Recap / Steven Universe: Future S1E5 "Bluebird"

Say... You look kinda familiar...

The episode begins with Steven filming a commercial for Little Homeworld, telling all Gems across the galaxy to come to learn to be an Earthling at Little Homeschool. Once Steven finishes the commercial, Peridot walks up to him and lets him know that he smells good. When Steven acts confused by this, Peridot pulls a note off his back that reads "Tell Me I Smell Good." A couple more pranks happen shortly after which include Steven's juice being replaced with tomato soup, and finding a stack of toilet paper on top of the Dondai Supremo. Steven isn't bothered by this, seeing as he likes tomato soup and that he won't have to collect wads of toilet paper off his car. He does hear a mysterious voice, however, which catches him off guard.

Steven drives home and finds a party inside the house. He automatically realizes that a new gem has come to earth. Amethyst welcomes Steven and tells him to go introduce himself. When the gem turns around, Steven feels threatened, immediately realizing that this is a fusion of Aquamarine and "Eyeball". However, the Gem acts kind towards Steven, such as introducing herself as Bluebird Azurite, hugging him, and handing him a tray of food (all of which are known to cause allergic reactions).

While Greg is in the bathroom combing his hair, Steven pulls Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl in there with him and lets them know who this gem really was. They remain unfazed, revealing that they knew this all along, causing Steven to wonder why they were being so nice to her. He then reminds them of when Aquamarine kidnapped him to bring him to Homeworld, also adding the fact that Eyeball tried to stab him in space while attempting to remove his Gem, and when she ratted him out when he was on trial with Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond. Garnet informs him that was all in the past and that people can change. Steven uses a couple more excuses, such as wondering why Bluebird showed up at his house all of a sudden. Pearl then informs Steven that Bluebird Azurite's presence is his fault, indicating that he broadcasted a commercial that welcomed Gems from all across the universe to Earth. Steven then decides to give Bluebird a chance and Garnet informs him that if things go south, they'll squash her.

Once they leave the bathroom, Bluebird approaches Steven and apologizes to him for giving him all that food without a beverage. She proceeds to hand him a can of juice which sprays Steven in the face once he opened it. She wonders how that happened in a sarcastic tone - in response, Steven angrily tells her that she shook it and she knew it. Garnet corrects him and he changes his approach.

The next few scenes of this episode show Steven jumping to conclusions, assuming Bluebird is doing harm to the Gems or Greg when in reality they are doing simple activities together. Such as when he noticed her approaching Pearl with a knife (to cut a cake she made), or holding Garnet down on the ground (to help her stretch before doing exercises). In one instance, Steven hears chainsaw noises and Greg's screams from the van, only to find out that he and Bluebird are watching a horror movie, which Bluebird finds funny. Steven also finds a few small crummy pictures of himself around the house and assumes that they were drawn by Bluebird, expressing his dislike of them to Amethyst (who had actually drawn the pictures). As Amethyst runs to the door, Bluebird appears and asks what's wrong. When Amethyst shows her the pictures, she states that despite not knowing what art is, she thinks it's the best of it she's ever seen, cheering Amethyst up and inspiring her to continue working on her art.

Later, Steven is in the bathroom getting ready for bed. When he notices Bluebird's Gems drawn on his face, he laughs as he cleans it off. Then the warp pad is heard activating followed by the sound of tire screeches. He runs out of the bathroom and sees that Greg's van had warped between warp pads and was now in the Beach house. Steven comes to the conclusion that Bluebird and Greg were just having fun. Suddenly, Greg's screaming is heard, which Steven thinks means he's watching another horror film with Bluebird. However, Greg is heard screaming again, so Steven goes outside to see what's going on. Once Steven goes outside, he looks up and sees Bluebird dangling Greg off the roof. He asks his dad if he was screaming out of fun and Greg assures him that he is not. Bluebird then starts to talk about how there were two separate Gems that were loved for bringing the greatest traitor (Steven) to Homeworld, and how they were cast out once the traitor duped Homeworld into loving him instead, announcing they've come to Earth to enact their revenge. She then unfuses, "revealing" herself to be Eyeball and Aquamarine. Steven isn't surprised by this, however, as everyone was aware from the start. When the two Gems ask Steven why everyone was so nice to them if they knew, Steven exclaims that it's simply because they're nice people. Aquamarine ignores his statement and grabs Greg by the hair, dangling him over the roof again as Eyeball holds her chisel near him. Aquamarine then tells Steven that if he wants "My Dad" back, he'll have to listen to their demands, which include destroying the Beach House, bubbling his friends, and burning Little Homeworld to the ground. Steven refuses to do as such, to which Aquamarine responds by instructing Eyeball Ruby to kill Greg. As Eyeball laughs, Greg grabs her chisel and cuts his hair to free himself. Steven catches him as Aquamarine throws his hair down in disgust. Greg, heartbroken, grabs his hair and grieves. While Eyeball and Aquamarine argue, Steven angrily tells his dad to go wait inside, and the latter does so while holding his hair. Steven then swears he won't let the Gems get away with what they've done, turning pink and launching himself at them.

