaire, complete with his own backstory which Purple Puma doesn’t have.  While at first, Amethyst just wants Steven along for the Tag-Team belt, they both prove to be a great team when Steven starts providing actual benefits.  Speaking of being a great team, after Steven cockily goes too far with his wrestling persona and makes everyone actually hate him, Amethyst shows some genuine care by telling Steven not to let anyone make him feel like garbage showcasing elements of heart in this pairing.  The moment also plays a role in the end.  When Pearl and Garnet discover Amethyst’s secret and berate her for it resulting in her fighting back harshly, Steven, with Amethyst’s true feelings in mind, breaks the fight up with his own backstory for Purple Puma about how he just wanted to find somewhere to fit in.  Ultimately, Steven’s role is effective in resolving the conflict with the Gems getting a better understanding of Amethyst, for now anyway.  While the story isn’t the most interesting or entertaining, it still has value through Amethyst’s character development, her bonding with Steven, and more of Steven’s ever-growing talent of conflict resolution. 8/10
The Ranking
  1. Bubble Buddies
  2. Laser Light Cannon
  3. Gem Glow
  4. Cheeseburger Backpack
  5. Serious Steven
  6. Cat Fingers
  7. Tiger Millionaire
  8. Together Breakfast
  9. Frybo
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where a new layer of mystery and entertainment is added to the show when we meet "Steven's Lion."
If you would like to check out other reviews on this blog, click here for the guide to all the reviews posted so far.

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