“You really don’t remember me? You don’t remember saving me from that seagull or our adventures in the ice caves, or when I electrocuted you with… uh, actually, do forget that one.” – Steven, reminding Centi of the really weird adventures that they have gone through. By which I mean, the duo, the Crystal Gems, and us, the viewer.
Airdate: July 27th, 2016
Written By: Raven Molisee and Paul Villeco.
Plot: Steven’s ability to heal people and things to their prime condition has returned. With his ability to repair a stuffed animal, he decides to take on a larger challenge – repairing the Centipeetle that he once befriended. However, in her case, Steven is dealing with corruption, a magnitude worse than mere damage done to a gem. He is able to get her to an improved state. However, a discussion of the past unearths some old traumas, as well as the depths to which Homeworld could and would plunder.
Review:
Quick notice before we begin – the identity of the central character for this episode will be revealed in a later episode. But for the sake of those in the middle of a binge, I will not be mentioning her original name until I get around to reviewing the episode in question. Instead, we will be using the nickname given to her during this outing. With that in mind…
One of the most interesting conundrums within the Steven Universe fandom revolves around how new viewers should approach the first half of Season 1 – Season 1A, as I’ve taken to calling it. Many have called it something of the preseason for the series, and not without merit. Even with the benefit of hindsight, 1A still comes off as a bit more comic-driven and, dare I say it, slightly “sillier” compared to the rest of the series, which rotates between “slice of life” and “space opera”, mixed with character dramedy. As a result, some fans have called for newer viewers to put off up to half of Season 1A until they’re more acquainted with the lore.
Personally, I think that most episodes of Season 1A are rather imperative to watch. This is because the concepts built up in those episodes are expanded upon in future outings. I will cede that there are a couple episodes that, if you put off for the initial outing with Steven Universe, you won’t miss much. These episodes are “Together Breakfast”, “Frybo”, “Onion Trade”, and “Beach Party”.
Note I didn’t say “Monster Buddies”. That episode was rather dramatic and imperative from the start. And now with “Monster Reunion”, the episode becomes more so. Even in this outing on its own, we go deeper inside a Steven Universe tragedy. Yes, there is another one – in fact, it’s one that pretty much deals with a soldier facing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
And it’s a tragedy written by Molisee and Villeco. That is a damn good sign.
The episode begins with an apology for one of the less-liked plot twists in the history of Steven Universe. Back in “House Guest”, Greg faked failure to recover from injury so he could crash at Steven’s place. Given that this involved pretending that Steven’s healing spit was not effective, it apparently damaged Steven’s self-confidence. And since his powers are tied to his emotional status, well, guess what happened to his healing spit? “House Guest” has since gone down as one of the less liked episodes of the entire series for how it adversely impacted the character development and how it portrayed Greg. Even I’ve broken down and admitted that, no, I don’t really like it, either.
This episode can be considered something of a “mea culpa” to those fans who were disappointed – yet it was done in a way that doesn’t retcon the entire experience, but rather, demonstrates both the growth of Steven and the innate limits of these powers.
Over the course of the series, Steven has seen his world all but implode in on itself. Kidnapping, attempted murder, bigotry both galactic and personal, the after-effects of torture, psychotic leadership, deep-seated resentment of himself, deep self-loathing, his near-death on several occasions, assault, and a gaudy Guacola promotion. These traumas have surely put his whole life in perspective, that he has to deal with something far larger than he once thought possible. Ironically, he’s also been riding something of a hot streak, what with Peridot joining the Crystal Gems, Pearl and Greg patching up the chasm in their partnership, he and Connie deciding to leave Kevin in the dust, and helping Kiki grow a spine towards Jenny.
(Spoiler alert: his hot streak won’t last.)
Combined, Steven now has the context and a bit more self-confidence to channel his healing power once more. And what does that do? It fixes his stuffed bear from a tear in its armpit. This is a moment that all but climaxes his hot streak – a power that he once thought lost in perpetuity has returned.
