Channel Awesome
Ooh, an entire episode dedicated to Ronaldo…Doug and Rob must be SO excited.
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I always felt that the ending of this episode justified his existence.
Ronaldo is really annoying, but LOOOVED Garnet in this episode!
yeah this was the worst episode of the series so far, and I don’t even hate Ronaldo
“Hey, you can’t keep quiet forever!”
I think we all knew how they’d feel about this one. This is probably my least favorite episode in the entire series. I don’t hate Ronaldo, but he can get really annoying when entire episodes are focused on him.
So, 10 minutes of Ronaldo hate, right? I’ll just go ahead and skip this one.
Out of the two characters I know you guys dislike Ronaldo I think is the most annoying and probably will never be likable, as opposed to Lars who I am neutral too because I think he can be redeemed and to me he has become close to likable. I also knew people like him in high school not bad people but do stupid things during the awkward years of life trying to be liked but they eventually get their head on straight and can become a good person. Also I didn’t get what Doug was saying at the end did he try to say that M.R.A.s aren’t real because that is not true. Granted I know he was talking about some video he made to troll so maybe it is a good thing I don’t know the context.
Well, I doubt Renaldo will permanently disappear, since he runs the SU tumblr page, but at least the Walkers seem to have made an uneasy peace with him. I also find it interesting how much he is right about (albeit unintentionally/coincidentally), but at the same time I suspect his mishandled introduction shattered any chances he had at being redeemed in the eyes of many. Personally, I’m pretty neutral on him, although I did laugh at a few of his jokes, but I can understand the hatred he inspires in some (although it does seem a little like the Walkers’ loathing has been worn down into a lightly seething rage by time…) so it doesn’t bother me much.
That said, while it’s by no means a great episode, I actually like this episode the most of the Renaldo episodes. Why? Three reasons:
1. I’m a huge fan of mockumentories. I think it’s a lot easier for me to like a mockumentory than any other sort of video. NOT found footage, incidentally, just mockumentories. So, that’s a bunch of brownie points right there.
2. The thing that has always annoyed me the most about Renaldo is that, despite running a blog called “Keep Beach City Weird”, he is constantly trying to get rid of the Crystal Gems, and thus make the city normal. This episode FINALLY addressed the elephant in the room (please don’t sue me, NC, for referencing your character), and, in doing so, either made Renaldo evolve as character or ended his ark (it depends on whether they make anymore Renaldo episodes). That said, if they forget about the realizations he reach in this episode in the next one, I’m burning every print of this episode in existence.
3. The interviews. With the show becoming more tightly focused in terms of character, a lot of the Beach City residents seem to have fallen to the wayside. This episode was an absolutely brilliant way of looking at their views of the Crystal Gems post-invasion, which kept them in the story without it being intrusive.
So, yeah, I actually liked this episode a fair amount, because of that, and also for its skewering of the hater/conspiracist culture that the Walkers mentioned. I understand that many disagree, but I’ve also met plenty who share my opinion, and, like the Walkers and Renaldo, I believe we can coexist peacefully. Or perhaps feed off the hate we generate towards each other; that works too.
Am i the only one who’s puzzled by the “i dislike that character so i dislike everything involving him” attitude?
Yes, Renaldo is kind of annoying but them going on 10 min rants any time he appears is kind of infantile
Does meeting someone you dislike in RL also ruin your whole day?
Must be a middle class, 1st world kind of thing
No it isn’t. They are talking about the episode itself, not just him as a character. They talked even longer about episodes they love, why should talking this long about episodes they hate be any different?
There was one thing about this episode that kind of stood out to me when I first watched it. Ronaldo really has 0 views on his web show? I mean, I get it…the joke is it’s so pathetic that absolutely no one else cares about it, but…come to think of it, he has actual footage of gem monsters, alien invasions, and superheroing on it. You would think at least one person would watch it and be interested in that. Kind of weird that absolutely no one else noticed it…
Kind of like it’s weird absolutely no one else except Beach City residents seemed to react to Lapis making Earth’s oceans into a pillar…
Or like it’s weird no human has ever seemed to pick up on the other Gem structures like the Kindergarten in spite of being so large…
Almost like there’s no other humans out there to react to these things. (Looks to map in “It Could Have Been Great”…)
…Something to think about.
It’s the mayor. He’s got a fool-proof cover story for each and every otherwise inexplicable event.
Two words: Weather. Balloon. Works every time.