After attempting to fight Steven unfused, they acknowledge his strength and attempt to fuse again, to no avail. After several more attempts, Eyeball grows frustrated and starts fighting with Aquamarine as Steven watches and drops his guard. Knowing that they fused solely because they hated him, he attempts to steer them in the right direction, but only annoys Aquamarine and Eyeball further, causing them to quickly bond over their mutual hatred of him and successfully fuse. Announcing her return, Bluebird summons her weapon (an ice cutlass) and begins fighting Steven. Meanwhile, the Gems look for Steven while asking why Greg is crying in the bathroom, with Amethyst exclaiming that he needs to move his van before spotting Bluebird slashing at Steven's shield. The Gems fuse into Alexandrite and, as promised, squash Bluebird into the ground, splitting her back into Aquamarine and Eyeball. After taunting Steven briefly, they fly away while exclaiming that they'll always be out in the universe, hating Steven (with Eyeball childishly exclaiming that he smells).

Steven then joins up with his dad by the ocean, who is still upset about his hair. Steven apologizes to Greg and states that he never should have given Bluebird a chance. Greg responds by telling him that he loves how Steven believes that everyone can change, but lets him know that not everyone is going to want to. He says goodbye to his hair before placing it on the ocean water and the two watch as it drifts off into the sea.

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Tropes:

