Steven Universe: Log Date 7 15 2

January 8, 2016 2:49 PM - Season 2, Episode 29

Steven listens to Peridot's audio diary.
posted by Small Dollar (53 comments total)

Is there anything more fanservicey than making one of your characters into an obsessive fan themselves?
posted by Small Dollar at 2:53 PM on January 8, 2016 [3 favorites]

That was 11 minutes of adorable fan service and I loved every single one of those minutes.
posted by Erasmouse at 2:54 PM on January 8, 2016 [5 favorites]

Peridot is meeeee!
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 2:59 PM on January 8, 2016 [6 favorites]

Haha she tried to kill Greg!

I'm wasn't entirely sure I could love Garnet more then I did, but this episode dialed my love for her even higher!

And I officially like Peridot now.
posted by INFJ at 3:24 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

I understand now what younger fans mean when they say such-and-such a character is "their child", because oh I want to adopt Peridot now.

She's trying. She's been trying. Oh baby.

(also who else yelled at their screen at the near-fusion)
posted by divabat at 3:31 PM on January 8, 2016 [6 favorites]

:) A good episode to end the week.
posted by FallowKing at 3:45 PM on January 8, 2016

• The damage from the robot rampage from last episode is still there.
• SHE DID THE EYE THING ONLY STEVEN, GREG AND ROSE HAVE DONE THE EYE THING SO FAR.
• "Am I going to have to wear a star? WHERE AM I GOING TO PUT THE STAR?"
• Alien boxers. It's a Zuke episode.
• Ah, she met Greg!
• "There's MORE THAN ONE EPISODE????" "Umm... no." Sad she didn't get introduced to the Crying Breakfast Friends here, though.
• Pearl and Amethyst seem less reluctant to fuse these days!
• Basically a whole episode of Peridot shenanigans, but I'm down with that. I am SO DOWN WITH THAT.

posted by JHarris at 3:58 PM on January 8, 2016 [3 favorites]

Oh, and that opening is really great at showing how conflicted Peridot is. She's broken away from everything Homeworld is, and feels both elated and incredibly frightened.
posted by JHarris at 4:02 PM on January 8, 2016

Also: I like to think the Canadian setting of the show Peridot was watching was a slight reference to Canadot, an earlier fan meme that had plotted the course of Peridot's escape pod and traced it north of the border. You can still find some fan art of a disgruntled Peridot sitting beneath a maple tree harassed by animals, I think.
posted by JHarris at 4:37 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

Nicely addresses the sudden heel-turn. Lots more than just working on drills been going on at the barn.

Garnet: so forward! I blushed.

"Are they trying to fuse?" Steven suddenly realizing how complicated the response is.

Haha the star thing oh man. "Hello we're just going to lampshade allllll this shit."
posted by emjaybee at 4:43 PM on January 8, 2016 [3 favorites]

A little additional hint I think -- when Peridot talked about Amethyst shapeshifting all the time, she said it used a lot of energy. Maybe Amethyst's being "overcooked" shortened her primary height, but gave her the extra energy that makes her a shapeshifting prodigy?
posted by JHarris at 4:51 PM on January 8, 2016 [4 favorites]

Ah, Peridot's using a PC computer at one point! I was wondering how she'd get along with a compy.
posted by JHarris at 4:54 PM on January 8, 2016

Confirmed: Canada exists in SU-earth, and their flag is green.
posted by Itaxpica at 4:55 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

The full title of the joke book was: JOKES: How To Make People Laugh Around You Instead Of Feel Bad. She really is trying the little dickens.

Also, you guys should comment more so it doesn't look like I'm geeking out as hard about this as I am.
posted by JHarris at 5:06 PM on January 8, 2016 [7 favorites]

Peridot and Jamie should team up, they have enough drama queen between them to host their own revue.

I also wonder how Peridot would get together with Lars and/or Ronaldo. None of these people have any chill whatsoever.

