Week 4 of the biggest Stevenbomb ever starts with new Steven Universe episodes “Beta” and “Earthling,” parts 1 and 2 of a three-part episode arc. The “Summer of Steven” began July 18 and gave us six new episodes, while Week 2 of “Steven’s Summer Adventures” gave us some time with Beach City citizenry before Jasper’s malevolent return. Last week, Jasper got up To shenanigans in “Gem Hunt” and “Crack the Whip,” while Amethyst broke our hearts and Bismuth broke them harder.
This week, “Beta” starts off with Amethyst trying out her new flail-whip as she and Steven head to the barn to visit Lapis and Peridot. The two roommates have redecorated the barn, and Lapis has joined Peridot in Camp Lonely Hearts fandom. Peridot is hyped to see Amethyst, and Lapis doesn’t even seem to hate standing in Peridot’s general presence. Peridot is also wearing the world’s cutest red bowtie.
Renovations made to the barn include an aquarium in a wall, an alien toy in the wall aquarium, an aquarium in a vacuum cleaner, and a series of art installations Lapis has named “Meat Morps.” The “morps” are subversive because they have no practical purpose, a titillating bit of rebellion for anyone forged by Homeworld. The “morps” are mementos to the two Gems’ meaningful moments: Peridot has one called “Wow, thanks” starring her shattered tape recorder, Lapis has her baseball stuff next to a single leaf Steven gave her, and together, Lapis and Peridot have created a toilet structure called “Occupied” to remember Peridot’s time imprisoned in Steven’s bathroom (Whoops).
Amethyst is pretty unimpressed, haggard lines still etched under her eyes, but Peridot uses her metal powers to play a whole bunch of instruments at once, toot one note, and then drop them all in a bid to get her guest’s approval. Then Lapis and Peridot play together. Their beat is solid, but Amethyst is pissed and haunted: who has time for playing with garbage when Jasper is out there!
Steven is shocked, since playing with garbage is one of Amethyst’s favorite activities, and Peridot whispers that she tries not to use the J-word too much around here, but Amethyst storms off to go “do something useful.” Steven explains to Peridot that Amethyst is obsessed with the idea of taking Jasper down to prove she’s good enough, because she learned she was supposed to be just like Jasper.
Peridot slides up to Amethyst (“Ames… Big A…”) and says she’s way better than Jasper. She goes on to explain that they are both different Quartzes, both from Earth and from very different Kindergartens. Amethyst is from the Prime Kindergarten, but Jasper is from the Beta Kindergarten. Peridot invites her to go see “how the other half was made” and promises she’ll get a kick out of it.
At Jasper’s origin, Peridot expounds on the inferior nature of the Beta kindergarten. Homeworld scrambled to generate extra soldiers on the ground during the Rebellion, and to Peridot’s technician’s eye, it shows. The holes don’t line up and one even came out sideways. It’s all a relevation to Amethyst, as Peridot burbles on about how she appreciates the Prime Kindergarten’s well-thought-out arrangement in comparison.
Finally they come to Jasper’s exit hole, which is enormous and, as Peridot confirms to her annoyance, perfect. Steven says that origins don’t matter, but intentions do; who you want to be is more important than where you came from. Amethyst wants to be the Gem that beats Jasper, “for all the weird holes out there.” But one of the weird holes isn’t actually an exit hole. It’s been dug out. And some of them are cages…
It turns out this is where Jasper has been storing the corrupted Gem monsters. End of “Beta.”
“Earthlings” starts off straightaway with Amethyst, Peridot and Steven watching Jasper in horror. Jasper is trying to interrogate a corrupted Gem, but the Gem is incapable of responding. Jasper hisses that it’s a weak disgrace, twisted by this planet, suffering because it deserves to suffer. Amethyst tries to get the drop on Jasper, but Jasper instantly calls her out.
Helpfully, Jasper starts explaining the Diamonds caste: those who can’t fit inside the Diamonds’ purpose must be purged, which includes those who reshape themselves outside their purpose or those who are misshapen, or those who bother defending Earth, a “ruined, worthless planet.”