• All of the Other Reindeer: Bluebird mentions that her components had been cast out and forgotten after Steven "duped" all of Homeworld into loving him.
• An Aesop: Everyone can change, but not everyone wants to.
• Ambiguous Situation: It's ambiguous if Aquamarine was forced to surrender her wand because of the disarmament, or because Steven recounted her attacking him and kidnapping his friends.
• Antagonist Title: Bluebird Azurite, the fusion of Aquamarine and Eyeball.
• Beyond Redemption: Steven and Greg conclude they're not going to get Aquamarine or Eyeball to change, because the two of them simply don't want to at all. Although given Garnet’s future vision, they probably allowed her to stay because redemption was theoretically possible.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Nobody really trusts Bluebird Azurite due to everyone who knows both Eyeball and Aquamarine seeing right through her Paper-Thin Disguise, but the Gems point out that Steven has invited everyone in the Empire to come and try to improve themselves at Little Homeworld, albeit in a way that is somewhat dismissive of Steven's concerns. Greg points out, however, that if Steven doesn't want to spend time with Bluebird that's also fine (especially considering Steven's past trauma stemming from both Eyeball and Aquamarine). Steven initially doesn't want Bluebird around at all due to his distrust of her (and likely due to said trauma too), and only reluctantly agrees after the Gems make their own point.
• Brick Joke: Garnet promises that the three of them will squash Bluebird if she tries to be a menace. At the end of the episode, they catch Bluebird trying to kill Steven, form Alexandrite and literally squash her into the ground.
• Cassandra Truth: Steven's suspicions that Bluebird is out to get him is ignored by the others. Justified, as the idea that Bluebird's pranks could all have been misunderstandings are not unfounded and the idea of former enemies coming to Earth to bury the hatchet isn't a new one, but they promise to step in if Bluebird acts out of line and Steven was still right.
• Comical Overreacting: Greg having to cut off some of his hair to escape from Aquamarine's grasp is treated like he had to sacrifice his child with the way he bursts into anguish. There's also Steven's overly dramatic response to it:
  Steven: (serious) Father, go inside. (Greg runs away; Steven transforms into Pink Steven) I won't let you GET AWAY WITH THIS!
• Continuity Nod:
  • During the party, instrumental versions of "Haven't You Noticed (I'm a Star)?" and "Sadie Killer and the Suspects" play.
  • The background during the party shows that, after Rose's picture was taken down in "Rose Buds", it was replaced with a new one (shown more clearly in the following episode) of Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven.
  • Aquamarine still thinks "my dad" is a literal name.
• Cool Sword: Bluebird's Gem Weapon upgrades Eyeball's dagger into a falchion made of ice.
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: Bluebird presents Steven with a dish of clams, grass, and peanut butter, and guilts him into eating it and saying he likes them. There's a good chance she was trying to find if Steven had any food allergies that could be used against him, as three of the most common allergies are pollen, peanuts, and shellfish (and the last two are often lethal).
• Crying Wolf: Inverted; after experiencing many false alarms over the course of the episode, Steven tries not to jump to conclusions when Bluebird actually takes Greg hostage.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: While Bluebird does put up a good fight against Steven, the moment Alexandrite enters the scene the entire thing is over in roughly three seconds.
• Damsel out of Distress: Gender-flipped version, Greg manages to escape Aquamarine's clutches by grabbing Eyeball's dagger and using it to cut his hair, which she was using to hold him up, though he’s devastated by having to do so.
• Defeat Equals Friendship: Mocked by Aquamarine, who jokingly claims she's changed her ways upon defeat.
• The Dissenter Is Always Right: Steven is suspicious of Bluebird Azurite, while everyone else think she's harmless. Steven's fear of her turns into self-doubting paranoia as every one of her tricks appears to turn out to be well-meaning. By the end when it turns out Bluebird was Evil All Along, Steven has been so gaslit he can barely even tell anymore if anything she's doing is a murder attempt or just another misunderstanding.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: Inverted. Aquamarine is shown to no longer possess the wand she used during her earlier appearances, which considering it was powerful enough to paralyze Alexandrite, would have given herself and Bluebird a more equal footing in fighting Steven. Most likely, it was taken away in the mass disarming of Homeworld that took place near the beginning of the Time Skip.
• Emotional Maturity Is Physical Maturity: Aquamarine and Eyeball look like a pair of small children; as part of their Villain Decay, their immature behavior is amped up from their previous appearances.
• Everybody Knew Already: The Crystal Gems know instantly that Bluebird is Aquamarine and Eyeball fused together. When they unfuse to reveal themselves, they believe they have fooled everyone, but are shocked when Steven says everyone already knew.
  • Earlier in the episode, Steven tells the other Crystal Gems that he suspects Bluebird may be the fusion of Aquamarine and Eyeball. They all reply they knew already and it was pretty obvious.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Aquamarine and Eyeball are shocked to learn that everyone already knew Bluebird was the two of them fused, and ask why everyone was so nice to them anyway; Steven says it is just because he and his friends are nice people.
  • Aquamarine and Eyeball are much less good at cooperating than the Crystal Gems, which impedes their attempts to fuse until they focus on their mutual hatred of Steven.
• Evil Duo: Aquamarine is the bossy, controlling "Superego" whereas Eyeball is the more simple-minded, fight-focused "Id".
