Monday, June 17, 2019

Doug Out (Steven Universe Season 4 Episode 21) - 'Toon Reviews 29

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Doug Out

From this point, seeds for a big Gem event at the end of this season start being planted.  With this cartoon though, the ties are the least apparent and can easily be written off as a fun escapade development for a side character.  At least the featured side character is one who warrants being looked into. 
Connie is one of the most prominently featured humans of the show, being Steven’s best friend and all, and her mom has gotten good development.  However, we don’t know much about her dad, Doug, other than he’s a cop.  That all changes here with his first, and so far only, starring role alongside Steven and Connie.  He’s introduced playfully calling out the kids having fun, pretending they’ve committed some crime.  Then he gets the plot going when he says he’s here to investigate after-hour break-ins at Funland amusement park and invites Steven and Connie to join him. 
From there, the cartoon is all about the three of them looking for any signs of suspicious activity in the park.  At some points, it’s cute with moments like Steven and Connie getting into character with a box of disguises Doug happens to have.  I particularly enjoy Steven’s over-the-top Italian accent, though I understand if some people might be thrown off by the stereotypical undertones.  Most of the crime scene though is honestly kind of dull.  For one thing, Doug and the kids spend a long time talking in the police car before they go out on the scene to look for whoever’s broken into Funland.  After that, they just look around various spots of the park trying to put everything they see together, but it just doesn’t seem all that interesting. 
That’s not to say everything falls flat.  Doug’s enthusiasm at the prospect of finding something interesting is telling of his enjoyment as a character, and a build-up for what’s later revealed.  There are also a few share of stand-out moments.  For excitement’s sake, there’s a sequence where Doug and the kids get stuck on a spinning UFO ride and have to fight through the gravitational force to stop it.  Near the cartoon’s end, there are also a few signs of the next big Gem threat in things like peculiarly shaped shadows atop the arcade games.  Even though the characters don’t notice it, the shape looks much different from that of who they eventually find. 
Speaking of which, following a few possibilities that the culprit could be a Gem monster, it turns out to be a well-known human of Beach City, Onion.  This reveal brings another side of Doug where he feels inferior to everything his daughter and wife have accomplished.  It’s not a surprise that Connie still loves her dad for who he is and not who he feels he needs to be, but it’s a nice scene anyhow.  As for why Onion was at Funland, it not being explained is typical of his nature, but something seems different about it here.  He sounds more frantic than usual when discovered, as if he was running from someone.  Then after Doug and the kids leave Onion alone, two unfamiliar figures appear behind him.  We find out who they are later on, but for now, there’s a big sense of mystery surrounding what seemed like a light-hearted cartoon.  For that, you could say that the show is starting to transition to a more serious tone for the end of a season. 
The featured cartoon doesn’t have the most interesting story for the job, but with nice bonds and the little hints towards the big event we do get, the results are commendable.
B+

 

Season 4 Ranking

1.      Storm in the Room

2.      Mindful Education

3.      That Will Be All

4.      Steven’s Dream

5.      Last One Out of Beach City

6.      The Zoo

7.      Gem Heist

8.      Gem Harvest

9.      Three Gems and a Baby

10.  Adventures in Light Distortion

11.  Buddy’s Book

12.  Know Your Fusion

13.  The New Crystal Gems

14.  Lion 4: Alternate Ending

15.  Doug Out

16.  Kindergarten Kid

17.  Room for Ruby

18.  Future Boy Zoltron

19.  Tiger Philanthropist

20.  Rocknaldo

21.  Onion Gang

The next Steven Universe review adds to the mystery of those figures and sets up fresh new paths for Lars and Sadie.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is an amazing Loud House special "Really Loud Music."
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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