Catch and
Release
This is where Peridot officially becomes a profound addition
to the cast with new depths to her character and major reveals for what’s to
come.
Bringing on Peridot’s great
display of character is the turning point of the Crystal Gems’ attempts to
catch her. When she captures Steven to
make him repair the galaxy warp so she can finally escape Earth, she laments
about how the planet is going to face destruction with little to no menace,
further showing that there’s more to her than a simple antagonist. As her frets about Earth raise questions, the
Crystal Gems save Steven and promptly poof and bubble Peridot away, not
bothering to listen to what she has to say.
Even without Peridot’s meaning for panic, the moment still brings
interesting information about her. When
she’s poofed, her limbs don’t poof back to her gemstone with the rest of her
body. They’ve always looked artificial
from the beginning yet added to the overall mystery of Peridot, and the Crystal
Gems retrieving her foot back in “Friend Ship” gave an impression that her
limbs were fake. I find this reveal
fascinating for showing that, in addition to getting easily annoyed and scared,
Peridot needing artificial arms and legs, i.e. limb enhancers, shows that there
truly is humanity within her villainous exterior.
What’s even better is that while the Crystal
Gems don’t see it, Steven does, so he releases her from her bubble to find the
reasons for her being worried about Earth and why she said the Crystal Gems
need her. As he tries to talk to
Peridot, we see how much of an outsider she is to this planet, not just that
she’s from Homeworld. For how smart and
collected she was in many appearances, she doesn’t have a good understanding of
the simplest of things, like how simply slapping others can bring them
pain. Considering how much trouble the
Crystal Gems have given her, of course she’d feel like inflicting a lot of it,
and it’s a funny to see her act like she’s getting the upper hand by simply
slapping Steven.
It’s through this
comedic interaction that Steven gets some information Peridot is withholding,
namely what she was really sent to Earth for.
Rather than conquering the planet for Homeworld, she was simply coming
to check progress on something called the Cluster. This was something she only mentioned in
passing back in “Jailbreak” leaving one to wonder what she was talking
about. Now it’s known by the main protagonists,
and Peridot is terrified of it eventually emerging and destroying the planet
she’s stuck on. However, learning more
about the Cluster is difficult as we see in even more hilarious moments of
Peridot’s lack of knowledge of Earth as she refuses to tell the
Crystal Gems anything, culminating in her locking herself in the bathroom.
This is easily where her outsider nature is
at its most interesting and entertaining with memorable moments of her trying
to escape by flushing herself down the toilet, and thinking harmless bathroom
objects are weapons.
As enjoyable as she
is and as insightful her reveals are, what makes everything work is the
payoff. After tense confrontations with
all the Crystal Gems, Peridot opens up to Steven and lets him in the bathroom
after he offers the foot they caught from her as a peace offering. The cartoon ends when Peridot accepts
Steven’s help to stop the Cluster, leading to something to look forward to in other cartoons.
Even if
this cartoon exists to lead into the bigger things, it’s still notable for its
promise, and the last scene of Peridot warming up to Steven solidifies the
appeal. Along with the first bits of her
greatness as a character and memorable moments from everyone else involved,
this is a great start to a new beginning for the series. 9.5/10
The Ranking
- Sworn to the Sword
- Keystone Motel
- Friend Ship
- Nightmare Hospital
- Chille Tid
- Cry for Help
- Keeping it Together
- Full Disclosure
- Catch and Release
- We Need to Talk
- Reformed
- Historical Friction
- Joy Ride
- Say Uncle
- Onion Friend
- Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
- Sadie’s Song
- Love Letters
The next Steven Universe review will cover a more endearing take on Peridot learning about what Earth has to offer, including things as simple as rain.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews, we'll start a new set of reviews. For the first time on this blog, we'll be covering Rocko's Modern Life.
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