Since we are only 15 episodes into season 2, I will just cover Season 1. There is 49 episodes in all. I wish I could add many more. For those who never seen the show, it is about a young boy named Steven who's father is human but his mother Rose Quartz was a gem that takes a human-like form. He is guided by three other Gems known as the stoic and strong Garnet, the tactical but caring Pearl and the wild child Amethyst. They can form weapons from their gems to fight corrupted or evil gems that have become monsters. Steven lives in a town on the beach and is friends with mostly people who have food service businesses. The main protagonist is male but the other characters are strong females, he has a pink gem and a pink lion, which is considered a female color in western culture. It defies gender norms.
6. "The Message"
Greg proves himself to the Gems by translating a message from Lapis Lazuli through the Wailing Stone. I love when Greg helps the Gems with something and like he said, Video killed the Audio Star. Pearl is concerned his analog systems can translate it. Steven doesn't lose faith in his father. I like his navite comes in he doesn't know the difference between audio and video. I like the accuracy of the art with the analog, video, audio, and equipment.
4. "Maximum Capacity"
It might seem like a normal episode of Amethyst and Greg enjoying an old sitcom they love. But it is even more complicated. Even complicated to explain here. Amethyst and Greg seem to get along. In flashbacks in Season 2 "Story for Steven" and "We need to talk" she is like a little friend or pet. In "Laser Light Cannon," she calls him a mess to Steven. But in other episodes, they are buddies. In this episode, she transforms into Greg and Rose. Either she misses Rose, misses her time with Greg and Rose or wishes to be Rose. It could be all that or maybe not, that's what is fun about the show, we might never know. This episode is the first to show the Gems in sweaters.
2. "Steven's Lion"
A beautifully drawn episode, his lion reminds me of Anime infamous Kimba the White Lion. This episode Steven meets a Pink Lion and takes a stone away from a desert that has extreme powers. Amethyst doesn't bubble it and it causes trouble so the Lion comes in to help. Steven wants to keep the Lion but like in the followup "Lion 2" episode, Steven explains that the lion "does his own thing." Pearl wonders about keeping the lion and Garnet jokes that they kept Amethyst.
10. "Laser Light Cannon"
The first episode I ever seen and pretty much sums up the premise with Steven looking for the Laser Light Cannon in Greg's storage unit to fight a giant eye.
The first episode I ever seen and pretty much sums up the premise with Steven looking for the Laser Light Cannon in Greg's storage unit to fight a giant eye.
9. "Indirect Kiss"
I was not sure to put this one or "Bubble Bubbles" where Steven meets Connie or "Fusion Cuisine." They are all great Connie-Steven episodes other than "Alone Together" which is the first in this top ten. This ep is told in a form of a flashback and the real action is in the end. Steven wants to have healing tears like his mom but ends up being healing spit.
8. "Rose's Scabbard"
Pearl gets mad when she finds out there was stuff Rose hid from her, including the Lion, when she shows Steven Rose's secret room when Lion already took him there. This is one of the first inklings in which we discover Pearl had romantic feelings for Rose. It has a touching montage where Pearl is explaining past battles.
7. "The Return"
Appropriate as a season finale first parter, it is a game changer. Everything we know has been thrown out the window. Where I honestly thought the Gems were inherently good, it looks like the Crystal Gems are rare instance of goodness. We meet Jasper, who confuses Steven even more to who he is and what he is. Summary: Peridot returns to Earth in a ship with Jasper and fight the Crystal Gems, Garnet is split apart.
Greg proves himself to the Gems by translating a message from Lapis Lazuli through the Wailing Stone. I love when Greg helps the Gems with something and like he said, Video killed the Audio Star. Pearl is concerned his analog systems can translate it. Steven doesn't lose faith in his father. I like his navite comes in he doesn't know the difference between audio and video. I like the accuracy of the art with the analog, video, audio, and equipment.
5. "Jailbreak"
Now seeing old episodes, I now see the clues but I was instantly blown away to the notion that Garnet was a fusion. So what we thought before was a 2-Gem fusion with Sugulite was actually a 3-Gem and Alexandrite is actually a 4-gem. And Garnet's song is just awesome. I actually was fearing our heroes' fate but come on, its in the song. they always save the day. Summary of ep: Steven finds himself in a prison in the Gem ship and finds Ruby and Sapphire, they merge to become Garnet and knock out Jasper and Peridot, and in the end Lapis Lazuli force fuses with Jasper into Malachite and they go into the ocean.
It might seem like a normal episode of Amethyst and Greg enjoying an old sitcom they love. But it is even more complicated. Even complicated to explain here. Amethyst and Greg seem to get along. In flashbacks in Season 2 "Story for Steven" and "We need to talk" she is like a little friend or pet. In "Laser Light Cannon," she calls him a mess to Steven. But in other episodes, they are buddies. In this episode, she transforms into Greg and Rose. Either she misses Rose, misses her time with Greg and Rose or wishes to be Rose. It could be all that or maybe not, that's what is fun about the show, we might never know. This episode is the first to show the Gems in sweaters.
3. "Lion 3: Straight to Video"
When Steven sleeps, Steven's Lion sleeps on top of him and he discovers a small pocket dimension inside Lion but he can't breathe in it. Inside is her sword, the T-shirt Greg gave her (we see in "Story for Steven) and a VHS tape. The finale is so heartwarming, everyone ends up like Sadie and Steven in the photo above. Rose has a touching speech for Steven in the VHS. We never saw Rose in motion up to this point.
A beautifully drawn episode, his lion reminds me of Anime infamous Kimba the White Lion. This episode Steven meets a Pink Lion and takes a stone away from a desert that has extreme powers. Amethyst doesn't bubble it and it causes trouble so the Lion comes in to help. Steven wants to keep the Lion but like in the followup "Lion 2" episode, Steven explains that the lion "does his own thing." Pearl wonders about keeping the lion and Garnet jokes that they kept Amethyst.
1. "Alone Together"
Another beautifully drawn episode and such great work. Connie and Steven fuse together and become Stevonnie. I saw on many blogs where the producers say that it is a bit of a metaphor for growing up, specifically when your body is changing, people notice the puberty but you are the same person inside. Stevonnie is attractive to both boys and girls, even though Stevonnie is voiced by a woman, it is unknown what gender Stevonnie is so I will not use pronouns. This episode sums up the feel of Steven Universe, it raises questions and might make you feel uneasy but in the end, it is all in fun. As Garnet says "It is an experience, make sure it is a good one." This show pushes the envelope and enjoys the experience.