Peridot yelps that it’s not all that bad and declares that she’s a Crystal Gem now, with metal powers, which she will spend the next ten minutes trying to activate on a cage bar. Amethyst screams with frustration and throws Steven back towards Peridot, away from herself. She wants to go against Jasper one-on-one and starts hitting Jasper with her powered-up whip, but it does nothing. Jasper barely looks scratched.
To protect Amethyst, Steven tosses his shield at an injector above them, then weakly yells “Heads up” so both Amethyst and Jasper move out of the way. Amethyst says no matter what, she can’t win, because Jasper came out right and she came out wrong. But Steven cries out that Amethyst is nothing like Jasper. They’re like each other - nothing like anybody else. Amethyst calls them both “us Worst Gems,” then embraces Steven just as there’s a flash of light.
It’s a new fusion: Steven and Amethyst fuse into a giant, chubby, unsymmetrical, irreverent, three-armed Smoky Quartz, who starts beating on Jasper with a giant yo-yo. Jasper, pissed, starts sonic-rolling into the sandstone, setting her own monsters free. Jasper’s army runs into the night as Smoky Quartz whaps Jasper with her yo-yo over and over. Being beaten by another fusion sends Jasper over the breaking point: she fuses with one of her corrupted Yetis, becoming a misshapen, yowling thing with Jasper’s eyes.
Smoky Quartz simply makes three yo-yo fans to blow them away, and the unstable fusion between Jasper and the corrupted Gem begins to collapse. The yeti monster charges away in distress. Jasper says, pained, “Nobody I fuse with ever wants to stay,” says Jasper, looking pained. But then she starts laughing… and then corruption starts leaking up Jasper’s body.
Jasper, predictably, refuses to accept Steven’s help. She thinks she comes to a revelation about Rose wanting weird Gems at the bottom of the barrel: “because when you’re at the bottom, you’ll follow anyone who makes you feel like less of a failure.” It’s hard to escape the notion that she understands because this is how she’s come to feel.
Peridot’s sunny speech about all the things she’s learned about herself on Earth does nothing to turn back Jasper’s corruption, and Jasper refuses Steven’s help - or Rose Quartz’s manipulations. In her final speech she screams in what sounds like sincere grief, denouncing what Rose Quartz did to her colony, planet and their shared Diamond: Pink Diamond.
Finally, Peridot’s metal bar she’s been trying to work while all this drama unfolds flies free - and straight into Jasper, leaving Jasper’s bright yellow Gem looking shockingly uncorrupted on the ground.
Amethyst bubbles Jasper, sadly saying “C’mere, sis,” and sends her to the Temple.
I am currently writing President Obama for clemency for Jasper and starting a ChangeOn petition to free Bismuth. Bismuth needs time to process her grief, and love and understanding to ease her pain and anger, and Steven Universe is just the sort of show to provide all of that. As for Jasper? She's done a lot, y'all. The most. The absolute most. I can't defend her actions and I won't, even if Jasper has given us a lot of reasons to understand her behavior (which doesn't mean excusing it). That's why she needs straight-up clemency, an Ave Maria, forgiveness without expectation. Would any other show do it? Probably not. But Steven Universe? Just maybe. It might take a lot of episodes, but when we circle back to the secret of Rose Quartz and the Pink Diamond, maybe we'll have some time to spare for Jasper, too. (And maybe Steven's healing will have advanced enough by then to save her. Please, Obama.)
Smoky Quartz is a huge highlight of this episode, confident, cheeky and casual, and voiced by THE Natasha Lyonne. After all of Amethyst’s pain and self-confidence crises in the previous episode, seeing the lightness of being that Steven could bring to her was a real relief. But overall, this is a heavy pair of episodes, and I wonder what will come of them. Steven Universe never leaves a smoking gun unshot, and now we’ve got two, bubbled and sitting pretty in the Temple.
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.
