With all of Steven Universe season 3 dropping every weeknight for the next few weeks, the biggest Stevenbomb has launched into its third week. The “Summer of Steven” began July 18 and gave us six new episodes. Week 2 of “Steven’s Summer Adventures” gave us some time with Beach City citizenry before astonishing us with Jasper’s return. In week 3, we’ve seen that Definitely Not Lapis’ Abusive Ex Jasper is up to some disquieting hijinks in “Gem Hunt.” Now that Connie’s cleared to go on Gem missions, what’s next for Team Earth?
“Crack the Whip” begins with Pearl and Garnet heading out to investigate Jasper’s movements, leaving Amethyst to look after Steven -- and Connie, whose sword training has to be postponed until next week. Amethyst watches Steven and Connie practice on the beach in between naps, but comes up with some real advice when Connie frets over her stance and balance, still mortified over freezing up in her first mission.
Amethyst advises her that she’s just too in her own head. She tells them they have to go with what’s in their guts - which are rumbling with hunger, so they go on a snack break to the Big Donut. Amethyst shifts into Lars and rolls into the store: “Hey Donut Girl! It’s me, Donut Boy… It’s cool! I totally work here!” They all eat donuts and soda together… then run through Beach City on the sugar high of a lifetime, chasing through flocks of seagulls on the boardwalk with Lion and enjoying the Ferris Wheel at Funland.
Amethyst even shifts into a boombox for Steven to carry onto the beach, and they all wind up splashing around in the ocean. But the mood shifts from summer fun to summer seriousness when the brown Yeti Gem from “Gem Hunt” surfaces, growling and on the attack. Amethyst surfs over and wraps her whip all around it, crushing it back into its Gem form. They bubble the Gem and send it back to the Temple.
Steven and Connie mention the existence of a second Gem monster, which Amethyst hears with great anxiety. That’s when Jasper rolls magnificently out of the ocean, wearing her war helmet and standing atop the second Yeti. Steven makes the mistake of telling Jasper that it’s just them, so Jasper, in classic villain style, informs Steven (whom she still refers to as Rose -- will anyone ever clue Jasper in?) that she’s building an army of corrupted Gems to take on “Rose” and “Rose’s army.”
Amethyst tells Steven and Connie to take on the second Gem monster while she takes on Jasper. Jasper taunts Amethyst about being a runt even as she dwells on the fact that Amethyst is a Quartz soldier, one who should be a warlike fighter, just like Jasper. Jasper launches into her gotta-go-fast Sonic ball mode and runs over Amethyst repeatedly, with Amethyst barely able to stand up to the attack.
Amethyst responds to Jasper’s goads with difficulty: “Rose said I’m perfect the way I am!”
“Then she had low standards. You could have been me. And what are you instead? Just a joke,” Jasper shoots back, headbutting Amethyst so hard she retreats into her gem. Jasper grasps Amethyst’s Gem in a fist, ready to crush her, when Steven and Connie instantly and fluidly fuse into Stevonnie and take back Amethyst’s gem.
Jasper is shocked to see Steven fuse into Stevonnie. Lion throws the Yeti straight at Jasper, and the Yeti tries to flee, but Jasper flings it back down onto the sand and climbs atop it. Stevonnie gently lays Amethyst’s gem by Lion and promises to protect her, then charges Jasper and the Yeti so hard that the Yeti is forced back into its corrupted Gem.
Amethyst reforms hurriedly, looking frantic, then spots Stevonnie and stands in shock. “Fusion, fusion, it’s always fusion!” Jasper shouts. She takes the Yeti’s gem and backs away from the fight, which is clearly no longer going her way. “Get ready for next time. Jaspers don’t give up. Jaspers keep going until we get what we want,” she growls, sinking sinisterly back into the sea.
“Hmm… I guess she lives in the ocean now,” Stevonnie comments, hilariously. Then they spot Amethyst and unfuse. The kids dance around in excitement, delighted by their success.
Amethyst stares after them. “Oh… good! You didn’t need me at all,” she says quietly. Then the episode ends and my heart breaks.
The one thing as consistent as Pearl’s lesbian angst over Rose is Amethyst’s deep sense of inferiority, the raw nerve that aches when touched. Jasper can’t stop herself from being equal parts fascinated and repulsed over Amethyst, who is technically a fellow Quartz, but is a vision of horror to Jasper: defective, small, a perversion of a real Quartz soldier who shouldn’t even exist.
Amethyst, who has struggled so hard to own herself and love herself, might be able to shrug Jasper off if Stevonnie hadn’t proven themselves more capable in combat than Amethyst could have imagined. Jasper called Amethyst a runt over and over and scoffed at Amethyst’s treasured memories of Rose, but that would mean nothing if Amethyst had put the lie to Jasper’s taunts by defeating her instead. Instead, Amethyst was almost crushed in her gem and had to be saved by Steven and Connie, the children she was charged to look after. Stevonnie handily defended not only themselves but even Amethyst. No wonder Amethyst seemed so dejected. Does she think Jasper has a point?
Of course the truth is that Steven, Connie, and yes, Stevonnie all need Amethyst. The first half of the episode, with Amethyst leading the charge into summer fun, proved that. If Connie were still tense and worried over her last mission, would Stevonnie have been able to fuse so handily?
Amethyst’s free spirit and unorthodox style have proven a boon to the Gems over and over. Even if Amethyst were completely useless in a fight, she is beloved, and that alone makes her important.
But for someone who struggles to love herself, someone who has shown that others’ opinions can shape her very form, this episode has put Amethyst in a dangerous mental place. I can’t wait to see how Amethyst’s personal plot, and the bigger plotline with Jasper and her collection of corrupted Gems (Biggs Jasper and Ocean Jasper, it looks like), turns out.
The "In Too Deep" Steven Universe special event for season 3 kicked off with “ Watermelon Island ” and “ Gem Drill ” back to back and ended with “ Hit the Diamond .” Now Cartoon Network is delivering the " Summer of Steven " in the biggest Stevenbomb yet . Steven Universe will be airing new episodes every single weeknight for over a month, July 18 through Aug. 12, so make sure to check back with iDigitalTimes every weeknight after Steven Universe airs for recaps, analysis and news.
