Not Another Top (X) List! – Top 6 Episodes of Steven Universe Season 3

Hello, and welcome back to…

NOT ANOTHER TOP X LIST!

And here we are. We’ve reached the end of yet another fantastic season of television.

Cartoons, providing beautiful escapism for time eternal. Steven Universe Season 3 was an overall brilliant outing from a writing team that has provided so many of them thus far. It’s not my favorite season of the series, but what we got here was many outings that, taken together, actually produce a brilliant whole. There were some bumps in the road, and the season seemed slightly better at both the start and at the end. But the Crewniverse still created a product I would watch again over a whole lot of other television programs out there.

But what were the crown jewels of this season, and why would we consider them the crown jewels? This season provided quite a few contenders, but six episodes really stood out head and shoulders above the rest.

Ladies and gentlemen, X=6, and we are counting down…

THE TOP 6 EPISODES OF STEVEN UNIVERSE SEASON 3!

Steven Universe Review: Season 3 Wrap Up

“That’s exactly what she said.”

Well, there it is. The end of Steven Universe Season 3. (And with funny, damn near fascinating timing – Future is about to wrap up in the next couple of weeks.) Yet again, what a season of television.

I’ll be honest – I do rate Season 2 above Season 3. But to suggest that this represents a decline would be a rather hyperbolic take on my opinion. I prefer to look at it as saying that Season 3 has Steven Universe holding its own as the show gets deeper and deeper into the story arc. Not all shows do so – Heroes, anybody? So props to the Crewniverse for making yet another season of compelling television.

To put it simply, Season 2 felt “tighter” than Season 3 did. By this, I mean that Season 2 mostly maintained a consistent sense of quality through the stretch of episodes. Season 3 is relatively inconsistent in quality – “Restaurant Wars” and “The New Lars” setting themselves up as among my least favorite episodes. Things started to pick up again with Jasper’s reappearance, leading to a rather solid set of episodes revolving around her and Amethyst. Then “Bismuth” came, and four of the last five episodes ranked amongst my favorites, brilliantly setting up the last two seasons while fleshing out the titular character and the specter of the deceased.

Thematically, Season 3 felt more like a bit of a deconstruction of the first two seasons. If those seasons showcased optimism winning out over colder paths, this season took an alternate route, demonstrating the necessity of realpolitik, and how we can occasionally be forced to set our personal codes of conduct aside for the good of the world. But it also demonstrates how even then, it should be a very, very reluctant path. The concept of idols is utterly smashed, as I’ll describe below. Let’s just say comparing ourselves to others can have less-than-ideal consequences.

Steven Universe Review: “Bubbled” (Season 3, Episode 24)

“What’ll I say in my report? How will I even make my report? This is a nightmare!” – Eyeball, quite clearly less than pleased about the concept of floating across space infinitely. I can’t say I disagree with her here.

Airdate: August 10th, 2016.

Written By: Colin Howard and Jeff Liu.

Plot: After the events of another spat on the moon, Steven finds himself floating through the nothingness that is outer space. Floating alongside him is Eyeball, one of the Rubies that attempted to wipe him and the Crystal Gems out just recently. With a lot of time to spare, the two try and reckon with recent events, including one shared conundrum about Rose Quartz. Where is she? Who was she? The answers? Well, let’s just say that the episode leads to both of the characters nearly dying.

Review:

We’ve reached it – the end of Steven Universe Season 3. And what a season it has been, ladies and gents.

I fault no one if they call this their favorite season, even though it’s not mine personally. (Season 2 forever!) We got to see Peridot at her goofiest, all while not shying away from fleshing her out and lending her pathos. We’ve had Amethyst wrestle with her own self-loathing, comparing herself to an odious example of Homeworld’s callousness before taking her down with one of the most brilliant battles of all time. We got to hear an absolutely smashing musical, with one of the numbers being one of the best in the entire series. The Gems went and played baseball! Most pivotably, this show laid down plot twists that completely demolished Steven’s thoughts on his mother, having him face a question as to where to guide his philosophy going forward.

