Monday, May 14, 2018

'Toon Reviews 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 4: Love Letters


Love Letters







The Beach City residents have their appeal, but since most of them are not as interesting as the main protagonists and the Gems, cartoons where they’re the main focus aren’t the best.  That’s the case with this cartoon starring Jamie the mailman. 
In his earliest appearance, he was just a guy doing his job with a friendly attitude.  With that in mind, it’s worth giving credit that there’s some expansion to Jamie’s character. He’s very theatrical and wants to become an actor, hence why he’s been away where the big pictures are made all this time…apparently in Kansas.  Despite this new layer, the plot focuses more on the “love at first sight” concept when Jamie sees Garnet and falls madly in love with her.  While Garnet’s first interactions with him sell how seductive she is to Jamie, this being what gets him so attached to her feels petty and shallow, especially since it is possible to craft a more believable romance that isn’t appearance-based. 
With the fact that Garnet is a fusion only recently being revealed, when Steven and Connie show her a love letter from Jamie, much of Ruby and Sapphire’s love for each other is shown through Garnet’s firmness of not getting involved with this new crush, which is a good show of character to get from this scenario.  She’s devoted to the relationship of the Gems who form her and won’t let anyone stand in their way, coming off as admirable for her strong will.  It continues when writing a response to Jamie’s overly dramatic love letter to him.  It amounts to a very blunt no, further showing how strong the relationship she’s a part of, or is entirely, really is. 
However, this is where things start to go downhill.  After hearing about Jamie’s constant acting rejections, Steven and Connie get the idea to rework the love letter response so that he won’t get as disappointed.  Considerate as they may be, this is a pretty dumb move on their part.  Through trying to match the poetic tone of his letter and being vague about the reject, Jamie could easily get the wrong idea and try to follow up on the letter.  Sure enough that’s what happens when Jamie shows up thinking Garnet returned his love.  Not only that, but while Garnet continues to be firm with Ruby and Sapphire’s love, she’s also a bit too harsh saying that she’ll never be interested in him.  This statement along with finding out that Steven and Connie wrote the response puts Jamie in a funk that prevents him from even doing his job.  While he’s still sympathetic, his overbearing feelings are too much to completely feel for him at this point. 
Fortunately, Garnet takes the initiative to properly let Jamie down.  She gives him some honest life advice on how love at first sight really doesn’t exist, and that it mostly involves knowing the other person, and Jamie knows nothing about Garnet.  This isn’t just a random tidbit for Jamie at the moment, but it’s believable for real life too.  For all the times people in shows and movies fall in love because of appearances, it’s easy to forget that there’s more to love than that, so for this cartoon to bring that up is very commendable.  Garnet also prompts Jamie to move forward towards his acting passions, so with all this said, this cartoon is credible for one of the most mature instances of turning down love ever put to media. 
It’s still not the most interesting plot for this show nor does it have the best character moments, but some solid performances and the mature approach to romance make it good for what it is. 8/10
The Ranking
  1. Full Disclosure
  2. Joy Ride
  3. Say Uncle
  4. Love Letters
The next Steven Universe review will be on a further look at how Gems reform their bodies which gives insight into Amethyst's sense of self worth.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is another Hey Arnold review covering the fourth episode of Season 3.
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