History Recap / StevenUniverseS5E8BackToTheKindergarten

[[redirect:Recap/StevenUniverseS5E7RaisingTheBarn]]

Steven, Amethyst, and Peridot try to spruce up the Kindergarten.
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!!Tropes:
* AnAesop: Just because something has been damaged, even irreversibly, it doesn't mean that there's nothing else worth saving.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Peridot again uses her Kindergartener skills to analyze the hole a Gem came out of, accurately predicting what kind of ''hair'' one of the Amethyst at the Zoo would have, simply from the trace deposits of iron.
* BittersweetEnding: The Kindergarten won’t be habitable for life anytime soon, Peridot still misses Lapis and the barn, and Connie still hasn’t contacted Steven, but upon passing by a field of sunflowers, the trio decide they can rebuild elsewhere.
* ContinuityNod:
** Steven, Amethyst, and Peridot take the train to the Kindergarten instead of the warp pad as they did when Amethyst first brought him there, which Peridot lampshades. The soundtrack even plays an instrumental of their song 'On the Run', which they sang in the boxcar on the way there the first time around.
** Peridot moved back into Steven's bathroom after Lapis ran away from Earth and took the barn with her.
** Amethyst gets 8XJ's name wrong, or at least which exit hole is hers.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Peridot's depression over Lapis leaving her and taking nearly everything they have plays out to be like a reluctant divorcee's. She's even crashing at Steven's house, despite his difficulty in hosting her.
* DontExplainTheJoke: Amethyst says Peridot has a "green thumb", and Steven annoys Peridot by pointing out it's true both [[TheGardener figuratively]] and [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation literally]].
* TheDragAlong: Peridot agrees to visit the Kindergarten, but is so unenthused that Amethyst finds it necessary to carry her out draped over the shoulder.
* FusionDance: Steven and Amethyst Fuse into Smoky Quartz to defeat the Gem monster.
* GaiasLament: Despite attempts otherwise, the soil in the Kindergarten proves completely incapable of sustaining life and seems to keep actively draining it even with the Incubators deactivated. Plants that are planted perfectly healthy crumble to dust within a ''day'' of taking root, and this is even with the added nutrition of compost brought in from elsewhere.
* HardWorkMontage: A montage shows Amethyst, Peridot, and Steven making a garden in the Kindergarten.
* HeelRealization: Peridot recounts how living close to nature has changed her views of the Kindergartens, and seems ashamed for being involved with them.
-->''This used to make sense to me. I thought life was generated in a Kindergarten. Formless, aimless energy channeled into new, useful Gems. But life doesn't start in a Kindergarten. It ends here. I've gotten used to plants everywhere. Bugs and breeze, and sunshine... all of that has been sucked out of this place. It's with the Amethysts that were produced here, and now this place is nothing but a miserable husk.''
* HeroicBSOD: Peridot is extremely depressed from Lapis leaving.
-->'''Steven''': So, what have you been up to?\\
''(Peridot mumbles incoherently with her face against the floor)''\\
'''Steven''' I, uh, couldn't really hear you there.\\
''(Amethyst flips Peridot over to reveal the disgusted look on her face)''\\
'''Peridot:''' Nothing.
