Steven Universe: Too Far
October 15, 2015 5:29 PM - Season 2, Episode 24 - Subscribe

Work on the drill continues apace, but Peridot's Homeworld sensibilities cause a culture clash with the Crystal Gems.
posted by Small Dollar (18 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Thoughts:
- Did Peridot really bang her fists together as a gesture indicating Garnet? WHAT EXACTLY ARE THEY TRYING TO SAY ON THIS CHILDRENS TV SHOW?
- Peridot trying to impress Sempai Amethyst is adorable.
- Garnet accepts no guff about her nature. I kinda sympathize with Peridot, though, I imagine it would be awkward being around two beings being so... constantly intimate.
- Amethyst was born late and stunted, but still has the fighting power of a full grown Quartz. I'd like to see a Jasper/Quartz fight.
- "It was only a drill" Oh, Steven, your pun game is strong.
- Amethyst is a Quartz, like Jasper and Rose. So Quartzes are a warrior caste in Gem society, clearly above Peridot, based on Jasper's treatment of her and her treatment of Amethyst. So if we integrate that with the "Rose is Pink Diamond" theory does that mean Rose was the Quartz representative on the Diamond Authority? Probably not, because Jasper and Peridot both have yellow diamond imagery on their uniforms. So is Rose really a Quartz, is it possible for a Quartz to be more than a warrior?
- Peridot seems to sign off her log at the end. Is this an indication, along with the apology, that she's coming closer to operating freely with the Crystal Gems.
- it's fair to assume Lapis and Jasper would both have the same view of fusion as Peridot, so it's interesting that Malachite is still a fusion meant for fighting, but actually Lapis vs Jasper rather than Malachite vs Crystal Gems.
- Is this really the last new Steven for the rest of the year? What? Why?
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:27 PM on October 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


Amethyst was born late and stunted, but still has the fighting power of a full grown Quartz.

In the first episode at the Kindergarten, Pearl says to Amethyst, "You know you can't beat me!" and both of them seem to agree on this. So, does this mean Pearl is overpowered or Amethyst is underpowered? Or maybe Peridot was just impressed by the whip.
posted by glass origami robot at 7:34 PM on October 15, 2015


This episode raised more questions than it answered...
posted by ocherdraco at 7:57 PM on October 15, 2015


I believe The only reason Pearl has an edge on Amethyst is because they both buy in on it. Pearl also managed to defeat Sugilite, because Pearl has spent millennia honing her fighting skill. Amethyst beats her in raw power, but lacks the discipline to use it effectively.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:36 PM on October 15, 2015 [8 favorites]


after this episode I'm surprised I haven't seen fan artists take it all the way yet, by which I mean Amethyst and Peridot perma-fusion joining the team
posted by glass origami robot at 8:41 PM on October 15, 2015


So, does this mean Pearl is overpowered or Amethyst is underpowered?

Pearl's a lot more clever than Amethyst, (owing probably to a lot more practice, battlefield experience and so on). It seems unlikely that Amethyst could've pulled a reversal like the one Pearl did to Sugilite.

I don't think Pearl has any kind of edge in terms of raw power though - when they were just slugging it out without any finesse or strategy, it seemed like they were pretty evenly matched. If anything, Amethyst seems more resilient - in Reformed, she could reconstitute a body in almost no time when she was mad enough. (I'm not sure that would've even gone badly if she hadn't overreacted to what Garnet was telling her.) She's crazy scrappy.
posted by mordax at 10:24 PM on October 15, 2015


I've been considering for a while that, in a one-on-one situation, Pearl may actually be the best fighter of the Crystal Gems. She defers to Garnet because of future vision and her general wisdom, but the certainty with which she said you know you can't beat me in On The Run implies past history in settling the issue. (Amethyst overpowers her there true, but Pearl wasn't trying to hurt her either.) Word is that the "Guide To The Crystal Gems" book has Garnet call Pearl a "force on the battlefield." If she regularly took on gems much bigger than herself (like fusions), then even if she sometimes got poofed (as implied in Sworn To The Sword) she could still have been a greatly effective combatant. She's likely hugely experienced in battle tactics by this point. Maybe she wasn't playing fair when she took out Sugilite, but then, in battle, fair doesn't matter.
posted by JHarris at 11:53 PM on October 15, 2015 [3 favorites]


