Nightmare
Hospital
With this cartoon, the decision of Connie training to swordfight becomes a very big and meaningful one as she gets very involved with it
and tries to hide it from her rule-bearing mother, Dr. Maheswaran. We get a heartfelt story that swiftly makes
its way from light and happy to dark and threatening and expands on character bonds.
It’s known that Connie’s parents are very
strict with customs, so she keeps secrets from them, especially since what they find out
could prevent her from being with Steven, her only friend, but the matter soon becomes
too big to be kept secret. Steven gives
Connie his mother’s sword to practice with via the charm these friends are known
for. However, it gets confiscated when
Dr. Maheswaran finds it, who then lectures on the dangers of swords. Just from here, you get a believable reason
why Connie would be hesitant to tell her parents things if you needed to be
reminded. Dr. Maheswaren’s controlling
tone and dense mindset with little room for reason is overbearing which isn’t
particularly entertaining. This would be
marked as a problem if not for what happens later.
With a major artifact of Steven’s mother
taken away, Steven and Connie sneak into the hospital Dr. Maheswaran works at
to get it back, and from there, the nightmarish parts of the hospital build. It's very dark with dim halls
accompanied by an eerie music piece all throughout which suggests that
something horrifying will occur. This
belief is intensified when the kids enter the hospital room of the patients Dr.
Maheswaran was called in for. It turns
out the patients brought in were covered Gem mutants, and just as the ones from their first appearance did, they attack. The
scare factor intensifies when the mutants lead Steven and Connie out into the halls
into a corner with Dr. Maheswaran and only Steven’s bubble can protect them.
There’s a helpless tone with
nothing anyone can do to stop these creatures.
The only chance they have, no matter how much Connie insists that she
can handle the sword, is held back by her mom.
Things soon get so tense that Connie reveals that she doesn’t need
actual glasses anymore since Steven healed her sight and she popped the lenses
out. This is huge since her healed
eyesight was something we saw Connie cover up to preserve her friendship with
Steven before we even met her parents, selling itself as her biggest secret as
it tied into the possibility of their strictness. For Connie to be led to reveal this marks this
moment as a big example of a small moment working as a huge climax aided by her
effortlessly poofing the forced fusion with the sword while Dr. Maheswaran
stands speechless.
The darkness over,
out of this awesome moment, the cartoon reaches a heartwarming conclusion where
Dr. Maheswaran actually realizes how controlling she had been while trying to
be a good mother. It would’ve been easy
for her to stubbornly stick to her rule-bearing ways, but a more pleasing
direction is taken to show that despite her flaws she does have a heart. Likewise, as her mom agrees to keep an open
mind about Steven and everything associated with him, Connie agrees to be
truthful about her life. I always
believe that resolving a conflict with a compromise to satisfy both sides is
the best way to go, especially when it brings on a genuinely heartfelt finish
with a tender embrace between Connie and her mom which Steven watches while holding
a close tie to his own mom.
In all, the
cartoon amounts to an amazing work with a wide range of moments, strong
character development, and the best conclusion for the scenario. 10/10
The Ranking
- Sworn to the Sword
- Keystone Motel
- Friend Ship
- Nightmare Hospital
- Chille Tid
- Cry for Help
- Keeping it Together
- Full Disclosure
- We Need to Talk
- Reformed
- Historical Friction
- Joy Ride
- Say Uncle
- Onion Friend
- Rising Tides, Crashing Skies
- Love Letters
The next Steven Universe review covers the starting point of Sadie's singing career and where we first learn about her mother issues.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews we'll be covering a Hey Arnold review on "Grandpa's Birthday" and "Road Trip."
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