This season is ending on a hot streak.  I consider three of the prior episodes that I’ve reviewed to be amongst the show’s best, both for producing major plot elements and executing them in a way that feels like character development, as well as some absolutely fantastic direction and dialogue. How do you top the streak that gave us “You really are better than her” and Jasper’s last words rocking Steven’s world?

And how do you end a season? I mean, Season 1A ended with the show laying down its inaugural epoch, the moment that marked its transition from great animated comedy-drama to brilliant sci-fi comedy-drama. Season 1B ended with one of the show’s most celebrated moments, encapsulated with one of the most iconic songs in the entire canon. Season 2, meanwhile, stepped back and focused on a light character piece featuring Peridot.

Season 3 decides to combine those elements to cap itself off – we get a character piece involving Steven, but we get one of the darkest moments in the entirety of the Steven Universe canon… and we get an outing that, outside of the very opening and the last minute and change, effectively serves as a two-hander.

Steven Universe Review: “Back To The Moon” (Season 3, Episode 23)

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” – President John F. Kennedy, “Address at Rice University on the Nation’s Space Effort”. I guess that whole “dealing with the moon is hard and that’s why we should do it” thing carried over to how the Crewniverse likes to torture us with major plot twists.

Airdate: August 9th, 2016

Written By: Lamar Abrams and Katie Mitroff

Plot: The Ruby Squad are back, realizing that their hunt for Jasper was less successful than a search for a hydrodynamic spatula with port and starboard attachments, and are ready to put the Crystal Gems into the dirt. Amethyst saves them by becoming Jasper in an attempt to send them on their way. The ever-gullible Rubies buy it and decide to update Yellow Diamond… which “Jasper” counters by recommending that they contact her on the moon base. Whilst there, decor and architecture lead to a discussion on the Diamond Authority, which reveals a historical event surrounding Rose Quartz that shakes Steven to his core.

Review:

“You bubbled me away and didn’t ever tell your friends… my friends.”

“I’m going to tell them. I’m going to tell them everything.”

“Hehehehe… then you really are better than her.“

These four sentences, this dialogue from the climax of “Bismuth”, is one of the most profound expressions of one of Steven Universe‘s core themes – the eternal specter of the past and how it influences our decisions, our perception of the world and the perception others have of us. And when that perception is colored – tinted with rose, in this case (heh) – the fallout from the almost inevitable exposure can be absolutely devastating.

Since the start of the series, Rose Quartz has been the figure that has been hanging over the Crystal Gems – almost literally, given that her portrait is on the Beach House wall. As the years have gone on, this sanctified image of her has been chipped away. “Rose’s Scabbard”, in fact, had the aforementioned portrait fall off the wall – fitting, being that it was one of the earlier hints at Rose Quartz’s enigmatic personality having an impact stretching beyond Steven. Elements of hypocrisy, paternalism, and aloofness have had a light shone upon them, making us wonder if Rose Quartz is the show’s posthumous antihero extraordinaire. All while Steven is wondering how to live up to her legacy.

But that dialogue above marked a change. No longer is her personality being torn down alone. “Bismuth” marked the start of a fundamental restructuring of her legacy that will carry through the rest of the series. The past is being rethought, and Steven will have to deal with the fallout.

And one of the finest examples of this is the story of Pink Diamond. It is what Seasons 4 and 5 of Steven Universe are built upon. Both the exposure of the past listed here and the truth within said epoch radically restructure the entire series – right down to the very first episode – forever.

Steven Universe Review: “Earthlings” (Season 3, Episode 22)

Note – events of screengrab might not reflect what actually happens in “Earthlings”.

Jasper: “You’ve stripped her of everything – her limb enhancers, her status, her dignity!”
Peridot: “I still have one of those things.”