WHEN ARE THE NEXT EPISODES AAAHHHH THE SUSPENSE
posted by divabat at 5:10 PM on January 8, 2016 [4 favorites]

A delightful, bubbly episode, which means the next one involves drilling into the earth to meet a super-creepy, powerful, impossible-to-stop monster fusion. Bad things will happen. SEVERAL BAD THINGS.
posted by emjaybee at 5:23 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

I think we're overdue for an episode about someone in town. We haven't seen too much of them lately.
posted by Peccable at 5:28 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

I love the "Earth but not" thing with green Canada flags and durian juiceboxes and Keystone State and governments not ever investigating invasions of alien starcraft.
posted by emjaybee at 5:32 PM on January 8, 2016 [4 favorites]

I want to see a version of the opening credits with Peridot as a full part of the gang. Surely they can fit a "clod" in there somewhere.
posted by rewil at 6:01 PM on January 8, 2016

Garnet says, "You can see Homeworld's galaxy from here."

An interstellar empire is one thing, an intergalactic one is quite another. Galaxies are huge, and very very very far apart. Either the gem empire is really humongous, or perhaps there are other things implied. Like, maybe the conditions for forming new gems are actually very rare in the universe. Maybe, even worse, ruining the Earth was not just a side effect of gem colonization, but a necessary part of the process. Although if that were true, it seems like Yellow Diamond would not be so cavalier about obliterating the planet?
posted by rustcrumb at 6:59 PM on January 8, 2016

So many good things in this episode!! I didn't like Peridot, but after her laugh-cry fit in the beginning ("Will you be okay?" [smiling] "NO!"), now I love her.

Amethyst: "I'm just trying to lion the mood. ... Lion the mood."

Also, Peridot seems to be typing on an old Earth computer when Opal appears?!
posted by glass origami robot at 7:09 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

Even with everything there is to love about this episode and this week, the most interesting thing was tonight's subtext. Peridot goes from, "Your primitive Earth entertainments are a waste of time," to the, "Ooooooooooh!" of sudden understanding when Garnet says, "I'm Percy and Pierre." Almost as if Rebecca Sugar anticipated the row over SU getting censored in the U.K. and wanted to say, "TV, even a cartoon show for kids, isn't just a waste of time. Maybe learn something, you prejudiced morons."
posted by ob1quixote at 7:26 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

rustcrumb: Maybe, even worse, ruining the Earth was not just a side effect of gem colonization, but a necessary part of the process.

I think it's firmly established that the kindergarten mechanism for growing new gems requires land that has life in it, since it sucks out that life-force and turns everything to ashy grey. Since the original plan for the Earth colony had many kindergartens but also lots of other things, I suspect Peridot's alternative plans involved lighter-weight colonies with no kindergartens and just the other parts.
posted by traveler_ at 7:26 PM on January 8, 2016

glass origami robot: it seems consumer tech in the SUverse is a couple of decades behind ours. Old-style desktops and VHSes.

I want to know if Peridot will have her own room now! Where has she been staying this whole time, the barn?
posted by divabat at 7:47 PM on January 8, 2016

We have seen iPhone-style smartphones and laptops, the PC is probably just equipment that was just laying around the barn. There's some suspiciously modern stuff lying around in there.

I want to know if Peridot will have her own room now!

She has her own room. It's an archaic think-chamber with a faint scent of Earth citrus.
posted by JHarris at 7:58 PM on January 8, 2016 [3 favorites]

Oh god. What is going to happen when Ronaldo sees Peridot....
posted by JHarris at 8:08 PM on January 8, 2016

I like to think the Canadian setting of the show Peridot was watching was a slight reference to Canadot,

Nah, it was just totes Degrassi.

(Though, green Canadian flag. Cool.)
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:16 PM on January 8, 2016

According to Peridot, the best couple would be a M/M couple? I like. Y'know, for all the LGBT stuff we've seen on the show so far, we haven't actually seen any non-hetero human relationships.
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 8:24 PM on January 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

Old-style desktops and VHSes.