• Evil Laugh: Eyeball when holding Greg hostage. She actually seems to doing this deliberately, as Aquamarine tells her to "do what we saw in that movie" and Bluebird had previously been watching sci-fi horror films with Greg.
• Face Doodling: Bluebird doodles a drawing of her gems on Steven's face during his sleep.
• Falsely Reformed Villain: Aquamarine and Eyeball come to enroll in Little Homeschool fused together as Bluebird Azurite, and though the Crystal Gems give her a chance, she turns out to be out for revenge on Steven. However, Bluebird was not pretending to be a known villain who reformed, she was trying to use her fused form to establish a new identity.
• Foreshadowing: Greg is first seen brushing his hair. Guess what happens to the hair in the climax?
• I Surrender, Suckers: After being beaten by Alexandrite, Aquamarine and Eyeball decide to surrender... only to retreat, promising to hate Steven forever.
• Important Haircut: Played With. Greg, being held hostage by Eyeball Ruby and Aquamarine, steals Eyeball's dagger and cuts the long hair he's had since his Mr. Universe days, so he literally falls out of their reach. Greg falls safely into Steven's arms, but he takes the loss of his tresses very hard.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Part of Aquamarine and Eyeball's schemes include disguising themselves as a fusion that no one falls for, pranking Steven with incredibly harmless pranks meant to soften him up for later (replacing his juice with tomato soup, putting rolls of toilet paper on his car, pinning a sign on his back that said he smells good) that only serve to make him paranoid against them, serving him an entree platter of peanut butter, oysters and lawn grass and giving him a pre-shaken can of soda. When they drop the act, they try and hold Greg hostage to make Steven destroy everyone and everything in his life, but Greg frees himself and Steven nearly curb-stomps the both of them. When they try to make a dramatic reveal on who they are, Steven tells them that no one was fooled.
• Irony: Back in the original series, the Crystal Gems believed that any new Gem was a potential threat and it was Steven who tried to see the best in them and (most of the time) he was able to redeem them. Now the Crystal Gems are the ones who are encouraging Steven to look past the villainous actions of their former enemies and give them a second chance while Steven, correctly, concludes that they can't be trusted or redeemed.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Although Aquamarine and Eyeball manage to get away in the end, Alexandrite pounding them into the ground is incredibly cathartic, both for their previous actions and their behavior in this episode as Bluebird. Not to mention that attacking Steven is likely to put them on the Diamonds' hitlist if they ever find out.
• Kitschy Local Commercial: The episode begins with Steven starring in a commercial for Little Homeschool, recorded on a camcorder. It's comparably straightforward and presentable, but still very simple (it's basically just camera shots of different places in-town), especially for an intergalactic audience.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Steven turns Pink in order to fight Aquamarine and Eyeball, who are no match for him in his powered-up state.
• Mama Bear: Although the Crystal Gems encourage Steven to give Bluebird a chance, Garnet assures Steven that the moment she steps out of line the three of them will step in and squash her for him. They eventually make good on this promise when they see Bluebird attacking Steven with a sword, and wordlessly fuse into Alexandrite and literally squash her with one hand.
• Never My Fault: Aquamarine and Eyeball still see Steven as a traitor, who tricked all of Homeworld into loving him and believe they have been cast out and forgotten because of him.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Steven's "inspiring" speech to Aquamarine and Eyeball just lets them re-fuse out of their mutual hatred of him.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Bluebird calls Greg's old horror films "hilarious."
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: At first, Bluebird is more an annoyance with her pranks, but then she kidnaps Greg in an attempt to force Steven into giving into Aquamarine and Eyeball's demands.
• Oblivious Mockery: Steven finds several drawings he thinks Bluebird made and shows them to Amethyst, calling them awful and junk, only for Amethyst to reveal that she made those drawings.
• Oh, Crap!: Bluebird's reaction to Alexandrite is a family-friendly version of this.
• One-Word Title: "Bluebird".
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Steven is an All-Loving Hero who would go Easily Forgiven to most Gems who have tried to kill him. That he doesn't trust Bluebird Azurite shows that he hasn't forgotten that Aquamarine kidnapped his friends or that Eyeball tried to murder him after he healed her Gem.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Eyeball and Aquamarine's fusion into Bluebird doesn't fool Steven and the Crystal Gems even slightly, considering their gems are clearly visible in the same locations, Bluebird still has an English accent (even if slightly different), and Steven has only met and been antagonized by one known Aquamarine, so the selection of suspects was rather limited to begin with.
  Aquamarine: Well? It's us!
  Eyeball: It's always been us and you never knew!
  Steven: [deadpan] I always knew. Everyone knew.
• Parental Title Characterization: Before this episode, Steven had always called Greg "Dad". The line "Father, get inside" is the first warning that Steven is about to go Pink on Aquamarine and Eyeball.
• Parents in Distress: Steven turns into his Gem half and dishes out against Eyeball and Aquamarine when Bluebird Azurite threatens Greg and made him cut off his hair.
• Poke the Poodle: Bluebird pulls various harmless pranks on Steven before eventually taking Greg hostage. These pranks are more of an annoyance than anything, and Aquamarine and Eyeball state they were meant to soften him up for later, but they do manage to drive Steven up the wall with paranoia.