Airdate: August 8th, 2016

Written By: Raven Molisee and Paul Villeco

Plot: Having finally encountered Jasper in the Beta Kindergarten, Amethyst prepares to finally take Jasper down once and for all. There’s just one issue – Jasper has been doing much the same thing, albeit at the expense of Corrupted Gems. The two do battle, and Jasper initially appears to hold her upper hand. A dismayed Amethyst appears ready to surrender, but Steven’s pep talk winds up creating a fusion with a new edge to them… and drives Jasper to a moment of hypocrisy that will end poorly for her.

Review:

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is my all-time favorite movie. Often cited as the pinnacle of the Star Trek franchise, or at least the feature-length outing other Trek movies are measured against, it centers around Khan Noonien Singh, a former conquerer in the Eugenics Wars who spent three centuries in suspended animation before Captain James Kirk of the Enterprise dumped him on a Ceti Alpha V to give him and his followers a fresh start.

He never checked on them again… which sucks, because the effects of another planet’s destruction ruined Ceti Alpha V and took out many of Khan’s allies, including his wife. A visit by the Reliant allows him to take command and escape with a skeletal crew. But his mind is still stuck on facing down now-Admiral Kirk. Joaquim, one of his followers, rebuts that their possession of a spaceship has liberated the crew from exile, and as a result, that they don’t need to face Kirk again. Khan’s reaction sets the tone for the rather tragic path he will take across the rest of the movie.

“He tasks me… he tasks me and I shall have him. I’ll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares Maelstrom and through Perdition’s flames before I give him up!”

Yes, that quote was a homage to Moby Dick (which he cribs from several times during the movie), but the point still stands. Khan is so determined to settle his (admittedly understandable, albeit misguided) score that he fails to take into account the possibility of a real paradise for him and his crew. This results in a reward – his pride and lust for revenge wind up blowing up in his face in the worst way. He even remains unaware of the few victories that he does get by the end of the film, so haunting is his fate – but the ones he does score utterly shake Kirk and the Enterprise for good. It’s a tragedy for both protagonist and antagonist, as close to perennial literature as Star Trek got (although Deep Space Nine has a few outings that come close), and it’s still to my eyes a landmark piece of cinema.

Now, this is the second time in three Steven Universe episode reviews that I’ve launched with a comparison to a Star Trek outing. This time, there’s a clear character comparison. Playing Khan in today’s outing is Jasper. The casting was done for two reasons. First off, they have similar hair and a very muscular build. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Crewniverse drew from Trek for inspiration. Secondly, “Earthlings” has Jasper’s lust for revenge and ultimately against somebody she has considered inferior come back to bite her, but not before she delivers a major blow that will change the protagonist’s life forever.

And while I won’t call it my favorite outing in the Steven Universe franchise the way I do Wrath of Khan to Star Trek, “Earthlings” more than holds its own in the Steven Universe canon.

(Note: I will be referring more to plot events in The Wrath of Khan during this review. For those who have not seen that movie and are spoiler-averse, I strongly encourage you to watch Wrath of Khan, or at least read a summary elsewhere. Hell, I still would like you to watch the movie, anyway – it is a sublime piece of American cinema.)

Steven Universe Review: “Beta” (Season 3, Episode 21)

“Here’s my meep-morp. This is a baseball bat. It reminds me of when I played baseball.” – Lapis. Don’t worry, guys – we’re one month off from Pitchers and Catchers reporting.

Airdate: August 8th, 2016.

Written By: Hilary Florido and Jesse Zuke (Credited as Lauren Zuke)

Plot: Amethyst is now in a state of perpetual frustration. She’s no longer hedonistic, but frustrated with her abilities and apparent weaknesses within. Not even visiting Lapis and Peridot at the barn is enough to get her to unwind. What’s the issue? Here’s a hint – it’s big, orange, and rhymes with “Jasper”. She’s still out there, and Amethyst is gunning to take her down. To try and provide some perspective, former Kindergartener Peridot takes Amethyst to Jasper’s birthplace, the rush job known as the Beta Kindergarten. But was Jasper really the exception that proves the rule there?

