“Steven Universe” Recap: “Serious Steven”

Now for some things that came to mind during these ten or so minutes. Let’s start with the good, Garnet. She’s been such a background character, and this was the first time I walked away with some hold on her. She wasn’t just the strong silent type, the mysterious force backing up the group. This time around Garnet had more lines than usual and instead of just telling Pearl to back off Steven, she acted on it. It’s a nice balance to have him with her…the apparent hero and the unlikely one.

More about that annoying aspect though. Somewhere between December and now I’ve become Squidward, and Steven’s my Spongebob. There were various moments throughout where I said to myself, “Oh my God…this kid.” The biggest being when he made things go awry. Am I the only one a little annoyed by this kid? Maybe it’s because of the time we’ve spent apart. We’ll see if he continues to bother me next week when he joins an underground wrestling league with, who else, Amethyst.

Characters aside, I was really into the “teacup incident” flashbacks that kept sending Steven into a panic while in the temple. The show has proven to be the kind that circles back to certain events, so will we see the drama that led up to that day when Steven was forever banned from the amusement park? The bigger question is will Steven ever find his way back into the park. Only time will tell.

We’re eight episodes in and I feel like we’re not getting anywhere when it comes to the back story of Steven. My mind always rewinds to “Laser Light Cannon” when we’re introduced to Steven’s father Greg and heard a smidge about Steven’s Gem mother. I’d love more of that because this show was pitched as a coming-of-age tale and we haven’t gotten a whole lot in that direction. “Serious Steven” felt like a filler episode as it was paired with a stronger one, “Gem Glow.” Cookie Cats are proving hard to surpass.

“Serious Steven” was storyboarded by Joe Johnston and Jeff Liu.