The Good Lars (Steven Universe Season 4 Episode 22) - 'Toon Reviews 29

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The Good Lars

In addition to the big Gem event for the end of the season being built up in these last cartoons of Season 4, they’re also where the Beach City resident Lars starts gaining bigger relevance.  It’s quite telling that something bigger was in mind for him considering that he and Sadie were literally the first characters from the show apart from Steven we met.  This becomes much better realized in Season 5, but this simple life story is an effective way to kick things off. 

The beginning brings together everything known about Lars where he acts jerky and antisocial in public, but has friends in Steven and Sadie who get the real him.  There’s even a reference to his great talents in cooking which so far has only been seen once, and now is integral to this cartoon’s story.  It also relates to Lars’ longtime desire to make friends with the Cool Kids.  When one of them, Buck Dewey, invites him and the others to a potluck party the gang’s having, Lars is completely nervous about having to talk to him to accept the invitation.  It comes with dropping something of a catchphrase “bingo bongo” which he later feels was lame, but Buck is actually indifferent to it unbeknownst to him.  While Lars feels embarrassed by how he handled things, Steven and Sadie encourage him to buck up and prepare for the party all the way.  Being his closet friends, it’s fitting that they’d be pushing him to the biggest opportunity he has to one of his biggest desires. 

Then there’s a wholesome sequence that further puts Lars’ cooking talents on display, as he leads them all into making an unusual yet delectable treat called an Ube cake roll.  Even with Lars’ great accomplishment, he’s at a major conflict sometime after cooking is done.  He’s too concerned with what the outside world, especially the Cool Kids, will think if he shows up revealing that he can cook, which is a pastime he thinks is lame.  Continuing to see the good in Lars, Steven assures him that since they invited him, they’ll like Lars for whatever he has to offer.  It says a lot when Lars, who’s often annoyed with Steven, considers him so smart and mature for this. 

When the potluck comes though, there are harsher outcomes that show that one conversation isn’t enough to settle internal conflicts.  Lars apparently doesn’t show up to the party, and if that’s not enough, Steven can’t find him anywhere in town.  He’s also given the impression that even after the talk, Lars flat out threw away his Ube roll and left just as he got to the doorstep of the party.  It goes to show the depths of his self-conscious issues especially with how much they hurt him.  In a twist, Sadie ends up befriending the Cool Kids who accept her as she is, and they even get up to some wholesome activities together.  One of them highlights her earlier established singing talents.  That, along with a mention that she should try to do something with her life instead of constantly worrying about Lars paves the way for something bigger later done with her singing.  Still, the ending is quite bittersweet since nothing she or Steven did were enough to help Lars, and Sadie is later pursued by those mysterious Gems from the last cartoon. 

The latter factor will take the entire spotlight next time, but as far as the simple crux of this story goes, it’s quite endearing through the character development and featured relationships.

A

 

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.      The Good Lars

8.      Gem Heist

9.      Gem Harvest

10.  Three Gems and a Baby

11.  Adventures in Light Distortion

12.  Buddy’s Book

13.  Know Your Fusion

14.  The New Crystal Gems

15.  Lion 4: Alternate Ending

16.  Doug Out

17.  Kindergarten Kid

18.  Room for Ruby

19.  Future Boy Zoltron

20.  Tiger Philanthropist

21.  Rocknaldo

22.  Onion Gang

 

 

The next Steven Universe review finally answers major questions about those mysterious Gems with dark disappearances all over town.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "House of Lies" and "Game Boys" from The Loud House.

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