In the first episode of the fifth season of Steven Universe, Steven confronts Lars. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Steven Universe.Â
In more ways than one, Steven Universe does a wonderful deconstructing what it means to be a hero. Sometimes, it’s through the complicated stories about people doing terrible things in the name of what’s right. Yet in “Stuck Together,” the writers take to task the idea that being heroic has no real emotional affect on a person. Now, that’s an absurd thing to say about Steven, of course, because I can’t imagine a character more emotional than him. HE IS MY BEAUTIFUL CRYING BOY.
Within the context of recent events, though, I found this episode a revelation. We’ve all seen the heroic sacrifice; we’ve all seen a protagonist offer themselves up to save a friend. What’s rarer, though, is the aftermath, and that’s why “Stuck Together” felt so huge to me. The entirety of this episode takes place within the spaceship that’s heading back to the Homeworld, and it’s an examination of the compartmentalizing that Steven must do to present himself as a fearless hero. His foil, then, is Lars, the character who saw danger and ran away from it to hide.
Yet this story doesn’t paint Lars as a villain. If anything, he’s tragically relatable. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t apologize to anyone or hold himself accountable. Rather, while literally stuck in this predicament, Lars and Steven fight over whether or not being heroic is worth it. Oh, Lars certainly doesn’t think that’s what they’re talking about, BUT IT IS. He devalues himself; he devalues his contributions; he devalues his worth. Above all, though, he is afraid. That’s not a surprising revelation to any of us who have been watching this show; his fear has manifested as anxiety for a long time. But he admits it so starkly while stuck within Topaz, and it was HEARTBREAKING.
So of course the show makes it worse by having Steven admit that he is probably just as scared as Lars. Gods, that monologue is so amazing, y’all. Again, it’s not like it’s surprising that Steven is frightened even when he’s making these heroic choices. But in that moment, these two characters open up to one another, and they are blissfully vulnerable. Lars actually says something optimistic, which is so unlike him that Steven practically asks him to go back to being a pessimist. It’s honestly one of my favorite scenes in the show…
…AND WAS INCREDIBLE ENOUGH THAT TOPAZ SPOKE. Oh my god, WHAT A SHOCKER. First of all, I’m glad that by having Topaz speak and revealing more about themselves and their fusion partner, the show doesn’t allow her to follow into that continued trope of having their large and butch characters to be antagonists. Instead, Topaz bursts into tears over Lars’s and Steven’s conversation, and she admits that she wishes she could be honest about the other Topaz. UGH, THIS SHOW IS SO CANONICALLY QUEER IT HURTS ME. Because here’s another non-straight relationship presented to us unapologetically, and it feels different. It’s not like Garnet and her fusions, either! Plus, you could easily read a whole host of themes surrounding repression into this character, so EXCUSE ME IF I GO AHEAD AND PROJECT ALL OVER TOPAZ. Like, #me? There’s probably a whole lot of you out there who see a character who has a near-breakdown over just wanting to be honest with someone they care about, but social norms prevent you from doing so.
H E L P.
Which is why I was so upset by Aquamarine’s treatment of Topaz. There’s an interesting moment towards the end of this that I don’t want to ignore, but it was clear that she view Topaz as lesser than her, and thus, she could treat her terribly. So… why didn’t she shatter Topaz? Why did she agree to let Topaz stay together event hough she obviously looks down on fusions? IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE GOING ON HERE?
Whew, what a premiere. I’m so glad I don’t have to wait for the next episode.
The video for “Stuck Together” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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