Alone at Sea (Steven Universe) – Overly Animated Podcast #218
By: Dylan Hysen
Dylan Hysen, Delaney Stovall, and Sam Quattro discuss the July 28 episode of Steven Universe, “Alone at Sea”.
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Dylan Hysen
Dylan is a software developer from the DC area who hosts the Overly Animated podcast discussing everything animation.
17 Comments
So this explains why they holding off on Lapis befriending other characters, she can’t forgive the Crystal Gems, she can’t forget Peridot, till she forgives herself.
But now that it done, can we please get to that when Lapis becomes of the team, I have waited to long for that.
That makes a lot of sense for her character and what she’s been through.
And lets face it, if anybody is going to give her the respect and encouragement she needs to heal….its probably not Peridot.
Why not Peridot, she has grown, she is a positive influence, more positive than Jasper at least. Hard to believe, but Peridot has gained a innocence that is hard not to feel. Her excitement when she found she had telepathy or metal bending, or excitement when she won the alien plush, or putting the app on her body. And by gem standards, she is a kid, and what can help you heal better than the innocence of a child.
While all that is true, I still don’t think she is developed enough yet from an emotional perspective to comfort Lapis the way Steven can, especially when you consider Barn Mates.
Its not that she doesn’t try and comes from a good place, she does, but Peridot still doesn’t have the nuances of empathy and “saying it right” down just yet.
I saw this differently then you guys did, mostly because I think you need to look at the whole episode rather than just the last 4 minutes or so.
This whole episode was about getting Lapis to face her demons inward and outwardly. That’s why Steven wanted to take her on a boat, she needed to re-connect with water and know that there was nobody, least of all Jasper, that could rob or ruin something that is intristic with who she is. She has a lot of issues she has to deal with and Steven is making a serious, yet still fun, effort to try and help her heal.
As with the scene with Jasper, when Lapis said that she missed being fused and having that power, it struck me as a moment where she may have once held a lot of power before she was turned into the mirror, but also the fact that she was remembering a self-censored memory of being Malachite that blocked out the negativity that went with it. When Jasper came back and tried to get her to fuse again, Lapis was now confronted by the REALITY of what happened, she was using her power to keep a brutal thug in check because she had no choice in the matter. Seeing Steven behind Jasper after she flung him like a ragdoll across the boat also brings to mind that Steven was the one that gave Lapis actual real power: the power to choose her own life, her own state of being, and to use her Gem powers for HER rather than for anybody else. This was enough to get Lapis to finally refuse Jasper.
This was capped off by Jasper going after Steven, who Lapis cherishes more than anybody else, and that got her to finally send Jasper back from where she came from, a solid moment of closure and a recognition that she is her own Gem now, and is determined, however slowly, to live a good life from now on.
And I thought that was captured very well in those 4 minutes in that context.
Agree this is a major component of the episode, but still think the toxic relationship stuff at the end is too, and hard not to see it superseding at the end. All is connected though.
It’s clear that it comes from a toxic relationship perspective, but it seemed more like the end was about coming full circle. Lapis finally had the opportunity to face her former partner and tell Jasper to bugger off, which reflecting real life is actually a very courageous (and sometimes risky) thing to do in a situation like that. We should appreciate her character’s strength in that last scene.
This isn’t to say she was also a total victim, there were a lot of hidden things in there that convey to us that Lapis might be even more than we know, for good and for bad. I’m looking forward to her continued development.
I pretty much read it how Delaney did. I was also taking it from a personal place. Regardless of how a relationship like this starts, who initiates it and why, the fact of it was that they hurt each other. Lapis took out millennia of pain on Jasper in that fusion, she outright said that. And I think her saying she doesn’t want to feel like that ever again isn’t just her not wanting to be hurt again but also her not wanting to be put in a situation where she feels like a monster. She doesn’t want to hurt another person anymore. I’ve had a relationship, a very toxic friendship, that was very much like this and I connected very personally. It was very hard to admit I was being hurt and hard to admit I was hurting her too. Right now it’s a bit hard for me to see many people in the fandom right now saying that this episode cut and dry made Lapis out to be the sole victim here and Jasper was just the abusive ex coming back into Lapis’ life. And on the other hand it’s hard to see people calling Lapis some kind of monster and that Jasper did nothing wrong. It’s not so cut and dry.
I definitely think we’re seeing Jasper again. If only because when the crew does promo art and stuff Jasper is still appearing. There was a lot of art with her on the zines they made for sdcc, and the colored panel art with the gems in suits had her there. This is with them being dozens of episodes ahead of us in production right now.
Thanks for sharing. Yeah def see Jasper again, only Q is this season or not.
I think like “The New Lars”, yes the show is told form Steven’s prospective, but we are not suppose to agree with him, we are not always suppose to see things his ways, and disagree with me.
I think when Steven said Jasper was awful, I think he is suppose to be wrong, we are suppose to think he is wrong, but that is just the way I see it.
Depends on the season finale, like you said. I think we will see her again before the season end. Some more homeworld forces will be coming down on the hunt for Jasper and to get progress on the cluster. Eventually the Rubies will have to report back and someone will realize they’ve been tricked, which is why I’m speculating that.
This show needs a villain that stays the villain and makes semi-recurring appearances like it had with Peridot pre-redemption. Jasper would fit the bill perfectly until the likely eventual showdown with Yellow Diamond.
I am thinking if Yellow Diamond could see Jasper now, comparing to how Jasper was when she was first introduced, I think she would be classified as a defected and shattered, To Yellow Diamond, Jasper behavior is an embarrassment. Not to mention thinking like an individual, having wants and desires that has nothing to do with serving her diamond. Yeah I think Jasper can’t just go back to fighting from Homeworld like everything is the same as before.
Definitely agree, Yellow Diamond not going to be happy with how Jasper is now.
There is just so much to unpack from this one. I actually wish we had a week to digest it before Greg the Babysitter.
Yeah we could actually use the week this time!
I called it, Jasper would become a druggie. I told you in my emails.
Now just me or is my enjoyment of this episode is lessen by how great “Monster Reunion” for me, I am sorry it just is. Speaking of that, sorry Steven you have some gull calling Jasper awful, after you showed no anger at all for what the Diamonds did to all those gems. Compared to that, being locked up and not corrupted is a picnic.
Before shippers go crazy, I think when Lapis said she messed Jasper, I don’t she messes Jasper, she messes able to take out her rage, her anger, her hurt for those thousands of years on someone, anyone. I told you before, I think deep down Lapis loved hurting someone, giving a taste of what she has been through.
As for Jasper, like I said, she is just a druggie, and the power of fusion is the drug. She is going to need some rehab.