You know, is a little bit ironic that you said that the Beach City cast being underused is a bad thing because that only happened as a response from the writers to all the critics said cast received in the original series. Because nearly everybody said that those characters were unimportant and boring and also liked to call episodes that starred them as filler and skippable, they decided to simply drop the characters to appease the majority.
My major issue was when they detracted from the plot, taking up time more properly spent on developing the Myth Arc. A Sequel Series like this however is the perfect time to actually use them though, showcasing how they interact with the Gems in a day to day setting, while also showing how they have changed. As much as I dislike Ronaldo, it still feels like wasted potential to not have the alien geek not interact with any of the gems, and instead be relegated to The Cameo at best. Sadie Killer and the Suspects only get one episode to have a role in, and only Sadie really gets focus, with Buck, Sour Cream, and Jenny all apparently coming to terms with growing up and having career paths. And while Sour Cream's path you could probably guess he'd take, I can say I wouldn't have expected Buck to go to medical school or Jenny to have an online business.
- The Townie's ultimately hampered the story in the original series because there was something bigger going on, yet they repeatedly focused on episodes that were more just one offs that didn't develop anyone like important "Kiki's Delivery Service" or "Restaurant Wars".
- Here however, in a Sequel Series where the stakes are lower and its more about everyone adjusting now that the war is over? That seems like the perfect time to actually use them! Show Nanefua looking around Beach City and Little Homeworld while escorted by the Ruby Guards, show some of the humans volunteering at Little Homeschool so as to give accurate examples of living on Earth, hell even just show Mr. Smiley reacting to having the Gems as workers at his park. Light-Hearted characters taking up time when there's a serious war plot going on is bad. Light-Hearted characters appearing in a lax and light-hearted setting is good.
- that didn\'t develop anyone like \"Kiki\'s Delivery Service\" or \"Restaurant Wars\".
Didn\'t those episodes developed the Pizza and Fryman family?
Steven\'s trauma was an issue that dwelved all the way back to the original series, but that didn\'t really panned out much. Steven always was afraid of talking about his issues with the gems and at most ultimetly confided in Connie. Going to unrelated parties was always his go to move (hence he wanted Jasper to hear her out). It also showed that these things aren\'t just resolved in 15 minutes.
I don\'t get your point about Greg. It addressed an issue that many people kept pointing out over the years. Steven doesn\'t go to school, doesn\'t seem to have a home school curriculum, we found out he never went to the doctor in 16 years among other things. Greg may have showed more maturity and responsability over time, but he started with a pretty low bar.
I agree that it was a bad idea to add new stories that they didn\'t plan to resolve on top of not adressing some of the old ones. Bismuth has feelings for Pearl? why would you add that?
That was actually hinted at in her debut, but I agree that bluntly addressing it then not doing anything further was a bad move.
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- I know things aren\'t always resolved in 15 minutes, but its a recurring Aesop they had Steven go through. Episodes like Mindful Education and What\'s Your Problem make it An Aesop that Steven needs to stop bottling things up and actually confide in others as well as stop shouldering the burden of everything on himself, which he seems to do at the end of each episode with Connie in the former and Amethyst in the latter. Its just that regardless of how many times he learns that Aesop, it never seems to stick since most of his drama hinges on him not learning that lesson. It gets repetitive as a result.
- My issue was how Steven treated Greg in that episode. We finally get some insight into Greg\'s life as a Demayo rather than as a Universe after we first met his cousin Andy, and we see that Greg didn\'t have a particularly good home life, so he decided to be an Open-Minded Parent for Steven and Break The Cycle Of Bad Parenting.
- While it is true that this style of parenting did indeed leave Steven with a lack of structure in his life, Steven\'s more concerned with how Greg gave up the life he wanted, and seems to just gloss over the fact that Greg didn\'t have a good childhood either that came with its own set of problems to the point he and his parents have little contact with one another.
- He\'s also ignoring that, for as much as he compared Greg to Rose, that having Greg\'s childhood wouldn\'t have been better, since that would similar to what Pink Diamond had then: Overly controlling parental figures and a very strict structure offering little to no opportunity for freedom, something he actually argued about with Blue Diamond over.