I do believe earlier on someone had to explain to Steven (maybe it was Sadie and Mr. Happy's Employee Safety video?) that a VHS player was like a DVD player.
posted by INFJ at 8:48 PM on January 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

Galaxor Nebulon, in some of the larger crowd scenes in the show, there's what seems to be a lesbian couple with a son, but I know what you mean.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 9:01 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

I loved Peridot's little chart of compatible ships campers.
posted by Pizzarina Sbarro at 9:11 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

I do believe earlier on someone had to explain to Steven (maybe it was Sadie and Mr. Happy's Employee Safety video?) that a VHS player was like a DVD player.

Sadie: "You aren't allowed to work here until you watch--" (reveals with flourish) "--THIS videotape!"
Steven: "What is that?"
Sadie: "It's like a DVD, shaped like a box, and it will tell you EVERYTHING you need to know to work at the Big Donut." (puts it in)
(Picture of Mr. Harold Smiley and the words DO OR DONUT)

Mr. Smiley is one of my favorite side characters. You know, he's voiced by Sinbad!

But even THAT moment is important and builds the story. They established there that the Big Donut has a VCR, so when Steven finds Rose's videotape....
posted by JHarris at 9:23 PM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

Mr. Smiley is one of my favorite side characters. You know, he's voiced by Sinbad!

Colton Dunn replaced Sinbad as the voice actor. It's sad that Sinbad is gone... but on the other hand, Colton Dunn is also hilarious!
posted by painquale at 9:34 PM on January 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'm very tempted to create a tumblr called "Who Would Peri Ship" where Peridot posts thorough, logical analyses of popular ships from different fandoms, but I need to work on my peri-phrasing first.
posted by Pizzarina Sbarro at 10:37 PM on January 8, 2016 [7 favorites]

This episode cleared a lot of stuff up, like for example the unique Earth 'resources' Peridot was offering Yellow Diamond were:
- bugs
- Canadian teen soaps/shipping
- fashion!

I thought Peri's heel-turn was a bit clumsy but now I dig the reverse-reveal storytelling here. Uuuuuuugh how long until the next episode??
posted by Erasmouse at 12:57 AM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Colton Dunn replaced Sinbad as the voice actor.

What?? BOOO, uncool Sinbad, and here I was thinking you might not deserve the purgatory your career is mired in.
posted by JHarris at 1:36 AM on January 9, 2016

Hey, one of the backgrounds (soon after Opal shows up) shows part of the remains of Peridot's escape pod wired to the drill! I guess it's not a secret they found it now.
posted by JHarris at 2:17 AM on January 9, 2016

We rewatched the entire week's episodes in order to a) bask in their awesomeness and b) catch up our roommate, who was behind. There's definitely the alternate reading of Peridot's explanation of her plan to contact YD where she's actually trying to help the Gems in her own wacky way, but isn't very good at explaining herself to Steven before he gives up on her and calls out to the rest of the Gems. I missed it entirely the first time, convinced Peridemption was no more, and while I sometimes hate when shows do that sort of thing (looking at you, Moffat), this time I found it pretty satisfying.

Peridot's definitely gone up on my list of favorite gems this week. Can't wait to see where she puts the star.
posted by miratime at 4:06 AM on January 9, 2016 [4 favorites]

Yeah, Peridot may be logical (though she is way more emotional than she wants to admit it, she's a complete drama queen) and a great techie but she's a terrible communicator.
posted by divabat at 5:32 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

I translated and recorded a Malay-language version of the intro (Peridot's mental breakdown)
posted by divabat at 8:23 AM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

I remain convinced that Peridot's not so committed to Earth that she wouldn't seriously consider an opportunity to return safely to Homeworld. She might be slightly disillusioned with Yellow Diamond, and she might have a handful of friends and favorite Earth things, but I could totally see her trying to arrange a deal to save Steven and the other Crystal Gems and a box of Canadian soaps on VHS in exchange for ending all life on Earth.

Peridot is growing as a person right now, but she's still hella self-centered in a way that the other gems aren't. Earth is worth protecting not intrinsically, but because some of her favorite stuff is there. We've seen her defend Earth in a moment of frustration, but not out of a sense of duty, or with reason (which her character would ultimately need if she were to truly go native).