* HopeSpot: After Peridot laments how the Kindergarten permanently sucks the life out of the area, the trio find a flower that inexplicably bloomed there. Believing the Kindergarten is becoming habitable again, they spend the rest of the day planting sunflowers. Not only do the sunflowers die within a day, it turns out that the "flower" they found isn't actually a flower, but the nose of a Gem monster poking out of the ground.
-->'''Peridot:''' ''(indignant)'' [[LampshadeHanging OH! OF COURSE!]] ''(gets SwallowedWhole by the monster)''
* ImStandingRightHere: Peridot dramatically monologues about how the life force was sucked out of the Prime Kindergarten and used to make Amethysts, and now all the Amethysts are gone.
-->'''Amethyst:''' Hey!\\
'''Peridot:''' All the ''[[MyFriendsAndZoidberg well-made]]'' Amethysts are gone.\\
'''Amethyst:''' Yo, not better!
* InstantlyProvenWrong:
-->'''Peridot:''' Nothing will ever grow here again! Not even this flower![[labelnote:*]]It later turns out that wasn't a flower, [[SubvertedTrope meaning Peridot was right the first time]].[[/labelnote]]
* IveHeardOfThatWhatIsIt: Amethyst suggests they plant hydrangeas in the Kindergarten after the sunflowers. Steven asks what those are like, and Amethyst admits she doesn't know, she just thought they sounded good.
* LifeDrain: The Kindergarten seems to actively suck out the life energy of any nearby plants.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Peridot states that her relationship with Lapis was helping her deal with her banishment from the Gem Empire and her loss of direction that resulted.
* {{Planimal}}: The new Gem monster seems to sit somewhere between a star-nosed mole and a giant turnip.
* RhetoricalRequestBlunder: Peridot states it was foolish to think they could restore the Kindergarten, and Steven's reply of "Tell me about it." prompts a rant about how it was just a distraction from her other problems and proves everything is hopeless.
-->'''Amethyst:''' Yeah. We got the subtext.
* StealthPun: Iron deposits in an Amethyst's hole are a sign that she has curly hair. So it's (a) curling iron.
* SunnySunflowerDisposition: Steven and Amethyst attempt to cheer Peridot up by getting her to plant sunflowers in the Kindergarten. It fails, but the sunflower field right outside renews her hope for future opportunity.
* SwallowedWhole: The Gem monster eats Peridot. She's freed when Smoky Quartz poofs the monster.
* TemptingFate: On their way to check on the plants they planted at the Kindergarten, Amethyst remarks "The Kindergarten looks better than ever!" Cue DescriptionCut to Steven, Peridot, and Amethyst finding their field of sunflowers dead and slumped over.
* ToiletHumor:
** With Peridot occupying the bathroom again, Steven has "three things I have to do in the sink now", and washing his face is just the one he doesn't mind Amethyst seeing.
** Peridot has gotten so used to sitting like a lump in Steven's bathtub that her way of saying "I need to go to my room" is "[[ThatCameOutWrong I need to go to the bathroom]]".
* VisualPun: Steven and Amethyst are positioned as if in a wheelbarrow race, then Amethyst shapeshifts into an actual wheelbarrow.
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* GeniusBonus: A minor one, but Amethyst suggests planting hydrangeas, before admitting that she doesn't know what those are. Hydrangeas famously change the colour of their blooms with soil acidity (blue for acidic, pink for alkaline), and so are sometimes used to evaluate the soil condition. Unfortunately, given what the Kindergarten soil is like, it probably wouldn't make a difference in the end.

