'Toon Reviews 6: Steven Universe Season 1 Episode 24

An Indirect Kiss

To me, the best stories are those that can make you feel a wide range of emotions.  In other words, they’re the ones that don’t focus on one emotion like funny, sad, or scary.  They have a strong balance of many emotions which keeps things interesting by giving different experiences instead of just one.  This show has a lot of stories like this, and this cartoon is one of them.  It has Amethyst mess around and ultimately crack her gem. It’s a big deal because, in another interesting bit of Gem lore, when cracks happen, a Gem’s physical form is severely altered which could kill them.  It’s also established that Rose Quartz could heal cracked gems with her special healing tears. Steven is prompted to try and use them to save Amethyst since he inherited Rose’s gem and powers, but he finds it hard to cry, so the team goes to a special spring with a fountain of Rose’s healing tears now reduced to an overgrown mess of vines.  This simple story has a wide range of emotions aiding in its appeal.  We have laughs coming from the many ways Amethyst’s form becomes distorted due to her crack as well as Pearl expressing crazy concern over the condition of Rose’s healing spring which becomes meaningful as we later learn more about her attachment to Rose.  There’s also a dark and threatening tone to the story. As fun as it is to see Amethyst get all weird with a big googly eye, stretched limbs, and jumbled speech, she’s still in danger of death.  The emotional weight of the story though comes from Steven and his major conflict of being unable to cry healing tears.  He’s really thinking seriously about his status as a Crystal Gem and feels if he can’t show off his mom’s powers, he’d be no use to the team.  It’s really hard for him because his inability to cry is that he never knew Rose.  Even when the fountain starts work as he starts crying, it’s revealed that it happened because Garnet and Pearl unclogged a drain, so they saved Amethyst, which makes Steven really feel useless.  This leads me to discuss the unique way the story’s set up which adds in a layer of sweetness.  The whole story is a flashback Steven shares with Connie, and as it’s told, the charming elements of their friendship are woven in without feeling out of place.  They get up to fun kid-like mannerisms such as trading each other’s stuff like Connie’s glasses and Steven’s juice, but also show real emotional support. This includes Connie assuring Steven that it won’t be so bad if he doesn’t grow to fully understand his powers when his story’s over.  This is especially powerful because it leads to the reveal of a power Steven never could have expected.  Because the juice he gave Connie mostly consisted of backwash and Connie can see without her glasses when she finishes it, Steven discovers that he does have healing powers in his spit.  Not only does this change the status quo somewhat, but it’s a satisfying conclusion for Steven’s turmoil and a step in the right direction for his character.  This story has a nice unique setup, strong character moments, and of course, plays with the audience’s emotions splendidly. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Coach Steven
2. An Indirect Kiss
3. So Many Birthdays
4. Steven the Sword Fighter
5. Lion 2: The Movie
6. Bubble Buddies
7. Monster Buddies
8. Laser Light Cannon
9. Giant Woman
10. Lars and the Cool Kids
11. Steven’s Lion
12. Gem Glow
13. Steven and the Stevens
14. Rose’s Room
15. Cheeseburger Backpack
16. Serious Steven
17. Joking Victim
18. Beach Party
19. Cat Fingers
20. Tiger Millionaire
21. Together Breakfast
22. Frybo
23. Onion Trade
24. Arcade Mania

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode, serving as the first part of a major game-changer for the tone of the series, "Mirror Gem."

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