More like nobody's treating them like dangerous overlords-- I'm like: Hey guys? You're in the presence of the overlords you've been hiding from??? Reaction please??
To be fair they did pretty much destroy both of their own ships out of incompetence. I am finding it hard to take them as seriously as I did when we were first introduced.
I see it as Yellow and Blue are humoring Pink and "her" latest weirdness. If they start believing Steven is an impostor and don't get a chance to understand what a descendant is they may strike.
This single episode had enough to warrant an entire bomb. An episode for the Diamonds to digest the "Pink's" new form, with partial flashbacks. An episode focused on Pearl specifically, with the Diamonds having mixed emotions about her and vice versa (this is preferably where Pearl lays put ALL her cards about her involvement with the rebellion since Garnet is officially an unreliable source). An episode where the Diamonds experience Earth and address corruption with the added note that they don't seem too sold but willing to indulge the tour. An episode entirely in the ship traveling to homeworld where White's role is better established. And finally, an episode landing in Homeworld, a few more glimpses of gem society, and that iconic meeting with White Diamond.
natsiou And that can only be shown on Adult Swim? Is character development that brutal? I’m saying goldwhining2 used “digest” correctly and Kevin Joseph thought he meant “dissect” while misspelling dissect.
Connie going, and her parents just going along with it, highlights one of my problems with the series. Her parents are way too accommodating for Connie participating in dangerous activities, and their absence is a huge missed opportunity for character driven stories for the human side of the show. One of the issues with “Beach City filler” is that the human characters don’t have much of a connection to the plot anymore, nor do most of them have any kind of character development arc. But Connie’s parents were a perfect fit for these kinds of stories. It would have been interesting to see them take an interest in her training, interact with the gems, ask questions about their abilities. I always wanted an episode where her mom gave Steven an exam (though now I know an X-ray would have exposed the shape of his Gem). Mostly, I just wanted to see them come to terms with Connie working with the gems, over time. Nightmare Hospital was rushed and unbelievable. The message was that they needed to trust their daughter to handle herself, but the scale makes her parent’s fears justified. We’re not talking about them refusing to let her ride a public bus alone, or take up a dangerous activity like rock climbing. We’re talking about fighting monsters in life and death situations, and now wishing off to the far corners of space with two warlords who just tried to murder everyone! Again, it’s just another contrivance to keep the plot points they want moving. The crewniverse want Connie involved, they want the possibility of Stevonnie, and legitimate parental concern would interfere with that. So it’s been swept under the rug, and her parents don’t act like responsible parents. At this point, they’ve pretty much agreed to let her be a Child Soldier.
Arella Jardin yes yes and yes thank you I've been saying this for a while now but they ruined connie imo It's like they wanna make Connie in the right when she says she can handle herself but the scale of the danger is just too big to just excuse it with just a pat on the back That's why I love that Toph episode from ATLA(even though that plotline never came to a resolution or conclusion) where despite showing that she may be capable of handling danger her parents who have been established as being overprotective understandably refuse her request to travel with the Avatar.
I agree but I would like to say that how Connie's mom treated Connie was very controlling, definitely toxic behavior, maybe even abusive. I hated how quickly Nightmare hotel resolved it because honestly, coming from a controlling Indian family, that sort of parental fear and need to always be in control doesn't just go away like that. If all it took was a conversation wouldn't that have already happened? Connie's a smart kind person surely she would have thought conversing what she wants would have happened before... Parent might not ever even realize they have an issue as such controlling people do a lot of mental gymnastics to rationalize what they're doing as correct. A lot of the time, it never even gets resolved. The kid has to either deal with following the rules until they can leave or break the restraints to the best of their ability and suffer the consequences.
@@MrKiron12 they didn't even let the world know they have a daughter. She could barely even go outside and talk to others, depriving her of social contact every kid needs. I would hardly consider all of this just them being overprotective. But it does make me wonder why Toph chose to never tell them she could see. Maybe she did but they didn't believe her. Which adds to my point.
I totally agree with the TURBO MODE thing. Also I feel like that was shift in the style of the show that happened a long time ago. I have felt for a long time now that SU changed dramatically from the show it used to be. (sorry massive comment essay coming "^^) Not only is Steven an unrecognizably different character to what he used to be at the start, the writing style, animation style, the humour EVERYTHING about the show is very different in the recent seasons. I have been rewatching it form the start with a friend and am honestly more shocked now after being reminded of how it used to be. Tiny details were given such time and emotional depth. Ever word a character said had a heavy meaning attached. I found myself laughing a lot at the jokes in early episodes which I have not done for aaages. The somewhat frightening nature of the gems abilities and the genuine fear associated with something going wrong with those powers is totally lost in recent seasons. Plus I'm really noticing the amount of things that happened in earlier episodes that are NEVER brought up again. Abilities that the gems have that are not ever seen again. The huge power of Lapis in her introductory episodes that makes what the diamonds have done seem pathetic in comparison. Even the idea that Garnet can bubble Steven and send him back to the temple if need be. Don't get me wrong Im not just trying to hate on the show, its just Ive been reminded of how much I used to LOVE it and Im trying to figure out when this shift of style happened. I feel like somewhere along the way the show feel into every one of the bad tropes it used to subvert. I wonder if its due to a larger scale production or Rebecca Sugar having less to do with the writing of each episode?? It really does seem like these days, not time is spent on the emotional gravity of any situation, so much less emphasis on the soundtrack that used to make it so special... I have a feeling it might have been around the time Peridot came to earth. I feel like that is when everything started to go downhill. The arcs felt ever more rushed after the reveal of Sardonyx. There is SOO much less character interactions between anyone other than Steven and another character these days it feels like any conflicts that where set up are now meaningless. It now just feels like a puppet show run by Steven. Garnet used to be this imposing, intimidating character who commanded respect and authority and it feels like she has been reduced to a childlike character with no say over anything that happens. i understand that the Gems trust Steven to make his own choices more now but they have gone from sheer terror at the idea of another gem being released, scolding him for running into situation, having much discourse over the dangers of a situation... now it feels like they just follow steven around like puppies. I dunno aboout you, i generally feel like your opinions are really insightful and on point, but i'd be really interested to see you compare the old SU episode style to the new. Like comparing one from the first season to one from the last? x
Yes !! Thank you ! I feel the exact same way but I couldn't tell what exactly had changed that made SU feel so different. You made an awesome job summing it up for me ha ha Except to me, the change happened at the beginning of season 3 when Malachite and the cluster problems were solved in only two episodes (I litterally couldn't believe they were done with the cluster, I thought the bubble would pop in the very next episode or something), although it might have not been a problem at all if there had not been a big hiatus right before. Another thing that kinda kills the tension is that the crystal gems have never been in a more high stakes situation since Jail Break. (The only thing that felt more threatening was the cluster, but now that's completly solved too.) I didn't feel very worried watching the last episodes of season 4 with the whole abduction thing but I can't really tell why. And when Stevonnie got stranded on an unknown planet (or moon, I think), they didn't freak out at all. Even the episode where Steven, Lars and Sadie get stucked on an island feels more... scary (sorry my English vocabulary is a bit limited). About the art style, now it feels like the artists are trying to make it look more like anime, but in a bad way. They seem to focus on making the characters look pretty or cool rather than expressive, fun to look at, like they used to. They also now use visual anime tropes (not sure I'm using this word right) such as the little lines on the cheeks when a character blushes, which is not very coherent with the show's art style in my opinion, and the shadow over the eyes when a character tries to hide or repress their emotions, which I particularly dislike because the show used to be all about showing the characters' feelings in a raw and honest manner. And about the writing, this season felt to me like fanfiction sometimes... I don't really know how to explain it, but for example, after Garnet unfused after learning about Pink Diamond in the episode What's Your Problem, Pearl and Sapphire have a conversation that felt like "Garnet is so amazing -Ruby is so amazing" (sorry about the satire, I don't know how else to explain). And Steven's only purpose is to be nice and have a little emotional speech at the end of the episode to solve the problem. (So on a personal note, I feel like Steven Universe has kind of... died. I'm still watching it because I'm too invested in the characters and the story, but I'll probably remember it mainly for the early seasons.)
I should also mention, i really enjoy watching your reviews. I think you have really good view points, and are very fair in your critiques. I also hope that everything thing in your life works out. i probably don't know what i'm talking about because i don't know your situation, but still. I hope everything works out in the long run, keep on making videos and thank you one more time for these videos. sweetdreams
I don’t mind the filler, but when stuff like this starts happening, that’s why I have an issue with all the filler. You get nonstop unimportant details, side character info that doesn’t matter, progression that means nothing and then they try to spam all the important things into an 11 minute slot. This is Steven universes biggest problem and it’s made me almost not even consider it a good show on CN anymore
Yes, pacing and filler is what really pissed me off when it comes to the important episodes that rationally should be going a bit slower. The example I'll never stop bringing up is the whole thing with the cluster. We learn that it's in the Earth and can form and destroy everything they set up the urgency surrounding it, but then they dick around with some filler and come back to it as an afterthought. We've had long episodes focusing on side characters that, though some were nice, ultimately didn't matter but for the gems processing being deceived by the person they trusted most has to be processed in what could be considered mere hours in real time. I like Sadie but I don't need to focus on her slice of life issues with her over supportive mother if it means the gems have to accept PD's actions so easily off screen.
I mean I liked this episode, but yeah. Waaaay too rushed. It was like 4 episodes crammed into one. I wish they had given us some of the Diamonds reactions to Steven being Pink Diamond, more than what they did. I'm excited to see where they go from here, but I hope they sloooow down just a tiny bit. I want to see the characters reactions to things! I mean Steven Universe is all about characters! Yeeeeeeeeeeep.
Also just wanna say I totally relate to the struggles of dealing with medications and all the complications that come with them. I hope that they will be able to help you and that you're mental health improves. Sending much support and postive vibes your way! I love your videos and am always happy to see a new one pop up in my subscription box. Stay awesome!!
