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Familiar
The story has taken a huge direction of Steven and his
closest comrades going to the enemy Gem planet Homeworld to finally resolve
their long ongoing issues. With that, a
smart move would be to introduce the nature of this planet since we really
haven’t seen much of it in its previous appearances. That’s precisely how this cartoon works as grand world building as well as an insightful parallel to Steven and
the Diamond he’s meant to be representing.
There are so many fascinating things to Homeworld from start
to finish. While all alone in Pink’s
room, Steven discovers a group of really small Gems called Pebbles who delight
in crafting anything Steven says he could use.
Pearl, who’s considered an object only meant to serve him, is the only
Crystal Gem allowed to be near him, and she’s also beneficial in teaching him
about Diamond customs. They’re brought
up as Steven’s called to join Yellow and Blue Diamond in their own extraction
chambers, which basically function as spas and saunas. By the way, the extraction chambers turn out
to be the most creative additions to Homeworld as the sweat the Diamonds emit
there work some serious Gem magic. A
drop of sweat from Steven later on gives a strong suggestion that they do
things like bring structures and statues to life.
Anyway both Yellow and Blue have different
ways of showing affection to ‘Pink’. Yellow is strict and authoritative while
still finding a reason to laugh at Pink’s passes for humor; it’s actually kind
of surreal for Steven to have a nice moment with her. Blue, as her many past appearances have
shown, outwardly shows how much she deeply loves Pink and even calls ‘her’ by
the preferred name Steven. In the
process, Blue brings up all the times all the Diamonds used to happily get together
to enjoy the extraction chambers with Pink acting all happy and silly. In both conversations though, Yellow and Blue do
bring up how unsurprising it is that White barely let Steven get a word in
since she never allows anyone to talk with her.
The last thousand years when it was believed Pink was shattered certainly
haven’t helped and have badly affected the Diamonds’ family dynamic.
By the end of the day, it feels like Steven’s
gotten nowhere, yet gets a very interesting insight. Adding to its power is that it’s all put to
song and a very moving one at that. Based
on everything he’s learned about Pink from dreams and his conversations with
Blue and Yellow, Steven finds a lot to take interest in. The Diamonds love Pink and find appeal in her
funny ways, but they’re often too busy to always be there for her and don’t
take her seriously. As Steven uses each
verse to evaluate things and the Pebbles help him with musical accompaniment,
the connection becomes clear. All of
these things are just like how Steven used to act among the Crystal Gems, only
now he’s grown up a lot and knows how to understand the feelings of
others.
Through bringing the song to a
grand finish, he looks the part of who the Diamonds want to see and
plans to fix their family dynamic and get them to stop terrorizing space. Utilizing what he’s learned about Pink and
her relationship to Homeworld, he sets out to sway everyone’s opinions with a
big party. That’s a path that’s sure to
bring a lot of promise though you can’t help but question how well it will all
go given the Diamonds’ nature.
All of
these elements unfold in a cartoon where not much happens, but you still feel
like so much was gained through exploring a creative world and fascinating
characters and background.
A+
Season 4 Ranking
- I Am My Mom
- Storm in the Room
- Mindful Education
- That Will Be All
- Steven’s Dream
- Last One Out of Beach City
- Are You My Dad?
- The Zoo
- The Good Lars
- Gem Heist
- Gem Harvest
- Three Gems and a Baby
- Adventures in Light Distortion
- Buddy’s Book
- Know Your Fusion
- The New Crystal Gems
- Lion 4: Alternate Ending
- Doug Out
- Kindergarten Kid
- Room for Ruby
- Future Boy Zoltron
- Tiger Philanthropist
- Rocknaldo
- Onion Gang
Season 5 Ranking
- Reunited
- A Single Pale Rose
- The Trial
- Jungle Moon
- Off Colors
- Familiar
- Stuck Together
- The Question
- Pool Hopping
- Can’t Go Back
- Now We’re Only Falling Apart
- Legs From Here to Homeworld
- Lars’ Head
- Made of Honor
- What’s Your Problem?
- Letters to Lars
- Lars of the Stars
- Your Mother and Mine
- Raising the Barn
- Sadie Killer
- Back to the Kindergarten
- The Big Show
- Gemcation
- Kevin Party
- Dewey Wins
The next Steven Universe review puts Steven's Homeworld party into action with unexpected results, well mostly unexpected.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews are some of the most ingeniously creative Ed Edd n Eddy cartoons "A Glass of Warm Ed" and "Flea Bitten Ed."
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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