Review:

For good or for ill, I can’t think of a television series quite like Steven Universe. This show so often puts out captivating and unique pieces of fiction that it astonishes me. Rebecca Sugar and the Crewniverse should be lauded – they’ve crafted a show that manages to have quite a wide appeal, in turn landing an active fan base.

And within fanbases, at least the more vocal aspects, you tend to notice patterns in reception to the canon. For example, poll most Simpsons fans on their favorite episode, they’ll likely pick something from Seasons 2-8. Most Star Trek fans love The Wrath of Khan And rarely will you encounter a Steven Universe fan with negative sentiment towards “Jailbreak” or “The Answer”. And so, so many more trends exist, ranking upon ranking for the series.

It’s important to note, though, that these are merely generalizations. But they can influence how those with a sense of dissent will approach their critique. Some will be defiant, some conciliatory, and others distancing themselves from the overall aura of fan reaction.

Why do I bring this up, you might ask? Well, forgive me. I have to confess something that might come off as a sin to some elements of the Steven Universe fandom.

I…

I’m…

I’m not really the biggest fan of “Beta”.

Right, now that I’ve written my own cause of death to save the coroner some time, I feel like I owe the readers an explanation.

Steven Universe Review: “Bismuth” (Season 3, Episode 20)

“I thought I wouldn’t get another chance to show those upper-crusts who’s boss. Let’s show them what happens when you mess with the Crystal Gems!” – Bismuth, declaring her intent to finish what was once started. I’m not gonna even pretend that this episode is going to end in a cheerful manner.

Airdate: August 4th, 2016

Written By: Katie Mitroff, Lamar Abrams, Colin Howard, and Jeff Liu

Plot: While trying to hide one of his favorite shirts in Lion’s mane to prevent him from destroying it, Steven accidentally un-bubbles a Gem. Said gem, Bismuth, turns out to be a lost member of the Crystal Gems. Trapped for thousands of years, she resolves to continue the fight that never seemed to end. At first glance, she appears to get on well with the quartet. But her intentions might be darker than Steven’s…

Review:

This is going to be quite the uplifting episode of Steven Universe to cover on Christmas, right? Well, might as well set the tone.

“My father used to say that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I laid the first stone right there – I’d committed myself. I’d pay any price, go to any lengths, because my cause was righteous. My… intentions were good. In the beginning, that seemed like enough.”

This quote is from Commander Benjamin Sisko, from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “In The Pale Moonlight”. In that episode, Sisko is reciting to a personal recording of his attempts to bring a key player into the Dominion War on the side of the Federation. Given said civilization turning a blind eye to Dominion misgivings due to a non-aggression pact, he has to try and convince their ambassador that the empire would not favor them should they win the war. The episode ends with Sisko advancing on his goal, but the path there has him shred his morality and idealism to shreds. To try and put it without spoiling (at the moment), he got the Federation a shot in the arm all while defying many of the values that Starfleet represents.

“In The Pale Moonlight” is a highly controversial outing in the Star Trek canon. For some fans, it’s a vicious rebuttal to Gene Roddenberry’s ideas of utopia and morality. Others, though, love it for this very reason, citing it as one of the finest deconstructions of Star Trek ever, as well as opening the door for more antiheroic and “grey” morality in serialized dramas over the next two decades, as well as providing a great morality and character piece.

Personally, I fall into the latter category – my respect for Roddenberry’s vision remains unbowed, but Deep Space Nine and, more specifically, this episode does a fine job of presenting a counterargument to this idea that our morality will always guide us to victory. The path to our utopia can be a murkier, somewhat more hypocritical quest than we are first led to believe. Combined with some fine acting and scripting, it is a contender for my all-time favorite TV episode, period.

The question, however, remains. What does this have to do with Steven Universe?

