Line #6 Recap/StevenUniverseS1E32FusionCuisine


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c081b6b9e6925dc5bcd5a6dcb5e791ca.jpg]]
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3	'''Original airdate:''' November 6th, 2014
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5	'''Production code:''' 1026-031
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7	In an effort to win over Connie's parents, Steven convinces the Gems to fuse together and pretend to be his mother. HilarityEnsues.
8	----
9	!!Tropes:
10	* AnAesop: You shouldn't fake who you are to please someone else's standards, especially when you're just ''assuming'' they wouldn't like the real thing.
11	* AllYourPowersCombined: Gloriously subverted! Alexandrite -- being a fusion of Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl -- has access to all their weapons and abilities... but this includes their ''dining shortcomings'' as well. She thus combines Garnet's terseness, Amethyst's lack of table manners and Pearl's dislike/fear of eating into a tall- no, ''massive'' drink of water who can barely sit at the table.
12	* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: In-universe, Connie's mother doesn't let her watch ''Under the Knife'' because it doesn't represent an emergency room accurately enough. [[PoesLaw She doesn't realize it's satire.]]
13	* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: Alexandrite is in the same size class as Sugilite.
14	* BigNo: Steven lets one out when he loses his TV privileges for 1000 years.
15	--> '''Steven''': Noo! The mid-season pre-finale of ''Under the Knife''! How can you do this to me?!
16	* BittersweetEnding: Steven has been grounded from TV for 1000 years but on the bright side, at least Connie's parents are on better terms with the gems now which means he can still hang out with Connie.
17	* BizarreHumanBiology: Pearl says that, [[EatingOptional despite being capable of eating]], she chooses not to because she finds [[HumansThroughAlienEyes turning things into wet mush then shoving it down your throat to be disgusting.]] Amethyst, on the other hand, [[BigEater loves it]].
18	* BodyHorror:
19	** In ''Under the Knife'', the patient somehow got his legs into his brain. However, this is [[GoryDiscretionShot offscreen]] and PlayedForLaughs.
20	** When the Gems start fighting while fused, their face cracks apart before the fusion fails completely.
21	* {{Bowdlerise}}: Amethyst's line about how she loves feeling food go through her body was originally "I love poppin' biscuits in my body tube!" Apparently someone at Creator/CartoonNetwork thought this was too gross, so the final line was "I love it when mush passes through my body!"%%Podcast Volume 3, Episode 4
22	* BringingRunningShoesToACarChase: When Steven and Connie take a bus away from their families, Alexandrite chases down the bus and lifts it up off the ground.
23	* BrokenMasquerade: The Gems break their fusion after Pearl's aversion to eating clashes with the other two, pretty much sinking the elaborate lie Connie built up. It works out ok, though, because Connie's parents are more appreciative of the Gems being stern parents than they are of them being a traditional family.
24	* TheComicallySerious:
25	** Garnet really shines through when she has to [[BadLiar lie over the phone]], providing the following in her flat, monotone voice:
26	---> '''Garnet:''' Hello, this... is Mum Universe. Yes, the children are playing swords. Sorry, playing ''with'' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint swords]]. They're bleeding. Oh no, they are dead. Don't call again. ''(hangs up)'' Sorry, I panicked.
27	** Later on, when Connie's father is amused by her 1000-year punishment:
28	---> '''Garnet:''' All comedy is derived from fear.
29	* CringeComedy: The entire dinner has Alexandrite doing the worst possible job of pretending to be normal and Steven improvising terrible lies to cover her.
30	* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: After trying to run away with Connie, Steven is denied dinner. [[GroundedForever For 1000 years.]] Pearl has to step in, reassuring Steven that they would never starve him, and switch it to losing TV... for 1000 years.
31	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Steven has the Gems fuse together so he can bring all three of them to dinner, having failed to consider that a giant, six-armed woman might be a tad out of place. Connie's parents are surprisingly polite about it. They didn't think of any kind of backstory beforehand either, so whenever the Maheswarans asked them something, both Greg and Alexandrite were at a loss until Steven made up some ridiculous answer.
