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Barn Mates
This is the start of a new character grouping that lasts for
much of the series. It involves two Gems
with their own interesting qualities that differ greatly. These differences make it a challenge for
them to come together and share their new space, the barn.
There’s Peridot, a Homeworld follower turned
Crystal Gem who’s completely up for learning about Earth and is nice and open enough to
share her space. The other Gem, Lapis, has
always been her own Gem striving to keep herself safe, only recently opening up to Earth, and isolates herself from others.
She’s certainly not open to living with Peridot who’s one of the Gems who dragged her back to Earth which led to her most recent suffering. The conflict between Peridot and Lapis
is nicely presented with both sides being understandable. Peridot is more reasonable for wanting to
befriend Lapis and accept her into her new home despite their past. However, this adds onto the conflict with
their past leaving a bad impression on Lapis.
She has reasons for not wanting anything to do with Peridot as well as a bad history of being used. Brushing off Peridot doing just that during the
initial Earth invasion is not something she can do easily, and Peridot refusing
to acknowledge what her past misdeeds did doesn’t help. No one side in the conflict is completely
right, but they’re not completely wrong either, and there’s believability to
their attitudes.
Peridot being the more
sociable of the two takes the initiative to settle things. In the process, Steven shines more as a
teacher of Earth customs and passing them onto Gems less-experienced with the
planet. He gives an interesting and
insightful perspective on how things like cards and presents are a good way of
showing how much you care for someone.
These attempts also highlight Peridot’s lack of experience when they fail.
Her card message is too defensive of her own actions. As an even bigger offense, her gift
of a “smaller than average lake” is a painful reminder of Lapis’ time as Malachite. Still, there’s no doubt that Peridot
is just trying to making peace.
It’s for
this reason that when Peridot offers her most prized possession, the tape
recorder she’s been using to record logs, Lapis ends up being the less
sympathetic one. She ignores Peridot’s
obvious thoughtfulness, breaks the tape recorder, and when Peridot asks what
she wants from her, she forcefully tells her to leave. There’s a mature direction taken with
acknowledgement that for all her understandable feelings, Lapis went too far
with this move. Steven, who knows the
real Peridot, rightfully calls Lapis out for being mean to her and not
acknowledging her efforts to make amends.
Through his disappointment, there’s also progression to Lapis learning
to give what Earth has a proper chance. The tone suddenly intensifies with
Peridot on the run from a Homeworld ship called a Roaming Eye supposedly set to
destroy her for betraying the Diamonds.
At the last second just as Peridot is about to be blasted, Lapis steps
in to stop the ship and even asks if Peridot’s ok. It would’ve been better if there was a little
more time for Steven’s plea to give Peridot a chance to sink into her though. Rushed as this move is there's no denying her
actions show she’s latching onto the more moral thing to do which is the
best concluding point to ask for. Plus,
the last shot of a Ruby stepping out of the Roaming Eye does its job to build
up suspense for the next cartoon.
As for
this one, while it concludes a little too abruptly, it shines for its realistic
look at two characters at odds coming together and presents strong reasons for each other’s actions. You might say it leaves decent potential for quite the entertaining odd
couple.
A
The Ranking
- Gem Drill
- Super Watermelon Island
- Barn Mates
- Same Old World
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Steven and all his Gem friends take on the Homeworld Rubies...in a baseball game.
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