I also felt it was very rushed, Blue and Yellow talks to Steven, then they cure the corruption, then they mention White, then they find Pink's ship and goes to Homeworld, then They get in Homeworld and find White Diamond.. It would be better if this episode was a 2 parts episode
It makes sense for the show to be rushed since season 5's finale was written to work as a series finale in case the show didn't get renewed for a 6th season.
That doesn't really bring out any confidence, especially since the show was promised more seasons in the past with more episodes, but then had their episode number per season drastically cut on short notice.
Part of the reason why these past two episodes felt so rushed is probably because at the time they were being produced, Rebecca Sugar and the rest of the Crewniverse did not yet know if they were going to be renewed for more seasons beyond season five, so they had to try to cram in as many important details as possible and write the season five finale in such a way that it could potentially serve as a series finale if they did not get a season six. The other part of reason why I think these episodes feel so rushed is because we have gotten so used to having all these slow-paced episodes recently where the story drags its feet and the main plot has taken a backseat that for us to suddenly start getting actual plot progression in such a short amount of time just feels really jarring, almost like we're watching a completely different show now.
It hasn't ended yet though. Legs from Here to Homeworld is not the final episode in season five. There's at least one more episode after it (three more actually if some of those episode titles floating around are real). Looking at how fast-paced this episode and Reunited was, literally anything could happen in the remaining episodes(s) we have left of season five.
Sinful They honestly should’ve spent more time on earth getting use to the diamonds being around. Instead of focusing on humans so much they should’ve cut some of those episodes to make more room for this. I mean it took like 3 episodes just for Peridot to trust the crystal gems. The diamonds are already cool with Steven (PD).
@ABCDEFG T It was most definitely rushed, like DW said they could've cut some filler from previous seasons to allow space for a longer episode. And there being only 2 episode slots left in the season, they just crammed together all the details of going to Homeworld, seeing Centi uncorrupted and White Diamond's reveal. It was obviously very very rushed.
@ABCDEFG T How It wasn't rushed? In 11 minutes Blue and Yellow understands Pink/Rose, They & Steven cure (kinda) centipeetle, everyone activate Pink's ship and goes to Homeworld, White is mentioned, everyone goes to Homeworld and White Diamond & her pearl appear.. How is this not rushed?
Hey uncivilized elk I was wondering if you would be up to making a video compilation of some of your favorite adventure time episodes. You could explain your reasoning behind them and it would a be nice look into the past as the series comes to its end.
1) If more videos in TH-cam had updates while centered on feeding lizards, the world would be a better place 2) This episode could definitely have been two, once centered on centi and the ramifications of the gem war, and the other on traveling to home world. 3) WHITE DIAMOND IS AN ICON, I read somewhere that White Diamond is Steven's ultimate villain because Steven's greatest power is his communication skills and she's having none of it, and I agree
looking back on videos like this makes it all the sadder that Change Your Mind even happened at all. so much got squandered there... I’ll make this comparison til I’m blue in the face, but White Diamond initially reminded me of the other mother from Coraline, and I was really hoping to see her character edge into some true horror. they already did that with the forced fusions back on earth... that was all so delightfully creepy and sad all at once. I could see White Diamond being something ancient... like the primordial life which all other gems can credit as the proginator of their species. she could’ve been created the way that most planets are created... some serendipitous collision of rocks in space, producing just the right conditions for her to come into being. that would give her the inherent clout to claim dominion over all other gems, and would clearly separate her from any gem that was created artificially as their species expanded its numbers. and it would also be a potentially great source of supporting evidence for the idea that White Diamond is a perfect being, and the emotions and desires of other gems within their society are all defects that happened because they weren’t created the way that White Diamond was. I would’ve loved to see a gem creation myth getting passed on to Steven... the gems’ oral history of how White Diamond formed. and with White being so old, and so alien, it might not have been possible to “defeat” her in a traditional manner. I really think it would’ve be very powerful for Steven to ask White Diamond why imperfection is so intolerable to her. if she really wanted all gems to be perfect, she could just steal their will. brainwashing all of gem kind would connect everyone to her and make them just like her. and Steven thinks he’s calling her out on a flaw in her behavior. he thinks she’ll be forced to concede that the reason why she didn’t steal their will was because there was value in the gems’ various differences... but in the end, White is actually proud of Steven for having come to this conclusion, and she agrees. and the only reason why Steven is able to stop her from brainwashing absolutely everyone, is because he takes it a step further and ponders why she even wants all these small, imperfect bodies to control. she herself is already a perfect being. it could’ve been really eerie to see her smile wide, agree with that logic, and then allow herself to drift off, sinking into the vacuum of space with a serene grace that betrays nothing about her thoughts at all. she could’ve been totally incomprehensible... a total enigma. and it would’ve highlighted the true value of being a feeling creature, and valuing other people for their unique intrinsic worth. because when you don’t... truly, nothing matters anymore. also, I just love it when the diamonds leverage their authority for frivolous things like having backup singers during their villain songs... like what Yellow had going with the pearls in What’s The Use Of Feeling Blue. White could’ve done that on a _much_ larger scale using her brainwashing ability, and it honestly is a tragedy that we never even got a villain song from her at all.
Why hasn't the military gotten involved in any of this? Two giant hand ships, tremors, and strange pads around the world should warrant a massive investigation
About White Dimond, the entire series has pretty much been leading up to her and they just go "White" and everyone is just shocked but like 5 seconds later they're like "okay here she is (lip smack) kay bye." And I'm just like what What WHAT!!!!!!!???
They say there will be a longer version of an episode of this season on the DVD release. I feel like it will be this one given how much this feel like there is parts missing from it. As for the Giant Diamond Meca, I theorized that, they will reconstitute it (without the arms) for the purpose of "moving" White (who hasn't left Homeworld or her head-ship in eons) back to earth to force her to undo corruption, as I think she'd never do willingly. Pink controlling the legs, she can make the head go anywhere (also it would be funny and bad ass to see that happening). That's my guess :) sorry for bad english
the thing that bothered ME the most (and this is probably just me being stupid but) when would bismuth have learned the expression “the lions den”? lion must have been magicked by the time she was poofed by rose, since she was put right into lion, but where would she have heard the expression? did she hear it from humans? i cant see the gems and humans hanging out 5000-6000 years ago, so was the expression made by gems in this universe? i cant see that happening either, because a gem would never be punished by either side by being thrown into a lions den, and anyways its not like they couldnt just defeat the lions in combat. so that leaves when bismuth was freed twice. i dont feel like she would have learned it in the short time she was out the first time, and even then she probably wouldnt get it enough to repeat it; figurative expressions take a while to figure out (EDIT: and it would probably be even harder coming from another culture AND another planet), and i dont feel like, after getting back a friend you fought a war with after 5000 years, your first thought would be to sit them down and explain what a lions den is and its figurative meaning. that leaves when she was freed for the wedding, but the same problem applies there; i dont know how much time passed between her being freed and the wedding, but i cant see it being more than a week or so. so WHEN did bizmuth learn this? im sure the crewniverse didnt put much thought into it (who would, besides me; its stupid) but even watching the episode when it first aired this bothered me.
but when would anyone have used the expression “the lions den”? being in the lions den is when youre in a place or situation surrounded by something or someone that actively wants to hurt you, and thats not something that was really happening when bismuth was freed either time. i suppose you could say thats the situation with the crystal gems and homeworld, but homeworld at that point was a more passive threat; showing up occasionally but never really causing too much trouble. the biggest problems at that point had been peridot, who became an ally, and jasper, who went rogue and got corrupted. i forget if jasper was corrupted by the time bismuth was freed the first time, but even then, would they have used ‘the lions den’ to refer to jasper? i dont see it.
Imposssem 10 She did ask "what's a wedding", so you make a good point. Although as someone else pointed out, the Gems all speak English purely as a matter of convenience, so maybe "lion's den" is just how the sentiment is manifesting in English.
I can't help but think that now that Steven is, currently locked in "his" room (presumably Pink's) by White Diamond. Somewhere down the line; Yellow, Blue or perhaps both of them will come and seek out answers from him. Wondering why Pink is in that form and why she chose earth over them? Such an idea would give us a perfect Steven's Birth episode, wouldn't you say
I really hope you finish the 5th season review someday, your reviews are amazing, I personally enjoy them very much and would like to hear your opinions on the rest of the season
I've been looking forward to this for a minute now and I'm so glad you finally posted it but more happy to hear that you're okay and nothing too serious as happened. I wish you the best, please take care of your health. Love your content keep creating.
Just eagerly waiting for that adventure time finale review for you to analyze it. Love your work and your deep analysis on every aspect on things that most viewers don’t even notice until you point it out
Always love to see your opinions guy. You never fail to make me notice new aspects of an episode! I just really hope we get to see the diamond mecha now...
Huh, I didn't noticed the pace and elements being present from your perspective has helped with expanding my own, thanks again. I also agree with how there needs to be more information about White Diamond and the situation. Nice, referencing that theory about White Pearl. I haven't thought about how upset about White Diamond repressing her rage despite her speech and expression. Another wonderful and lovely review. Looking forward to the next video. I hope that you feel better from being sick and your health getting better
I like all of the smaller episodes about the people of Beach City, but I feel like a few of them should have been axed, or at the very least combined, to give them more room to focus on this massive rush of major plot events. Plus I'm really worried that the Diamonds are just gonna get away with the millions of years worth of atrocities they've committed.
At 1:57 you used the word exasperated instead of exacerbated. The former means being fed up with something or someone; the latter means some significant element is being amplified by a complicating factor. Just thought I'd point that out.
Hey, I'm really glad you're back! I sincerely hope things get better and better for now on. Thank you for your wonderful work, keep strong in the real way :)
I have one small thing to say about the diamonds not arguing Blue diamond isn’t going to argue with her sister since blue diamond sees her to be justified with all of this, blue out right says “she’s been punished enough” after yellow saying about how many gems did pink have them ruin, and yellow isn’t going to argue with blue and the crystal gems it’s a fight she can’t win, and let’s face it while blue is more emotional then yellow, yellow is still going to be some what happy that pink isn’t shattered
DW yeah there was some dude that claims to work for CN who made a ton of predictions about the network and other shows that were all proven shockingly accurate, and one of his predictions was that SU would be getting four more seasons. CN hasn’t officially said so yet but it’s looking pretty likely. It’s still not that crazy compared to Adult Swim renewing Rick and Morty for 9 more seasons after season 3
have a pickle yeah my bad. I got 7 and 9 mixed up and I also just assumed the episode count would be 10 episodes each. I guess we really don’t know. It’s still ridiculous nonetheless though
There's something called "drama" and "realistic conflict" and "character building" that SU's forgotten. It feels like some writers wrote an awesome 100-word outline and gave it to some cartoonists who turned it into a bland, hollow series of events (oh wait that's exactly what happened).