Hence, he feels empowered enough to try and rescue another victim of injury or physical trauma… the Centipeetle. This is like learning that you can ride a bike, and therefore, you should be able to fly an A320 and land it at LaGuardia. It’s not rooted in arrogance, thankfully, just a strong desire to help the desperate. His mind landed on her, one of the first truly traumatized Gems that he saw before the trio exposed the psychological devastation within.
On a meta-level, he’s reached the zenith, TIME TO KNOCK HIM DOWN! Yes, we are dealing with the Crewniverse. Specifically, we are dealing with Molisee and Villeco, their pens doubling as daggers that they thrust into us and twist with prejudice. When characters are in their hands, prepare for tragedy. These two know how to take otherwise cartoony styling and send out the emotion within. They’re my favorite writing team for a reason – while having a couple of weak spots, their best work is often the most emotionally resonant in the Steven Universe canon, with “Rose’s Scabbard”, “Nightmare Hospital”, “Keystone Motel”, “The Return”, and “Keeping it Together” all standing out for their exploration of character pathos.
“Monster Reunion” is no exception.
The worst, most gut-wrenching part is that it all starts out so swimmingly for our favorite human-alien hybrid. Steven is able to not only bring Centi (his nickname for her) out of the bubble, but after applying some good old-fashioned saliva (it’s less weird in context), she actually becomes more humanized. Not to the level of Pearl, Amethyst, or Garnet… but hey, you gotta start somewhere.
But will it also end there? As the show points out, corruption is not quite the same thing as physical damage to the gem. Corruption is psychological, reaching into the deepest recesses of the mindscape, and as a result, creating permanent scars. In terms of analogy, if cracking is equivocal to breaking one’s arm, corruption is closer to getting exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam and the ensuing brain damage. Or, alternatively, surviving a roadside IED only to wake up and see the after effects, and having the ensuring image replay through your mind night after night.
That, my friends, is post-traumatic stress disorder. The cost of war is so often measured in the death toll. The men and women who wind up deployed to Vietnam, Afghanistan, Panama, Iraq, you name it… came back transformed psychologically, and way too often, not for the better. PTSD, brain damage as the result of inhaling chemicals, you name it, war is not good for the mindscape, civilian or combatant. Even more tragic is if they were drafted away from their lives instead of enlisting on their own accord, as was the case until after Vietnam. Even more horrific if those who signed off on war never saw a day of combat in their lives – to paraphrase Ted Trotter from Only Fools and Horses, they too often promise homes fit for heroes, all while producing heroes fit for homes.
If this sentiment exists in our democratic societies, imagine how it exists in autocracies? Yes, Steven Universe is fictional, but the themes it communicates – issues of war, the victims therein, communication breakdown on scales small and large, accepting one’s identity despite the scorn towards said identities – are all too real. This show knows how to play up to its competition, and even when it falters, it does so in a way that makes me admire the Crewniverse. Thankfully, this episode is an example of the show succeeding in doing so.
Hey, this isn’t the first time Steven Universe touched on PTSD. “Sworn to the Sword” and “Same Old World”, anybody? And “Can’t Go Back” shows this episode won’t be the last time. But hey, the world just ain’t about our protagonists, so…
Steven has all but helped Centi find a level of normalcy… for lack of a better word that enters my mind at the moment. He treats her not as a lost cause or as a prisoner, but as an equal, wanting to know more about her and her past. What brought her to the state of corruption? And more importantly, where did she come from? As it turns out, she does have access to her memories – even those that she shared with Steven during her time in full-blown corruption. Well, nice to know now that episode has been made even more morbid. Job well done, Crewniverse, you sadistic nuts. Add more agony to the show in hindsight.
Naturally, if she has memories of their outing, she must have memories beforehand, right?
