STEVEN UNIVERSE S3:E19-REVIEW

"Guys, you're both just awful."

Picking up after the events of the last episode, Steven is proud of his achievement in the fight against Jasper, while Amethyst finds herself lost. As we saw way back, Amethyst assumes she is a mistake, seeing Steven beginning to show signs he may be ahead of her in skills leads to her feeling inadequate. This has the makings for a rather emotional episode, which it kind of is, kind of. I certainly liked this episode, that much I'll admit, but the title fight, while well animated, is bogged down by the two shouting about how bad they are, a joke sure, but it robs the episode of an emotional battle.

As said before, this episode begins after the last, with the other Gems proud of Steven (Side note, why don't Peridot or Lapis help on missions here?) for his success. Things are bad for Amethyst, as she views herself as weak (even if she won't admit it), to try and see if it's all in her mind, she joins Steven for Pearl's training. During the training, things get worse for Amethyst when she begins losing to Steven (Pearl assumes she is going easy), this leads to Steven noticing Amethyst is upset. After a failed attempt to cheer her up, Steven and Amethyst fight to prove they are worse than the other, a funny idea sure, but it robs the emotion from the moment. The episode ends with the two enjoying each other's company as Pearl finds the training ground ruined.

I do honestly think this is a good episode, despite the odd choice to undercut the emotion with a pretty weak gag all things considered. Seeing how the animation makes Amethyst look frustrated in her weakness just shows the talent behind, you actually feel her pain and fear. The battle between Steven and Amethyst is great too, sure the emotion gets lost, but if you were to just look at the visuals it is pretty strong stuff for what's essentially an insecurity match. 

This is not a perfect episode, but it knows how to raise the emotional stakes (for the most part) between characters. This is a fine way to end this arc, with two friends accepting the flaws in each other.

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Written by Octaviano Macias