'Toon Reviews 15: Steven Universe Season 2 Episode 11: Cry for Help

Cry for Help

With this show developing more of a plot, story arcs are now more apparent.  It’s a strong exercise of continuity and offers a believable direction in taking time to solve issues.  This cartoon begins one of the most significant story arcs in an dramatic and striking manner. 

The search for Peridot thickens when she uses the Gem communication hub, first seen in “Coach Steven,” to affect TV signals to get Homeworld to help her off Earth.  The Crystal Gems proceed to preempt her preemptions by tearing down the hub which they need a fusion to do.  The ideal choice would be Garnet and Amethyst as Sugilite, but since her previous appearance proved she's too unstable to restrain herself, it’s decided that Garnet should fuse with Pearl instead. 

This decision introduces us to one of the best fusions, Sardonyx.  Utilizing Garnet’s collected strength and Pearl’s elegance and flare for emotion, Sardonyx brings a specialized approach to everything she does.  She opens and closes the job as if she’s doing a lavish stage performance, and goes through the destruction with a positive showy attitude, clearly having a blast with this serious mission.  In all, Sardonyx absolutely shines as a fusion for her style, class, and all around entertainment that works towards the greater good. 

She’s so impressive that you can easily buy into her praise as well as Amethyst feeling inferior to her.  Speaking of Amethyst, even more sympathy is directed towards her when the hub is mysteriously activated again, and Sardonyx is quickly chosen for an encore performance.  The reason for the sympathy is because Amethyst is not saddened about the neglect because she’s jealous.  She thinks about her mistakes that seemingly caused it.  Given that she’s not very mature, you’d expect her to blame someone else for not the issue, but that’s not the case, and she starts to think that Garnet is better off fusing with Pearl. 

Steven, being so caring, helps Amethyst prove her worth with a stakeout at the hub to catch Peridot before she reactivates it.  That’s when a major twist comes in when they catch Pearl rebuilding the hub.  If that’s not enough, when the hub effects the TV signals again, Pearl is the quickest to claim this as Peridot's doing while Garnet is unable to sense finding her with her future vision.  The pieces soon fall together that Pearl was fixing the hub to have a reason to fuse for her own gain.  It’s certainly a major low for Pearl, but it does show how real and human these characters are.  No matter how moral we are, we can’t always avoid sin, and this moment expands on that idea with the truth let out that Pearl committed a major sin. 

The moment she’s pushed to confess to Garnet is a highly suspenseful climax.  Garnet unleashes her most fury to date at Pearl who tries to explain her actions, and since they did a lot of wrong, it’s a fitting outcome.  Amethyst even shows some compassion by pointing out a possible reason for what Pearl did which is commendable even if Garnet won’t have it.  That’s why when she finally does fuse with Garnet to destroy the hub for good, she’s appropriately too shocked to find this rewarding.  The cartoon ends with Garnet too mad at Pearl to even talk to her as a clever tie to one of Steven’s favorite programs, Crying Breakfast Friends, shows that conflicts like this one need time to fix themselves, unlike in most fiction works where they’re resolved in the end of one episode. 

This relatable and mature instance, among its other strengths, portray this as a great and moving start to a long conflict to shake up the dynamic of our main protagonists. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Sworn to the Sword
2. Chille Tid
3. Cry for Help
4. Keeping it Together
5. Full Disclosure
6. We Need to Talk
7. Reformed
8. Joy Ride
9. Say Uncle
10. Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
11. Love Letters

The next Steven Universe review covers the first look into how each of the Crystal Gems get through the aftermath of the Sardonyx Scandal, starting with Garnet who in the process gives a unique look at how different sides of ourselves are often at a conflict.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a look at Hey Arnold Season 3 Episode 11 with "Phoebe Takes the Fall" and "The Pig War."

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'Toon Reviews 4: The Loud House Season 1 Episode 15

Cover Girls

 

 

 

