Thursday, October 5, 2017

'Toon Reviews 6: Steven Universe Season 1 Episode 36


Warp Tour








The main conflict of the series really kicked in once we learned that there are more Gems out there, and this cartoon brings in more depth to the reveal, but how long it takes for everyone to figure it out can get pretty frustrating.  The plot has Steven notice something strange in the warp stream, and it’s presented in a manner that’s very convincing to the audience.  However, none of the Gems see what he saw and are convinced that he just imagined seeing something.  They claim that only they use the warp stream, and no one else has ever used it for 1000s of years, and that’s a believable reason for thinking the way they do.  At the same time, they really come off as dense and don’t realize that anything can happen.  This is especially apparent when Steven becomes more paranoid about what he saw, and the Crystal Gems stubbornly hold onto their beliefs that he saw wrong.  It is admittedly nice of them to allow Steven to use the warp stream to check all areas for something strange which does give us returns of past locations, but their reluctance is still clear.  The worst part of this comes in when they reach a set of warp pads Gems used to travel space with called the Galaxy Warp. When nothing strange is there, Pearl blows up at Steven for sticking to his claims, and while the fight is broken up, the other Gems side with Pearl and brush Steven’s feelings off.  It’s like they don’t think he’s worth taking seriously even though he’s a member of the team who needs to grow to help make a difference.  Their brushing his genuine fear feels like they think he’s not important to the team and will never be important, and that’s just not right.  Eventually, it’s revealed that Steven really did see something in the warp stream after all in the form of a small robonoid which he nearly gets himself frozen to death over.  The Gems realize this too, though it’s concerning that apart from Garnet saying she should’ve listened to Steven, no one really apologizes for their behavior.  For how much I harp on the Crystal Gems, everything leads to a major game-changing reveal at the end.  After following a bunch of robonoids to the Galaxy Warp, we meet another new Gem, Peridot.  Her studying the Galaxy Warp, crushing a defective robonoid, and deactivating them as she leaves brings in an ominous and mysterious tone of what she’s really like, connecting greatly to the Crystal Gems’ fear that Homeworld Gems are coming back to invade Earth.  As for Peridot herself, while this cartoon doesn’t show much of what she’s like, future cartoons going all the way to the following season go on to make her my favorite character on the show.  On the whole, if you can get past one of the Crystal Gems’ most problematic portrayals, this is a very solid cartoon to build up tensions of what’s to come. 9/10
The Ranking
  1. Ocean Gem
  2. Lion 3: Straight to Video
  3. Coach Steven
  4. Mirror Gem
  5. An Indirect Kiss
  6. Space Race
  7. So Many Birthdays
  8. Steven the Sword Fighter
  9. Lion 2: The Movie
  10. Bubble Buddies
  11. Monster Buddies
  12. Laser Light Cannon
  13. Giant Woman
  14. Lars and the Cool Kids
  15. Steven’s Lion
  16. Watermelon Steven
  17. Gem Glow
  18. Steven and the Stevens
  19. Warp Tour
  20. Island Adventure
  21. Rose’s Room
  22. Cheeseburger Backpack
  23. Secret Team
  24. House Guest
  25. Serious Steven
  26. Joking Victim
  27. Beach Party
  28. Cat Fingers
  29. Tiger Millionaire
  30. Together Breakfast
  31. Fusion Cuisine
  32. Frybo
  33. Onion Trade
  34. Arcade Mania
  35. Garnet’s Universe
  36. Keep Beach City Weird

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode featuring Steven's first fusion in, "Alone Together."
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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