Warp Tour
The main conflict of the series really kicked in once we
learned that there are more Gems out there, and this cartoon brings in more
depth to the reveal, but how long it takes for everyone to figure it out can
get pretty frustrating. The plot has
Steven notice something strange in the warp stream, and it’s presented in a
manner that’s very convincing to the audience.
However, none of the Gems see what he saw and are convinced that he just
imagined seeing something. They claim
that only they use the warp stream, and no one else has ever used it for 1000s
of years, and that’s a believable reason for thinking the way they do. At the same time, they really come off as
dense and don’t realize that anything can happen. This is especially apparent when Steven
becomes more paranoid about what he saw, and the Crystal Gems stubbornly hold
onto their beliefs that he saw wrong. It
is admittedly nice of them to allow Steven to use the warp stream to check all
areas for something strange which does give us returns of past locations, but their
reluctance is still clear. The worst part of
this comes in when they reach a set of warp pads Gems used to travel space with
called the Galaxy Warp. When nothing strange is there, Pearl blows up at Steven
for sticking to his claims, and while the fight is broken up, the other Gems
side with Pearl and brush Steven’s feelings off. It’s like they don’t think he’s worth taking
seriously even though he’s a member of the team who needs to grow to help make
a difference. Their brushing his genuine
fear feels like they think he’s not important to the team and will never be
important, and that’s just not right.
Eventually, it’s revealed that Steven really did see something in the
warp stream after all in the form of a small robonoid which he nearly gets
himself frozen to death over. The Gems
realize this too, though it’s concerning that apart from Garnet saying she
should’ve listened to Steven, no one really apologizes for their behavior. For how much I harp on the Crystal Gems,
everything leads to a major game-changing reveal at the end. After following a bunch of robonoids to the
Galaxy Warp, we meet another new Gem, Peridot.
Her studying the Galaxy Warp, crushing a defective robonoid, and
deactivating them as she leaves brings in an ominous and mysterious tone of
what she’s really like, connecting greatly to the Crystal Gems’ fear that
Homeworld Gems are coming back to invade Earth.
As for Peridot herself, while this cartoon doesn’t show much of what
she’s like, future cartoons going all the way to the following season go on to
make her my favorite character on the show.
On the whole, if you can get past one of the Crystal Gems’ most problematic
portrayals, this is a very solid cartoon to build up tensions of what’s to
come. 9/10
The Ranking
- Ocean Gem
- Lion 3: Straight to Video
- Coach Steven
- Mirror Gem
- An Indirect Kiss
- Space Race
- So Many Birthdays
- Steven the Sword Fighter
- Lion 2: The Movie
- Bubble Buddies
- Monster Buddies
- Laser Light Cannon
- Giant Woman
- Lars and the Cool Kids
- Steven’s Lion
- Watermelon Steven
- Gem Glow
- Steven and the Stevens
- Warp Tour
- Island Adventure
- Rose’s Room
- Cheeseburger Backpack
- Secret Team
- House Guest
- Serious Steven
- Joking Victim
- Beach Party
- Cat Fingers
- Tiger Millionaire
- Together Breakfast
- Fusion Cuisine
- Frybo
- Onion Trade
- Arcade Mania
- Garnet’s Universe
- Keep Beach City Weird
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode featuring Steven's first fusion in, "Alone Together."
If you would like to check out other reviews on this blog, click here for the guide to all the reviews posted so far.