What I really like about White Diamond's design is how she looks like early animation/Hollywood. She seems creepy and outmoded. As for whether we'll see other alien races, I think the line "galactic embarrassment" says a lot.
Glad to have you back. As for predictions, I think the story is gonna slow down a bit. Either we’re going to go back to Beach City to deal with Peridot and Lapis and to prolong the story, and we might possibly see Blue and Yellow’s Pearls emerge from the wreckage. Or we’re going to get more flashbacks. Yellow Diamond said that Steven still has all of Pink’s memories, so unlocking his memories seems like a good place to start. Steven is locked up in his tower, and I’m going to guess the only ones with visitation rights is Yellow and Blue. They’re each going to take turns helping Steven put together the pieces of his past life, while also bonding with him and they’ll start to view his as Steven and not Pink. This will lead to Steven’s punishment. Pearl said when Steven was born that Rose was still there, she just couldn’t form because “there’s all this baby around her.” White will come to the conclusion that Steven is disposable and will try to remove his gem, disregarding what might happens to Steven. And let’s face it, he’ll probably die. So it will be up to Yellow and Blue to stand up and protect him. As for the big Gem-tron robot, I think that will be dealt with in flashbacks as well. The arms were destroyed, and it just seems to convoluted try and fit in them being retrieved from Earth and getting fixed. This is just one girl’s opinion.
_Two_ reviews in two days? You're spoiling us. When they first mentioned White Diamond in this episode, I exasperatedly thought, "Oh great, we'll probably get to see her in another year or so." Then we saw her by the end of the fucking episode. That turbo point is dead on. They blew through multiple seasons worth of revelations in the last two episodes alone. Remember when it took 36 episodes into the show to even see any contemporary interference from Homeworld? And _you know_ White Diamond will be won over to their side by the end of the show, because of course that would happen. Your point about another hereto-unmentioned faction feels _imminent._
I thought this was gonna be the “Full Disclosure” to Jailbreak’s “Reunited”; take some time to express everyone’s feelings about what transpired last night and over the show’s course or so. That doesn’t sound far fetched, I would’ve had no problem with that, and it felt like a well opportune time. Never mind that, TO THE BOOTY EXPRESS!
I just rewatched all your Steven universe reviews and even though you already did the movie and kinda summed up your opinion I think you should at least formulate your thoughts on final episodes, I just like hearing your opinions even if you don't like them I like hearing the criticism also waiting on that infinity train reviews but get around to your Hobbies when your all settled and feeling good, hopefully your doing alright bud
I’m a little sad there aren’t reviews for the next episodes or at least the final one. It’s okay though, it’s passed and isn’t a big deal in the slightest. Your choice!
why didn't anyone recognize pearl as pink diamonds pearl? Such as Jasper, or like... yellow diamond after seeing peridots report? Idk. Or, yknow Blue diamond when her and rose attacked?
Now to ramble extensively as I feel like I have paragraphs to say about every couple of sentences you give. I've said it before, but I think it bears repeating each opportunity. With the "turbo mode" here, I think there's a reason. Previously we had domestic tales on Earth based around Steven's development. I think they're changing the story into Steven on Homeworld based around how he changes things, his status as a diamond changes him, and the character arc of Yellow and Blue diamond. I think this rushed development is them getting the setting out of the way for changing to a brand new status quo for the foreseeable future. The lack of nuance and complexity to events is because they're future plots: we're getting a hint that homeworld is necessary for the over-arching plot, and what homeworld plots the show will explore. Now they just changed the setting and are going to explore those stories over time, now with Steven being treated as Pink Diamond on an alien world. Then the diamonds going along with Steven; I think this is the show exploring the idea that they just snapped STRAIGHT into treating him as Pink Diamond; this is probably what they were like around her at the best of times. Because a coming plot will be them understanding that he isn't truly Pink Diamond. That and gems tendency to not ask important questions or think about details, which further plays into them just jumping into treating things as normal as soon as they accept him as Pink Diamond. I think the idea here is that they don't feel the need to get Pink Diamond back; the moment they accepted Steven had her gem, they considered Pink Diamond to be with them again in an instant, because as gems they don't consider or know the possibility of deeper subtleties, as has been established as a species trait for them. I actually get this particular feeling with the show a lot; that the most rushed moments are often just set-up, hints that "This is going to be a future character development that we're showing exists now." Like Lapis and Peridot's relationship, which was initially expressed with a sudden personality shift in Peridot, and explored later as her trying to be welcoming to Lapis, that her shift in personality was an intentional thing on her part. The CG accepting things and going along is also harder to understand. Garnet was hinted as to having seen the future, ominously specifying only Steven will be fine. I think there's some cultural subtleties we don't have here; that them being with a diamond, acknowledged by the other diamonds, sarcastically, but acknowledged nonetheless as his "friends" means they wont just be destroyed outright. Perhaps it also isn't as bad as we've been led to believe. We've only seen the worst of their homeworlds problems and how they treat their enemies; now we may start seeing what it is actually like, and see a less horrible side of things. Finally, yeah, the ships definitely feel like a Chekhov's Gun scenario. What sort of threat is coming, though, is still a mystery. I think all my previous ranting is why any potential other species, as well as gem homeworld's society has been such a big secret so far in the series. We've hit an Act 2 of the show: Steven on Homeworld. We're going to start getting their culture, how they function, and the greater secrets of the universe from here-on out as Steven comes to understand the other diamonds, and the other diamonds come to understand and accept him.
I honestly think that the whole end of season 5 (reunited-diamond days) was extremely rushed. Reunited I can mostly live with- although i bet the crewniverse could have fit more stuff in between the wedding and the diamonds' arrival and even the cluster being unbubbled etc etc. then there could've been more in-between videos in which the diamonds try to leave but can't and steven introduces them to earth. (this can make for some character development before the start of diamond days where they suddenly become much less accepting because of White and what she wants) THEN the topic of the corruption is brought up, and that can last maybe an episode with some more character development. then, leading on to the next episode mainly, they find pink's ship and go to homeworld, drawing out the journey and just before. then the end scene in legs from here to homeworld plays. following that, diamond days was relatively drawn out until the one hour special of change your mind. this- i think- should have had a battle, maybe the fusions (for an end-of-season prize, which would make the audience content) AND THEN, WHEN WHITE WON'T CHANGE, THEY ESCAPE BACK TO EARTH. this would be much better than the one-episode-redemption of all the diamonds, as now everyone knows Steven is Pink Diamond- even all the gems on homeworld- including the diamonds. this would obviously increase the intensity. the rest of the arc (including lars' return to earth, the crystal gems preparing for war, etc, etc) until the diamonds' final redemption can happen throughout season 6. boom. extra content, doesn't feel rushed, and the crewniverse makes a ton more money.
Also, it took so much longer to get to the beach city. So much that Lars on the fastest spaceship hasnt arrived yet but steven and co got to homeworld within a breath......
My version of this episode: The same start as before but adding the diamonds guessing what a mom is, the gems trying to cure a lot of other corrupted gems, and the episode ends with a mention of white diamond.
People have been theorizing the gempire are currently at war with some other alien race, why else would they be so desperate for a planet-sized geoweapon? what could they possibly need that for?
Looking back, I sit here and think 'You poor innocent creature. You had so many dreams, so much hope.' It's watching a moment before tragedy. But for real, it's so weird remembering that NO ONE knew this was the end (of the main series). No one knew it was cancelled and everyone was blindsided by this final event of episodes. I remember when the cast was falling down a hole and getting ALL the last minute fusions out of the way I realized this is actually the series finally isn't it? Uncorrupting the gems confirmed the suspicion.
I got the impression from White's head/spikes that its suppose to be a kind of crown. Her being the top diamond and head over all. She also had that overbearing/Royal feel, Not letting Steven get a word in. Just telling him what she thinks and then banishing him to Pinks tower.
I can't help but feel that the Diamonds aren't questioning Steven's behaviour or trying to turn him back to Pink is because Steven is acting the way Pink should. He is taking responsiblity, showing care and concern for the Gems under him and being honest. Something Rose Quartz never did.
I have the same feelings for the episode as you do, the episode just felt like it was over packed, we had centi being healed (though only a few minutes long) in the same episode as WHITE DIAMOND. We've had a centi themed episode already and I know they're just trying to get it all in before a finale, I wouldn't have minded another centi episode, or steven showing more corrupted gems or something like that. Even if they just left the episode at white pearl would be better. Steven being taken by white pearl, going into white ship, steven looking up at white and then cliffhanger
I'm sorry you're dealing with dosage changes. I can totally relate. By which I mean, dosage/medication changers are happening with me too.I hope with all of my heart that you're feeling better and are able to get the side effects under control. I love the way your brain works, but I hate that there's a trade-off there. You can't have brilliance without crippling depression/anxiety. Anyway, I'm going to take this time to say something extremely corny: I know we've never met and probably never will, but I know that if we did end up meeting, we'd be great friends. Lots of love!
I feel like Bismuth could have suddenly realized the opportunity to fix the diamond's arm ships, and perhaps to weaponize them "just in case". With Lapis and Peridot not having seen the end of the battle, the opportunity to spread distrust (using paranoia/prudence arguments, or lies to create paranoia) to make Bismuth some sort of rebel warlord sounds like a possibility.