• The Power of Hate: Aquamarine and Eyeball can only fuse properly when they both are in sync over their shared hatred of Steven.
• Properly Paranoid: Steven realizes that since Aquamarine kidnapped him and Eyeball tried to kill him and later testified against him when he was on trial, that they have teamed up to get revenge on him together. The Crystal Gems and Greg encourage him to give them a chance, since that was all in the past and Steven is trying to help all Gems change for the better, but Steven turns out to have been correct all along when Bluebird takes Greg hostage and attacks Steven.
• Redemption Rejection: Aquamarine and Eyeball have rejected Homeworld's reforms even more than the reclusive Jasper, actively trying to hurt Steven and his friends.
• Running Gag: Whenever Steven mentions Bluebird replacing his juice with tomato soup, someone mentions that he likes tomato soup.
• Sadistic Choice: Aquamarine and Eyeball take Greg hostage and tell Steven, while holding Greg at knife-point, that they will only give him back unharmed if Steven does a few tasks, including destroying his own home, bubbling his friends, and burning Little Homeworld to the ground. Greg manages to Take a Third Option though and frees himself. Interestingly, even if they did hurt/kill Greg, Steven would be able to use his powers to heal him anyway.
• Shout-Out: Aquamarine holding Greg captive by his long hair and Greg having to cut it to escape may be a reference to how Sakura did the same thing during the Chunin Exams arc.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: When Steven tries giving an inspiring speech to Aquamarine and Eyeball about there being better reasons to fuse together than their hatred, they interrupt him partway through out of annoyance, and their renewed bond of shared hatred allows them to successfully fuse into Bluebird again.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Aquamarine and Eyeball view themselves as heroes that were wrongly cast out when Steven "duped" Homeworld and the Diamonds into loving him instead, but aside from kidnapping Greg, who manages to escape them by himself, the worst they manage to do to Steven throughout the episode before revealing their true colors are several pranks that only make him more suspicious of them, no one was fooled by their attempt to use their fusion as "Bluebird" as a disguise, and Alexandrite smashes them into the ground easily when the other Gems catch them attacking Steven.
• Storm of Blades: One of Bluebird's attacks creates duplicates of their sword and sends them flying towards their target, spreading ice from the impact site.
• Subverted Suspicion Aesop: Steven's first instinct, that Bluebird was up to no good, is proven right. Greg admits some people don't want to change, but admires Steven still trying to be fair to everyone.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Aquamarine and Eyeball don't like each other at all, and are only working together to get revenge on Steven. When they fail to fuse together due to their lack of harmony with each other they quickly turn on each other, but quickly get back together when they remember how they share a hatred for Steven and are able to fuse back into Bluebird as a result.
• Toilet Paper Prank: Parodied when one of the pranks going on involves Steven's car having neat stacks of toilet paper on top of it.
  Steven: At least I don't have to pick up more toilet paper.
• Traumatic Haircut: A self-inflicted version; Greg is forced to lop off his own hair with Eyeball's shiv to escape a dangerous By the Hair scenario, but is deeply upset about it and cradles his locks before running inside on Steven's orders to cry in the bathroom. Later, once he's finished grieving, Greg accepts the loss and sets his hair to drift out to sea.
• Unwilling Suspension: Aquamarine eventually ends up hanging Greg off the edge of the roof By the Hair, though he has to grab it above the roots to avoid it being ripped out. Greg ends up taking Eyeball's knife to cut himself loose so Steven can catch him.
• Useless Without Powers: Last time Aquamarine fought the Crystal Gems, she had a wand that allowed her to paralyze everybody, and thus could easily handle even Alexandrite. This time, she is unarmed and easily dispatched.
• Villain Decay: Aquamarine and Eyeball are much less menacing here than in their previous depictions—even their more dangerous actions have a comedic edge to them—though both make sense in context. Aquamarine no longer has her wand, which could paralyze even Alexandrite, and as such has little in the way of offensive abilities. Eyeball was only ever a threat when Steven was stuck with her in a confined space. Though their fusion grants them many new abilities, Bluebird is ultimately a Fragile Speedster far outclassed by the protagonists.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After being beaten by Alexandrite, Eyeball and Aquamarine retreat.
• Villain Forgot to Level Grind: Age and experience have seasoned Steven into a much better fighter than the last time he faced Eyeball on his own, to the point not even joining forces with Aquamarine is enough for the Ruby to gain the upper hand at any point; by the time the Crystal Gems come in to the "rescue", Bluebird's sword spam merely has Steven very annoyed.
• Villain Team-Up: Aquamarine and Eyeball, two previous antagonist Gems, have teamed up to attack Steven.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Eyeball and Aquamarine display this when they split up and have no idea how to fuse back. They eventually manage to fuse back after being reminded of how much they hate Steven.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Steven calls Greg "father" before swearing revenge on Bluebird and battling her.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Steven gives a very deadpan "Are you kidding me" when Aquamarine and Eyeball fuse out of mutual hatred of him.

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