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Room for Ruby
Being a cartoon to bring back one of the members of the
Homeworld Rubies is nice to see considering that Steven planned to save them from space but never did. I guess it’s
simply impossible to do when you’re travelling in a ship going faster than light. Even with the benefits, this is still a
pretty mixed cartoon.
Opening on a
wholesome scene of Steven and Garnet stargazing, things become interesting when
one of the Rubies, named Navy by Steven, falls to them as a screaming
star. To recap, Navy is not only marked
by her gem placement like the others, but also by seeming happy, friendly, and
loving of everything. She claims she
doesn’t want to go back to Homeworld and that all the other Rubies were mean to
her, even the more innocent Leggy apparently.
Steven and Garnet at least keep their guard up as they question Navy if
she’s still mad at them for all the tricks and bad things they did to her in
the past. She gives legit reasons for
why she’s ok with them.
Despite this,
it’s a tad concerning that Steven doesn’t keep his guard up and remains
nonchalant about Navy suddenly wanting to be good for the rest of the
cartoon. He brings her to a potential
new home in what’s pretty much the home for any supporting Crystal Gem, or Gem
who helps them when she feels like it, the barn. Speaking of which, it’s at this point where
Peridot and Lapis being relegated to this spot starts becoming a concern. They may still be learning about Earth, but as
long as they live there and do frivolous activities, they’re hardly worth
calling productive members of the team.
Peridot especially disappoints by joking around with meep morps and
farming, and being egotistical when she’s had a lot of great material before. It says a lot when she’s just as devoid of
qualms about Navy as Steven. I do give
credit for being knowledgeable on Earth enough to teach Navy about it.
This also brings out some form of character
endearment from Lapis. Her being more
willing to do Earth customs with Steven and the other Gems in a few past cartoons
has shown great progress of her becoming attached to it. Given her tragic backstory, it means a lot to
her that it took her a long time to get used to it. Navy however seems to love everything they
teach her right away. This reaches out to things like sleeping, simple plants, and even dirt. To Lapis, it’s unnatural and frustrating that
someone can be so well-adjusted so quickly, especially since that was not the case
with her. There’s some logic behind
these feelings that amount to the best form of suspicion meant to be held
towards Navy. Heck, she even says she
literally can’t get mad, which right there is a sign that her happiness was an
act. For that, Lapis is the most sympathetic
character here as she struggles to accept that some people can adjust better
than her.
Then there’s the conclusion
where they show Navy her Roaming Eye ship, and she betrays them by sending out
the door and flying away sadistically.
On one hand, confirming Lapis was right that no one could be that
well-adjusted costs the cartoon a mature moral.
Still, Navy turning out bad after seeming good is a decent use of a
villain portrayal, and leaving the Crystal Gems without a ship does raise the
stakes for later events.
While some
characters may be boneheaded and morals may be compromised a bit, the cartoon
turns out good with the character moments that are done right.
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. Kindergarten Kid
15. Room for Ruby
16. Future Boy Zoltron
17. Tiger Philanthropist
18. Rocknaldo
19. Onion Gang
The next Steven Universe review looks into the message in the tape Rose left for Steven for a deeper meaning.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews are Loud House cartoons "Middle Men" and "The Spies Who Loved Me."
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