'Toon Reviews 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 23: Steven's Birthday

Steven’s Birthday

It may feel strange to watch a birthday party when something as big as stopping the Cluster is a huge priority.  However, this setup works because it’s a reminder that life goes on, and sometimes, events like birthdays come up and are celebrated for much-needed levity.  Plus, they do mention that construction on the drill is continuing right at the start.  In addition, we get more creative insight to the show’s lore, mostly on Steven as a human-Gem hybrid. 

Just when the party is about to go ahead with Steven doing fun birthday festivities with the Crystal Gems, his dad, and best friend Connie, there’s a shock.  This is Steven’s 14^th birthday, yet he looks much younger than that and is older than Connie.  Also, Steven has had the same youthful appearance ever since age 8.  It’s been established that Gems don’t age and their appearances are of how old they feel which applies to Steven looking the same age.  It begs some questions like if he’ll look young forever or if he’ll even live forever as a Gem while all other humans die from aging.  These questions stand out more when the characters involved, and not just the audience, wonder exactly how Steven will age, which becomes the focus of this cartoon. 

Steven is worried of how uneasy Connie may feel around him if she ages and he doesn’t.  Through observing Amethyst stretching while shapeshifting, he comes up with an idea.  He forces himself to look older by stretching his body which allows him to shapeshift into a taller version of himself with a deeper voice, and even a neck, as commented on in an in-joke on his usual design.  It also seems to impress Connie to Steven’s relief.  For a while, we get many wholesome scenes of the party’s amenities, and Steven keeps stretching all throughout.  His act is eventually caught by Amethyst though who’s surprisingly mature on the matter, warning Steven of the potential dangers of stretching for a long time, which ties into Steven wanting to do this forever all for Connie’s sake.  Ultimately, giving Amethyst more credit, the warning proves true when Steven’s stretching leads to something major. 

After looking and acting older, Steven’s body gives into the stretching, and he turns into a crying baby; an interesting twist to say the least.  What follows is an equally interesting look at how Steven’s parent and guardians approached him in infancy, with the Crystal Gems having a totally misguided view on handling babies, and Greg having a confident mindset to give his son what he needs.  In fact, they give a nice preview of a look at those days in a later season. 

Still, Steven keeps bawling, and the best guess is that since he’s a 14-year-old turned baby, he’s aware of what happened and is afraid that Connie will definitely not want to be around him since he’s as young as he can get.  If this is the case, Connie actively deciding to be there for baby Steven, not caring how old he is, is more heartwarming than it would be by itself.  Of course, since big things in the series can’t happen with Steven as a baby, it’s predictable that Connie won’t have to go through the trouble, and she truly doesn’t when Steven turns back to normal the next day.  That said, the genuine gesture is as powerful and demonstrating of Steven and Connie’s care for each other as always, and Steven getting a facial hair does give hope that maybe he CAN age normally after all.  It further sells Steven’s aging process as a mystery that keeps getting engaging. 

That and the general sweetness and insight the characters involved bring in the wholesome environment of a birthday party allow this cartoon to greatly invest you in its charm... even if it is in the middle of a major operation. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. The Answer
2. Sworn to the Sword
3. Keystone Motel
4. When it Rains
5. Too Far
6. Friend Ship
7. Nightmare Hospital
8. Chille Tid
9. Cry for Help
10. Keeping it Together
11. Full Disclosure
12. Catch and Release
13. Back to the Barn
14. Steven’s Birthday
15. We Need to Talk
16. Reformed
17. Historical Friction
18. Joy Ride
19. Say Uncle
20. Onion Friend
21. Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
22. Sadie’s Song
23. Love Letters

The next Steven Universe review puts the focus back on stopping the Cluster and Peridot's development while also begs the question if her bonds with the Crystal Gems are real.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews for Hey Arnold, it's a review of "Girl Trouble" and "School Dance."

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