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Drop Beat
Dad
One of the things I love about this show is its
characterization. Whether they’re
creative, deep, or interesting like the Gems or more mundane yet relatable
Beach City residents, there’s strong development to nearly all of
them. Some seem good and loving and some
seem like total jerks, but through watching a lot of these characters, no one is purely good or bad. They’re all human with positive traits, yet
still have bad habits and are capable of making mistakes. It’s this strength of the series that makes
this cartoon so disappointing.
One of
the Cool Kids, Sour Cream, is preparing a huge gig as a DJ, a profession he
desires the most. However, his mumbling stepdad,
Yellowtail, is unaccepting of this and wants him to be a fisherman just like
him. This is unsettling where only Sour
Cream is sympathetic while Yellowtail is hard to get behind for directing what
career his stepson should take. It is at
least nice to actually witness their conflict in person which was only mentioned a few times before. It’s Sour Cream’s stepdad issues
that allow him to latch onto a visitor, his biological dad Marty.
The thing about Marty is that he used to be
the band manager of Greg. However, he was a huge jerk through only using Greg for
money and not caring about his happiness which included wanting to be with Rose
Quartz. Because he’s built up a bad
reputation from that one flashback, there’s frequent caution as Sour Cream
decides to go along with him to set up his gig.
However, Marty’s interactions with Sour Cream about wanting to catch up
with him feel genuine. Not to mention, his refurbishments for the gig seem like they
could work in Sour Cream’s favor.
Basically, there are good enough reasons to believe that Marty has changed
for the better in the time he’s been away from his family. I mean, what he does for Sour Cream are the
very things he should be doing to get closer, and the effort to setting the gig
up shows. The fact that Sour Cream’s
other dad is so closed-minded about career paths adds to Marty’s favor.
This is why what happens leaves such a huge
sting. All the effort to the gig and all
that talk about bonding with Sour Cream was just a ploy for Marty to sell his
latest product, a guacamole flavored soda, “guacola.” It’s honestly despicable
that his time on something that meant a lot to his son was for Marty’s own
gain, and any potential good from him was a lie. He becomes a rare one-dimensional character
for this show with nothing but jerkiness, backstabbing moves, and no good
traits at all.
Fortunately, the sting of
this reveal is lessened a bit by a few things.
First, the reactions to everyone trying the guacola and how awful it is
are hilarious despite begging the question why Marty even invested in it. Second, things end well for Sour Cream as he
channels his stepdad by telling off Marty mumbling fisherman style. Yellowtail even shows his own depth by saving the gig through bringing in Sour
Cream’s old DJ gear. Finally, while
another jerk move reveals that Marty’s only here because he’s legally bound to
give Greg a check and shows no joy in doing it, that check makes Greg rich with
$10,000,000. This foreshadows the greatness about to unfold in the next cartoon…
For
this cartoon though, it’s not a good fit for the show featuring a
one-dimensional jerk with no redeeming traits at all and a story that
honestly isn’t all that interesting. The
cartoon itself has significant redeeming factors to make it worth watching,
which is usually the case for the show, but it’s still a pretty weak and
slightly unwelcoming effort.
C-
The Ranking
- Gem Drill
- Super Watermelon Island
- Barn Mates
- Hit the Diamond
- Same Old World
- Steven Floats
- Drop Beat Dad
The next Steven Universe review is all about how Greg goes about being rich, and as I mentioned, it's going to be great if not the greatest thing this show has done.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is Episode 39 of Animaniacs.
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