** Steven, Amethyst, and Peridot take the train to the Kindergarten instead of the warp pad as they did when Amethyst first brought him there, which Peridot lampshades.

* GaiasLament: Despite attempts otherwise, the soil in the Kindergarten proves completely incapable of sustaining life and seems to keep actively draining it even with the Incubators deactivated. Plants that are planted perfectly healthy crumble to dust within a ''day'' of taking root.

-->''This used to make sense to me. I thought life was generated in a Kindergarten. Formless, aimless energy channeled into new, useful gems. But life doesn't start in a Kindergarten. It ends here. I've gotten used to plants everywhere. Bugs and breeze, and sunshine... all of that has been sucked out of this place. It's with the Amethysts that were produced here, and now this place is nothing but a miserable husk.''

-->'''Peridot:''' ''(indignant)'' [[LampshadeHanging OH! OF COURSE!]] ''(gets SwallowedWhole by monster)''

-->'''Peridot:''' Nothing will ever grow here again! Not even this flower![[labelnote:*]]It later turns out that wasn’t a flower, [[SubvertedTrope meaning Peridot was right the first time]].[[/labelnote]]

* SwallowedWhole: The Gem monster eats Peridot. She is freed when Smoky Quartz poofs the monster.

* AnAesop: Just because something has been damaged, even irreversibly, that doesn't mean there's nothing else worth saving.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Peridot again uses her Kindergartener skills to analyze the hole a gem came out of, accurately predicting what kind of ''hair'' one of the Amethyst at the Zoo would have, simply from the trace deposits of iron.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Peridot's depression over Lapis leaving her and taking nearly everything they have plays out to be like a reluctant divorcee. She's even crashing at Steven's house, despite his difficulty in hosting her.

* FusionDance: Steven and Amethyst fuse into Smoky Quartz to defeat the gem monster.

* HopeSpot: After lamenting how the Kindergarten permanently sucks the life out of the area they find a flower that inexplicably bloomed there. Turns out it's not a flower, but the nose of a Gem monster poking out of the ground.

** Peridot has gotten so used to sitting like a lump in Steven's bathtub that her way of saying "I need to go to my room." is "[[ThatCameOutWrong I need to go to the bathroom.]]"

* BittersweetEnding: The Kindergarten won’t be habitable for life anytime soon and Connie still hasn’t contacted Steven, but upon passing by a field of sunflowers, the trio decide they can rebuild elsewhere.

* BittersweetEnding: The Kindergarten won’t be habitable for life anytime soon, Connie still hasn’t contacted Steven, and Peridot is reverting back to her KnightInSourArmor personality, but upon passing by a field of sunflowers, the trio decide they can rebuild elsewhere.

** Peridot has gotten so used to sitting like a lump in Steven bathtub that her way of saying "I need to go to my room." is "[[ThatCameOutWrong I need to go to the bathroom.]]"

-->'''Peridot:''' Nothing will ever grow here again! Not even this flower!
** (The trope is subverted when it turns out it's not actually a flower.)

** That said, many people were not fans of Peridot's [[GeniusDitz Season 3/Season 4 personality,]] which at times bordered on {{Flanderization}} and would argue that the discovery that [[StepfordSmiler it was all an act]] isn't actually a terrible thing.

** That said, many people were not fans of Peridot's [[GenkiGirl Season 3/Season 4 personality,]] which at times bordered on {{Flanderization}} and would argue that the discovery that [[StepfordSmiler it was all an act]] isn't actually a terrible thing.

* BittersweetEnding:
** The Kindergarten won’t be habitable for life anytime soon, Connie still hasn’t contacted Steven, and Peridot is reverting back to her KnightInSourArmor personality, but upon passing by a field of sunflowers, the trio decide they can rebuild elsewhere.
** Then again, many people found Peridot's 'barned' personality to be something of a RedemptionDemotion bordering on outright {{Flanderization}} and are thrilled to see a return to the old snarky, know-it-all Peridot they fell in love with back in Season 2.

* ImmediateSelfContradiction:

%%Coming out on TV sometime in December!

* BittersweetEnding: The Kindergarten won’t be habitable for life anytime soon, Connie still hasn’t contacted Steven, and Peridot is reverting back to her KnightInSourArmor personality, but upon passing by a field of sunflowers, the trio decide they can rebuild elsewhere.

** Then again, many people found Peridot's 'barned' personality to be something of a RedemptionDemotion bordering on outright Flanderization and are thrilled to see a return to the old snarky, know-it-all Peridot they fell in love with back in Season 2.

** Then again, many people found Peridot's 'barned' personality to be something of a RedemptionDemotion and are thrilled to see a return to the old snarky, know-it-all Peridot they fell in love with back in Season 2.

** Amethyst gets 8XJ's name wrong ''(or at least the name of her hole.)''

* TemptingFate: On their way to check on the plants they planted at the Kindergarten, Amethyst remarks "The Kindergarten looks better than ever!" Cue GilliganCut to Steven, Peridot, and Amethyst finding their field of sunflowers dead and slumped over.

* TookALevelInJerkass: Peridot seems to be reverting to a more abrasive persona to deal with Lapis leaving.

* GaiasLament: Despite attempts otherwise, the soil in the Kindergarten proves completely incapable of sustaining life and seems to keep actively draining it (plants crumble to dust within a ''day'' of taking root, despite being perfectly healthy beforehand) even with the Incubators deactivated.