Also, more seriously, while it’s almost certain that the Homeworld Gems’ colonization effort left an indelible mark on this oft mistreated blue marble we call home, the fact that there is a currency (albeit one we are unfamiliar with) and apparently locals outside of Beach City (Keystone State, the Old Country from whence Beach City’s founders departed, etc.) suggests that there are other humans besides those in Beach City. Perhaps the Gem ruins are in places that are inaccessible by most humans. Or perhaps they’ve been cordoned off by the government to some extent. Or maybe they’ve already been picked over by human salvagers, and what we see is nothing but the abandoned, skeletal leftovers. As for the many strange events of the series (ocean disappearing, etc.), if one assumes, as the show often implies, that the Crystal Gems are not widely known, then perhaps they’re viewed as inexplicable natural phenomena. After all, we never really get an outsider’s view on these occurrences, and it’s entirely possible they’re being heavily debated in the scientific community.
Of course, if there actually IS a government cover-up, it could explain why Renaldo’s video has so few hits (another indicator that there’s probably other humans: the internet exists). But, even if there isn’t a conspiracy, one could assume the Gems are such ancestral, legendary entities (as suggested by the diamond on the back of the currency unit) that suggesting they’re responsible for the ocean’s disappearance would be regarded like saying Ra causes global warming; not that many people are gonna be able to take it seriously enough to even hear you through, and those who do will either probably think you’ve faked everything, or are in the know and don’t care anymore.
It’s helpful to remember that all this Gem stuff predates even the first known human civilizations. These sites/artifacts have always been here, and the Gems have lived in Beach City longer than the US government has existed. I get the feeling it’s less of a massive conspiracy situation and more of a live-and-let-live scenario.
There are humans outside of Beach City. Connie lives a town over, her Dad workd as security guard for several different beaches, Dogcopter movies are a still running franchise, the final book of Unfamiliar Familiar was published rather recently, according to the Keep Beach City Weird Tumblr blog (wich is canon) Ronaldo often visits a Anime convention relatively far away from Beach City, his favorite Anime is still being produced (so Japan has people on it), there is Little Butler and Camp Pining Hearts wich seem to be older shows but someone had to produce them and CPH is clearly a Canadian production, Pearl mentions that several people and a monkey have been to space already meaning that the NASA or an equivalent must exist, Jamie went ot Kansas to become an actor, the murder bear movie they watch has a remake (with CG bear) wich indicates that there is a huge movie industry, Beach City is rather small so most people we see in bigger crowds like at the Beach-A-Palooza in Sadies Song must’ve come from other places etc.
Also, I think the creators said that people in the show know that there is magic going on but they aren’t interested in checking it out further.
To be perfectly honest I’m more confused that there doesn’t seem to be any police around. In Onion Trade we heard sirens but that could’ve been a fire truck. Also, I’ve never seen any East-Asians (you know Chinese, Mongolians, Koreans etc) in the background. Connie is South-Asian but that’s about it.
Yeah, I figured this was coming. Good news is things start picking up again after this one, with a lot of episodes focusing back on the main characters, backstory, and plot and only a couple of filler episodes in the interim.
The only time I didn’t like Ronaldo is when he tried to kill Steven’s melon creation. Besides that, I dislike Lars more than Ronaldo. You’d have to do something truly despicable in order for me to stop watching NC episodes. I’ve been watching them since high school and even if you offend me, I just comment on it and go on with my life. LOL. Also, follow up comment to come since I haven’t seen this episode.
You have to remember that when this episode came out, everyone was super hyped about Malachite showing up and they could see in the episode list that this was an episode called “Rising Tides, Crashing Skies” and the description said “Ronaldo investigates mysterious events around Beach City”. So I imagine this probably was mostly just a way to troll people and be like “Oh, you thought this was going to be a plot-centered episode revealing something about the gems or something about Malachite? THINK AGAIN!!!” Lol!
Thankfully there haven’t been any more Ronaldo episodes so far. Actually, this whole season has been a lot less filler-y, which is a good direction for a second season to go, I suppose.
Yea.. I DO like the direction season 2 is going.. but I also kind of miss Beach City lately.. Don’t forget about those guys!
Go away, Ronaldo.
There is no poem this time.
Get off my TV.
Definitely wasn’t a fan of this one, though I still dislike “Keep Beach City Weird” more. I think the thing that rankles me the most about Ronaldo is that he’s the one character we’re meant to hate among an entire cast of mostly likable or at least sympathetic characters. It makes him stand out in the worst way and draws the same amount of hatred to him that would normally be spread more evenly across a cast. If he is an intentional troll character that’s one thing, but if not then the writers don’t really have the talent for making enjoyably hateable characters. This may be a personal hang-up, but I really hate the way he treats Steven in particular. His first focus episode featured him Jack Bauer’ing Steven with a potato, and both this episode and “Full Disclosure” showed him attempting to separate Steven from a supporting cast that loves and respects him. It’s a testament to how much the writers make me care about these characters that when I see another character mistreating them, it immediately raises my ire.