Seeing home world confirmed a theory I have, that the gem empire is deteriorating. Partly due to over exploration of planets’ resources, and partly because it over extended itself. I think that will be the new ‘enemy’
I feel like this episode should have been split into two, one for trying to heal the corrupted gems, reconciliation with the diamonds, and preparing for homeworld, while having another episode for actually getting there and meeting WD. I’m pretty sure that would have fixed the pacing problems.
I wonder if the fast pacing of everything might just be a technique to emphasize how this time Steven has actually lost control of things and can't hold the pacing down to bite sized moments ...
I interpret the rushed feeling as the entire storyline going back in time. Like you mentioned homeworld might try their best to revert steven back to pink diamonds original form. Foreshadowed when yellow mentions pinks memories must be somewhere in stevens gem. I think its a stark contrast to the rest of the show because so much of stevens life as a child was spent building on his emotional development and making him a leader yet the second his diamond sisters show up his entire existence is returned to before he was even steven. Like this isnt really stevens plot line anymore, like after everything that happened everyone just refers to him as pink again. All that hard work and war, after thousands of years, gone in seconds. And like lets not forget the relativity of time for the gems. If a few thousand years feels like a couple of decades ago, imagine how long a few days feel to them.
The cluster is going to be about the size of the ships, we haven't seen it in its full state, just the arm so far, but its propobly going to be of grate help in the fight aginst white
My hot take for the ending of this arc is for a Wizard of Oz reveal with Connie playing the role of Toto. In other words, the big White Diamond is a prop used by the real "master" of Homeworld. Once revealed (or threatened with being revealed) she will cooperate with Steven. More interesting would be if that "master" reveals they have no real power to fix corruption and Steven leaves home empty handed.
I actually like how fast the scenes happen once they actually get to Homeworld. It paints White Diamond, the one who runs the show, as cold and efficient despite the welcoming party and how she smiles when she sees Steven in person. I loved how quickly Steven was just "filed away" so soon after meeting her and that he's so stunned by this revelation that he doesn't have time to say anything and we cut to black. Not to say that this justifies the rest of the episode and its predecessor being so fast paced. In fact, I think that if the pacing of everything ELSE was more pensive this would have had an even bigger effect.
I agree, I liked the pacing of the White Diamond stuff. The lead-up was quite rushed for the reasons he listed, but I adored everything that happened from the time Steven got whooshed away by White Pearl
I don's see any problem with the last two episodes being "in turbo mode". I mean, it makes sense, considering that we are at the end of the season! Of course there's going to be lot's of important stuff happening right now!
"BOOTY RETURNS TO HOME-WORLD" YO. THAT THUMBNAIL CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD-- No but seriously, I....LOVE WHITE DIAMOND. Sadly, tho that's the only thing I loved about this episode-- comedy aside, of course (*Cough* *cough* Booty ship *cough*) I don't like how everyone took.....going on a ship with the DIAMONDS. I mean, yeah, they're pissed at them at first, they have like these angry looks on their faces, even Garnet says "We can't let him go with Blue Diamond, she's a shatterer" but....that's-- Literally IT. I get why Steven rushed all of them, though....he's been wanting to find a cure for corruption since like season 1, and this is his only chance to do so. I just wish the CGs would've at least convinced him to talk it out with them before making that final decision, and also what you said about basically explaining about White Diamond before heading off. Now, I'm not looking for a backstory or an origin story or anything like that, but rather hints at to what she's LIKE. But yeah, you basically summed up my concerns. Too much crammed in, dialogue is stilted, no room to breathe, etc.
Maybe the fandom will try to fill in the blanks that this episode left. I personally have an idea around Yellow Diamond's reaction after she, Blue and Steven fail to heal Centipeedle. Yellow recalls Peridot's words that the earth had things "worth protecting." At first, Yellow thought that Peridot simply was referring to the humans and animals living on Earth. Now that Yellow knows about the corruption aspect, she begins to wonder if Peridot also believed that the corrupted gems were "worth protecting". In other words, Peridot refused to let the cluster destroy the earth because she had discovered the presence of the corrupted gems on Earth. If the Earth is destroyed, those gems will be destroyed as well (remember that Centipeedle was a gem who fought on Homeworld's side).
A cool detail A lot of people I feel missed is how you can see a year come from Pearls eye and the camera deliberately pans to blues face to show that it's not. Blue diamond's emotion wave that's causing her to cry but rather because seeing Steven fly the ship reminds her of his mother I don't know I thought it was a cool little detail that said a lot without any dialougue
It's funny watching this 2-3 years later, especially the bit at the end about how everyone thought there would be some sort of new threat to unite the gems with Homeworld. Ultimately, the show suffers from having an incredibly engaging setting that frankly the creator and writers really didn't want to focus on. I feel like that was why these last episodes felt so rushed. Fans complained for years about the 'slice of life' or 'townie' episodes, but in hindsight its obvious that's what they WANTED to do the entire time. They never wanted to focus on the backstory of homeworld, not really. They didn't care about the eras, or the wars, or where the gems came from, they wanted a silly show about humans interacting with magical super beings doing everyday things like having a beach party or two townies fighting for whatever reason. This was no more clear than in Steven Universe Future, in which the showrunners specifically turned the homeworld gems into townies. Who were the Diamonds conquering worlds? What was the resulting political landscape of Homeworld? Who cares, let's show reformed gems getting jobs or end the Sadies/Lars arc. I'm not dissing the show for what it was, just fans were so enamored by the setting that it sort of spiraled expectations out of control, and the show people wanted to see just ultimately was not the show we were ever going to be given.
One thing I really like which I haven't seen a lot of people mention is just what kind of personality White Diamond is given here. She acts like a parent, a busy businesswoman who doesn't have time for all your mess. Even Pink going so far as to almost 'die' and rebel against her is just the tiniest thing not worthy of being noted as opposition. A childs tantrum. "Ah you're back pink. Done all you needed to do? Good. Welcome home, go to your room." If shes annoyed at all I expect it to be that she had to step out personally and do the diamond corruption beam that one time, taking her away from her work. That time is probably when she realized Pink was still alive as well. But anyway, seeing how the Diamonds unite when going to face White, like a bunch of sisters preparing to face a stern parent after having done something 'wrong', was very interesting to me.
Also briefly added on.. my view on White Diamond. In short: condescending parent who wants to pretend nothing happened rather than acknowledge whatever caused the events that unfolded, but he's still grounded. Sure, I felt she was angry too, but I felt it was more subtle than just unbridled rage hidden by being cordial and putting Steven in his place by not letting him have a word in. I felt she was trying to avoid and control the issue by saying "no" out of the gate to anything he had to say. I felt.. she was essentially being a parent who did not want to consider the child and just preferred to use her authority to try to say "What happens next is what I want, the end." Admittedly it's basically the same view as you gave, but my distinction is it's less she is a deranged psychopath actively trying to undermine others, and more like she is a shitty parent who feels she is doing what is right and necessary by shutting their child out completely in the interest of their own authority.
Oh come on, White Diamond doesn't have the Simpsons head/hair thing. Her whole body is clearly just shining with radiance which obscures all of the outlines and that's why we can't see where head ends and hair starts. And that's also why we can't see her gem (apart from close up shot on her face where you kinda can see a slightly darker triangle which is one of the sides of her gem.)
I feel like after their reunited performance, the diamonds feel like goofy aunts more than dangerous overlords.
More like nobody's treating them like dangerous overlords--
I'm like: Hey guys? You're in the presence of the overlords you've been hiding from??? Reaction please??
To be fair they did pretty much destroy both of their own ships out of incompetence. I am finding it hard to take them as seriously as I did when we were first introduced.
I see it as Yellow and Blue are humoring Pink and "her" latest weirdness. If they start believing Steven is an impostor and don't get a chance to understand what a descendant is they may strike.
I feel like that's what they're going for. They never really were super villains or anything.
Harmless Spider then again peridot became threat to green Dorito
This single episode had enough to warrant an entire bomb.
An episode for the Diamonds to digest the "Pink's" new form, with partial flashbacks. An episode focused on Pearl specifically, with the Diamonds having mixed emotions about her and vice versa (this is preferably where Pearl lays put ALL her cards about her involvement with the rebellion since Garnet is officially an unreliable source). An episode where the Diamonds experience Earth and address corruption with the added note that they don't seem too sold but willing to indulge the tour. An episode entirely in the ship traveling to homeworld where White's role is better established. And finally, an episode landing in Homeworld, a few more glimpses of gem society, and that iconic meeting with White Diamond.
The episode where the Diamonds digest Pink's new form could only be shown on Adult Swim.
Kevin Joseph dissect*
New World digest works, like, the diamonds need time to consume the new information abt Steven being pink and sit with that a bit
natsiou And that can only be shown on Adult Swim? Is character development that brutal? I’m saying goldwhining2 used “digest” correctly and Kevin Joseph thought he meant “dissect” while misspelling dissect.
That makes a lot of sense.
Connie going, and her parents just going along with it, highlights one of my problems with the series. Her parents are way too accommodating for Connie participating in dangerous activities, and their absence is a huge missed opportunity for character driven stories for the human side of the show.
One of the issues with “Beach City filler” is that the human characters don’t have much of a connection to the plot anymore, nor do most of them have any kind of character development arc. But Connie’s parents were a perfect fit for these kinds of stories. It would have been interesting to see them take an interest in her training, interact with the gems, ask questions about their abilities. I always wanted an episode where her mom gave Steven an exam (though now I know an X-ray would have exposed the shape of his Gem).
Mostly, I just wanted to see them come to terms with Connie working with the gems, over time. Nightmare Hospital was rushed and unbelievable. The message was that they needed to trust their daughter to handle herself, but the scale makes her parent’s fears justified. We’re not talking about them refusing to let her ride a public bus alone, or take up a dangerous activity like rock climbing. We’re talking about fighting monsters in life and death situations, and now wishing off to the far corners of space with two warlords who just tried to murder everyone!
Again, it’s just another contrivance to keep the plot points they want moving. The crewniverse want Connie involved, they want the possibility of Stevonnie, and legitimate parental concern would interfere with that. So it’s been swept under the rug, and her parents don’t act like responsible parents. At this point, they’ve pretty much agreed to let her be a Child Soldier.