32	* DopeSlap: Garnet bonks Pearl and Amethyst on their heads with her gauntlets after Alexandrite falls apart.
33	* DoubleMeaningTitle: Fusion cuisine is essentially the art of [[JustForFun/XMeetsY combining cultures]] while cooking a meal. Similarly, Connie's family of {{Muggles}} is being exposed to Steven's SuperFamilyTeam [[BrokenMasquerade for the very first time.]] Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl also make their three-way fusion persona for the first time onscreen for the sake of eating a meal.
34	* {{Elopement}}: Steven and Connie were going to try to elope, as they were afraid that, after the awful dinner party, Connie's parents would never let them hang out again. They arrive at this conclusion really quickly and without thinking it through at all. It's adorable.
35	--> '''Steven''': I wish that there was a way that we could just hang out without having to worry about stuff.\
36	'''Connie''': Steven, let's just hop on a bus and live somewhere else without telling anyone!\
37	'''Steven''': That's a great idea!
38	* {{Fangirl}}: Connie is revealed to love soap operas, especially ''Under the Knife''.
39	* FlatWhat: Connie mouths one when Steven says his parents met on a roller coaster.
40	* FreezeFrameBonus:
41	** Steven has a Platform/NintendoGameCube and copies of ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' in his room.
42	** When Alexandrite defuses back into the Crystal Gems, Garnet gems appears to momentarily separate into two beings.
43	** At the beginning of the episode, you can briefly see Lion sleeping below Steven's part of the house; he doesn't appear otherwise.
44	* FusionDance: The rare three-way version into Alexandrite. [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome Though the actual fusing part isn't shown yet.]]
45	* GiantPoofySleeves: Both Connie's formalwear and Alexandrite usual outfit have puffy shoulders, coincidentally.
46	* GodzillaThreshold: Defied and ultimately averted. The gems insist that Alexandrite is only for dire emergencies, but Steven is quickly able to convince them to make an exception to their rule and form into the gargantuan six-armed monster woman for [[MundaneUtility a dinner party.]]
47	* GratuitousYiddish: Pearl refers to cocktail shrimp as "dreck".
48	* GrossUpCloseUp: Amethyst gets a couple to highlight her JabbaTableManners.
49	* HartmanHips: Doctor Maheswaran and Alexandrite have large hips, the latter of which seems to get them from Garnet.
50	* HeadDesk: Connie plants her face into the table when Steven claims Alexandrite works on an apple farm. Her mother then chastises her for putting her head on the table.
51	* TheImmodestOrgasm: A non-sexual or erotic example; At the beginning of the episode, when the doctor in Under the Knife drops the title of the show, Connie moans out of excitement while exclaiming "This show is ''so gooood!''".
52	* IrisOut: Over Mr. Maheswaran's face once he separates Connie and Steven.
53	* JabbaTableManners: Amethyst's eating habits carry over to the fusion. Being giant, Alexandrite grabs an entire handful of breadsticks and scarfs them down. Presumably it's Pearl that makes them stick their tongue out after chewing it.
54	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In response to having been grounded from TV for 1000 years, Steven yells that he would miss "the mid-season pre-finale" of ''Under the Knife''. "Mid-season pre-finale" is pretty much what [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E25MirrorGem "Mirror Gem"]] and [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E26OceanGem "Ocean Gem"]] ended up becoming when the season was extended.
55	* LiteralMinded: Connie has to explain to Steven that a "{{nuclear family}}" means "two parents and their child(ren)", as opposed to them being literally radioactive.
56	* LuminescentBlush: Connie gets especially flustered and blushes bright red when Steven hugs her. Her father promptly separates them.
57	* MaintainTheLie: Since Connie hasn't told her parents about the whole magical Gems thing, this becomes a necessity. Steven is irritated (and even a little angry) about the whole thing, wondering if it's because she's embarrassed by him. A horrified Connie falls all over herself reassuring him that she's not; it's just that with how strict her parents are, she didn't want to risk not being allowed to spend time with the only friend she has.
