The Recap: The drill is finally complete, but it’s not usable until it has coordinates for the location of the Cluster. The Gems take a trip to an old moon base to get the information they need, and Peridot proves that while she’s warmed up to the Crystal Gems her views on Gem society remain as harmful as they ever were.
So here’s the thing about Peridot. Long time readers doubtlessly know that I have an extra soft spot for the small green brat, not least because I was the Lovecraftian lunatic trying to mount an expedition to Mount Peridemption pretty much from the word go. She’s a wonderful foil to the main group backed by a consistently pitch-perfect comedic performance by Shelby Rabara. And it has never been clearer, or a more welcome development, that she’s not ready to join the Crystal Gems.
When Peridot first made her appearance as “the pint sized alien who came to destroy the Earth in a little round pod and wound up stuck there,” it’s extremely easy to draw parallels to a certain famous anime character (the show’s hardly shy about its love for the medium, after all). But the writing here is far too smart to let Peridot integrate into the team without making her face up to her past actions and harmful mindset (in fact, she bears a lot more resemblance to Ken Ichijouji than Vegeta). As we move into dealing with the looming threat to Earth from the Cluster and what might just be the first appearance of Yellow Diamond, this episode is determined to remind us that Peridot hasn’t changed…at least not in the ways that she needs to.
The structure of this episode is quite sly – starting off by giving Peridot a verse in Steven’s song is, thematically speaking, a big step. You can’t really be a Crystal Gem until you’ve had a song, since music is thematically integral to connection and communication in the show. But it is still a verse taken within Steven’s melody rather than an individual composition, which says just as much. Peridot is trying, earnestly, to please the other Gems. She likes Steven enough to consider his opinion and reevaluate things she finds pointless when he suggests it. But she doesn’t understand the pattern of music well enough to forge her own tune. And in the same way, she doesn’t grasp the importance of protecting Earth beyond the way in which it impacts her own safety. Like with Greg and Rose’s duet in “We Need to Talk” (and on that subject, may whoever pulled the trigger on that particular CN UK decision find their food tasting of putrid bowels until things are set right), the refrain of “Peace and Love” winds up feeling like a nagging, uncomfortable question. One that Peridot is going to be called on to answer sooner rather than later.
Take a look at Garnet and Pearl’s shared look when Peridot sings about having “nowhere to go.” Both of them made the choice to reject Gem society and stay on Earth instead, but Peridot talks as though they’re all victims of circumstance. Her every conversation up to this point has been couched in terms of a temporary truce, or being stranded or abandoned. She doesn’t see Earth as a home but as a desert island, and since she’s grown to like the Gems as individuals she seems almost to be trying to map her own worldview onto them, an ideological version of repeating Steven’s notes without knowing how to write a song. The cowardice that has doubtlessly been very helpful in helping her survive Gem society up to this point is now a roadblock to her ability to empathize with viewpoints outside her own. Even before she starts shooting her mouth off, there’s something profoundly sad about how easily she spouts the propaganda she’s been raised in.
Not only does this make for a more satisfying character arc in the long run, it also rings true as a metaphor for the process of overcoming prejudice. There are plenty of real people who grow close to an individual and accept them, but don’t reconcile that humanization with their harmful views of the group they’re prejudiced about. While Peridot is not at fault for the world she was raised in, she’s also at the point where it’s her responsibility to begin examining things she accepted without question that are doing emotional harm to the group that’s taken her in. A group that would certainly be willing to share stories of the rebellion and why they did what they did if Peridot would just reach out and ask. But she hasn’t, because aside of standing up for Steven in “When it Rains” she’s never felt compelled to do anything remotely selfless (an interesting juxtaposition alongside her rapturous talk of living to serve the Diamonds).
It speaks highly of how subtly the characters have been developed up to now that it’s genuinely unclear what will happen next. Peridot’s few minutes alone at the throne after Steven’s speech could be motivated by any number of thoughts: doubting herself because Steven, who has always had her back, is disappointed in her; formulating a backup plan in case the drill goes wrong, or deciding that the Earth should be transformed into that “perfect” colony once the Cluster is taken care of. It’s rare to see a character in modern television, let alone all ages animation, who achieves the status of a true unknown variable without an obvious narrative tell about what they’ll do. I cannot give enough kudos to the writing team here (and Jeff Liu on storyboards, who has so far been responsible for many of Peridot’s best moments) for laying out such a compelling conflict. Heck, the whole team! The contrasting color scheme of the warm sunset and ensuing montage versus the dead coldness of the Diamond base pivots the tone without being overly showy, and the emphasis on Peridot’s childish exuberance has never been so simultaneously cute and frustrating. And just so I’m not leaving them out, Pearl and Amethyst have had a top notch one liner game all week. I’ve missed Pearl’s deadpan factual accuracy.
As for what happens next, my bets are on a Zuko-type situation: the offer of a return to a comfortable status quo in a moment of intense stress that is regretted almost immediately after once the person realizes how much they’ve changed. It might not go quite that far, but this is definitely do-or-die time. You can’t just sing and be a Crystal Gem. You have to be willing to stand for what you believe, to protect the people you love, and to confront the ugliness inside yourself. Every Crystal Gem up to now has faced each of those challenges and come through. You can do it, Peri!
(image via Cartoon Network)
Vrai is a queer author and pop culture blogger; they’re waiting for Funko’s second wave of Steven Universe figures so they can give away the rest of their money. You can read more essays and find out about their fiction at Fashionable Tinfoil Accessories, support their work via Patreon or PayPal, or remind them of the existence of Tweets.
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