Arella Jardin yes yes and yes thank you
I've been saying this for a while now but they ruined connie imo
It's like they wanna make Connie in the right when she says she can handle herself but the scale of the danger is just too big to just excuse it with just a pat on the back
That's why I love that Toph episode from ATLA(even though that plotline never came to a resolution or conclusion) where despite showing that she may be capable of handling danger her parents who have been established as being overprotective understandably refuse her request to travel with the Avatar.
I agree but I would like to say that how Connie's mom treated Connie was very controlling, definitely toxic behavior, maybe even abusive. I hated how quickly Nightmare hotel resolved it because honestly, coming from a controlling Indian family, that sort of parental fear and need to always be in control doesn't just go away like that. If all it took was a conversation wouldn't that have already happened? Connie's a smart kind person surely she would have thought conversing what she wants would have happened before... Parent might not ever even realize they have an issue as such controlling people do a lot of mental gymnastics to rationalize what they're doing as correct. A lot of the time, it never even gets resolved. The kid has to either deal with following the rules until they can leave or break the restraints to the best of their ability and suffer the consequences.
@@MrKiron12 they didn't even let the world know they have a daughter. She could barely even go outside and talk to others, depriving her of social contact every kid needs. I would hardly consider all of this just them being overprotective. But it does make me wonder why Toph chose to never tell them she could see. Maybe she did but they didn't believe her. Which adds to my point.
Now with SUF, Steven got the X-Ray he rightfully deserved
I'm hyped for your Come Along With Me review, it's going to be great.
Andrew Morris even before that, the episode itself is gonna be incredible
it was :,)
Hey, it's cool cat!
I don’t think I could ask for a more beautiful end.
The finale was so amazing and beautiful Im gonna miss adventure time so much
It better not be the Sneeple lol
Oh god it's gonna be the Sneeple...
WHITE DIAMOND IS SNEEPLE CONFIRMED
Watch this actually come true--
Marsboy013 lol
Ronaldo always gets it right
I would prefer Dark Young,honestly but Sneople is cool,I guess.
I totally agree with the TURBO MODE thing. Also I feel like that was shift in the style of the show that happened a long time ago. I have felt for a long time now that SU changed dramatically from the show it used to be. (sorry massive comment essay coming "^^)
Not only is Steven an unrecognizably different character to what he used to be at the start, the writing style, animation style, the humour EVERYTHING about the show is very different in the recent seasons. I have been rewatching it form the start with a friend and am honestly more shocked now after being reminded of how it used to be. Tiny details were given such time and emotional depth. Ever word a character said had a heavy meaning attached. I found myself laughing a lot at the jokes in early episodes which I have not done for aaages. The somewhat frightening nature of the gems abilities and the genuine fear associated with something going wrong with those powers is totally lost in recent seasons. Plus I'm really noticing the amount of things that happened in earlier episodes that are NEVER brought up again. Abilities that the gems have that are not ever seen again. The huge power of Lapis in her introductory episodes that makes what the diamonds have done seem pathetic in comparison. Even the idea that Garnet can bubble Steven and send him back to the temple if need be. Don't get me wrong Im not just trying to hate on the show, its just Ive been reminded of how much I used to LOVE it and Im trying to figure out when this shift of style happened. I feel like somewhere along the way the show feel into every one of the bad tropes it used to subvert. I wonder if its due to a larger scale production or Rebecca Sugar having less to do with the writing of each episode?? It really does seem like these days, not time is spent on the emotional gravity of any situation, so much less emphasis on the soundtrack that used to make it so special...
I have a feeling it might have been around the time Peridot came to earth. I feel like that is when everything started to go downhill. The arcs felt ever more rushed after the reveal of Sardonyx. There is SOO much less character interactions between anyone other than Steven and another character these days it feels like any conflicts that where set up are now meaningless. It now just feels like a puppet show run by Steven. Garnet used to be this imposing, intimidating character who commanded respect and authority and it feels like she has been reduced to a childlike character with no say over anything that happens. i understand that the Gems trust Steven to make his own choices more now but they have gone from sheer terror at the idea of another gem being released, scolding him for running into situation, having much discourse over the dangers of a situation... now it feels like they just follow steven around like puppies. I dunno aboout you, i generally feel like your opinions are really insightful and on point, but i'd be really interested to see you compare the old SU episode style to the new. Like comparing one from the first season to one from the last? x
Yes !! Thank you !
I feel the exact same way but I couldn't tell what exactly had changed that made SU feel so different. You made an awesome job summing it up for me ha ha
Except to me, the change happened at the beginning of season 3 when Malachite and the cluster problems were solved in only two episodes (I litterally couldn't believe they were done with the cluster, I thought the bubble would pop in the very next episode or something), although it might have not been a problem at all if there had not been a big hiatus right before.
Another thing that kinda kills the tension is that the crystal gems have never been in a more high stakes situation since Jail Break. (The only thing that felt more threatening was the cluster, but now that's completly solved too.) I didn't feel very worried watching the last episodes of season 4 with the whole abduction thing but I can't really tell why. And when Stevonnie got stranded on an unknown planet (or moon, I think), they didn't freak out at all. Even the episode where Steven, Lars and Sadie get stucked on an island feels more... scary (sorry my English vocabulary is a bit limited).
About the art style, now it feels like the artists are trying to make it look more like anime, but in a bad way. They seem to focus on making the characters look pretty or cool rather than expressive, fun to look at, like they used to. They also now use visual anime tropes (not sure I'm using this word right) such as the little lines on the cheeks when a character blushes, which is not very coherent with the show's art style in my opinion, and the shadow over the eyes when a character tries to hide or repress their emotions, which I particularly dislike because the show used to be all about showing the characters' feelings in a raw and honest manner.
And about the writing, this season felt to me like fanfiction sometimes... I don't really know how to explain it, but for example, after Garnet unfused after learning about Pink Diamond in the episode What's Your Problem, Pearl and Sapphire have a conversation that felt like "Garnet is so amazing -Ruby is so amazing" (sorry about the satire, I don't know how else to explain). And Steven's only purpose is to be nice and have a little emotional speech at the end of the episode to solve the problem.
(So on a personal note, I feel like Steven Universe has kind of... died. I'm still watching it because I'm too invested in the characters and the story, but I'll probably remember it mainly for the early seasons.)
@Keoh 8 it was the fact that Steven Universe is now pretty much "Steven's Universe".
I should also mention, i really enjoy watching your reviews. I think you have really good view points, and are very fair in your critiques. I also hope that everything thing in your life works out. i probably don't know what i'm talking about because i don't know your situation, but still. I hope everything works out in the long run, keep on making videos and thank you one more time for these videos. sweetdreams
I don’t mind the filler, but when stuff like this starts happening, that’s why I have an issue with all the filler. You get nonstop unimportant details, side character info that doesn’t matter, progression that means nothing and then they try to spam all the important things into an 11 minute slot. This is Steven universes biggest problem and it’s made me almost not even consider it a good show on CN anymore
Daniel Crecca yea that’s a stretch
Yes, pacing and filler is what really pissed me off when it comes to the important episodes that rationally should be going a bit slower. The example I'll never stop bringing up is the whole thing with the cluster. We learn that it's in the Earth and can form and destroy everything they set up the urgency surrounding it, but then they dick around with some filler and come back to it as an afterthought.
We've had long episodes focusing on side characters that, though some were nice, ultimately didn't matter but for the gems processing being deceived by the person they trusted most has to be processed in what could be considered mere hours in real time.
I like Sadie but I don't need to focus on her slice of life issues with her over supportive mother if it means the gems have to accept PD's actions so easily off screen.
That is because its not a good show, its a mediocre one in which during its prime, its was only average at best
what you explained is about 50% of why i do consider it a terrible show. the rest is a bit more misc. The music is a 10/10 for me tho
I mean I liked this episode, but yeah. Waaaay too rushed. It was like 4 episodes crammed into one. I wish they had given us some of the Diamonds reactions to Steven being Pink Diamond, more than what they did. I'm excited to see where they go from here, but I hope they sloooow down just a tiny bit. I want to see the characters reactions to things! I mean Steven Universe is all about characters! Yeeeeeeeeeeep.
Flashback episodes in season 6 might help relieve the rushed pace of this episode. If not, there's always the fan comics and fanfics.
@@DrawciaGleam02 'fanfics' shouldn't be mandatory, not to mention how terrible they typically are...
Awesome video as always! Don't overwork yourself!
Ashe!!!
To me personally it felt rushed but it was really a shocker of what happened in it (:
Also just wanna say I totally relate to the struggles of dealing with medications and all the complications that come with them. I hope that they will be able to help you and that you're mental health improves. Sending much support and postive vibes your way! I love your videos and am always happy to see a new one pop up in my subscription box. Stay awesome!!
I also felt it was very rushed, Blue and Yellow talks to Steven, then they cure the corruption, then they mention White, then they find Pink's ship and goes to Homeworld, then They get in Homeworld and find White Diamond..
It would be better if this episode was a 2 parts episode
It makes sense for the show to be rushed since season 5's finale was written to work as a series finale in case the show didn't get renewed for a 6th season.
There's at least a season 6 in production I believe.
@@StarWarsAddict527
I know but at the time of making these episodes they didn't know if the series was getting more seasons.
Grady Childs there is it’s a 32 episode season
That doesn't really bring out any confidence, especially since the show was promised more seasons in the past with more episodes, but then had their episode number per season drastically cut on short notice.
Badoe713 reunion was suppose to be the series finale because Cartoon Network renewed the show at the last minute
Part of the reason why these past two episodes felt so rushed is probably because at the time they were being produced, Rebecca Sugar and the rest of the Crewniverse did not yet know if they were going to be renewed for more seasons beyond season five, so they had to try to cram in as many important details as possible and write the season five finale in such a way that it could potentially serve as a series finale if they did not get a season six. The other part of reason why I think these episodes feel so rushed is because we have gotten so used to having all these slow-paced episodes recently where the story drags its feet and the main plot has taken a backseat that for us to suddenly start getting actual plot progression in such a short amount of time just feels really jarring, almost like we're watching a completely different show now.