Ronaldo aside, most of the jokes in this episode just didn’t land for me. The physical comedy was somewhat predictable, and I’ve seen these mockumentary jokes done a lot better in other sources. The fight with the cyclops crab felt somewhat stiff and static, not up to the show’s usual standards. The one joke that did land for me was when Steven offered Ronaldo a glass of lemonade along with the interview, and Ronaldo changed his subtitle to “Gracious Host”. Otherwise, just an episode I feel no reason to ever revisit.
Wow… this struck me as really sulky.
Yeah, the character is not likable but in the world of fiction, not every character has to be. Sometimes, what matters is what they contribute to the plot or the world in which it takes place and for this, Ronaldo fills a very important role. Beach City i a truly wonderful place where almost everyone is tolerant and accepting but the show still takes place on our Earth (a version of it anyway) and we need to remember that there are bad people. I love the show’s direction in promoting love and understanding, not by opposing the opposing the bad stuff all the time (and thereby giving it exposition) but showing and Earth that is mostly good. Sometimes we need a Ronaldo or his ilk to just remind us that, yea, these people exist. I do think he is somewhat relatable and I am curious why so many people are resisting that aspect of him – possibly it because in Ronaldo we can see and recognize elements of our own personalities that we are ashamed of.. it would explain the disproportionate hatred towards him because yes, he is annoying but this amount of hate IS disproportionate.
I agree that a character like this needs to be used in small doses but.. he IS used in small doses! He isn’t in many episodes at all.
And also remember, this is a show that very strongly brings up characters with negative traits, then lets them develop and reveal sides to themselves that at least to a degree, redeems them (some more than others).
So no, I would not want have a beer with Ronaldo (and not only because I don’t like beer) but I do think that he brings something to the show that on the whole, makes i better.
Here’s a little something about me: when I went to… what I think would be something like a community college by American standarts (I honestly have no idea, I left it with a certificate that allows me to study stuff and an complete education as an office clerk) I shared class with a conspiracy nut. He was genuinly insane and the very last time I saw him he appearently was heavily on drugs. He was constantly spouting all the things you usually hear from conspiracy nuts: Jews control everything, mind control aliens etc. So believe me when I say that Ronaldo Fryman is much more likeable than you give him credit for.
Also, this episode is pretty nice because it not only parodies these kind of homemade documentaries but it also gives us some more insight into how the people of Beach City think about the Gems. And Ronaldo doesn’t hate the Gems. He only wants to feel important wich is why he’s doing this documentary to begin with. In fact, none of the characters in the show seems to actually hate them. Every other show would have them in constant conflict with the residents but the only time we see that is in Beach Party where Garnet crashes into the pizza place sign.
Creators making fun of their haters in their work is actually rather common. A more infamous example would be Superboy Prime who at one point became a basement dwelling looser who complained online over the low quality of DC comics. I said it’s infamous not that it was a mature decision by the writers. I actually think this stuff dates back centuries. Pretty sure there are old novels where they already made fun of the people they hate.
Also:
Mayor Dewey
Mayor Dewey
Mayor Dewey
I agree 🙂
Okay. I have to ask. Doug – Rob. Have you not yet realised that Ronaldo, is how the creator’s talk to the audience. Not only does “Keep Beach Cirty Wierd” – the blog actually exist in real life. And not only do the creators leek stuff to their audiences via this
BUT
Every thing Ronaldo has talked about is true. Alien Parasites, Diamond Authorities, the fact that Everything Weird in beach city is the fault of the Gems, the plan that the gems have to Hollow Out The Earth and turn it into a Gem Colony! Everything he talks about is actually SPOILERS!!!!!
Saying that I personally don’t like him either. But I always listen when he talks!
I liked this episode.
I guess I’ll just be over here.
Shrugging my shoulders as hard as I can.
The next episode are so much better
There is a real blog by him
There is a video of Steven unpacking made by the creators
I like actually him more then Lars
i don’t hate ronaldo, but i don’t like him either. he just sort of exists to me.
Still with the Ronaldo hate.
Fine, like what you like. I think he’s great.
But I also like Neil Breen movies so…
You know. I do like to think Ronaldo episodes are a way to troll the fanbase. Especially considering the name of this episode made everybody think it was going to be some epic huge plot important episode.
Since unlike you I don’t hate Ronaldo I thought this episode was just oke. I am rather disappointed they wasted a genuinely good premise on this. As I do like the idea of humans wanting the gems to leave since their presence is technically causing all of the misfortune and destruction that constantly befalls beach city. Hopefully it’s something the show explore more seriously in a future episode.
Ronaldo leaves me longing for quiet dignity of Dib Membrane.
YES. Dib is Ronaldo done right
I like the recurring Steven is pregnant joke. Also, I don’t mind Ronaldo like I’ve said before. It’s Lars I can’t stand. -_-