Plot development and character development abound in the latest episode of Steven Universe. When it rains, it pours. Spoiler warning: don't read ahead if you don't want 'When It Rains' spoiled for you.

Let's get this out of the way: CUTE MOMENTS. This week's superb CUTE MOMENTS include (but is not limited to) Garnet's declaration of love (OH MY GOD SO CUTE), Peridot's fear of thunder and rain, and Steven and Peridot's hand-holding.

Steven and Peridot's relationship continues to build in what is unusually a more-or-less direct continuation of last week's episode, 'Catch and Release'. Steven is so unbelievably sweet and patient and encouraging with Peridot, it just makes me happy to know that there is such a positive role model on the kids' television.

Let's take a minute here to appreciate the use of composition and space in Steven Universe. Steven Universe is not afraid to have big open spaces framing the characters off-centre, observing the compositionary rule of thirds. It creates some really stunningly beautiful images. And then it does this stuff to show and build and develop character relationships. When Steven and Peridot were enemies, they take up the full screen, they face one another, there's a difference in there sizes and stances. Now, they stand at the same height, close to one another, facing the same direction, sharing only a section of the screen, the rest giving way to the environment around them. They're closer as characters. Their relationship to one another is different and their relationship to their environment is different.

As mentioned, there's a lot of plot development in this episode. We find out what the cluster is - turns out my guess last week was correct, albeit I said hundreds when it turns out to be MILLIONS - and learn more about the fusion experiments. Peridot begins working with the Crytal Gems too, which I LOVE. I am a sucker for foes becoming friends, a trope which is a major contributor to my love for Power Rangers and Digimon and Buffy. Whether Peridot will truly become a friend remains to be seen, but considering how the last couple episodes have built up Steven and Peridot's relationship I would expect the Gems to give Peridot at chance to redeem herself, much as Lapis did.

'When It Rains' gets a huge thumbs up from me. Like I said, I'm a sucker for villain redemption arcs and together with 'Catch and Release', this episode has some really tight, beautiful character moments. The action scene towards the end feels a little off - both in terms of tone following the rest of the episode and production value - but it's perhaps a necessary consequence of such short episode lengths and doesn't reduce the quality of the episode for me.

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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.

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There's a lot of things to like about Steven Universe - the story, the art, the music - but the biggest reason why I love Steven Universe is the characters and the diversity of expression amongst them. In Thursday's 'Sadie's Song', Steven Universe continued to champion individuality and free gender expression in a delightful way.

Among the cartoons I watched when I was younger were those that some might describe as "boys' cartoons", like Dragonball Z and M.A.S.K., and "girls' cartoons", like Sailor Moon and Totally Spies. They're imaginary labels, of course, but growing up you're often made painfully aware of them and, although I still enjoyed the same diversity of cartoons, as I got older I found myself hiding my interest in what might be perceived as "girls' cartoons".

I remember often watching shows like Totally Spies with my finger on the remote control, ready to change channels to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe or pretend I was channel surfing at a moment's notice should my parents walk into the room. It was stupid and I see that now, but as a child it is easy to be acutely aware of what shows are "for you" and what shows are "not for you".

Steven Universe is a breath of fresh air in this respect, and so are a growing number of today's cartoons, shows you'll find reviewed on this site like Gravity Falls and Star vs the Forces of Evil, with their developed cast of male and female characters and variety of stories.

Steven Universe refuses to walk the line of either "boys' cartoons" or "girls' cartoons". The lead, titular character is a boy called Steven? It must be for boys. But most of the characters are girls? Maybe it's for girls then. But there's explosions and fights and monsters? It has to be for boys then. But it features a pastel palette and a lot of exploration of the characters' feelings?

Of course the answer is it is for anyone, and the same is true for all cartoons in reality, but Steven Universe always tries its best to subvert every trope it can. Spoiler warning: don't read ahead if you don't want 'Sadie's Song' spoiled for you.

In 'Sadies's Song', Steven discovers his friend Sadie can sing and dance (and her singing and dancing in the first scene, when she thinks no one is watching, IS fantastic) and encourages her to perform in "Beacha-Palooza". But it quickly gets out of hand as Sadie's overenthusiastic mother Barb gets involved.

I admittedly found it troubling to see Steven and Barb push Sadie into something she clearly wasn't comfortable with, which came to a peak when Mr Smiley tells Sadie that "a little smile never hurt anybody". Super creepy. So I was relieved to see them tackle this issue before it got any worse. It would have been very easy to have had Sadie go on stage and potentially embarass herself, which would have been the wrong tone entirely. Equally, the story could very easily have had Sadie go on stage and everybody love her, but that would send a completely wrong message, that Sadie was wrong to be introverted and should be more outgoing.

