{"id":5967,"date":"2016-11-14T08:00:30","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T16:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5967"},"modified":"2016-10-31T10:36:35","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T17:36:35","slug":"mark-watches-steven-universe-s01e29-secret-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/11\/mark-watches-steven-universe-s01e29-secret-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Steven Universe’: S01E29 – Secret Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-ninth episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0Steven Universe<\/i>, Steven forms a secret team with Pearl and Amethyst to fix a mistake. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0Steven Universe<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I once formed my own secret team with my brother. As a kid, my brother and I were prone to boredom, which gave rise to us trying to find\u00c2\u00a0anything<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to entertain us. Our parents were strict and they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let us socialize outside of the house. So during the long summers between grades, we were often left to our own devices. We made up this game once where we used frisbees to hit dirt clods and try to make them over the back wall. You got a point if you did, but you lost a point if your clod burst on the frisbee.<\/p>\n

I was the unlucky soul who grabbed a dirt clod that had an actual rock in the center of it, which sailed majestically through the air and broke one of the kitchen windows, high up in one of the upper corners. Our secret team formed practically immediately because we feared our mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disciplinary style. This is not a story about that but more about how our refusal to tell the truth made us do\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, really silly things. Like my brother getting a paper plate and use crayons and colored pencils to make something to cover the shape of the hole. I told him it would never work, but he was certain he could match the color of the sky and that no one would ever notice it, and then I laughed when he held it up because THE SKY CHANGES COLOR THROUGHOUT THE DAY, DUDE. (I then pointed out that it would look super obvious once it was nighttime.)<\/p>\n

I ended up coming up with a brilliant plan: scotch tape and cling wrap, and y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, our secret team succeeded for LITERAL MONTHS. No one noticed the small hole for so long!!! Of course, just when I got comfortable enough to not have to think about it, we got caught, and we probably got in more trouble for having lied than just telling the truth in the first place.<\/p>\n

What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interesting here is that\u00c2\u00a0Steven Universe<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0has two ADULTS start the deception when they should know better, and Steven is dragged into this because of them. So, while this is definitely an episode that shows us why lying can be harmful, it\u00c2\u00a0also<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0works to show how peer pressure can be negative, too! Amethyst and Pearl should never have involved Steven in their lie because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, look how he reacted to it! He thought it was a game of sorts, and he projected a whole lot of silliness onto the Secret Team concept. He wanted to continue this deception because it was\u00c2\u00a0fun<\/i>. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even more fascinating to note that right from the start, he was willing to tell Garnet about the shards. He had the right idea from the very beginning!<\/p>\n

Now, about those shards\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 were all those\u00c2\u00a0living<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0pieces of other gems? Like, had some gems had their arms cut off or something? LOOK, I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T HELP BUT WONDER ABOUT THIS. It makes sense, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it???<\/p>\n

Anyway, I really liked this episode. It was cute and funny, and it further built up the super important relationship between Steven and Garnet. Garnet is always willing to support Steven and teach him important lessons even if she isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite as available as the other gems. Here, she teaches him the importance of honesty (WHICH HE INSTINCTUALLY KNEW ANYWAY, I LOVE IT), and she gets to trick Pearl and Amethyst into telling the truth. Actually, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one final lesson we learn: never tear up loyalty cards, because you could get a free pizza.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Secret Team\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b>
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0 Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"