Steven Universe episode review: "Too Far"

Season 2 episode 21
Finally, Steven Universe returns to the emotional complexity that makes it so great in the first place.

The past few weeks of Steven Universe left me feeling a little bored. While there's been a fair amount of good material in the previous handful of episodes, the show has only progressed incrementally, and that progression has been largely buildup. While "Too Far" is still far from the payoff of all this, it's the first of these episodes to really show the complexity that this show is famous for. This primarily crops up when Peridot reveals that Amethyst is actually an undergrown Quartz. Peridot, being Peridot, says this in the most insensitive way possible, which understandably makes Amethyst upset. An interesting question comes up here: Is Peridot just a jerk, or does Gem society not have the emotional openness of Planet Earth? It's been made very clear that the Homeworld is strictly hierarchical, so perhaps the complexity of human relationships is something alien to Peridot.

This scene comes when Peridot is chaperoned by Steven and Amethyst to the Kindergarten to obtain a drill head, but although that's the primary link to the main plot, it's mostly of little importance. Steven Universe long ago discovered how to develop the plot while keeping the focus primarily on character development, and this is easily the best example in some time. The plot arc of stopping the Cluster crawls slightly closer to the crux of the action, but the spotlight is kept squarely on Amethyst and Peridot.

A major source of humour in this episode is Peridot's lack of understanding of human terminology, and the goofy names she gives regular things, which Amethyst takes advantage of by getting Peridot to name her body parts. For whatever reason, Peridot takes a liking to Amethyst. Perhaps it's just because of Amethyst's rank, or perhaps it's because Amethyst is the only one to really complement her since she was depowered. Steven, being the sweetheart he is, tells Peridot that she hurt Amethyst, and she finds herself feeling guilt about that. This is best shown in the final scene, where Peridot admits herself to be no better than the Crystal Gems, and admits that she's "still learning." That last line shows a lot of promise for Peridot to grow and mature over the season, and this is probably the first time that I'm genuinely excited to have her join the main cast.

The drill finally becomes relevant when Peridot accidentally activates it and, seeing it headed towards Amethyst, leaps in front of it to save her. The following scene is an unexpected bit of sexual tension where Peridot has tumbled on top of Amethyst. Is the show setting up a relationship between the two? It's not clear at this point, but the possibility has been opened up particularly by the handling of that scene, especially in Peridot's line delivery.

Whatever the case, it's good to see this show back on point, finally delivering on the promise that it had been building up for three weeks now. It shouldn't be too long now until the action starts to pick up, and yet that's not nearly as exciting as seeing how Peridot develops and how her relationship with the team grows. This is one of the best episodes of the season, and really exemplifies what's great about this show. Above all, I have no doubt that the payoff of these arcs will be satisfying.