It hasn't ended yet though. Legs from Here to Homeworld is not the final episode in season five. There's at least one more episode after it (three more actually if some of those episode titles floating around are real). Looking at how fast-paced this episode and Reunited was, literally anything could happen in the remaining episodes(s) we have left of season five.
This episode just felt so rushed for me
Sinful They honestly should’ve spent more time on earth getting use to the diamonds being around. Instead of focusing on humans so much they should’ve cut some of those episodes to make more room for this. I mean it took like 3 episodes just for Peridot to trust the crystal gems. The diamonds are already cool with Steven (PD).
@ABCDEFG T It was most definitely rushed, like DW said they could've cut some filler from previous seasons to allow space for a longer episode. And there being only 2 episode slots left in the season, they just crammed together all the details of going to Homeworld, seeing Centi uncorrupted and White Diamond's reveal. It was obviously very very rushed.
Same for me it was doing a crawl at some point but now it like they act they just discover the warp drive
@ABCDEFG T The pacing was terrible, it just ruins the whole episode. Though I was pleased with the lore, the pacing just doesn't do it justice.
@ABCDEFG T
How It wasn't rushed? In 11 minutes Blue and Yellow understands Pink/Rose, They & Steven cure (kinda) centipeetle, everyone activate Pink's ship and goes to Homeworld, White is mentioned, everyone goes to Homeworld and White Diamond & her pearl appear..
How is this not rushed?
Hey uncivilized elk I was wondering if you would be up to making a video compilation of some of your favorite adventure time episodes. You could explain your reasoning behind them and it would a be nice look into the past as the series comes to its end.
Sam B he said he’d do it after series is over
1) If more videos in TH-cam had updates while centered on feeding lizards, the world would be a better place
2) This episode could definitely have been two, once centered on centi and the ramifications of the gem war, and the other on traveling to home world.
3) WHITE DIAMOND IS AN ICON, I read somewhere that White Diamond is Steven's ultimate villain because Steven's greatest power is his communication skills and she's having none of it, and I agree
looking back on videos like this makes it all the sadder that Change Your Mind even happened at all. so much got squandered there... I’ll make this comparison til I’m blue in the face, but White Diamond initially reminded me of the other mother from Coraline, and I was really hoping to see her character edge into some true horror. they already did that with the forced fusions back on earth... that was all so delightfully creepy and sad all at once.
I could see White Diamond being something ancient... like the primordial life which all other gems can credit as the proginator of their species. she could’ve been created the way that most planets are created... some serendipitous collision of rocks in space, producing just the right conditions for her to come into being. that would give her the inherent clout to claim dominion over all other gems, and would clearly separate her from any gem that was created artificially as their species expanded its numbers. and it would also be a potentially great source of supporting evidence for the idea that White Diamond is a perfect being, and the emotions and desires of other gems within their society are all defects that happened because they weren’t created the way that White Diamond was.
I would’ve loved to see a gem creation myth getting passed on to Steven... the gems’ oral history of how White Diamond formed. and with White being so old, and so alien, it might not have been possible to “defeat” her in a traditional manner.
I really think it would’ve be very powerful for Steven to ask White Diamond why imperfection is so intolerable to her. if she really wanted all gems to be perfect, she could just steal their will. brainwashing all of gem kind would connect everyone to her and make them just like her. and Steven thinks he’s calling her out on a flaw in her behavior. he thinks she’ll be forced to concede that the reason why she didn’t steal their will was because there was value in the gems’ various differences... but in the end, White is actually proud of Steven for having come to this conclusion, and she agrees. and the only reason why Steven is able to stop her from brainwashing absolutely everyone, is because he takes it a step further and ponders why she even wants all these small, imperfect bodies to control. she herself is already a perfect being.
it could’ve been really eerie to see her smile wide, agree with that logic, and then allow herself to drift off, sinking into the vacuum of space with a serene grace that betrays nothing about her thoughts at all. she could’ve been totally incomprehensible... a total enigma. and it would’ve highlighted the true value of being a feeling creature, and valuing other people for their unique intrinsic worth. because when you don’t... truly, nothing matters anymore.
also, I just love it when the diamonds leverage their authority for frivolous things like having backup singers during their villain songs... like what Yellow had going with the pearls in What’s The Use Of Feeling Blue. White could’ve done that on a _much_ larger scale using her brainwashing ability, and it honestly is a tragedy that we never even got a villain song from her at all.
Why hasn't the military gotten involved in any of this? Two giant hand ships, tremors, and strange pads around the world should warrant a massive investigation
I was so excited about White on her first appearance and then she was so disappointing in change your mind
About White Dimond, the entire series has pretty much been leading up to her and they just go "White" and everyone is just shocked but like 5 seconds later they're like "okay here she is (lip smack) kay bye." And I'm just like what What WHAT!!!!!!!???
They say there will be a longer version of an episode of this season on the DVD release. I feel like it will be this one given how much this feel like there is parts missing from it. As for the Giant Diamond Meca, I theorized that, they will reconstitute it (without the arms) for the purpose of "moving" White (who hasn't left Homeworld or her head-ship in eons) back to earth to force her to undo corruption, as I think she'd never do willingly. Pink controlling the legs, she can make the head go anywhere (also it would be funny and bad ass to see that happening). That's my guess :)
sorry for bad english
Garance well I mean the two arm ships can fly on their own
@@benepic3101 yes but for now they are broken and unusable on earth.
Did it happen? The longer episode?
the thing that bothered ME the most (and this is probably just me being stupid but) when would bismuth have learned the expression “the lions den”?
lion must have been magicked by the time she was poofed by rose, since she was put right into lion, but where would she have heard the expression? did she hear it from humans? i cant see the gems and humans hanging out 5000-6000 years ago, so was the expression made by gems in this universe? i cant see that happening either, because a gem would never be punished by either side by being thrown into a lions den, and anyways its not like they couldnt just defeat the lions in combat. so that leaves when bismuth was freed twice. i dont feel like she would have learned it in the short time she was out the first time, and even then she probably wouldnt get it enough to repeat it; figurative expressions take a while to figure out (EDIT: and it would probably be even harder coming from another culture AND another planet), and i dont feel like, after getting back a friend you fought a war with after 5000 years, your first thought would be to sit them down and explain what a lions den is and its figurative meaning. that leaves when she was freed for the wedding, but the same problem applies there; i dont know how much time passed between her being freed and the wedding, but i cant see it being more than a week or so. so WHEN did bizmuth learn this? im sure the crewniverse didnt put much thought into it (who would, besides me; its stupid) but even watching the episode when it first aired this bothered me.
Steven has a pet lion
but when would anyone have used the expression “the lions den”? being in the lions den is when youre in a place or situation surrounded by something or someone that actively wants to hurt you, and thats not something that was really happening when bismuth was freed either time. i suppose you could say thats the situation with the crystal gems and homeworld, but homeworld at that point was a more passive threat; showing up occasionally but never really causing too much trouble. the biggest problems at that point had been peridot, who became an ally, and jasper, who went rogue and got corrupted. i forget if jasper was corrupted by the time bismuth was freed the first time, but even then, would they have used ‘the lions den’ to refer to jasper? i dont see it.
I wondered that too!
Imposssem 10
Just the fact that gems speaks English should bother you.
Imposssem 10 She did ask "what's a wedding", so you make a good point. Although as someone else pointed out, the Gems all speak English purely as a matter of convenience, so maybe "lion's den" is just how the sentiment is manifesting in English.
I can't help but think that now that Steven is, currently locked in "his" room (presumably Pink's) by White Diamond.
Somewhere down the line; Yellow, Blue or perhaps both of them will come and seek out answers from him. Wondering why Pink is in that form and why she chose earth over them?
Such an idea would give us a perfect Steven's Birth episode, wouldn't you say
I really hope you finish the 5th season review someday, your reviews are amazing, I personally enjoy them very much and would like to hear your opinions on the rest of the season
(CN producer slides over final notice of project termination)
Rebecca: You know what? FUCK IT. Ｓｅｒｉｅｓ Ｆｉｎａｌｅ！
I'm sad bc this is most likely the truth :(
I've been looking forward to this for a minute now and I'm so glad you finally posted it but more happy to hear that you're okay and nothing too serious as happened. I wish you the best, please take care of your health. Love your content keep creating.
Just eagerly waiting for that adventure time finale review for you to analyze it. Love your work and your deep analysis on every aspect on things that most viewers don’t even notice until you point it out
Always love to see your opinions guy. You never fail to make me notice new aspects of an episode! I just really hope we get to see the diamond mecha now...
Huh, I didn't noticed the pace and elements being present from your perspective has helped with expanding my own, thanks again. I also agree with how there needs to be more information about White Diamond and the situation. Nice, referencing that theory about White Pearl. I haven't thought about how upset about White Diamond repressing her rage despite her speech and expression. Another wonderful and lovely review. Looking forward to the next video. I hope that you feel better from being sick and your health getting better
6:05 you and Pearl think the same thing
I like all of the smaller episodes about the people of Beach City, but I feel like a few of them should have been axed, or at the very least combined, to give them more room to focus on this massive rush of major plot events. Plus I'm really worried that the Diamonds are just gonna get away with the millions of years worth of atrocities they've committed.
At 1:57 you used the word exasperated instead of exacerbated. The former means being fed up with something or someone; the latter means some significant element is being amplified by a complicating factor.
Just thought I'd point that out.
Hey, I'm really glad you're back! I sincerely hope things get better and better for now on. Thank you for your wonderful work, keep strong in the real way :)
I have one small thing to say about the diamonds not arguing
Blue diamond isn’t going to argue with her sister since blue diamond sees her to be justified with all of this, blue out right says “she’s been punished enough” after yellow saying about how many gems did pink have them ruin, and yellow isn’t going to argue with blue and the crystal gems it’s a fight she can’t win, and let’s face it while blue is more emotional then yellow, yellow is still going to be some what happy that pink isn’t shattered
CN renewed the show for 4 more seasons. They definitely have a lot more planned
JayBe Really?