Here is where the psychological trauma comes into the outing. We start with the fact that she was a commander in the Gem Army. The fact that she was in the military is not a huge surprise, as Homeworld is known to be a Spartanesque militaristic state. The fact that she was given her own ship might be somewhat more shocking, as some might just believe in absolute autocracy. However, an effective military requires chains of command. And even as Homeworld slowly lost its efficiency in the haze of vengeance, there was still some form of order to maintain. Hence, why Centi was a commander, with her own ship.
Of course, that command position was somewhat of a figurehead. She had her own commander, and so did other Gems, as they were all sent over to Earth as part of their colonization efforts. They were stationed there as the Great Gem War commenced and enveloped the planet, taking many Gems with it. Many of her allies, her soldiers, taken out. In the confusion, she wound up separated from her crew, before being told to retreat with directions that were apparently muddled up enough to screw the whole thing over.
And then a garish sound, unnerving music, a flash of light… the moment of corruption. The vast majority of gems that were left on Earth, at least that part of the planet, taken out. There are reports of only a few survivors. One was stuck in the back of a mirror for a few thousand years, the others took cover behind a shield. Lapis and the Crystal Gems, my god.
All thanks to a weapon launched by the Diamond Authority. The triumvirate of terror. No mincing words here – the Diamonds fired a weapon of mass carnage on their soldiers, on their civilians. It can be assumed that they meant to take out the Crystal Gems. To what extent they did… well, we can gather they were quite successful based on what happened at the Strawberry Fields. But to do so without making sure that your women were out of the way first? At the very least, it cements the Diamonds as impulsive to a fault, so driven to their campaign against the Crystal Gems that they were not willing to consider other consequences. Worst case scenario, it exposes a new dimension to their callousness, that they knew that many of their allies and soldiers would be damaged, shrugged their shoulders, and attacked.
Not helping matters is that we’ve seen similar instances of dictators willingly attacking their own civilians in real life, to attack elements they feel would subvert their power. And maybe that’s why this sticks out as probably the most odious moment for the Diamonds – a realistic example of a trait all too common in the mad strongmen of the world. Yes, they were capable of great callousness before, but in one full switch, they damned almost an entire planet to an eternity of psychological torture, where only shattering can provide a sweet release, and that’s provided that they don’t use your body for experiments. Granted, there is clarification in a future episode with regards to their knowledge, but this episode does a good job on its own merits at selling the Diamond authority as depraved leaders.
Is it a good time to mention that this was all communicated via crayon drawings?
I just love the brilliant dissonance of using Crayola 32-Color Crayons to communicate one of the worst war crimes that Homeworld has ever committed. I don’t know why – probably has to deal with the utter perversion of innocence, a major theme that has spanned much of the series.
Helping matters further is the sheer character development that this entails. Centi was the leader of her crew, a mother to her women. In the chaos, she lost them, and before finding them, the grand corruption took place. We don’t know what happened to the rest of them because, quite frankly, she doesn’t know. Not only does she have no answers for a crew that she was placed in command of, possibly grown close to in defiance of a world that tried to eschew such silly emotions, but fears that they have been corrupted… and that by losing track of them, that she damned them to a fate worse than death.
That seems to be a trend in this show – regret over circumstances beyond one’s control. For Centi, it was losing her women in the chaos of a war that was expanded by a trio of callous leaders. For Pearl, it’s losing Rose to Greg even though the relationship, while existent, had possibly burnt out over the years. For Garnet, it’s the impact of Future Vision and how she can handle it. For Amethyst, it’s pretty much her whole bloody life, because she was created as part of an attempt to create more soldiers. And Steven? Well, let’s just say the next two seasons are going to be very fun for his character and how he deals with Rose Quartz. Very fun indeed.
Also fun? The fact that unearthing this trauma, facing this once again, kickstarts a retreat into full-blown corruption. Quite frankly, this is a contender for the most viscerally horrifying psychological breakdown in the entire series. We’ve seen quite a few, of course, but just the way Dee Bradley Baker sells Centi’s psychological – and given the nature of Gem “biology”, physical – regression without saying a single word of the English language really pierces the soul. That’s acting, my friends.
