Friday, June 14, 2019

Lion 4: Alternate Ending (Steven Universe Season 4 Episode 20) - 'Toon Reviews 29

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Lion 4: Alternate Ending


This cartoon serves as a continuation not just to the heartwarming videotape message Rose Quartz left for Steven before having him, but also Steven’s conflicting feelings about her.  So many moments have broken Rose down from perfect and angelic to completely morally grey with the biggest flaw being keeping important truths from everyone.  It’s appropriately now more than ever that Steven would want to find out more about the Gem he could never truly meet. 
Much of the start of the cartoon is a believable interpretation of making theories based on subtle hidden secrets in messages, particularly that tape’s message.  However, an even bigger sign towards his mom’s potentially big plan is a key that Lion coughs up.  Steven's attempts are subtle nods to the many fan theories of certain mystery objects holding big pieces towards the show’s underlying story.  They include opening the chest in Lion’s mane which the key doesn’t open and to this day still hasn’t been opened.  There are also brief callbacks to places like the Gem armory and Rose’s healing spring, which the key also doesn't fit into.  That said, it feels like the crew knows that fans would be making theories about these places and use the concept to the show’s advantage which is pretty impressive. 
Out of options, Steven asks Lion to take him to where he found the key.  This brings on a dramatic montage of Steven wondering what his mom’s plan for him is.  The desert setting and sweeping music score really bring out the weight of what he’s trying to accomplish, especially with Steven so parched from the heat.  The end of the trek leads Steven to one particular discovery about his mother marked by a huge door leading to piles of junk from Earth she compiled.  The key easily fits into the door, but the site seems disappointing at first.  He does, however, find a tape meant for someone called Nora, begging some possibilities that there could be some other being related to Rose he doesn’t know about. 
Lion instead takes him to Greg to play that tape, and as they do, Steven notices something peculiar about it.  It’s almost the exact same thing as the tape he got, only with a few lines changed a bit.  At this point, Steven expresses frustration that’s all too understandable.  With so much time built up to a darker past about Rose and his emotional reaction to it, you’d think that Rose really would want Steven to live up to something big.  Instead, Nora just turns out to be the name he would have gotten if he was a girl, and the rest of the tape has an alternate message from Rose.  She just expresses love over the fact that her child is going to be a human living life among other humans.  In other words, Steven’s just meant to be Rose’s child without any big magical destiny.  It’s pretty endearing on its own, but it still puts that drama to waste.  In fact, this ending goes to waste since Steven goes on to do big Gem stuff anyway for the rest of this season and the next.  I will say that with future reveals, the tape message does show how clueless to the world around her Rose truly was and gives a good build-up to one particular monumental moment. 
Those will come in time though, but for now, this cartoon may not be as big as it could have been, but I can’t deny it has good heart and engaging staging.
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.  Kindergarten Kid

16.  Room for Ruby

17.  Future Boy Zoltron

18.  Tiger Philanthropist

19.  Rocknaldo

20.  Onion Gang
The next Steven Universe review is on the start of several abductions that also gives nice development to Connie's dad.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the start of a brand new review set for Animaniacs.
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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