In the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of Steven Universe, Amethyst makes a decision that affects Steven more than he is willing to admit. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Steven Universe again.Â
Oh, how I missed this show, friends. I MISSED IT SO MUCH. Since I last watched it, a lot has happened in my life. I sold a book, I edited said book like four times, I signed a book contract, and I moved to New York City. I never truly stopped thinking about this show, though, and the conventions I’ve been to lately have provided me ample opportunity to scream about how much I love it. But I knew that new episodes had aired, and I was desperate to watch them, yet I had virtually no free time to do so. A cross-country move will do that to you, for the record.
BUT HERE I AM WITH A BIT OF A SURPRISE AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT. I felt a comfort once the theme song began, so there was a lot of joy on my end knowing that I had a huge batch of episodes to get to. And what a story to experience! It’s a form of closure, a way for the show to move on from Tiger Millionaire and Purple Puma, but to be respectful in the process.
I’m sad, of course, because I loved this concept and the characters that Steven and Amethyst created. But there’s a really cool theme here: what happens when the thing you did for fun no longer makes you happy? This idea is complicated even further because OTHER people derived joy from what Steven and Amethyst did. To whom do they owe their allegiance and time? Just themselves or their fans?
As a creator with a fan base, it’s something I’ve HAD to think about, even if I didn’t want to. Years ago, I ended up ceasing Mark Plays, a site I initially enjoyed a great deal (since I love games but have played relatively few of them). The site became a sore spot in my life, a source of stress and anxiety because it rapidly became a chore to complete. That’s not even because of the amount of work I was doing, though that played a tiny, tiny part. It was mostly due to other people, namely the sort of gamer fans who now regularly show up to harass and torment people online for the way they consume and criticize games and the gaming industry. Take Lars’s behavior in this episode, and multiply it times a hundred, and then imagine that there are countless versions of him berating you for not playing a game the right way, for not progressing through the story in the right order, for engaging with a game through the lens of a queer person of color… hopefully you get the idea.
It was a relief to stop the site, but that doesn’t mean it held no meaning for me. At the heart of “Tiger Philanthropist” is that very struggle. Amethyst is bored by wrestling, so she quits dramatically and leaves Steven hanging. Her reason for quitting is perfectly reasonable and understandable! What she doesn’t realize is how much this hobby meant to Steven, and thus, he tries his best to recapture what was special about it. He rebrands himself as Tiger Philanthropist (WHICH I LOVED, GREAT CONCEPT AND EXECUTION, A+), but discovered the hard way that his dynamic with Purple Puma is the main reason Lars was so into the original character. I do think it’s important that the episode makes it clear that Steven should not base his happiness on the whims of someone else; his attempt to give Lars what he wants backfires immediately. The truth is that even if you create something great and compelling, there’s always the chance that it’s just not for someone. Taste is a fickle and complicated thing! There’s nothing in the world that is universally liked, you know?
In the end, Amethyst apologizes for unknowingly hurting Steven, and the two go out in a blaze of violence, all of which was very satisfying to watch. THIS SHOW’S WRESTLING SEQUENCES ARE SO GOOD. I’m sad this is probably the last one we’ll ever see, but what a way to end things.
The video for “Tiger Philanthropist” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
-Â Please visit my new site for all announcements. If you’d rather not have to rely on checking a website regularly, sign up for my newsletter instead! This will cover all news for Mark Reads, Mark Watches, and my fiction releases.Â