DW yeah there was some dude that claims to work for CN who made a ton of predictions about the network and other shows that were all proven shockingly accurate, and one of his predictions was that SU would be getting four more seasons. CN hasn’t officially said so yet but it’s looking pretty likely. It’s still not that crazy compared to Adult Swim renewing Rick and Morty for 9 more seasons after season 3
JayBe they didn’t renew rick and morty for 9 more seasons. Only 70 more episodes, which could easily be 3 or 4 seasons
have a pickle yeah my bad. I got 7 and 9 mixed up and I also just assumed the episode count would be 10 episodes each. I guess we really don’t know. It’s still ridiculous nonetheless though
JayBe makes sense season 3 made adult swim ALOT of money, especially with merch and episode views. So from a business standpoint, it makes sense
There's something called "drama" and "realistic conflict" and "character building" that SU's forgotten. It feels like some writers wrote an awesome 100-word outline and gave it to some cartoonists who turned it into a bland, hollow series of events (oh wait that's exactly what happened).
This is why Steven universe needs to be a 22 minute cartoon not just 11 minutes
The only thing I can see being as big as the combination diamond ship is the cluster
What I really like about White Diamond's design is how she looks like early animation/Hollywood. She seems creepy and outmoded.
As for whether we'll see other alien races, I think the line "galactic embarrassment" says a lot.
Glad to have you back. As for predictions, I think the story is gonna slow down a bit. Either we’re going to go back to Beach City to deal with Peridot and Lapis and to prolong the story, and we might possibly see Blue and Yellow’s Pearls emerge from the wreckage. Or we’re going to get more flashbacks. Yellow Diamond said that Steven still has all of Pink’s memories, so unlocking his memories seems like a good place to start. Steven is locked up in his tower, and I’m going to guess the only ones with visitation rights is Yellow and Blue. They’re each going to take turns helping Steven put together the pieces of his past life, while also bonding with him and they’ll start to view his as Steven and not Pink. This will lead to Steven’s punishment. Pearl said when Steven was born that Rose was still there, she just couldn’t form because “there’s all this baby around her.” White will come to the conclusion that Steven is disposable and will try to remove his gem, disregarding what might happens to Steven. And let’s face it, he’ll probably die. So it will be up to Yellow and Blue to stand up and protect him. As for the big Gem-tron robot, I think that will be dealt with in flashbacks as well. The arms were destroyed, and it just seems to convoluted try and fit in them being retrieved from Earth and getting fixed. This is just one girl’s opinion.
_Two_ reviews in two days? You're spoiling us.
When they first mentioned White Diamond in this episode, I exasperatedly thought, "Oh great, we'll probably get to see her in another year or so." Then we saw her by the end of the fucking episode. That turbo point is dead on. They blew through multiple seasons worth of revelations in the last two episodes alone. Remember when it took 36 episodes into the show to even see any contemporary interference from Homeworld?
And _you know_ White Diamond will be won over to their side by the end of the show, because of course that would happen. Your point about another hereto-unmentioned faction feels _imminent._
I thought this was gonna be the “Full Disclosure” to Jailbreak’s “Reunited”; take some time to express everyone’s feelings about what transpired last night and over the show’s course or so. That doesn’t sound far fetched, I would’ve had no problem with that, and it felt like a well opportune time.
Never mind that, TO THE BOOTY EXPRESS!
At this point, no one has finished the video. I don’t know what to say so say hi to Timmy 🦑
I just rewatched all your Steven universe reviews and even though you already did the movie and kinda summed up your opinion I think you should at least formulate your thoughts on final episodes, I just like hearing your opinions even if you don't like them I like hearing the criticism also waiting on that infinity train reviews but get around to your Hobbies when your all settled and feeling good, hopefully your doing alright bud
I’m a little sad there aren’t reviews for the next episodes or at least the final one. It’s okay though, it’s passed and isn’t a big deal in the slightest. Your choice!
why didn't anyone recognize pearl as pink diamonds pearl? Such as Jasper, or like... yellow diamond after seeing peridots report? Idk. Or, yknow Blue diamond when her and rose attacked?
Probably because of bad writing
“White diamonds future characterization and lore”
Hahaaaaa no
I know the feeling of the double depressions meds, lots of love
Now to ramble extensively as I feel like I have paragraphs to say about every couple of sentences you give.
I've said it before, but I think it bears repeating each opportunity. With the "turbo mode" here, I think there's a reason. Previously we had domestic tales on Earth based around Steven's development. I think they're changing the story into Steven on Homeworld based around how he changes things, his status as a diamond changes him, and the character arc of Yellow and Blue diamond. I think this rushed development is them getting the setting out of the way for changing to a brand new status quo for the foreseeable future.
The lack of nuance and complexity to events is because they're future plots: we're getting a hint that homeworld is necessary for the over-arching plot, and what homeworld plots the show will explore. Now they just changed the setting and are going to explore those stories over time, now with Steven being treated as Pink Diamond on an alien world.
Then the diamonds going along with Steven; I think this is the show exploring the idea that they just snapped STRAIGHT into treating him as Pink Diamond; this is probably what they were like around her at the best of times. Because a coming plot will be them understanding that he isn't truly Pink Diamond. That and gems tendency to not ask important questions or think about details, which further plays into them just jumping into treating things as normal as soon as they accept him as Pink Diamond. I think the idea here is that they don't feel the need to get Pink Diamond back; the moment they accepted Steven had her gem, they considered Pink Diamond to be with them again in an instant, because as gems they don't consider or know the possibility of deeper subtleties, as has been established as a species trait for them.
I actually get this particular feeling with the show a lot; that the most rushed moments are often just set-up, hints that "This is going to be a future character development that we're showing exists now." Like Lapis and Peridot's relationship, which was initially expressed with a sudden personality shift in Peridot, and explored later as her trying to be welcoming to Lapis, that her shift in personality was an intentional thing on her part.
The CG accepting things and going along is also harder to understand. Garnet was hinted as to having seen the future, ominously specifying only Steven will be fine. I think there's some cultural subtleties we don't have here; that them being with a diamond, acknowledged by the other diamonds, sarcastically, but acknowledged nonetheless as his "friends" means they wont just be destroyed outright. Perhaps it also isn't as bad as we've been led to believe. We've only seen the worst of their homeworlds problems and how they treat their enemies; now we may start seeing what it is actually like, and see a less horrible side of things.
Finally, yeah, the ships definitely feel like a Chekhov's Gun scenario. What sort of threat is coming, though, is still a mystery. I think all my previous ranting is why any potential other species, as well as gem homeworld's society has been such a big secret so far in the series. We've hit an Act 2 of the show: Steven on Homeworld. We're going to start getting their culture, how they function, and the greater secrets of the universe from here-on out as Steven comes to understand the other diamonds, and the other diamonds come to understand and accept him.
As usual, I love your analysis.
I honestly think that the whole end of season 5 (reunited-diamond days) was extremely rushed. Reunited I can mostly live with- although i bet the crewniverse could have fit more stuff in between the wedding and the diamonds' arrival and even the cluster being unbubbled etc etc. then there could've been more in-between videos in which the diamonds try to leave but can't and steven introduces them to earth. (this can make for some character development before the start of diamond days where they suddenly become much less accepting because of White and what she wants) THEN the topic of the corruption is brought up, and that can last maybe an episode with some more character development. then, leading on to the next episode mainly, they find pink's ship and go to homeworld, drawing out the journey and just before. then the end scene in legs from here to homeworld plays.
following that, diamond days was relatively drawn out until the one hour special of change your mind. this- i think- should have had a battle, maybe the fusions (for an end-of-season prize, which would make the audience content) AND THEN, WHEN WHITE WON'T CHANGE, THEY ESCAPE BACK TO EARTH.
this would be much better than the one-episode-redemption of all the diamonds, as now everyone knows Steven is Pink Diamond- even all the gems on homeworld- including the diamonds. this would obviously increase the intensity. the rest of the arc (including lars' return to earth, the crystal gems preparing for war, etc, etc) until the diamonds' final redemption can happen throughout season 6. boom. extra content, doesn't feel rushed, and the crewniverse makes a ton more money.
Unfortunately this was rushed because it was never renewed for a sixth season... Watching the show so late gives me a unique perspective 😢
Also, it took so much longer to get to the beach city. So much that Lars on the fastest spaceship hasnt arrived yet but steven and co got to homeworld within a breath......
Spaceships move at the speed of PLOT.
@@KelvinZero533 true, and plot is trying to rush
Yep another plot hole and inconsistency
Cute lizard!!!
After Can’t go back the show has been on fire
Like if you agree
I'm burning
My version of this episode: The same start as before but adding the diamonds guessing what a mom is, the gems trying to cure a lot of other corrupted gems, and the episode ends with a mention of white diamond.
People have been theorizing the gempire are currently at war with some other alien race, why else would they be so desperate for a planet-sized geoweapon? what could they possibly need that for?
Who cares about Steven universe? The finale of adventure is in 2 days
fight me
"Who cares"
Literally everyone commenting here.
well, maybe we can care about both?
Adventure Time is leaving so many open ends so dont care too much for its finale which is shoe horning way too many villian characters at the end
well maybe they'll somehow tie all those ends together into a nice knot. with a few hanging out.
I love you and your reviews and I feel like no one had said thank you for doing this and I hope you are feeling better
Great review, thanks! No need to apologize at the beginning! We understand that life and mental health come first.
Looking back, I sit here and think 'You poor innocent creature. You had so many dreams, so much hope.' It's watching a moment before tragedy. But for real, it's so weird remembering that NO ONE knew this was the end (of the main series). No one knew it was cancelled and everyone was blindsided by this final event of episodes. I remember when the cast was falling down a hole and getting ALL the last minute fusions out of the way I realized this is actually the series finally isn't it? Uncorrupting the gems confirmed the suspicion.
7:47 I cannot believe you avoided saying the pun 'a cut above the rest here'
What I found odd about the episode is how it looked like gems in homeworld knew about the return of Pink.
I got the impression from White's head/spikes that its suppose to be a kind of crown. Her being the top diamond and head over all. She also had that overbearing/Royal feel, Not letting Steven get a word in. Just telling him what she thinks and then banishing him to Pinks tower.
