x2 Yeah I agree with pretty much everything you're saying.
We don't need another episode about Ronaldo the loser nerd or whether Lars and Sadie's toxic abusive relationship will continue. Those things should have been wrapped up already so we could get to the danged Gem stuff.
I'm reminded that the earlier seasons worked in the Gem stuff into Beach City civilian antics. There was that episode in the lighthouse that revealed Lars and Ronaldo's history together, there was the episode with the Pizzas, or Lars and Sadie trapped on an island.
I never thought Steven Universe would hit Seasonal Rot.
I know that much of this is just going to echo others...
First, I really liked this episode. Lots of great stuff all around in it, including pretty much spot-on Lapis (who again is my favorite) from beginning to end. Sure, she was a jerk at several points, but it was understandable and she showed tremendous growth even in that.
Second, I too wondered about how much effort one requires to poof a Ruby if atmospheric re-entry (which, in addition to the sheer force from gravity involved, also involves a whole bunch of friction, though I guess it's strongly hinted that Rubies are heat-resistant) isn't sufficient to do the job. I also relatedly wondered if the crater was glassed at its surface - at the very least, that level of pressure and heat should make a thin layer of glass.
Third, I find it really telling that Ruby didn't just try abandoning Steven, Lapis, and Peridot in space or activating the Alcubierre Drive with them still hanging on. Or that she didn't try dumping the three off in a really dangerous place - given how many times Lapis demonstrated her water powers, an oceanic drop-off is a pretty kind way to ditch the three. Between that and the fact that Garnet prepared for both possible Ruby reactions, while I know folks are looking at this as a counterpoint to "Barn Mates," I think this is more along the lines of "It Could Have Been Great" - Ruby's ditching was closer to the lines of pre-Heel–Face Turn Peridot grabbing the communication device than any other moment in the show in my eyes. In better days, Navy may become a friend.
Fourth, related to the thread of "reactions to fandom," I felt that Lapis "Oh, come ON!" was a commentary on people who write fanfic where there's a poorly written redemption arc, often with the aims of making the now-redeemed villain into a Possession Sue or the like. I've seen enough fics in enough fandoms to see the parallel, and I admit that was the moment I most related to Lapis, ever.
Fifth, though I'm generally a bit loathe to dust off any of the Five Bad Band trope dynamics... got a really solid feel for Yellow Diamond Ruby Squad to fit it. Doc as the Big Bad for YDRS, Eyeball as The Dragon, Navy for Evil Genius, Leggy for The Dark Chick... and presumably, Army for The Brute.
So yeah, I really liked this one. It even had probably my favorite all-time Peridot moment (the "wish on a star" moment, which was so endearingly ridiculous). Outside of the bomb and "Last One Out of Beach City," probably the highlight of the season thus far.
edited 13th Mar '17 1:15:12 PM by 32_Footsteps
Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.Eh... some of the Slice of Life stuff could be much better. "Last One Out of Beach City" was total slice-of-life, but I agree with most people that it was a really solid episode. I think the problem is that too many of this season's slice-of-life episodes have just been static wacky hijinks. "Tiger Philanthropist" is an example - it's not moving the characters forward; it's just the consequence of moving characters forward (and a great big nod to pro wrestling smarks, but it's never a good idea to write to just one particular subset of your fandom). It feels like that episode could have been wrapped up in a 15-second conversation with Lars and/or Amethyst in a different episode.
Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.Last One Out of Beach City worked because it was a major character episode for Pearl. Sure it didn't advance the myth arc any, but it helped to give Pearl development and contributed some more LGBT-goodness. Character episodes with the Gems don't have to contribute to the myth arc but they help by going into the characters some. Hell, I guess one reason why I'm a bit softer on Tiger Philanthropist is that it gave a tiny bit, even if it was static, but a tiny bit of info on Amethyst that I appreciated, almost like an epilogue to the Smokey Quartz arc. It wasn't the best and overall felt plain, but I could appreciate the intent of it by showing just how far Amethyst has come. Room for Ruby was a good character episode for Lapis, Storm in the Room was a good character episode for Steven, and the entire Out of this World event gave so much depth to the Diamonds and Homeworld, so much room for speculation and whatnot that I want something more like that. Lion 4 seems to be something that might give me something, but I don't know what's gonna happen from there. No more episode titles have come out so far.
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?The SoL stuff has just been too mundane...
Somehow the separation between Human and Gem antics has gotten bigger than in Season 1, despite the fact that it's suppose to be the other way around.
edited 13th Mar '17 1:32:29 PM by randomness4
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.
Eh, I liked the Zoo arc. It gave us a bit more insight into the Diamonds and some of the social makeup of the Gem Empire, and was a welcome breath of fresh air after another bout of so-so Beach City episodes. It was fun. And of course, right after that, we were back to Beach City eps again.
They can't keep doing this forever. Sooner or later, something's got to give. Whether it be the direction the show takes, or (and I really hope it doesn't come to this,) the audience.
edited 13th Mar '17 2:03:59 PM by kkhohoho
The audience is diving already after the screw-y scheduling has been making the ratings kind of tank. Either way, Season 4's high points for me have always included the Out of this World bomb and Storm in the Room (even if I felt that the latter was rushed quite a bit).
edited 13th Mar '17 2:34:48 PM by AdricDePsycho
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?I liked the Diamond stuff, but it was so rushed with so many potential plot threads I'm kind of doubting I'll ever be satisfied with how the show tries to deal with those points (I'm pretty sure they're not going to rescue the Zoomans or recruit the Earth Gems any time soon, for example). Storm in the Room was good but rushed because of the format, which kind of sucks. Room for Ruby was also quite good. It just seems like all the more mundane episodes recently have been meh to bad this season.
Oissu!Well, this is also zig zagging...but leaning mostly towards the stiff separation of humans and Gems in episodes.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.Well, it's not really the difficulty of building the ship that's the problem now...
It's more like, they'll never be able to build one as effective as the HW Gem ships...because warp speed has yet to be broken with Earth tech.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.I mean, I still have one theory for what could possibly happen whenever the Diamonds show up next, since it seems clear that the Diamonds are gonna head off to Earth sometime. Possible kidnapping of Beach City denizens perhaps? I mean, Navy's gonna end up getting her team back most likely, if she picks up Eyeball and they report back to the Diamonds and Eyeball says that Jasper is gone and Rose Quartz still lives, I'm pretty sure Yellow and Blue are gonna be hella pissed, not to mention the Cluster still hasn't gone off to their knowledge and they don't know it's been deactivated.
This is all me being speculative as hell, but I'm hoping that this is gonna lead to an arc of the Crystal Gems getting taken to Homeworld to stand trial or something. I wanna see Homeworld so bad.
edited 13th Mar '17 3:40:12 PM by AdricDePsycho
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?Would the gems evict centi and her crew just so they can use their spaceship?It's kinda mean but if needs must then they might have to,getting it in working order might be a little harder though.
Edit:Yellow might actually end up punishing the rubies for failing their mission,regardless of what she's told,that's when the rubies will switch sides once their loyalty to thrown back their faces,but by then it might be too late for them.
edited 13th Mar '17 3:49:20 PM by Ultimatum
have a listen and have a link to my discord server

I want to see more Beach City-centric episodes with the same emotional appeal and rawness as those dedicated to the gems. Give these humans some issues.