'Toon Reviews 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 15: Friend Ship

Friend Ship

After a couple of cartoons of each of them on their own, the Crystal Gems regroup to try and catch Peridot, and it all unfolds in a satisfying end to the Sardonyx conflict. 

There’s a great display of character all throughout with Steven looking on the bright side of what happens right down to socializing with the enemy, Amethyst wanting the team dynamic to go back to normal while doubting if it can, and Pearl bent on catching Peridot, even if she just gets in the way to Garnet’s annoyance.  Even Peridot herself has a lot of enjoyable moments.  It may seem hard to believe since she’s an antagonizing force from the planet the Crystal Gems are rebelling against, but Peridot is simply too hard not to like.  She never seems menacing, which is remarkable considering her first appearance, but more annoyed about her enemies constantly showing up to get in the way of her work and getting off Earth.  Even when she leads the Crystal Gems into a rundown Gem ship so she can trap them inside to kill them, she’s far more disgruntled and frustrated than heartless and evil, and it's funny watching her struggle with figuring out how the ship works.  This gives her a smidge of humility that makes her frustrations sympathetic even if you don’t want her to succeed in killing our heroes.  Given what’s eventually done with Peridot, I’d say it’s a good thing she’s not too villainous. 

As for those trying to catch her, every time they get close, Pearl barges in without second thought and walks everyone further into the trap, and from her tone of voice, you can tell how desperate she is to make herself trusted again. So, in addition to being somewhat humorous for her crazed ways of getting forgiveness especially since we don’t normally expect boneheaded moves like this from her, she’s highly sympathetic from the reasons behind her actions.  Her sympathy really grows when she and Garnet get trapped in an enclosed pit and have no choice but to talk things over about the conflict between them while the pit’s walls close in on them.  She confides that even though she tries hard to be strong, she’s too beat down about being a weak Gem, hence why she’s desperate to be with someone stronger like Garnet so she can feel the strength she can never get herself.  It’s both sad and insightful for Pearl to feel worthless as she is, something I think no one should ever feel, which ties into her past attachment to Rose. 

An admirable thing about this is that Garnet is considerate of these insecurities and makes Pearl feel better that even someone strong can have weaknesses, such as how the conflict made her unfuse.  She’s also reassuring of Pearl by reminding her that Pearl has strength she needs to realize so to follow her own power and not latch onto someone else.  This heartwarming instance of understanding leads to a definitive resolution to the fallout when Pearl and Garnet fuse to escape the danger, signifying that while it’s debatable if Pearl is completely forgiven, now that her insecurities are known, there is hope that she’ll overcome them.  Also, with things as resolved as they are, everyone is able to work as a team to track Peridot down and catch her, or at least her foot.  However, with it being removable, it’s a solid foreshadow to what we learn about her in her next appearance. 

For this cartoon though, it’s a grand collection of character moments with believable instances to flesh them out to resolve what’s between them that lead up to satisfying conclusions. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Sworn to the Sword
2. Keystone Motel
3. Friend Ship
4. Chille Tid
5. Cry for Help
6. Keeping it Together
7. Full Disclosure
8. We Need to Talk
9. Reformed
10. Historical Friction
11. Joy Ride
12. Say Uncle
13. Onion Friend
14. Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
15. Love Letters

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where a frightening trip to the hospital leads Connie's mom to learn a plethora of truths about her daughter.


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If you would like to check out other Steven Universe reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 13: The Loud House Season 2 Episode 3: Baby Steps/Brawl in the Family