This moment could come via a reunion with Jasper, or a direct confrontation with Yellow Diamond or her agents, or it could just be a monster-of-the-week encounter where Peridot demonstrates a capacity for acceptance of things even if she doesn't understand.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 8:57 AM on January 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

I dunno, I think being treated with basic respect is pretty addictive. I'd be surprised if she (or Lapis, for that matter) was willing to go back to being a cog in the machine.
posted by restless_nomad at 9:02 AM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Peridot doesn't have to actually leave, and if she did, she'd probably regret it, but she can totally be tempted by the promise of her life going back to "normal." Peridot's reliance on logic and rationality suggests that she sees herself as an unchanging point of sanity in a chaotic soup of clods, when clearly that's not the case (and in moments of reflection, we hear her starting to acknowledge this, if only as a personal failing). She'll need to confront the fact that she's not the same gem who left Homeworld at some point, and then embrace or reject that.

Lapis did go home and was crestfallen at what she saw. We haven't spent much time with her, but her story could be about getting more comfortable with others, or conversely, Steven accepting that some people are just happier being left alone most of the time. Or maybe Crewniverse will find an all-ages way to address the subject of PTSD? Or maybe she'll just explore the idea of being able to write your own definitions of "home" or "family."
posted by GameDesignerBen at 11:15 AM on January 9, 2016

I think the Canadian show was a blend of Degrassi and Salute Your Shorts.
posted by ocherdraco at 11:40 AM on January 9, 2016 [4 favorites]

I'm two years older than Rebecca Sugar and grew up in the same county, and based on the TV I watched as a preteen you are 100% correct, ocherdraco.
posted by nonasuch at 5:13 PM on January 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

On rewatching, I noticed that Peridot sort-of-sincerely says "Wow, thanks" when Steven gives the recorder back to her! ("It's what friends say to each other.")
posted by glass origami robot at 1:37 AM on January 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

Interesting that the colors of the factions on the Canadian TV show were white and blue and yellow and pink. I want to see a bunch of screen caps and investigate any possible foreshadowing going on there.
posted by sleeping bear at 7:53 PM on January 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

sleeping bear: People on Tumblr and Reddit are already theorizing that Peridot's rant when slowed down foreshadows stuff with Lapis and Jasper.
posted by divabat at 8:01 PM on January 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

I couldn't resist drawing star!Peridot...
posted by glass origami robot at 1:03 AM on January 11, 2016 [6 favorites]

I'm just chagrined that if you asked me after The Return which of the three gems I wanted to see fleshed out and allied with the Crystal Gems, Peridot would be dead last.

You know, I have to imagine Lapis doesn't know about The Cluster. Unless her plan really is "keep Jasper locked up until the cluster kills us both" wouldn't Jasper tell her in an effort to escape? Is Jasper loyal enough to suicidally defend the cluster? Peridot sure had zero interest in dying on Earth. Furthermore, Jasper is the only one of the three that knows Steven is the 'new' Rose Quartz. Judging from YD's treatment of Peridot, I doubt things would have gone well for Steven had he been delivered to Yellow Diamond.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 1:09 PM on January 11, 2016 [2 favorites]

“Steven Universe Tells Us That the Answer to All Our Questions is Love—But It's Also Fandom,” James Whitbrook, io9, 11 January 2016
posted by ob1quixote at 5:41 PM on January 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

Uh oh, I thought they were going to go back to the once a week schedule after the Stevenbomb, but apparently they did not. Do we have any indication when we might get to see another episode? I'm trying to improvise fanfic shadow puppet shows, but for some reason, it doesn't turn out as good.
posted by Galaxor Nebulon at 5:25 PM on January 16, 2016

I haven't seen news and the crew's usually pretty good about tweeting (and everyone I know retweets when they do.) I'm guessing a couple months - maybe just one if we're lucky. The last word I saw was one of the crew explaining that they could *either* do bombs *or* weekly, but not both, because of the production times.
posted by restless_nomad at 5:32 PM on January 16, 2016