Instead, the message I took away from Sadie's story was that it's okay to be more comfortable by yourself or with only one or two friends, and that's is okay to have fun and not always be striving to BE THE BEST.

Steven's excitement at helping Sadie is typically adorable as he proves pretty adept at breaking down gender stereotypes, helping with Sadie's make-up, clothes, and routine and stepping into her role when it is called for. I was relieved to see that Steven's outfit and make-up were not played for laughs, with everybody instead celebrating Steven. It's a tricky topic to portray right, but I think Team Steven Universe just about pulled it off.

The last thing to mention is the emphasis on the relationship between Sadie and Barb (who has her own gender-liberal moment as she and the other characters refer to her as the mailMAN). Hot off the tail of last week's 'Nightmare Hospital', it's easy to see a theme emerging of mothers and daughters, or at the very least mothers and children. Is this building up to something between Steven and his mother Rose Quartz? I certainly hope so.

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After a long hiatus, Steven Universe is back with regular weekly episodes and you can find reviews and discussions about each new episode right here on Hello, Robots!

If you're new to Steven Universe, let me fill you in on the show and why you should be watching it. Steven is a excitable, innocent, and somewhat naive young boy, and one of the four "Crystal Gems", magical protectors of the planet Earth. Steven Universe follows Steven as he learns more about his powers whilst battling monsters and navigating the trials and tribulations of everyday life. The show is full of some of the most beautiful art direction and music I have ever seen in a cartoon, and Steven Universe is frequently praised for its diverse, female-majority cast. The story can get surprisingly intense at times as well as we learn the Crystal Gems are alien refugees and tackle some pretty raw emotional issues.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend giving Steven Universe a look. You can stream all of the episodes at theworldofstevenuniverse.blogspot.co.uk, including last week's episode 'Nightmare Hospital', which kicked off Steven Universe's return. Spoiler warning: don't read ahead if you don't want 'Nightmare Hospital' spoiled for you.

'Nightmare Hospital' kicks off with some pretty adorable-eth interaction-eth between Connie and Steven. I'm a big fan of Connie and Steven's relationship - it's really sweet and full of mutual respect, with Connie and Steven sharing their burdens equally, even when it comes to fighting, as we'll see more of in this episode. The kids' conversation also does a good job of exposition, reminding us about Connie's glasses and ongoing sword training, and the "creepy gem fusions", which is pretty essential for an episode that leans as heavily on previous adventures as this one does.

When Connie's mother confiscates Steven's mum's sword and takes it with her to the hospital, Steven and Connie try to retrieve it, only to come face-to-no-so-face with two "creepy gem fusions", handily referred to as gem mutants from here on out so as to avoid confusion with genuine fusions like Garnet.

Let me get two things straight here. One, Steven and Connie's immediate hand-hold when they enter the creepy hospital is ADORABLE. Two, the gem mutants are DAMN RIGHT CREEPY. I tend to find any degree of body horror unsettling, and the gem mutants' body-parts-forcibly-sewn-together vibe definitely fits the bill of body horror as far as I'm concerned. Don't get me wrong, I think it serves the story well as we learn more about fusions and Homeworld's attitudes towards them, and I would say the mutants' appearance in the episode is toned down from their introduction in 'Keeping it Together'.

This is a big episode for Connie, and for her mother, so it's nice to see some development for their relationship. Having Connie's mother learn to trust Connie more, and actually voice her feelings and fears to her daughter, really fleshed out the character for me, and upgraded her from a character I wasn't interested in, maybe even disliked, to one I care about. Connie standing up to her mother was great too, not to mention the glasses-off sword-drawn badass-reveal wherein she proceeds to CURB STOMP the gem mutants.

Steven had a few nice moments too. I really like Steven's nervous relationship with Connie's mother; the "How are you?"/"SITTING" exchange made me laugh, and reminded me of Garnet's panicked phone conversation with Connie's mother back in the episode 'Fusion Cuisine'. I may be wrong, but it's the first time I noticed Steven bubbling gems away too, which makes for a nice little nod to his ongoing development and control over his powers. And Steven's smile-fade-to-sad-look-at-his-mother's-sword when Connie and her mother reconcile is HEART BREAKING.

The last thing to mention is a new end credits song. A snippet of a new song to come, perhaps? I certainly hope so, as the songs are one of the highlights of the series to me.

No heartbeat... Ugh. Cheap hospital budgets.

All-in-all, 'Nightmare Hospital' was a really great episode. Despite my initial reservations, I think diving into a plot-heavy episode after the long hiatus was a great call and leaves fans asking more questions than ever, ensuring we come back every week for more. I'm looking forwards to finding out where those gem mutants came from - Connie's mother mentioned them being found at the side of the road, but did they escape from the kindergarten? Or has Peridot been continuing with the experiments? The only way to find out is to keep coming back for more episodes each week.

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