Well, “Bismuth” presents a somewhat similar moral conundrum – to what lengths should we go to achieve our hopes of utopia, of victory? It’s also one of the darker episodes of the entire series, as well. Accordingly, “Bismuth” is to Steven Universe what “In The Pale Moonlight” is to Star Trek – probably the most controversial outing of the franchise, to the point where this episode is occasionally called “The Discourse Episode”. While it presents something of a counterargument to the overall message in Deep Space Nine, it still lays bare the hypocrisies present in leadership and casts a major shadow over a character once lionized. By most standards, this is Steven Universe at its most morally complex.

Even further, as far as I can see, this is up there with “Mirror Gem/Ocean Gem” beforehand and “A Single Pale Rose” afterward in episodes that absolutely transform the path of Steven Universe forever. For it is this episode that delivers the sledgehammer to Steven’s innocence and sends the view he has of the past into a permanent spiral.

Steven Universe Review: “Steven vs. Amethyst” (Season 3, Episode 19)

“See?! I dropped you from the sky but you almost just won by, using a rock!” – Amethyst while fighting Steven. There’s a joke I could make about this, but it’s way, way too obvious.

Airdate: August 3rd, 2016

Written By: Hilary Florido and Jesse Zuke (credited as Lauren Zuke)

Plot: Amethyst is in a bit of a state. Getting defeated by Jasper and watching Stevonnie take the antagonist down all by themself has sent her self esteem to another low. Steven tries to cheer her up and drag her from her Garbage Disposal Egg Salad to partake in training with Pearl. Said training has taken a less deadly direction compared to what it once was. Amethyst eventually decides she wants in, and is slowly stunned to learn that Steven has become a more capable fighter than ever before and is starting to outclass her.

Review:

“I only feel how I wanna feel.”

It’s almost too easy to write off Season 1A of Steven Universe as mostly superfluous. I mean, let’s be real, the show was still waiting to set up its arc, some of the characters were still in their early stages of development, and the overall tone of the series leaned more towards animated sci-fi comedy with some occasional dramatic elements rather than the genre-bending dramedy that would become the show’s hallmark.

Well, that piece of dialogue above should be a decent rebuttal. Don’t get me wrong – Season 1A is one of the weakest seasons of Steven Universe because of some of the aforementioned issues in setting up the series. But that’s the point – it was slowly unveiling the motivations behind each character, slowly peeling open the overall arc of the franchise, et cetera. Accordingly, it makes the venerated “Mirror Gem” and “Ocean Gem” two-parter seem like a revelation – the hints of a more complex show that we saw before just exploded and flooded into the franchise, leading to an absolutely astonishing Season 1B and 2.

Take, for instance, Amethyst’s arc. “Tiger Millionaire” has Amethyst become the premier actor in a wrestling competition – she uses that role to escape into a world where she has an adoring fanbase, can escape from her troubles at home. It hints at a more insecure side to what had been a very hedonistic character. Further hints would be dropped in other episodes before the bomb was dropped in “On The Run”, widely considered one of the show’s most haunting and tragic episodes. Since then, episodes have aired that have shone a light on how Amethyst’s feelings of inadequacy can surface, such as “Reformed” and “Too Far”.

The back end of Season 3 can be considered the “climax” of this arc, so to speak. Not that it goes away after this era – “What’s Your Problem” will signal the effective parting salvo in Season 5 – but what we have here is Amethyst laying her disquiet about her sense of belonging alongside the Crystal Gems bare.

And she does so right alongside Steven… who is starting to go through his own period of existential disquiet.

Steven Universe Review: “Crack The Whip” (Season 3, Episode 18)

“You could’ve been me! And what are you instead? Just a joke.” – Jasper, really seeing how long she can toe the Moral Event Horizon before crossing it.