58	* MilhollandRelationshipMoment: Connie assumes her parents would distrust Steven for coming from a non-traditional family. Turns out they don't even care about the gems being super-powered aliens, and pretty instantly taking a liking to their parenting style.
59	* MundaneUtility:
60	** The Crystal Gems use a three-way FusionDance to [[AllYourPowersCombined combine all their might]]... so that they can have a lovely family dinner [[MaintainTheLie in disguise]]. [[LampshadeHanging They actually complain to this effect]], but Steven guilt-trips them into it.
61	** Garnet uses her gauntlets to [[DopeSlap bonk Amethyst and Pearl on the head]] for messing up the plan.
62	* NewhartPhonecall: A phone call to Connie's mother is heard entirely from the side Connie and then Garnet speak from. Connie spends some time RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear, but Garnet (pretending to be Steven's mother) doesn't need to because everything she says is so ridiculous.
63	* NoseNuggets: When Steven asks if moms can be gross, Amethyst is pulling a wad of snot out of her nose.
64	* NotSoAboveItAll: When Steven asks Garnet to pretend to be his mom to Connie's mom, Garnet makes up a story about the children playing with swords and dying. She then hands the phone back to Steven, apologizing for panicking. [[ComicallySerious All the while without changing her tone.]]
65	* OhCrap: Steven and Connie have just decided to run off together and hopped on a bus without telling anyone. Suddenly loud shaking footsteps ring out, and they turn to see Alexandrite running after the bus angrily roaring Steven's name from her mouths...
66	* ParentalSubstitute: In a more literal sense, the Gems fused together to actually pretend to ''be'' Steven's mother.
67	* PuppyDogEyes: Steven stares off soulfully at the prospect of never seeing Connie again.
68	-->'''Steven:''' Oh, Connie... I'll never know a star that shines as bright as you...
69	* {{Retcon}}: Pearl talks about how disgusting she finds the idea of eating, but in "Too Many Birthdays" it's mentioned that she likes pie. The official words is that Pearl enjoys the process of making pie as opposed to eating it.
70	* TheRunaway: Steven and Connie deciding to elope sounds cute until you realize how worried their families were. And as the Crystal Gems pointed out, a lot of bad things could've happened to them.
71	* ShoutOut:
72	** ''Under the Knife'' has the protagonist deliver her dialog in a [[Creator/WilliamShatner Shatner-esque]] fashion.
73	** Steven and Connie's running away and sitting in the back of a bus could be a reference to ''Film/TheGraduate''.
74	* SignificantDoubleCasting: A minor, but amusing example: Connie says her mom doesn't let her watch a show called ''Under the Knife''. We hear some lines from a female doctor and male nurse... provided by [[Creator/MaryElizabethMcglynn Mary Elizabeth McGlynn]] and Creator/CrispinFreeman, who also voice Connie's parents.
75	* SoapWithinAShow: ''Under the Knife'', which is apparently a satire of soap operas even InUniverse.
76	* {{Squee}}: Connie as she watches ''Under the Knife'' with Steven, because she thinks the show is so cool.
77	* TitleDrop: The SoapWithinAShow ''Under the Knife'' has the title utter dramatically before beginning surgery.
78	* TotemPoleTrench: Parodied; all three of the Crystal Gems fuse into one ''huge'' Gem (Alexandrite) in order for all of them at once to go to a dinner.
79	* ToughLove: Trying to {{elope\|ment}} with Connie gets Steven chewed out by his whole family and grounded from TV over the bus fiasco, in Greg's words, "because we love you".
80	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Connie's parents take the revelation that Steven's mother is a giant, six-armed woman surprisingly well, and don't seem that surprised when said woman splits into three women with wildly varying skin tones.
81	* WeCouldHaveAvoidedAllThis: Connie could've saved everyone a lot of trouble if she had simply told her parents that Steven's father is a widower (which is [[MindReformatDeath essentially the truth]] in regards to Rose), and Steven wonders exactly that aloud.

Context Recap / StevenUniverseS1E32FusionCuisine