Monday, June 25, 2018

'Toon Reviews 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 18: Catch and Release


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
  1. Sworn to the Sword
  2. Keystone Motel
  3. Friend Ship
  4. Nightmare Hospital
  5. Chille Tid
  6. Cry for Help
  7. Keeping it Together
  8. Full Disclosure
  9. Catch and Release
  10. We Need to Talk
  11. Reformed
  12. Historical Friction
  13. Joy Ride
  14. Say Uncle
  15. Onion Friend
  16. Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
  17. Sadie’s Song
  18. 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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