Channel Awesome
Steven comes to grips with who he can trust and who he can’t after a giant alien attack.
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Hoo boy I have a lot to say on this one.
Yeah on the one hand it is kind of a tired trope like with Peter Parker pushing Mary Jane away to “protect” her. However I think it is kind of an understandable mindset and a deconstruction of this trope and I do like how they handled this and kept it to one episode. Firstly it starts with Steven telling his Dad about what happened, who has a completely justified panic attack after being told about it, so Steven starts worrying about how to tell Connie about it all. As pointed out in the song, up until recently Steven has been rather naive about just how dangerous Gems stuff is, and this whole ordeal with the Homeworld Gems and surrounded by the debris of the hand ship everywhere to remind him. Hammered in by “genre savvy” Ronaldo, brooding like he is freaking Batman. And tries to push Connie away to protect her.
And here is something I love about this, Connie just keeps after Steven, and even when he says he doesn’t want to see her anymore, she takes a stand and demands Steven to look her in the eye and tell her that, and Steven breaking down really not wanting that. And after telling Connie everything, he is supportive and says “I want to be part of your universe” which is just a beautiful line. Also liked Greg coming around at the end after cooling down, showing Steven is that they may worry or get scared but he has friends and family that love him.
Yeah it is a Trope that has been done, but I do like how they do this in the aftermath of everything that happened.
PS: Sooo glad you guys loved the Crocodile bit, that thing is amazing in the fact that it’s something that they have gone through before. XD
I completely agree with all of this. Everything you said is exactly what was going through my head as I saw both the SU episode and this Vlog
The reason why I think the “can’t tell the loved ones about dangerous stuff” trope is so resented in many works is that its a very immature and short-sighted way of handling that kind of situation. In most cases, the characters are adults, and they should be able to talk things through like such.
Here, though, I think its completely justified. Its an immature approach to things, but’s the point–Steven and Connie are still just 12 years old, and still are literally very immature. Of course that’s the first thing Steven is going to think of to protect his best friend. The fact that they get past it and do end up talking about it is a great bit of characterization, and deepened both of them as characters just a bit more in my eyes.
It just is kind of sad that Steven ended up showing more maturity after just 53 episodes than say Peter Parker showed in the first 30 years of his comics
Who knows? Maybe Cartoon Network will come in and try to undo Steven and Connie’s friendship by having Steven make a deal with the Devil.
I liked the episode, I don´t know, maybe it´s because Steven and Connie are my favorite characters… also I loved the song.
Yeah, I´m also tired of that cliche, but I felt that here it was right placed. Anyway, loved your opinion and yeah, Ronaldo is annoying as hell!
I see it less as one of those “protect her from the secret identity” and more like “oh snap this is actually a lot more dangerous than I initially realized, maybe letting my squishy human friend in on this dangerous adventuring isn’t the best idea”.
Which from a certain point of view is a completely legitimate concern! How _can_ Connie be here in this incredibly dangerous environment and still let the people in charge be called responsible role models? It’s not like the normal super hero either, where having a secret identity is important to protect loved ones from fellow Earthling baddies, the Homeworld Gems are completely alien, so if safety is the utmost priority then having Connie just straight up not be there is probably the safest place for her to be!
I always felt that this was more of a send up of the cliche. Especially with him standing in the high place, head down, ready to break her heart. And he is the one all broken over it.
Yeah, this would be a good episode, not great. If only for..
Jazz Hands!!
God, I get the giggles every….single….time I hear that. Feels like it might have been improved.
“You always SAY you’ll be the crocodile, but you never commit!”
This worked fairly well as a “winding down after a big event” episode. The song and the crocodile exchange were easily the best parts. And now Ronaldo has been responsible for nearly splitting up Steven and Connie, as if people didn’t already have enough reasons to dislike him.
They might have some issues with the Sardonyx Arc.
To me the scenes between Steven and Connie were just perfectly angsty. I also love Connie’s attitude. She did not let up until Steven told her the truth. I also noticed that Steven’s ringtone chord progression is very similar to the show’s opening theme, “We Are the Crystal Gems.”
My favorite thing about this episode was the song. It emphasizes just how far the show has come, while also showing that things are just beginning. A small background event I missed the first time, when Greg is driving them away at the end of the episode, you can see Ronaldo dragging away a piece of the ship. What that means or what will come of it, I’m excited to find out.
Also, the bit with Pearl closing the screen door on Connie was the most hilarious part. And Steven sneaking out via the window was straight out of Scott Pilgrim.