- Even discounting the comparison to Pink Diamond\'s upbringing, he\'s seen this kind of upbringing in another family: Connie\'s. Connie had a strict upbringing too until she met Steven, particularly with Priyanka, and it took Connie outright getting into a shouting match with her and displaying facets of her life Priyanka didn\'t know about to even convince her to be more open minded.
- It also doesn\'t help that Steven is blaming Greg for things beyond his control.
- Greg was just as much in the dark about Rose\'s past as the other Gems, and its kinda hard to bring a Half-Human Hybrid to a regular doctor or a school without opening up a whole can of worms, like Steven\'s rapid healing, why he didn\'t physically age past 9 for awhile, or the fact he has a gemstone in his naval.
- Greg did try to shelter Steven from a lot of the stuff the Crystal Gems did in the early parts of the season, even trying to raise Steven himself until it became clear the Gems would know more about caring for him based on his Gem Biology, and even then still made himself an active part of his life. The Gem\'s themselves tried to shield Steven from the more unsavory parts of their past at first, only stopping when Steven himself refused to stand on the sidelines, and when enemies like Jasper and the Diamonds began specifically targeting him.
- He also couldn\'t have introduced Steven to his grandparents because, as demonstrated by the stack of unopened letters and commentary from Andy, the family has practically shut Greg out, and aren\'t even on good terms with each other. Hell, the fact Andy never brings them up when meeting Greg should have made clear Andy knew about the tension between Greg and his parents and as such didn\'t bring it up.
- While it is true that this style of parenting did indeed leave Steven with a lack of structure in his life, Steven\'s more concerned with how Greg gave up the life he wanted, and seems to just gloss over the fact that Greg didn\'t have a good childhood either that came with its own set of problems to the point he and his parents have little contact with one another.
I completely agree. Especially with that line about it being frustrating to watch Steven not talk out his problems.
That\'s so much worse because characters in Future are so hopelessly clueless that they can\'t seem to pick up on the fact that Steven is in pain. How many times did an episode end with Steven freaking out and then other characters are staring at him...then the next episode reveals that nothing was resolved? Apparently everyone just walked off and forgot to address the elephant in the room.
Find the Light in the DarkLeave a Comment:
An interesting look at trauma, but a waste of everything else. (SPOILERS)
The Fandom-Specific Plot of Steven needing therapy finally happens here. The epilogue series does a good job of deconstructing Steven as a character, examining his personality and its flaws. On paper this seems like a decent story, but it fails.
Outside of Steven's trauma, the series wastes a lot of potential.
- The main characters all get a single episode of real focus for themselves at best, sans Amethyst who doesn't even get that. Pearl and Lapis fare best since their episodes explore their development and can help others like them, but Garnet's and Peridot's are just vehicles for Steven's issues, and Bismuth's opens up an interesting idea for her that's never resolved. Hell, this is the only spotlight Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth get despite getting a Promotion to Opening Titles.
- The Diamonds and Spinel have a similar problem. While we get evidence they are changing for the better, and that even Steven isn't fully okay with White, their involvement is left towards the end, and is again a vehicle for Steven's issues.
- Old characters like Nephrite and the uncorrupted Gems are reintroduced but are largely background characters. Newer characters like Cherry Quartz, the Lazuli's, and Volleyball are introduced, and either get a single episode with no proper resolution, or nothing at all.
- Beach City has begun to move on, and so we barely see their cast. My issue wasn't that they existed, its that they distracted from the Homeworld story, yet here they get nothing. Not even Lars gets anything outside a single episode more about Steven being a matchmaker for him and Sadie, and he suddenly leaves at the end with the Off Colors to go star trekking.
- Jasper is the only one who gets anything of note, having to adjust to the war ending and refusing to see Steven as her Diamond, finally giving her respect after Steven shatters her. Even that's wasted since Steven hates how he got it, and the perfect chance for him to show her a new perspective is ignored. She doesn't even help in the final fight, and by the end she's back where she started: dejected and alone.
Steven Universe Future is a lackluster end. Arcs are unresolved, characters are introduced but forgotten about, the main focus requires you ignore Steven's learned this lesson already, and recycles the setup ad nauseum before he finally breaks. Were it not for Pearl, Lapis, and Jasper, I'd have nothing good to say.