Baby Steps

Since this season has already given development to the Louds’ neighbor, the gas station owner, and Lincoln’s grandpa, that sets up a major strength for this season, which is developing characters outside the Loud family . This makes the show’s world more vast and appealing.  This time, it’s Clyde’s turn to get development which helps move him past just being Lincoln’s supportive friend and constantly crushing on someone older than him. He’s given a believable conflict to deal with which comes with understandable anxieties.  He hears and sees signs that his dads are planning on adopting another baby, meaning that he’ll be a big brother, except he doesn’t know how to pull it off.  Since his best friend is a big brother of a significant number of sisters, of course Clyde turns to Lincoln for help.  We’re treated to several examples of how Lincoln really knows what to do when taking care of his younger siblings which give Clyde good reasons for turning to him.  From cheering up siblings who get hurt to simply helping them with a problem or difficulty, Lincoln’s character is on good display as he shows how to deal with his younger siblings as well as act cool under the pressures of a big family.  Plus, his brotherly moments are particularly adorable.  Clyde, being someone who’s new to being a big brother, is understandably not as good as Lincoln, completely cracking under the pressure of the younger sisters’ demands for help, having no choice but to bribe them with cookies.  The thing that makes Clyde endearing here is that he admits that it’s because he lacks confidence for caring for a younger sibling, which is a reason why anyone can falter badly at anything.  With Clyde’s problem easy to get behind, that’s enough to hope that he can get through it.  Lincoln at first has some of the younger sisters’ stage fake problems for Clyde to solve, but he finds out the act.  What does get Clyde the confidence he needs is rescuing Lana from a tree when she’s genuinely in trouble.  Not only does the moment show a more endearing side of Lana (which we’ll see more of this season) but it’s a very nice and clever end to Clyde’s anxiety problems.  They do seem all for naught when he finds out his dads were just talking about getting a kitten.  I would also say that the plot could’ve been avoided if Clyde asked his dads what was up at the start (which will be the case with many cartoons this season), but at least what made Clyde initially believe what he did seemed convincing at the time.  Plus, while he doesn’t have a new human sibling, what Clyde learned is at least put to some good use.  Overall though, this cartoon is a cute little success for Clyde as a lead character, further enhanced by the noteworthy and adorable moments of all who support in the story. 9.5/10

Brawl in the Family

I never thought this show's cartoons could get worse than “The Green House,” but here we are.  Everything about this cartoon snowballs into a completely frustrating pain for the entire runtime, going against everything great about this show. 

It’s about Lori and Leni buying the same dress which leads to a fight between them.  You might wonder what the big deal about this is.  Fights happen between the Loud siblings all the time and actions are always taken to stop them when they go too far.  Here, the fight is approached with a protocol with very harsh and unfair guidelines as to what rooms can be accessed, what activities people can do, and what things people can use.   I don't know about you, but I'd say that the fight leading to guidelines like this is definitely it going too far. That said, the biggest point of frustration is that almost everyone doesn’t see a problem with this.  Do they seriously WANT to be forbidden from getting a good snack from the kitchen or use a bucket to do their business instead of the bathroom?  Also, how can they POSSIBLY tolerate letting what’s going on get in the way of their hobbies?  I certainly don’t expect Luna to be fine with not being able to play music, Lynn not playing sports, Lisa not doing experiments, or anyone not being able to watch their favorite TV shows.  All this is because two of the sisters can’t get along, and the fact that their routines are drastically shaped from this one fight over something frivolous is unhealthy.  It’s the equivalent of giving into a spoiled brat or an abusive partner in a relationship.  Behaviors and fights like this should be not tolerated, not treated as a normal part of life especially when they direct what innocent bystanders can and can’t do.  It gets even worse when even the parents (despite disciplining the kids when they were out of line before) and people outside Loud family just go along with this.  The only character smart enough to see the protocol's problems is Lincoln which only enhances the pain when it directly affects him through him getting kicked out of his room or him losing his bedsheets.  Yet, he’s not portrayed well either.  The show constantly establishes him as the man with the plan who knows how to get around the Loud House and how to solve problems between him and his siblings, which was even present in the cartoon this one is paired with.  Here however, Lincoln idiotically makes the fight worse by saying insulting things about Lori and Leni wearing the dress which of course wouldn’t work.  You just know the cartoon will just get worse if it has to go against one of the big rules of the show’s setup to make the plot work.  If that’s not enough, there’s another frustrating source of fight escalation.  Lincoln actually comes up with a smart plan of having Luna bunk with Lori and Luan bunk with Leni.  Going back to the protocol, it’s said to exist to not have others get involved in the fight.  Ignoring that lives being shaped by the fight and the victims moving the fight’s instigators already botches the protocol, Luna and Luan completely break that rule by taking sides in Lori and Leni’s fight instead of staying neutral and ignoring them talk about what happened.  Plus, they and other sisters add on stupid insults that have nothing to do with the dress issue which escalates the fight, but SOMEHOW this is Lincoln’s fault.  Speaking of that, everything builds up to an ending where Lincoln escapes the fight for a while, and it stops when he returns.  The sisters explain that whole fight stopped because Lincoln left.  I get the cartoon is trying to say there are some problems you can’t solve, which is true to real life, but the ending’s execution makes it seem like ALL problems as opposed to SOME problems could be solved if Lincoln wasn’t around, and bring unfortunate implications that anyone watching could solve problems if they weren't in anyone's life, or life in general.  That's just really depressing and hurtful; no one should ever feel like they're worthless no matter what the circumstances.  Basically the scene’s a big disgrace to Lincoln’s established role in the show which is hammered in further when we end with him starting another fight with idiotic and pointless insults…

