'Toon Reviews 6: Steven Universe Season 1 Episode 36

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

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

'Toon Reviews 6: Steven Universe Season 1 Episode 30

Island Adventure

Once again, we have a cartoon about Lars and Sadie’s troubled relationship.  Like in “Joking Victim,” we’re shown that they’re both constantly at odds with each other, yet still feel the need to be with each other which is especially problematic for Sadie.  Yes, Lars can do good things, but they hardly mean anything because he’s bad to her most of the time though this story does show a possible reason for Lars’ behavior.  Steven notices Lars and Sadie’s tension and decides to take them on a vacation to a magical island called Mask Island by working the warp pad all by himself for the first time.  Then the warp pad, their only way off the island, goes missing, and the three of them have to live with each other until help arrives.  Lars and Sadie actually seem to work well together while stuck on the island which includes them unlocking certain talents within them, mainly Sadie’s hunting strengths and Lars’ talent for cooking, which is especially relevant in the most recent seasons.  We even get more moments of bonding during a montage of their time on an island set to a song Steven plays that matches the beauty of the serene island, “Be Wherever You Are” which I could hum in any natural spot like an island.  Even so, Lars is constantly worrying about getting off the island and is frantic that he can’t get a phone signal for help making him vulnerable and sympathetic.  His fears lead to Sadie comforting him and he admits that he feels alone, even around people, which presents a reason for his jerkiness and it makes sense regarding his judgmental attitude around others in his previous roles.  The power of this moment is especially clear when it leads to him and Sadie making out.  It honestly feels that this relationship is worth getting behind after all.  Sadly, it becomes problematic again when an invisible Gem monster attacks the trio causing Sadie to reveal that she stranded them all on the island by hiding the warp pad.  She explains that she did it to help Lars get what he needed from the vacation, but there’s a lot of messed up implications with this reveal.  She kept innocent bystanders trapped on an island against their will and ignored Lars real desire to go home for her own selfishness and their kiss only made her bad moves work.  That’s a bad sign if a couple feels they need to change the other person involved instead of letting the good inside him/her grow in time.  At least the reveal leads to Sadie saving everyone by defeating the Gem monster with her new hunting skills, so I guess that makes her actions less bad than they could’ve been.  Still, even with the support of Lars and Sadie’s majorly unhealthy relationship, this is a nice little cartoon with good atmosphere, a moving song, and character-building moments. 9/10

The Ranking

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

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where we finally get a starring role for what many call their least-liked member in the cast.  If you want to guess who the character is, here's a hint: he's got a blog called "Keep Beach City Weird."

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 28

Space Race

Of all the Crystal Gems, most fans would agree that Pearl is the most complex.  Amidst her overly neat, rule-bearing, crazy-devoted demeanor are emotional reasons for how she is.  One of these reasons is revealed here when she starts to miss exploring space back when she served the Gem planet, Homeworld, as the team finds teleporters called warp pads that allow galaxy travel inactive.  This saddens Pearl because it’s a reminder that because she and the rest of the Crystal Gems chose to protect Earth during a rebellion 1000s of years ago, they can never use the warp pads to explore space.  This information right here shows Pearl’s complexity.  She knows it’s her job to protect Earth and follows through with that, but she still thinks of what she did when serving her old home, making her one of the most relatable characters in the cast.  Now, Steven notices Pearl’s longing to go to space and decides to build a spaceship for her with the help of his dad and piles of mechanical parts stored at a barn that would go on to become a major location in later seasons.  Their early attempts at building the spaceship are fun to watch and are full of nice family love with Greg providing meaningful advice, this time that there’s no shame in bailing when you feel you have to.  When Pearl finds out about the plan, she takes charge with a highly technical mindset set on building an actual spaceship.  The humor of this portion of the cartoon comes from her going about the plan like this while Greg thinks they’re just building a ship for fun showcasing how Gems like Pearl don’t fully understand what’s right for humans and how the others don’t get what she’s going for.  Thankfully, Greg does get that Pearl’s thinking seriously about the spaceship, and does a very responsible thing of grounding Steven to Earth to protect his son.  This is when we see the more dramatic side of Pearl’s character.  Her drive to see space again is so strong that she goes ahead with actually building the ship anyway, bringing Steven along with her.  This results in a crazy climax when the ship takes off as Greg frantically begs Pearl to bring Steven back, she ignores him, and propels the ship into space as it starts falling apart.  The moment gets more intense as the ship falls apart more, and it leads to a strong moment of heart when Steven remembers his dad’s advice and begs Pearl to bail out of the ship even if she does miss space.  Then, as they float down from the exploding ship, the cartoon ends with a moment of sweetness as Pearl regrets almost getting herself and Steven killed and through her love for him, decides that staying on Earth is the best way to go.  Pearl’s role here is very impactful and insightful to her character, and with the well-done intensity, comedy, and sweetness, this is one of this season’s absolute best. 10/10

The Ranking

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

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Steven tries to bring Pearl and Amethyst closer together by forming "Secret Team."

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