Sunday, January 13, 2019

Beta (Steven Universe Season 3 Episode 21) - 'Toon Reviews 23


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Beta

When focusing on big reveals, a cartoon can go either ways.  It can expand lore and bring new character paths, but also feel a little dull with not much happening.  This cartoon kind of goes both ways. 
Amethyst still obsessed with wanting to beat Jasper, so Steven decides to take her mind off things by having her visit Peridot and Lapis.  This is where the big reveals start.  When we last saw Peridot and Lapis together, the latter appeared to start warming up to the former.  However, it seemed like anyone’s guess how well they get along after all this time.  As it turns out, they’ve both warmed up to each other pretty well.  In addition, much of the cartoon’s first half is showing their days at the barn.  They mostly binge watch Camp Pining Hearts or make random objects into artwork, or meep morps.  These reveals are mostly fluff which, while fun, limit potential character development .  It doesn’t become a big issue until the next season though.
For now, Peridot and Lapis’ customs have some weight to them regarding their experience of Earth.  They explore what the planet has to offer, and do something unique with it, which is endearing.  It’s also appealing through the personalities of both characters working off each other.  Peridot is much more eager to explore Earth’s amenities while also being social and considerate of others’ feelings.  Lapis isn’t nearly as social or enthusiastic to explore the planet since most of her suffering occurred here.  Still, we see some progress is made to opening herself up, such as happily making music with Peridot to entertain the guests. 
Going back to Amethyst, she isn’t impressed like she usually would be with Jasper on her mind.  With these concerns, the tone of the reveals shifts dramatically.  Playing to their dynamic, Peridot steps in to help Amethyst while Lapis stays at the barn to not have anything bad happen to her.  Since Amethyst once did the same for her, it’s interesting that Peridot is now trying to make Amethyst feel better about herself.  She does so by taking her to where Jasper was made. 
Jasper’s Kindergarten, the Beta Kindergarten, is a lot different from Amethyst’s, the Prime Kindergarten.  Instead of black and moody, the Beta Kindergarten is brightly colored.  The holes the Gems came out of are the most significant difference.  The Prime’s holes are perfectly aligned and carved making for many strong Quartz soldiers, except Amethyst who stayed in her hole too long.  As for the Beta, all the holes are sloppy and rushed, and it’s impressive that Peridot can tell that all the Gems came out weird from the holes alone.  It’s a great display of her talents. 
They become especially apparent when they find Jasper’s hole.  Peridot investigates it hoping to find something wrong with it to cheer up Amethyst, but is begrudgingly honest when she finds nothing of the sort.  Jasper is objectively the most perfect Gem in the Beta Kindergarten, and Amethyst will always be weaker than her.  All these reveals do their part to make the concept of Kindergartens more interesting than ever and lead to interesting mysteries.  However, just having explanations costs the cartoon a great deal of excitement.  It’s only at the end when Amethyst finds Jasper holding corrupted Gems in cages, and decides to fight her anyway when something big looks to come from the reveals.  The ensuing action is saved for the next cartoon, so it at least leaves something exciting to look forward to. 
In the end, this cartoon makes the show’s world vaster, but isn’t one of the more noteworthy ones for mostly being built on exposition.
A-

The Ranking
  1. Mr. Greg
  2. Bismuth
  3. Monster Reunion
  4. Crack the Whip
  5. Gem Hunt
  6. Greg the Babysitter
  7. Alone at Sea
  8. Gem Drill
  9. Super Watermelon Island
  10. Too Short to Ride
  11. Beach City Drift
  12. Steven vs Amethyst
  13. Barn Mates
  14. Beta
  15. Hit the Diamond
  16. Same Old World
  17. Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service
  18. Steven Floats
  19. Restaurant Wars
  20. The New Lars
  21. Drop Beat Dad

The next Steven Universe review brings an exciting boost in tone with Amethyst facing Jasper featuring a brand new fusion and a well-staged dark fate for Jasper.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Junk Junkies" and "Day of the Flecko" from Rocko's Modern Life.

If you would like to check out other Steven Universe reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

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