Peridot said that quartzes are warriors. Are all quartzes warriors on homeworld now, or were there different roles for them before the Earth war? If they were always warriors does that mean Rose was the one quartz with healing and creative powers instead of destructive powers? Is that the thing about Rose that makes her unacceptable to homeworld society? Would homeworld gems say a quartz is FOR battle, not for healing/making things?
posted by delicious-luncheon at 9:22 AM on October 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


JHarris, I agree -- I think Pearl's intense study of fighting, over thousands of years, has given her an edge. I really like how the show quietly portrays different paths to getting good at something. Amethyst has talent and anger; Garnet has collaboration; Pearl has a passionate, intellectual approach. In a media universe full of Chosen Ones and simplistic stories about, like, a talented ballet dancer vs. a hardworking ballet dancer who'll never make audiences quite as happy, it's just really cool to see.

Peridot's relationship with Amethyst is so interesting. There's a painful middle-school quality to her, where she's trying to be cool and bitchy, but ends up being horrible. It's like Amethyst is Nerf-shooting her and she's shooting back with a real gun.

She calls Amethyst "the best gem here," and though it's basically just a bald Homeworld judgement that Amethyst is high-caste and "pure," I wonder if there's a more personal interest and appreciation below that surface. And by "wonder" I mean "assume," and by "assume" I mean "beginning to ship it."

(It does make sense, just personalitywise, that Peridot would admire Amethyst -- Peridot is blunt and forthright and driven by emotion, and she would be drawn to the same.)

This show is so good at storylines that give everyone something to do. Even in an episode that's mostly about Steven, Amethyst, and Peridot, there still manages to be a substantial thread about the revival of Pearl and Garnet's friendship, and all in 11 minutes, with about five lines of Pearl dialogue.
posted by thesmallmachine at 9:31 AM on October 16, 2015 [6 favorites]


Forgot to mention how much I loved Peridot's description of Pearl singing and crying and crying while singing as she works on the drill. That's just Pearl's process, you guys.
posted by thesmallmachine at 9:33 AM on October 16, 2015 [18 favorites]


I'm loving the new Garnet, cracking cow jokes, and generally chilling.
posted by signal at 11:44 AM on October 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


After all the revelations about the caste system and Pearls and the idea that Rose was much higher in the caste system than the others... her holodeck room where everything exists to do exactly what she wants is a little creepy. I wouldn't be surprised if after she rejected those Homeworld customs she spent a lot more time out among humanity and at her hideaways - the fountain, the armory, the moss garden, sanctuaries that the other gems don't seem to have - than in that room. And it's really cool how we didn't even know it at the time - and neither did Steven - but we got to see Steven explicitly reject that kind of Homeworld high-caste lifestyle with the simulated Connie in Rose's room and with the training Pearl was giving Connie.
posted by jason_steakums at 4:20 PM on October 18, 2015 [3 favorites]


What was up with the lack of music in this episode?
posted by sleeping bear at 4:58 PM on October 18, 2015


I'm worried that Peridot's going to take advantage of Amethyst's insecurity and lead it to bad ends. Amethyst may decide to defect from the Crystal Gems and seek Homeworld because hey, she's powerful there apparently.
posted by divabat at 6:19 PM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


Naw. The Crystal Gems are Amathyst's family. Besides, she was upset enough at Peridot's careless joking. Now imagine her going to homeworld where she is expected to be big and intimidating like Jasper. She would be kicked around as an abnormal runt. Homeworld does not sound like a good place for any of the Crystal Gems to be.
posted by delicious-luncheon at 7:47 PM on October 22, 2015 [1 favorite]


News flash! Word is that Rebecca and Steven Sugar are working on art for the show, with Steven working on the interior of the Satellite of Love and the Mads' lair, and Pendleton Ward is working on an animation for the telethon they're having in the MST3K Kickstarter's final hours.
posted by JHarris at 6:15 AM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


Er, the show in question would be nice to mention, wouldn't it? That show is the return of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
posted by JHarris at 10:12 AM on December 10, 2015


Steven Universe returrns, for a few days at least, January 4.
posted by JHarris at 7:02 AM on December 29, 2015


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