Airdate: August 2nd, 2016

Written By: Raven Molisee and Paul Villeco

Plot: Jasper is still on the run after capturing two corrupted Gems in the Great Canadian Wilderness. Pearl and Garnet go out looking for her, leaving Amethyst to assist in training Steven and Connie. They eventually go and use this time to goof off around the town. An evening out on the beach, however, leads them straight into the path of the big target. Or rather, leads the target into her own.

Review:

If television in the 2010s can be summed up in one word… well, there are certainly countless arguments for countless words. In my personal opinion, the most encompassing word has to be “serialization”.

Serialization is certainly nothing new in television – it’s a mandate of soap operas, and even television dramas were flirting with serialization as far back as the 60s. (The Prisoner, anybody?) But it seemed to become more embraced in this decade. The main reason is obvious – the rise of streaming media has allowed us to consume an entire season of television within a weekend, and continuity allows for better flow between the episodes being screened. This trend has only accelerated as streaming has become “the norm” for media rather than a niche. Likewise, the 2010s were a pretty gutsy decade for animation – with creators and writers taking more inspiration from non-animated series and trusting the audience to follow along with a centralized narrative. Again, not necessarily “new” (cough*Avatar*cough), but here, it entered the mainstream.

Steven Universe is known to test the limits before going straight in. The first 24 episodes of Season 1A, with an exception here and there, can be seen in any order, and you are unlikely to be particularly confused. Then came “Mirror Gem/Ocean Gem”. Not only did that episode formally kick off the show’s Myth Arc, but it opened the door to increased serialization. Season 1B, meanwhile, ended with a streak of episodes that flowed into one another (“The Message” to Season 2’s “Joy Ride”). Season 2 would later contain the Week of Sardonyx and the Peridot Redemption Arc, with only a couple of episodes separating them. Season 3 started off with five episodes dedicated to Steven saving the Earth and convincing Lapis Lazuli to crash on the blue rock.

And now, Season 3 will culminate with what I might call the “Tragedy Arc” – two arcs that flow into one another, only one episode that partially interrupts the arc, all tied into bringing the show to its most sobering point, as characters either fall victim to their vices, are forced to confront the sins of others, and have their philosophies brought into question.

We already started with “Gem Hunt”, and now we might as well continue with “Crack the Whip” – two Jasper episodes, with Conniverse, focusing on two separate Crystal Gems. Further, the episode winds up serving as a mirror to its immediate predecessor.

Steven Universe Review: “Gem Hunt” (Season 3, Episode 17)

“Your human bodies aren’t designed to last in this cold, so we’ll have to be extra careful.” – Pearl. Nice rubbing it in that our bodies are not light projections. We can’t all be Arnold J. Rimmer.

Airdate: August 1st, 2016.

Written By: Colin Howard and Jeff Liu

Plot: After months of friendship with Steven, Connie is invited to go on her first official Crystal Gem Mission. The task is simple – track down corrupted Gem monsters in the Great North and bubble them back up. However, with the winters in that part of the continent being brutal, they face some rather arduous challenges… and that’s before the corrupted Gems show up.

Review:

“Gem Hunt” is going to be a rather… strange episode of Steven Universe to review.

This isn’t because it’s a bad episode of the series. In fact, this is far from bad, much like the vast majority of Steven Universe episodes. Admittedly, I don’t think it’s a standout, either – it’s certainly a pretty good episode (like a sizable chunk of the SU canon), but to my eyes, it wouldn’t sit alongside the ranks of “Jailbreak”, “The Answer”, and “Mr. Greg” as one of my all-time favorites.

So what’s the big deal? It really lies in where the episode lands in the canon. This episode is most well known for featuring the reappearance of Jasper, one of the show’s more menacing antagonists, as well as cementing much of the back half of Season 3 as revolving around her character development. Yet, this episode doesn’t center around her or a character that has some form of history with her, be it Peridot, Lapis (been there), or even Garnet!

No, the episode entitled “Gem Hunt”… revolves around Connie.

Yeah, Connie Maheswaran is the central focus of this episode which revolves around a character that she never met before. That might be an interesting segue.