I know this review ended up being pretty long, but this cartoon is filled with so many problems and points of frustration that I ended up with lots to vent about.  It could’ve turned out this way because it needed to be get to the animation phase quickly which meant there wasn't time to fix any story issues, or what the writers find funny is simply different from people like me find funny.  No matter what the reason for the quality, this cartoon is one huge mistake.  It goes against everything this show has established regarding how fights are approached, how Lincoln is portrayed, and how fine with overbearing abuse and ridiculousness the world around him is.  It’s hard to see humor or entertainment, and is devoid of the heart the show is known for.  As a result, the audience is left with a complete pain of an experience.  Take my advice, avoid this cartoon and watch better ones from this show (or any other show) instead.  For now, we can only hope that The Loud House never messes up this badly ever again. 1/10

The Ranking

1. 11 Louds a Leapin’
2. Baby Steps
3. The Old and the Restless
4. Intern for the Worse
5. Brawl in the Family

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where we see how well Mom and Dad can carry a cartoon now that they're free to express themselves with their faces shown in "Suite and Sour," and we see how well Lucy can act as a regular, normal girl in "Back in Black."

If you would like to check out other Loud House reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 7: Hey Arnold Season 2 Episode 11

Steely Phil

Arnold’s Grandpa has always been one of the most entertaining parts of this show from the beginning.  Not only is it unique for the main protagonist of a show to be brought up by grandparents, but Grandpa has quickly proven to be one of the greatest grandparent characters in animation.  He has his own style of giving his grandson advice, can easily relate to him when it comes to his pastimes despite his old age, and is skilled in a lot more things than one might expect.  With all these entertaining layers to Grandpa, it’s great that we start getting cartoons focused on him with this one.  Arnold learns that his Grandpa used to be a master of Chinese checkers under the nickname of Steely Phil.  However, despite all his skills, he let the pressures of winning get to him while playing against another Chinese checker master called Robbie Fisher and blew a perfect chance to tie the game.  Now that he’s come across Robbie Fisher again, Grandpa gets the opportunity to try and beat him in an upcoming Chinese checkers championship.  During the time preparing for the championship, we’re introduced to a relatable insecure side to Grandpa.  We’re so used to seeing him be so confident and laid-back when looking after and spending time with Arnold that it turns out to be such a big deal to hear how unconfident he is to try Chinese checkers again.  However, with a good, determined grandson like Arnold, he slowly fights through his anxieties.  It’s especially felt through an exciting training montage where he falters a lot at first through basic exercises, but as the montage continues, he starts making some significant improvements just as the scene’s music ends with a triumphant note.  It may not be much different from other training montages TV shows and movies tend to use, but it’s a favorite common convention that’s always welcomed in telling a story.  Even with the progress, Grandpa still doesn’t have enough confidence to compete going on to talk to Arnold in the middle of the night.  This scene also shows that his lack of confidence doesn’t just apply to Chinese checkers when he tells Arnold that his confidence that he could do certain things given to his grandson was on the off chance everyone else would lose.  Even with this reveal, Arnold still is all for encouraging his Grandpa to compete and conquer his fears.  All this training proves to pay off when the Chinese checker tournament comes, Grandpa makes it to Robbie Fisher, and just when it looks like he’s about to lose the same way he did all those years ago, he remembers to have the game end in a tie.  It’s a well-deserved victory that pays off Grandpa’s relatable conflict making this cartoon a solid start to his many starring roles.  It’s an instance where a character’s old age makes him all the more engaging. 9.5/10