Any mention of AT vlogs?…. no…. ok…. 🙁
I will stump for their return along with you. Maybe once Gravity Falls vlogs are permanently retired… *sob*
To be fair to Pearl with the “I don’t understand your human relationship.”, that might’ve just been an excuse. She seemed pretty uncomfortable having to lie to Connie, so that might’ve been an easy out for her. So your comparison to ALF might be pretty accurate.
Also loved the crocodile bit, but I think Greg’s faces of horror at Steven’s account of what happened is the funniest part of this episode.
As for Ronaldo, I still find him pretty annoying, but the show seems to keep him mostly on the sidelines, so I can stomach him.
Killer aliens,
Death and ruin from the sky,
Don’t want that for you.
I’m slightly embarrassed to admit to how viscerally I reacted to this episode upon its initial airing. Connie is my favorite character on the show, and Steven and Connie’s relationship is one of my favorite elements, so any episode that would legitimately jeopardize either one is bound to set me off.
Having rewatched it a few times has warmed me to it, but I still have some issues with the execution, specifically the timing. Steven is concerned with how his alien adventures will endanger his human family and friends. The only problem being that neither Greg nor Connie were a part of the proceedings. Additionally, both characters were a part of the battle against Lapis – easily as paradigm-shattering as Jasper’s invasion – and involved both characters getting hurt: Greg’s leg broken and Connie nearly drowned by Lapis. Examining and deconstructing this plot line is well worth the effort, but doing so immediately after “Mirror Gem”/”Ocean Gem” might have sat better with me. Suffice to say that if you’re going to threaten one of my favorite relationships on the show with Ronaldo of all people, I’ll be scrutinizing the episode heavily.
While Ocean Gem was definitely a major paradigm shift, the events the finale were more drastic for a few reasons. Lapis, while being the first intelligent enemie they fought, was only misunderstood and Steven could reason with her. Homeworld is more dangerous than Lapis, what makes Steven freak out is the realization that greater threats are coming and he’s uncertain if they’ll be so lucky to stand up to them. Lapis also only took the beach away from Beach City, while the Homeworld Gems caused direct damage to the town while also splitting the toughest person he’s known, Garnet.
I liked this episode. I think the reason I like it is because we see this in a lot of cartoons and action heavy TV series and what we usually see id the main character takes the brooding option of because I care about X I must leave them or drive them away to protect them. Which usually gets on my nerves because it means one of two things. A they spend a lot of time with a hole will they wont they thing before they get back together which is way over done or the other option is they do the will they wont they thing then introduce a new character for the main character to fall for which annoys me because they both feel like a waist of time. But Steven did something I haven’t seen before and just divulged everything which was a good change of pace for me.
“You always say you’ll be the crocodile, but you never commit!”
I don’t think Pearl was being serious when she said she didn’t understand relationships. She was just making an excuse to stop talking to Connie.
I loved Greg’s reaction when Steven was telling him what happened. Parents always get way more freaked out about dangerous stuff than their kids do.
Yeah, the whole “not-telling-to-protect thing” is bullshit. Animes have this ALOT. And thats what this episode is about. That it’s bullshit and would cause more harm than it would help.
It also showed that Steven is pretty much incapable of being a brooding loner because he’s so social. When Amethyst says that Connie is at the door Steven immidiately goes from Wolverine/Batman back to his normal self hinting that this was just an act he put on to cope with things.
Ronaldos speech is actually very funny to me since it’s obvious that he just does that as an act aswell and as soon as he notices the ship he goes back to his conspiracy nut self. That’s like having an character do a big intellectual speech and then have them say “I like cookies”. That’s funny because it was an unexpected mood whiplash.
The ending is also nice because the rebuilding of Beach City conveys both Steven recovering from the events but also conveys that every damage can heal given enough time and effort. It conveys hope >>insert insult to Man of Steel here<<
E.T. doesn't stand for Entertainment Tonight but for Extra Testicle.
yea I didint get steven holding back the info to connie when its clear shes ok with it and doesint mind being in danger as long its with steven. The last part was pretty cute as well.
Actually I think Pearl doesn’t understand ‘Human’ Relationships, I actually believe she was being sincere. Maybe Gem relationships are similar but still very different from humans as they are sentient rocks and any comparison to physical biology and the relationship of biological organisms is dubious at best.
The plot has been done before, but here, it works 🙂
I’m surprised thar you didn’t mention the funny scene where Steven escapes while Connie is speaking to Pearl XD
This was an unnecessary episode cause Steven questioning himself but it was fine
Steven loves her
Ronaldo was not helpful but he is better then Lars
Put a best of the worst ringtones that way it would not be that bad
How often do you talk on the phone that you hate
Well, this episode almost pulled a New Moon. Also, I noticed that the end credit theme keeps changing. LOL.