I can't help but feel that the Diamonds aren't questioning Steven's behaviour or trying to turn him back to Pink is because Steven is acting the way Pink should. He is taking responsiblity, showing care and concern for the Gems under him and being honest. Something Rose Quartz never did.
Oh my god! I just love your videos man, keep the good work ^^
I have the same feelings for the episode as you do, the episode just felt like it was over packed, we had centi being healed (though only a few minutes long) in the same episode as WHITE DIAMOND. We've had a centi themed episode already and I know they're just trying to get it all in before a finale, I wouldn't have minded another centi episode, or steven showing more corrupted gems or something like that. Even if they just left the episode at white pearl would be better. Steven being taken by white pearl, going into white ship, steven looking up at white and then cliffhanger
Foreshadowing about the diamond's potential giant robot: "Giant robots shouldn't fight!" -Steven
I miss the old pacing of the show, where things took their time so it felt natural and not rushed
I'm sorry you're dealing with dosage changes. I can totally relate. By which I mean, dosage/medication changers are happening with me too.I hope with all of my heart that you're feeling better and are able to get the side effects under control. I love the way your brain works, but I hate that there's a trade-off there. You can't have brilliance without crippling depression/anxiety. Anyway, I'm going to take this time to say something extremely corny: I know we've never met and probably never will, but I know that if we did end up meeting, we'd be great friends. Lots of love!
I feel like Bismuth could have suddenly realized the opportunity to fix the diamond's arm ships, and perhaps to weaponize them "just in case". With Lapis and Peridot not having seen the end of the battle, the opportunity to spread distrust (using paranoia/prudence arguments, or lies to create paranoia) to make Bismuth some sort of rebel warlord sounds like a possibility.
Seeing home world confirmed a theory I have, that the gem empire is deteriorating. Partly due to over exploration of planets’ resources, and partly because it over extended itself. I think that will be the new ‘enemy’
Would the combined Megazord ship thingy even work now that Blue and Yellow's ships are wrecked on Earth?
What if comining ships creates a healing wave? That the corrupotion wave was created when three ships combined.
I feel like this episode should have been split into two, one for trying to heal the corrupted gems, reconciliation with the diamonds, and preparing for homeworld, while having another episode for actually getting there and meeting WD. I’m pretty sure that would have fixed the pacing problems.
I wonder if the fast pacing of everything might just be a technique to emphasize how this time Steven has actually lost control of things and can't hold the pacing down to bite sized moments ...
I interpret the rushed feeling as the entire storyline going back in time. Like you mentioned homeworld might try their best to revert steven back to pink diamonds original form. Foreshadowed when yellow mentions pinks memories must be somewhere in stevens gem. I think its a stark contrast to the rest of the show because so much of stevens life as a child was spent building on his emotional development and making him a leader yet the second his diamond sisters show up his entire existence is returned to before he was even steven. Like this isnt really stevens plot line anymore, like after everything that happened everyone just refers to him as pink again. All that hard work and war, after thousands of years, gone in seconds. And like lets not forget the relativity of time for the gems. If a few thousand years feels like a couple of decades ago, imagine how long a few days feel to them.
The cluster is going to be about the size of the ships, we haven't seen it in its full state, just the arm so far, but its propobly going to be of grate help in the fight aginst white
It feels like the creators were told they have only a few episodes left before the show ends altogether.
I feel like it's rushed because they wanna make sure questions are answered before they get cancelled lmao
I doubt it would cancelled
I did not realize that was white diamond's ship, I thought it was a central ruling tower. Good eye!
My hot take for the ending of this arc is for a Wizard of Oz reveal with Connie playing the role of Toto. In other words, the big White Diamond is a prop used by the real "master" of Homeworld. Once revealed (or threatened with being revealed) she will cooperate with Steven. More interesting would be if that "master" reveals they have no real power to fix corruption and Steven leaves home empty handed.
Will we ever get reviews for the final episodes of the season?
I actually like how fast the scenes happen once they actually get to Homeworld. It paints White Diamond, the one who runs the show, as cold and efficient despite the welcoming party and how she smiles when she sees Steven in person. I loved how quickly Steven was just "filed away" so soon after meeting her and that he's so stunned by this revelation that he doesn't have time to say anything and we cut to black.
Not to say that this justifies the rest of the episode and its predecessor being so fast paced. In fact, I think that if the pacing of everything ELSE was more pensive this would have had an even bigger effect.
I agree, I liked the pacing of the White Diamond stuff. The lead-up was quite rushed for the reasons he listed, but I adored everything that happened from the time Steven got whooshed away by White Pearl
I know this video was old but.... PINK ABUSED HER!
8:26 ......JUST WAIT FOR THE MOVIE
I don's see any problem with the last two episodes being "in turbo mode". I mean, it makes sense, considering that we are at the end of the season! Of course there's going to be lot's of important stuff happening right now!
"BOOTY RETURNS TO HOME-WORLD"
YO. THAT THUMBNAIL CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD--
No but seriously, I....LOVE WHITE DIAMOND.
Sadly, tho that's the only thing I loved about this episode-- comedy aside, of course (*Cough* *cough* Booty ship *cough*)
I don't like how everyone took.....going on a ship with the DIAMONDS. I mean, yeah, they're pissed at them at first, they have like these angry looks on their faces, even Garnet says "We can't let him go with Blue Diamond, she's a shatterer" but....that's-- Literally IT.
I get why Steven rushed all of them, though....he's been wanting to find a cure for corruption since like season 1, and this is his only chance to do so. I just wish the CGs would've at least convinced him to talk it out with them before making that final decision, and also what you said about basically explaining about White Diamond before heading off. Now, I'm not looking for a backstory or an origin story or anything like that, but rather hints at to what she's LIKE.
But yeah, you basically summed up my concerns. Too much crammed in, dialogue is stilted, no room to breathe, etc.
Maybe the fandom will try to fill in the blanks that this episode left.
I personally have an idea around Yellow Diamond's reaction after she, Blue and Steven fail to heal Centipeedle. Yellow recalls Peridot's words that the earth had things "worth protecting." At first, Yellow thought that Peridot simply was referring to the humans and animals living on Earth. Now that Yellow knows about the corruption aspect, she begins to wonder if Peridot also believed that the corrupted gems were "worth protecting". In other words, Peridot refused to let the cluster destroy the earth because she had discovered the presence of the corrupted gems on Earth. If the Earth is destroyed, those gems will be destroyed as well (remember that Centipeedle was a gem who fought on Homeworld's side).
A cool detail A lot of people I feel missed is how you can see a year come from Pearls eye and the camera deliberately pans to blues face to show that it's not. Blue diamond's emotion wave that's causing her to cry but rather because seeing Steven fly the ship reminds her of his mother
I don't know I thought it was a cool little detail that said a lot without any dialougue
It's funny watching this 2-3 years later, especially the bit at the end about how everyone thought there would be some sort of new threat to unite the gems with Homeworld.
Ultimately, the show suffers from having an incredibly engaging setting that frankly the creator and writers really didn't want to focus on. I feel like that was why these last episodes felt so rushed. Fans complained for years about the 'slice of life' or 'townie' episodes, but in hindsight its obvious that's what they WANTED to do the entire time. They never wanted to focus on the backstory of homeworld, not really. They didn't care about the eras, or the wars, or where the gems came from, they wanted a silly show about humans interacting with magical super beings doing everyday things like having a beach party or two townies fighting for whatever reason.
This was no more clear than in Steven Universe Future, in which the showrunners specifically turned the homeworld gems into townies. Who were the Diamonds conquering worlds? What was the resulting political landscape of Homeworld? Who cares, let's show reformed gems getting jobs or end the Sadies/Lars arc. I'm not dissing the show for what it was, just fans were so enamored by the setting that it sort of spiraled expectations out of control, and the show people wanted to see just ultimately was not the show we were ever going to be given.
"I just hope crewniverse can slow the pacing down-"
what was that? 8000 more beach episodes? here ya go!
One thing I really like which I haven't seen a lot of people mention is just what kind of personality White Diamond is given here.
She acts like a parent, a busy businesswoman who doesn't have time for all your mess. Even Pink going so far as to almost 'die' and rebel against her is just the tiniest thing not worthy of being noted as opposition. A childs tantrum.
"Ah you're back pink. Done all you needed to do? Good. Welcome home, go to your room."
If shes annoyed at all I expect it to be that she had to step out personally and do the diamond corruption beam that one time, taking her away from her work. That time is probably when she realized Pink was still alive as well.
But anyway, seeing how the Diamonds unite when going to face White, like a bunch of sisters preparing to face a stern parent after having done something 'wrong', was very interesting to me.
6:47 and now i can't fucking unsee it. It's actually hilarious.
I really like Tom Herpich joining the Crewniverse.
Also briefly added on.. my view on White Diamond.
In short: condescending parent who wants to pretend nothing happened rather than acknowledge whatever caused the events that unfolded, but he's still grounded. Sure, I felt she was angry too, but I felt it was more subtle than just unbridled rage hidden by being cordial and putting Steven in his place by not letting him have a word in.
I felt she was trying to avoid and control the issue by saying "no" out of the gate to anything he had to say. I felt.. she was essentially being a parent who did not want to consider the child and just preferred to use her authority to try to say "What happens next is what I want, the end."
Admittedly it's basically the same view as you gave, but my distinction is it's less she is a deranged psychopath actively trying to undermine others, and more like she is a shitty parent who feels she is doing what is right and necessary by shutting their child out completely in the interest of their own authority.
How it ended : steven in pinks room
How it should have ended : What do you mean who? White!
White diamonds is a very 1920's Art Nouveau style design . Purposely picked to show her age.
Oh come on, White Diamond doesn't have the Simpsons head/hair thing. Her whole body is clearly just shining with radiance which obscures all of the outlines and that's why we can't see where head ends and hair starts. And that's also why we can't see her gem (apart from close up shot on her face where you kinda can see a slightly darker triangle which is one of the sides of her gem.)
Awww. I didn’t know you had a lizard! That’s awesome