Steven Universe | S5 | Ep 21-23
Added 2024-07-05 15:00:07 +0000 UTCLast lil bit before it all hits the fan! Hope everyone enjoys 💜
Comments
The Question: I was in the same boat as you during the beginning of this episode- “what do you MEAN, you don’t wanna be Garnet??” It’s a tricky situation because of course viewers wanna see Ruby find happiness whatever that may look like, but they’re already so attached to Garnet specifically. I like how they use Steven as the audience stand-in to help address those feelings. Sapphire just one episode previously: “But why would she be a COWBOY??” Funniest brick joke to me, if the brick joke was a boomerang that hits you on the way back. The proposal scene was SUCH an intensely special and surprising moment for fans back when it aired. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect Crew to be allowed to cement Ruby and Sapphire’s love in such a blatant, unquestionable way. Representation in kid’s media is SO special and so important. I am so glad that youth have shows like this to serve as loving examples of diverse relationships. _ Made of Honor: I LOVE that the title to this episode is a pun- especially since Bismuth the pun master is front and center in it. She may not understand what a wedding or the “maid of honor” is, but damn if she’s not MADE of honor. Gosh, it really is so nice to have her back. I genuinely do like Bismuth- definitely a character who always meant well but simply was lacking vital information. There’s an interesting little bit in the Steven Universe art books where Rebecca Sugar discusses how Cartoon Network always put pressure on them and the rest of the crew to cement Steven as the “leader” of the Crystal Gems, which she continuously pushed back at- "no, it’s Garnet who’s the leader." (I presume CN wanted Steven as the leader because he was the one boy of the main cast and also the main character. Typical, lol.) But in this episode, they wanted to play with that idea given Garnet’s absence… the fact that, even without her in charge, the Crystal Gems were still very much together and in action. And why? Because even if Garnet’s the leader, it’s Steven who’s slowly become the heart of it all. Thus… why the arc of episodes from Now We’re Only Falling Apart to Reunited had the event nickname “Heart of the Crystal Gems.” _ Reunited: I very much like that Crewniverse got to complete the wedding in full here before they had the Diamonds crash the reception. I feel like other shows might interrupt the big moment for drama, but they thankfully gave us viewers the catharsis of finally seeing Garnet again, and it was such a beautiful moment. Worth the wait. Love that they mixed it up and had Ruby wear the pretty, frilly dress. And Garnet’s dress tux!!! Wow, gurl. Work it. Lapis took Steven’s “you could drop the barn on the beach and we could be neighbors” idea he pitched to her on the moon a few episodes back VERY literally, ahah. “We’re not enemies, we’re FAMILY!” makes me eepy every time. The big truth finally being revealed to Blue and Yellow here is a HUGE moment- and in retrospect, makes the scene in s4 where Steven overlooks their moment of grief together at the Zoo mean so much more… because he doesn’t know it, but they’re mourning his own mother. And they don’t know it, but the Pink they mourn for is technically right there hiding in plain sight. The show focusing so much in that moment on how they felt about the consequences of Rose’s war decision- a decision that had been painted as a wholly positive thing for the Crystal Gems’ cause up until then- makes so much more sense when this episode comes along and frames them as estranged extended family instead of merely antagonists. (Also see: when Greg has that conversation about how difficult mourning is with Blue Diamond right before he gets kidnapped into space, they are talking about the same person but neither of them know it yet. Ooofies.)
Novantinuum
2024-07-05 20:43:33 +0000 UTCFrom what I've read, RS actually just asked for a few extra episodes to use to tie up the s5 plot in a satisfying way- quoting from the "End of an Era" artbook... "I had been told this would be the final pickup for us, and I campaigned for an additional six episodes on the end of the season in order to wrap up the story." The art books don't speak too much on the "why" for the production of the movie beyond the fact that Rebecca and Crew did a planning event for it in 2017 and were JUST about to pitch it to CN at the end of pre-production of the final episode, but my suspicion is that CN realized far too late what a hit the show was with audiences worldwide, thus allowed it. In either case I'm glad they did, more SU in any form is always great. Just as an FYI for SoEverdream- some folks online just in general may try to make it seem like there's some sort of "lost alternate season 6 that got senselessly curb-stomped by CN," but this decision happened when this wedding episode was PITCHED, not halfway through its production. Thus, the rest of their ideas were still merely in the early planning stage at that time. When all is said and done, the show as a whole is still very much a complete thought, and I'm very excited to see you react to the rest of it.
Novantinuum
2024-07-05 19:22:00 +0000 UTCYeah, the wedding was allowed...if the show got cancelled. Rebecca Sugar felt the wedding was so important that she chose that (and it indeed appears to be a big reason why other cartoons got more open LGBT+ stuff later,) but there was originally gonna be a lot more episodes and the last arc was gonna be much longer. It's also why the wedding and the really plot relevant Diamond attack was included in the same episode: the story wouldn't make sense if you censor it. Rebecca asked if they could have a movie to finish off, and Cartoon Network felt it wouldn't make sense to have a movie without it promoting a new show, so we got Future as well. Actually, Greg once mentioned that Rose wanted to "confess everything" to him, but he told her he didn't want to hear it because he felt the past doesn't matter and only your present self does. Rebecca Sugar has stated it was the one flaw in their relationship: they were really happy enjoying the present together, but never really talked about their past issues, which is something that probably would have been very good and healthy for them (and everyone around them.) I imagine Rose maybe felt more comfortable telling Greg, because as a human he is more of an outsider to all the Gem issues (and, well, because it's Greg.)
Vilmu
2024-07-05 18:48:42 +0000 UTC
