Steven Universe has officially come off of hiatus for the third time this summer, and today’s Steven Universe episode, “Onion Friend,” is the third episode and midpoint of Stevenbomb 3.0’s 5-episode story arc. Watch the sneak peek for Steven Universe episode “Onion Friend” below:
So far in this Stevenbomb, the central conflict rests around Pearl’s actions in “Cry for Help.” Garnet’s outrage over Pearl’s manipulation carries into “Keystone Motel,” where we see Garnet so conflicted and so upset that she actually unfuses into Ruby and Sapphire. So how is “Onion Friend” going to play into all of this?
“Onion Friend” starts with Steven inviting Amethyst to lunch, to which Amethyst responds with a downbeat, “No thanks.” She hasn’t seen Garnet or Pearl and has no idea where they might be, other than “somewhere not talking to each other.”
Steven opens the cupboard to get out a bag of chips and spots Onion inside. This is a level of random Steven Universe has touched before, but with the steady emergence of a more linear plot, it’s been a while. Onion busts out through the screen window and runs down the beach as Steven wails after him that the chips are a special flavor and Onion won’t even eat the food… (I can hear the “Onion is a Gem because he doesn’t have ears” contingent perking up in the distance.)
Steven follows Onion into his garage. To Steven’s unease, the garage is filled with paintings of Amethyst. So Steven returns with Amethyst, and the rummaging causes an adult woman to emerge in slippers and a bathrobe, shotgun in hand. It’s Vidalia, last seen in a Greg flashback as the slim hipster who was hooking up with Greg’s old manager. But Amethyst and Vidalia greet each other like long-lost friends, venting the same evil cackles. It’s easy to see how they got along.
Apparently, back in the day Vidalia used to paint Amethyst because Amethyst could turn into anything. Some of the paintings are new, but before Vidalia can go into it, little Onion emerges and hugs his mother Vidalia’s leg. (Sorry, “Onion is a Gem” contingent.) In muffled meeps immediately reminiscent of Kenny from South Park, Onion whispers into his mom’s ear. It turns out to be an invitation for them to stay for dinner. Amethyst is definitely down and clearly eager to catch up with her old friend.
Dinner is noodles and butter, with Sour Cream sitting at the table lost in his own world of music. Vidalia and Amethyst chat about the kids as Onion creates a noodle and butter sculpture of Steven, licks it slowly, then lets it fall out of his mouth. Steven stares at him in stern dismay: “Why do you hate food…”
Creeped out, Steven wants to leave right after dinner, but Amethyst wants to stay and hang out with Vidalia, and Onion wants to show Steven around the house. So Steven heads upstairs with Onion, uncomfortable and intimidated by the degree of Onion’s silent strangeness, but talking a mile a minute as optimistically as possible to make up for it.
Onion’s room is a dirty trash heap. When a mouse crawls onto Steven’s foot, Onion tries to get Steven to feed it to his pet snake. Predictably, squeamish and gentle Steven can’t bear to do it. Wordlessly, Onion continues to trundle around his room. He puts on a movie of Vidalia giving birth to him.
“I can’t take much more of this,” Steven whimpers. Unaffected by Steven’s sweating discomfort, Onion reveals a vent covered by a flap behind his bed. This is the last straw for Steven, who flees downstairs. But Steven stops short at the foot of the stairs, because Amethyst is venting to Vidalia about the situation back home. “It’s awful at home. I feel trapped,” Amethyst sighs.
Vidalia sympathizes with Amethyst, and then admits to Amethyst that she considers her an inspiration when it comes to stressful situations and disagreements within the family. Amethyst is clearly both touched and in disbelief, because she always thought Vidalia was so cool and that she was just this “dumb sponge” who followed Vidalia around. But Vidalia insists, “You were down for anything! Not afraid for anything... To be honest, I wanted to be like you. I’m inspired by you.” And that’s why there’s new paintings of Amethyst in the garage.
It’s clearly good stuff for Amethyst to hear. And it’s nice to see Amethyst appreciated and acknowledged in-universe again, especially with Pearl and Garnet’s drama taking center stage. Amethyst acted with a lot of maturity by sticking up for Pearl despite her inferiority complex vis-a-vis the other Gem, and she has clearly been feeling for Pearl despite being the one to force Pearl to tell Garnet the truth.
Amethyst is really stuck in the middle here, and in need of venting to someone who isn’t a little boy.
Steven also demonstrates a moment of real emotional sensitivity and maturity here by returning to Onion’s room and thus allowing Amethyst to continue venting with Vidalia uninterrupted. It reminds me of how he responded in “The Test” when he realized why the Crystal Gems had put him through a fake test yet again. At that time, Steven realized how important it was to them that he feel supported and encouraged, so he went with it, even though he knew the tests were a set-up. Here, Steven realizes it’s more important for Amethyst to hear good things and reassurance from Vidalia than for him to go home right now.
So Steven returns to Onion’s room, where Onion has been patiently waiting by the crawlspace. The vent continues on and on, with Steven dreading what’s next. But at the end of the vent there’s a plain, clean room, with a little chest inside. The chest is full of rare, limited Guys and Gals figurines, clearly Onion’s most precious possessions. (Shout-out to the hilarious painting of naked baby Onion on the wall.) And Onion gives Steven the gift of Explorer Gal, Steven’s favorite.
Aww, Onion. Maybe after his own creepy and off-putting fashion, he was trying to be a friend and share things that mattered to him after all.
The next scene is Amethyst and Vidalia parting ways. “It’s gonna blow over! You’re a rock,” Vidalia says hearteningly. “That’s what you are, right?” Ha ha. Vidalia encourages Amethyst not to be a stranger, and in turn, Amethyst invites Vidalia and Onion over whenever they’d like. Steven looks hopefully at Onion, who opens his mouth, revealing the little white mouse from earlier.... Eww, Onion.
So Stevenbomb 3.0’s midpoint ends on a moment of catharsis and validation between friends. Will the next two episodes follow suit, or will we be left on a Yellow Diamond cliffhanger?
San Diego Comic-Con revealed more than its share of spoilers, and I can’t wait to see them play out. To check out past recaps, just click here for all of our previous Steven Universe coverage. Steven Universe will be on every night this week on Cartoon Network at 6PM, so make sure to follow us on Twitter for more Steven Universe recaps and other news.
Tomorrow's episode of Steven Universe is "Historical Friction." See you tomorrow for the newest episode of Stevenbomb 3.0!