Quantity Time

This cartoon is a prime example of how bad Helga has it at home.  Being raised by a fortune-obsessed dad and a drug addict mom both of whom clearly show more favor to her perfect older sister, it’s no surprise that this lifestyle is the source of her meanness.  Unfortunately for her in this cartoon, everything bad about her family infringes on her spring break from school.  It all happens when her break as well as her dad, Big Bob’s, break from running his beeper emporium become known to her mom, Miriam.  Miriam takes the initiative to get out of the house infringing on her alone time for a whole week under the guise of taking care of her sick mother, suggesting that Helga and Big Bob bond while she’s gone.  Not only are her actions a clear sign of neglect, albeit one she tries to keep subtle, but Big Bob is a major detracting factor to his time with his daughter turning out good.  He expresses clear disdain towards spending quality time with her and treats it like a chore instead of something genuine.  In fact, in all his actions, there’s nothing genuine at all in his attempts to bond with Helga.  He purchases foods she either hates or can’t eat when grocery shopping, drags Helga along for his monotonous errands against her will, and when she complains that they’re just doing things he wants to do, he ropes her into activities she’s long grown out of.  Big Bob just goes through the motions of his life, thinking that he and Helga can bond just because she’s with him when he’s doing his things, showing no believable love for her in the slightest.  It’s mean and uncaring of him, but it makes the life Helga lives somewhat fascinating as it’s a fine example of how dysfunctional some families can be.  True, it’s common to see some dysfunction in most TV shows, but what Helga has to put up with goes beyond the usual standards given what we see of Big Bob here.  Also, we also see that while Big Bob truly is a bad parent, he’s not one-dimensional.  When Helga’s complaints of him failing at bonding don’t get to him, her lamenting to Phoebe of how she can’t see the one thing she wanted to see the most during her break does.  Big Bob actually shows regret for his daughter’s misery and takes it upon himself to get her tickets for the event.  In an interesting turn of events, the tickets he gets are for a stage musical advertised on the back of the ad of what Helga really wanted to see, a wrestling match.  Despite the mess-up, it finally gets Helga and Big Bob to bond while riffing on how stupid the musical is.  It’s both a hilarious and heartwarming way of showing that even the worst events in life have something good to them.  While Big Bob may turn some people off, the look at Helga’s less-than-ideal life and the charm of the ending bond are considerably worth watching. 9/10

The Ranking

1. Harold’s Kitty
2. Helga’s Love Potion
3. Monkey Business
4. Eugene’s Pet
5. Freeze Frame
6. Steely Phil
7. Gerald’s Secret
8. Save the Tree
9. Phoebe Cheats
10. Gerald Moves Out
11. New Teacher
12. Mudbowl
13. Quantity Time
14. Ms. Perfect
15. Big Caesar
16. Ransom
17. The Big Scoop
18. Best Friends
19. The High Life
20. Hooky
21. Arnold Saves Sid
22. Longest Monday

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Arnold enters an "Eating Contest," and we see an interesting take on one of the most famous civil rights acts in history in "Rhonda's Glasses."

If you would like to check out other Hey Arnold reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 6: Steven Universe Season 1 Episode 38

The Test

For much of this season, Steven has been a little too laid back about developing as a member of the Crystal Gems, hardly taking anything Gem-related seriously.  The great thing about this is that this portrayal ends up leading to him really maturing and taking things way more seriously than before as many of the current cartoons have shown.  Here, Steven’s role as a Gem become an especially big concern when he finds the statue that was supposed to restore the Lunar Sea Spire back in “Cheeseburger Backpack.”  The Crystal Gems indirectly say that the mission back then was a test to see if Steven was ready to regularly join them on missions.  Showing concern that the outcome of that previous mission meant he failed the test, Steven has them give him another test to really prove his worth.  The test itself that makes up most of the cartoon has a lot of interesting elements to it in the form of obstacles Steven runs into as he tries to escape a customized dungeon.  There’s a room with a boulder closing in on Steven with an added challenge of swinging over a gap, a room with floor tiles playing a tune that creates a staircase with a pendulum that swings as Steven climbs it, and a room with a magma floor under a bridge where fire shoots over the tiles.  There’s a lot of imagination in the test as well as intensity, at least in conception.  You see, Steven doesn’t just make his way through the test’s challenges.  He’s also conscious of the difficulty.  He actually investigates the obstacles closely and discovers that the Crystal Gems rigged everything to make him succeed no matter what he did.  This is a problematic moment that gives the impression that the Gems don’t have faith in Steven’s capabilities and that he can’t deal with serious missions, making it easy to sympathize with his frustration.  However, the reveal is followed up by Steven listening on the Crystal Gems conversing about how they know that Steven has advanced a lot as a Gem and just want him to be confident in himself.  This conversation actually adds a layer to the Gems’ relationship with Steven.  They really are aware of his growth and even if it is a cheap move to make the test way too easy for Steven, they have their genuine, understanding, and loving reasons for their actions.  Because of this, it’s great that Steven responds by getting through the whole test by simply walking through each obstacle, and when the Crystal Gems congratulate him, he responds with great enthusiasm about the “intensity” of what he encountered and that it was just what he needed.  It may not be completely true, but it’s heartwarming that he shows that they really do believe in him.  Certain characters’ actions may be questionable, but the heart of the present relationships and imaginative bits add appeal to this cartoon. 9/10

