Another week, another new episode of the always excellent Steven Universe. And what an episode! It appears we're on the forward march with plot in this week's episode 'Catch and Release'. Spoiler warning: don't read ahead if you don't want 'Catch and Release' spoiled for you.
First of all: PERIDOT. I love Peridot. She is such a useless, dorky child, and this episode is Peridot at her best. I mean, she is a threat and pretty skilled at what she does, but she is also a petulant, tantrum-throwning child and I LOVE IT. She's seriously funny, and in this episode, I suppose we discover WHY she's such a child.
There a lot of visual parallels are drawn between Steven and Peridot in this episode that I think are worth pointing out. We see them both in forms a little different to how we usually see them (Steven's pyjamas vs. Peridots's smol), which facilitates the pair having a similar size and proportions, and they're drawn in similar poses throughout (hugging their legs, hugging Peridot's foot enhancer, etc.). All of this serves to highlight their character similarities - immaturity, goofiness - as well as their relationship. Steven is the only Crystal Gem not to immediately attack Peridot and to instead try and understand her - I'm reminded of Steven's relationship with the Centipeetle in the episode 'Monster Buddies'.
Peridot's "pebble" insult directed at Steven is brilliant, and I hope it's a standard homeworld put-down. Peridot's "filthy war machine" insult directed at Garnet is less brilliant however and serves to remind us of homeworld gems' attitudes towards fusions. Peridot may be very funny this episode (the fascination with the bathroom mirror and other fixtures, for example), but don't forget she's done a lot of terrible things. But there's also evidence that terrible things might have been done to her - the neccessity for "limb enhancers" might suggest some prejudice she faced on homeworld, and Peridot's fear that anything in the bathroom might be a weapon may be the result abuse she's faced from Jasper, Yellow Diamond, or other homeworld gems, besides her frequent battles with the Crystal Gems.
Besides Steven and Peridot, there are great character moments for all the Crystal Gems this episode. Pearl's bit about tying Peridot outside on a leash is a great funny moment, and Amethyst is just fantastic throughout this episode - "duuh, home girl knows we're gonna beat her into a green pancake". Garnet is MERCILESS in poofing Peridot in a display of Garnet-typical stoicness and ferocity. This is the first time we see the Crystal Gems poof and imprison a non-corrupted gem too, which makes me a little uneasy knowing they're sealing away a fully functional person.
AWW. You're like an angry little slice of pie.
The biggest plot advancements in 'Catch and Release' are Peridot taking up residence at the Crystal Gems' temple and the reveal of the "cluster". What is the cluster? Some peek at Peridot's larger reason for coming to Earth? Something to do with the gem mutants that Peridot's been working on that we saw only two episodes ago? My immediate guess would be some sort of giant gem mutant featuring hundreds of crystals - a "cluster" of them, if you will - hatching out of the Earth in the same way that gems were made from the ground at the Kindergarten.
But that's only my guess, and I'm looking forwards to seeing myself proved right or wrong in the coming episodes.
