Steven universe season 1 episode 1 youtube
The character-focused episodes don’t just imbue characters with their own arcs they also reflect the show’s bigger themes.
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When her insecurities manifest in more plot-relevant episodes, it doesn’t seem out of the blue. These downtime episodes reveal how at odds Amethyst feels with the rest of the Crystal Gems. When we learn about Amethyst’s insecurities and her life outside of the Crystal Gems, like in “Onion Friend,” which reveals her relationship with Onion’s mom Vidalia, she becomes more than the hedonistic, fun-loving big sister figure she started out as. But the explorations of quieter moments also lets the characters be more dynamic, transcending their original archetypes. The downtime is an essential part of understanding the characters enough that we can see what drives their responses to real conflict. Pearl’s flustered response to a hot girl, the argument between the characters when a cop comes after their car, and Amethyst’s musings on garage rock all bring new facets of the characters to life. The show had previously featured this trio on adventures together, but never on the way to a rock concert, or in pursuit of a crush. Pearl learns to let loose a little, as she chases after a mysterious pink-haired woman and strives to be more “hardcore.” Meanwhile, Amethyst and Steven play wingmen. “Last One Out of Beach City” follows Steven and his Gem friends Pearl and Amethyst on a night out. It’s not just the human characters, though the Gems’ internal dynamics and their relationship with Steven are also built up in the moments of respite between big crises. Lars and Sadie’s contentious relationship was explored previously, especially in “Lars and the Cool Kids,” but this episode homes in on the trio, particularly Lars and Sadie’s burgeoning romance. “Island Adventure,” for instance, sends Steven to a remote island with doughnut-shop employees Lars and Sadie. Taking a moment to pause from the universe-ending stakes also gives room for the characters’ relationships to grow. Casting a light on the other residents of Beach City is important to that message, particularly when episodes focus on the juxtaposition of Gem and human life. Steven Universe’s cast isn’t just made up of alien Gems - and deliberately so, since one of the series’ hallmarks is an emphasis on how beautiful and imperfect humanity is. Some episodes shed light on little-seen locals, like “Rising Tides, Crashing Skies,” a hilarious episode narrated by conspiracy theorist Ronaldo, in the style of the webcast he produces. Image: Cartoon NetworkĮpisodes like “Restaurant Wars,” which showcases two warring Beach City food-vendor families, “Sadie’s Song,” where the town puts on a talent show, and “Fusion Cuisine,” where the Gems fuse into a single massive entity to have dinner with Connie’s parents, all bring a sense of regular Beach City life. When we know what the characters have to lose - days at the beach, carnival fun times, breakfast together - the desire to see them protect it grows stronger. Ultimately, the more Rebecca Sugar and the Crewniverse reveal about the characters in situations where the world isn’t ending, the more the audience knows about them and then cares about them when the stakes are raised.
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They show a day-in-the-life view of an oddball world where “ordinary” for most people doesn’t look like ordinary for the audience. They flesh out characters and relationships. They don’t drastically alter characters or come with world-ending stakes, but they establish the show’s idea of normalcy and community.
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Virtually anything that focuses on the human citizens of Steven’s hometown, Beach City, instead of on his alien allies, the Crystal Gems, are added to the slush pile.īut the filler episodes give Steven Universe its soul. The list-makers consider episodes to be filler if they don’t contain big revelations, bring new powers to light, or introduce important characters. The disdain for the so-called filler episodes in Steven Universe is intense - compared to the greater storyline about a millennia-long alien war and the destruction of entire worlds, the episodes about lost kittens, or protagonist Steven Universe trying to complete a collectible-action-figure set, don’t rate particularly highly with fans.Ī brief glance at the show’s subreddit offers lists of essential installments, suggestions of which episodes to skip because they don’t drive the plot forward. In the Steven Universe fandom, episodes that don’t directly contribute to the primary overarching plot are dubbed “filler.” It’s a term lifted from anime fandom, attributed to non-essential episodes which may slow down a show’s pace.