Now here’s another cartoon that demonstrates how much the Loud siblings care for each other and are always willing to help.  You can see it right at the beginning which is an awesome action-packed sequence of the girls distracting Mom and Dad as Lincoln rushes to get home so no one realizes he missed his curfew.  Their care and love continues on well into the rest of the cartoon where Lincoln returns his sisters’ favor by covering for them on spring cleaning day while they go out to do other things.  You may think that the cartoon will feature Lincoln unfairly suffering by being the only one to keep up the charade while everyone else takes advantage of him, but the cartoon wisely goes in the direction that requires all the siblings to play their part.  Their grandpa, who they call Pop-Pop (just like what my family used to call our grandpa), calls them on video chat which prompts Lincoln to cover as his sisters as best he can so no one notices that they’re not home.  As more of the sisters come home, they start posing as other siblings too, and the cartoon results in one hilarious collection of different Loud siblings posing as other siblings.  There’s a lot of passion thrown into the acting that allows the characters to successfully emulate the different characters they’re imitating, but still remaining true to themselves.  Some of my favorite interpretations include Lana as Leni, Lynn as Lisa, and Lori as Lincoln.  Leni and Luan even put on a great homage to the Marx Brothers at one point.  Then, we get an ending where the kids get caught deceiving everyone by their parents who then proceed to punish them by having them go out and do what they wanted to do while dressed in their disguises, resulting in all of them getting into embarrassing situations.  This ending does have a bit of a downer tone that honestly unfairly sours things for the kids.  I mean, was their act of deception really THAT bad?  Honestly though, despite this being a bit of an issue with the cartoon, the ending is still tolerable since I’m still able to get a good laugh out of at least a few of the scenes of the kids being forced to do what they planned on doing in their disguises.  Also, it doesn’t change the fact that we still see the great factors of the bonds of the Loud siblings.  With that in place, I personally call this cartoon a good watch. 8/10

 Save the Date

The end of the cartoon, “Heavy Meddle,” suggested that the girl bullying Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, actually really likes Lincoln signaling the start of them potentially growing as friends.  This cartoon here shows that happening.  Although to get there, we start off with Lincoln being bullied by her again, this time with the kids at school teasing him about how this may mean she likes him.  Personally, I don't get why having a lover would be a reason for bullies to tease.  Finding love is seen as a great thing.  Why would bullies think otherwise?  Anyway, when Lincoln tensely rejects that, he accidentally hurts her feelings.  Following a hilarious over-the-top display of the trope of an average teenage girl reacting to a break-up from Lori whom Bobby broke up with on account that her brother, Lincoln, hurt his sister, Ronnie Anne, Lincoln finds himself roped into a double date with Lori, Bobby, and Ronnie Anne. This is part of an attempt for him to make things right with Ronnie Anne so Lori will get back with Bobby.  This is where we start to see some natural progression of Lincoln and Ronnie Anne warming up to each other.  At first, they’re not too pleased to see each other, but as Lori and Bobby start flirting with each other, clearly showing that they do not want to be broken up, the younger siblings find a common interest as they comment on the cheesy flirting.  The more they talk about this, the more Lincoln and Ronnie Anne start to like being together, ultimately going on to apologize for being such pains to each other.  This is a newly formed respect for each other that was a result of believable events, in this case, enjoying something similar, and is ultimately one worth getting behind especially since the other character pairing of Lori and Bobby, seems to be a very basic relationship established on flirting over each other, though its over-the-top tone and the clear care they have for each other make it enjoyable.  Because Lincoln and Ronnie Anne’s relationship is so appealing, it’s a bit frustrating when Lincoln goes on to hide that he’s starting to like her as the kids from school arrive at the very restaurant he’s at.  Is there seriously no reason why he can’t just tell Ronnie Anne that he doesn’t want them to tease him for liking her?  Anyway, this whole shtick ends up causing Lincoln to hurt Ronnie Anne again which seems like a sad end for what could’ve been a great relationship.  However, the cartoon remembers what greatness it set up by having Lincoln follow Lori’s earlier advice of how actions speak louder than words. Lincoln shows Ronnie Anne how he really feels about her by kissing her.  I can certainly see them as a couple, but the show is obviously pushing for Lori and Bobby to get together, so if Lori and Bobby do become a couple, wouldn’t it be awkward for Lori’s brother to end up with Bobby’s sister?  Well, I guess that’s a topic to be addressed in later seasons.  For this cartoon, we get a satisfying end that has Lincoln and Ronnie Anne remain friends and Lincoln avoid being teased for it, which is good because this cartoon really succeeded in building them up as a charming pair.  For that, I can proudly say that it left me wanting more. 9/10

The Ranking

1.      For Bros About to Rock

2.      Undie Pressure

3.      Project Loud House

4.      Space Invader

5.      Driving Miss Hazy

6.      Left in the Dark

7.      Toads and Tiaras

8.      Picture Perfect

9.      Save the Date

10.  Sleuth or Consequences

11.  Hand-Me-Downer

12.  No Guts No Glori

13.  Changing the Baby

14.  Along Came A Sister

15.  Sound of Silence

16.  Butterfly Effect

17.  A Tale of Two Tables

18.  Cover Girls

19.  It’s A Loud, Loud, Loud, Loud House

20.  Overnight Success

21.  In Tents Debate

22.  Linc or Swim

23.  The Sweet Spot

24.  Heavy Meddle

25.  Get the Message

26.  Ties that Bind

27.  Making the Case

28.  Chore and Peace

29.  Two Boys and a Baby

30.  The Green House

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where we really get to know Clyde's dads in "Attention Deficit" and witness one of Lincoln's worst displays of family love as he goes "Out on a Limo."