Yet, one has to wonder… is it really regression? Because free of the bubble and having remembered the trauma of the Great Gem War, she (with Steven in tow) takes the Warp Pad straight to the Crashed Ship of Psychological Trauma and Entrapment, where she encounters other Centipeetles. At least some of her comrades, who have been waiting for millennia for her. It may not be all of the Centipeetles, and they are all still corrupted, but damn it, there’s at least some form of comfort. They’re not alone anymore, not without their commander.
Depending on how you think about it, it mirrors the situation facing the Crystal Gems to an extent. They were a decimated crew themselves, and are now without their leader after she left. However, she departed on her own accord, and her departure is all but irreversible, as death often is. Sort of highlights a fundamental aspect of this show – so many of us are facing similar issues in our lives, regardless of our allegiances, of our pasts, et cetera. What a fundamentally egalitarian message.
All of this, as Steven stares at what some could call a pyrrhic victory. He knows more about the Homeworld Leadership, was able to get into the center of Centi’s mind, and even managed to reunite her with some of her crew. The attempt to cure her of the corruption of her mind, however, has proven a fruitless task. In the end, when discussing the Gem language barrier, Steven wants to tell her in her own tongue, “I’m Sorry”. This feeling that he could’ve done more to save her from the mental torment.
He couldn’t have. This is a kid in way over his head, and he’s gotten another taste of just how deep the agony is at the moment. Dealing with the war from thousands of years ago, with Gems that are suffering from untold PTSD and psychological damage, he’s now putting undue pressure on himself, an attempt to atone for the sins of a nation that he wasn’t even familiar with until relatively recently. And this won’t be the last time he feels undue guilt for things that fourteen-year-olds shouldn’t have to deal with.
Well, it wouldn’t be a Molisee/Villeco outing without a bittersweet ending, right?
“Monster Reunion” is yet another Steven Universe tragedy, and continues the show’s rather good track record with exposing the trauma of characters. It fleshes out one of the show’s earliest antagonists (if not their earliest antagonist, period), manages to completely and convincingly expose her as a tragic figure who really wasn’t an antagonist, and even did quite a good job at fleshing out Steven himself. Add in messages that have timeless relevance regarding the callousness of leadership and the aftereffects of war, and you have a quite compelling outing of Steven Universe.
Helps that it’s the first genuinely lore-relevant episode in what felt like quite a while.
Tidbits:
- No, the lack of a stab wound in MC Bear-Bear’s torso isn’t an animation error, hide your pitchforks and torches. It was actually a second stuffed bear that Steven had. Methinks Steven wanted a replacement after the first one met the business end of Pearl’s spear.
- The fact that Steven can easily persuade Garnet by doing puppy-eyes really demonstrates the parent-child relationship between the duo. There are certainly moments of sternness, but she can just as easily be swayed.
- I will admit this – this was the episode that made me begin to rethink the original “meh” rating I gave “House Guest” back in June 2016. So let me just say this – that episode should thank the stars that “Fusion Cuisine” and “Sadie’s Song” exists, otherwise, that episode would be holding up the rear. That’s what you get for adversely handling a rather negative change to the canon.
Wrap-Up:
Favorite Scene: Centi drawing the source of her agony. Gutting.
Best Character: No contest here – Dee Bradley Baker sealed the deal.
Memorable Quote: “It’s sort of like if MC Bear-Bear didn’t tear the fabric of his arm, but the fabric of his mind.” – Garnet, explaining the scale of the damage done to victims of corruption. Haunted yet?
Verdict: Gold, and it’s a rather high Gold at that! How high? #22 High – an episode unlucky enough to miss the Top 20. It comes in straight behind similarly epochal episodes “Mirror Gem” and “Warp Tour”.
The drama doesn’t abate on our next outing for Steven Universe. But before that, it looks like we’ll be going to the wild west…
The Review Nebula 