'Toon Reviews 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 14: Historical Friction

Historical Friction

Jamie’s back in a cartoon that expands on his theatrical passions.  He’s done something with his talents by holding auditions for a play about the founding of Beach City.  Granted, Steven is the only one interested in trying out, but his ambitions are still perfectly clear and relatable to those who want to get into the arts. 

The play is written by Mayor Dewey with emphasis on the greatness of his distant relative, William Dewey.  It includes completely far-fetched events like William inexplicably becoming a giant who carries his ship to shore during a storm.  When you look back on Mayor Dewey’s previous roles of doing anything to keep his position of power, his play can basically be seen as a ploy to get Beach City to continuously vote for him.  Jamie grows to disdain the play with William being portrayed as great and nothing more.  I personally latch onto how Jamie feels.  Characters like that are not relatable or interesting enough to watch.  They need other sides, which can include flaws, to let the audience know that no one is infallible or all-powerful beings, otherwise the product won’t be worth anyone’s time…at least from my perspective. 

Now, at this point in the season, it becomes strange to focus on a play when we’re in the middle of the Crystal Gems shaken dynamic, and that we’re not dealing with anything of significant importance.  However, the aftermath ties into the story when Pearl gets involved.  She’s disappointed in her big mistake and that she isn’t like the play’s version of William Dewey who supposedly never made mistakes.  When Steven shares Jamie’s philosophy on how no one is without flaws, she gets some comfort that leads her to change the play by fixing William Dewey, and making it historically accurate.  Her being present at Beach City’s founding 200 years ago has something big to do with the changes. 

With the changes in place, we get an entertaining and interesting payoff on the night of the play.  It’s simply constructed with only Steven as William and Jamie as the remaining roles.  Instead of an ultimate good deity, Steven’s William is unsure of the journey and has a history of clumsiness making him a believable flawed character which makes the play interesting.  It’s also fun to see Jamie jump to different roles from William’s first mate to the various Crystal Gems who did most of the work in helping William found Beach City along with Mayor Dewey’s reactions to the unexpected changes as everyone else finds humor in what’s onstage.  This relatable setup is positively received as any work with flawed, multi-layered characters would usually be. 

Many characters involved get satisfying resolutions with Jamie moving forward with his acting passions through becoming community theater director, Mayor Dewey getting more support from the citizens, and Pearl feeling a little better about the mistake she made.  Her role may not have the strongest tie to the Sardonyx incident and can easily be viewed without even being aware of it, but knowing about it does make what she does here stand out more than it would otherwise.  Along with solid character moments and a great piece of advice for anyone wanting to make it in entertainment, this may not be the most important cartoon, but it’s got significant merit that makes it worth watching. 9/10

The Ranking

1. Sworn to the Sword
2. Keystone Motel
3. Chille Tid
4. Cry for Help
5. Keeping it Together
6. Full Disclosure
7. We Need to Talk
8. Reformed
9. Historical Friction
10. Joy Ride
11. Say Uncle
12. Onion Friend
13. Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
14. Love Letters

The next Steven Universe review covers the end of the Sardonyx arc when a desperate pursuit for Peridot gives Pearl the perfect opportunity to make amends with Garnet.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a Hey Arnold review on "Sid's Revenge" and "Roller Coaster."

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