The Ranking

1. Ocean Gem
2. Lion 3: Straight to Video
3. Alone Together
4. Coach Steven
5. Mirror Gem
6. An Indirect Kiss
7. Space Race
8. So Many Birthdays
9. Steven the Sword Fighter
10. Lion 2: The Movie
11. Bubble Buddies
12. Monster Buddies
13. Laser Light Cannon
14. Giant Woman
15. Lars and the Cool Kids
16. The Test
17. Steven’s Lion
18. Watermelon Steven
19. Gem Glow
20. Steven and the Stevens
21. Warp Tour
22. Island Adventure
23. Rose’s Room
24. Cheeseburger Backpack
25. Secret Team
26. House Guest
27. Serious Steven
28. Joking Victim
29. Beach Party
30. Cat Fingers
31. Tiger Millionaire
32. Together Breakfast
33. Fusion Cuisine
34. Frybo
35. Onion Trade
36. Arcade Mania
37. Garnet’s Universe
38. Keep Beach City Weird

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where we're introduced to another one of Garnet's unique powers, "Future Vision."

If you would like to check out other reviews on this blog, click here for the guide to all the reviews posted so far.

'Toon Reviews 6: Steven Universe Season 1 Episode 27

House Guest

Newcomers to this show might be led to wonder why Greg doesn’t live with Steven even though he loves his son so much.  The answer for that mostly relates to how the Crystal Gems don’t want mere humans like him to get involved in potentially dangerous magic business.  This cartoon even shows that Greg wants to be with his son more than anything and, in a great bit of continuity from the last few cartoons, gets a chance to move in with Steven due to a broken leg from the stolen ocean incident.  Steven does attempt to heal Greg’s leg with his healing spit, but it apparently doesn’t work and that completely opens up the possibility for Greg to move in.  For a moment, we get a big display of family love that shows the great strength of Steven and Greg’s father-son relationship with many moments of them having fun together all set against a nice, upbeat song called “Dear Old Dad” which also works in this show’s talent for music.  It’s all you need to get a good understanding of Greg’s actions for the rest of the cartoon.  That said, it can still get overbearing with how Greg pines for his son’s attention.  He constantly calls him from important Gem-related missions for the most frivolous of things which prevents Steven from doing anything productive.  It’s an even bigger deal that Steven getting the idea that his healing spit didn’t work to heal his dad’s leg is preventing him from using it to mend a crack in a huge structure called a geode.  Then comes the big reveal that Greg was faking his injury the whole time, and hiding the fact that Steven’s healing spit did cure it.  It’s certainly concerning that someone like Greg would go too far with the wrong thing like this.  Surely he should’ve known that hiding important information like this would cause a lot of problems.  I will give him credit though that it was all for the sake of spending time with his son who he rarely gets to see.  Plus, Greg goes on to redeem himself by the end of the cartoon.  The geode gets way out of control, and even though he knows that his healing spit worked all along, Steven still doesn’t believe in them enough to patch it up, so they don’t work, and it’s a repercussion that doesn’t get resolved until much later in the series making for a believable angle in the situation by not resolving everything right away.  As for Greg, he ultimately saves the day by patching the geode with duct tape of all things, and later on, while he and his son part ways again, it’s still nice that things are all good between them.  While his actions of hiding the truth from his own son and messing up his powers bring the appeal down and the story is less entertaining than much of what we’ve gotten, the amount of family love here is enough to make it a good watch. 8/10

The Ranking

1. Ocean Gem
2. Coach Steven
3. Mirror Gem
4. An Indirect Kiss
5. So Many Birthdays
6. Steven the Sword Fighter
7. Lion 2: The Movie
8. Bubble Buddies
9. Monster Buddies
10. Laser Light Cannon
11. Giant Woman
12. Lars and the Cool Kids
13. Steven’s Lion
14. Gem Glow
15. Steven and the Stevens
16. Rose’s Room
17. Cheeseburger Backpack
18. House Guest
19. Serious Steven
20. Joking Victim
21. Beach Party
22. Cat Fingers
23. Tiger Millionaire
24. Together Breakfast
25. Frybo
26. Onion Trade
27. Arcade Mania
    

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode filled with a lot of development for Pearl in "Space Race."

If you would like to check out other reviews on this blog, click here for the guide to all the reviews posted so far.