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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
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