Steven Universe: Island Adventure
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Lars and Sadie go on a Workers Retreat (Steven Style)
I am not sure if Lars and Sadie get a lot of love on this show. If they do then I am very please if not I would highly recommend more episodes involving them. These two are freaking hilarious together and adding steven to the mix sweetens it even more. The week of the 23rd thursday lineup gave us episodes that let the minor characters take the spotlight. Thought it might not be my favorite of the lineup (Clarence wins for that) it is still a fun episode exploring the complexities of our two favorite doughnut salesman.
Ever since the pilot episode I have always enjoyed Lars and Sadie. Lars in all his pathetic attempts to mock Steven to a sweet Sadie always backing Steven up. Not much has changed in terms of the business work ethic. Though it seems that Sadie is sick of all the whines breathing out of Lars and welcomes a chance to maybe help both of them out of their limbo state. Steven with his teleporting powers bring them to a magical island which annoys Lars 25 seconds in with its limited technology and familiar beach setting. However, when the teleporter is lost they are forced to work together and survive. Through the episode we see something new added to these characters. It is not like they grow from the experience but rather figure out what has been inside them all along and bring it to the surface.
Lars and Sadie connect in a way that the audience has never seen before. They are brought together by their feelings of lonesomeness and wanting someone fill in that hole. Steven once again is not the one to bring peace to the group or even save the day. He once again is used appropriately to let these characters interact and flesh out their feelings. And let me just say a ukulele never sounded so good in the background.
Cool things noticed
- Lars had a lot of good lines tonight but I think I will go with my favorite “You work me up from my sleep! Now I have to start all over again!”
- Sadie is a badass and she should be made into an honorary member of the gems.
- “Ever felt lonely even when there are people around you” - so many feelings line of the night.
- I do think it is funny how Sadie and Lars full on make out in this episode and another kiss (or peck) was censored that same night.
That kiss was very passionatte a little too much. Your opinion of Sadie's deception?
ReplyDeleteI had to turn this episode over in my head a few times in order to sort out my opinion on it. I definitely liked it a lot, but the Sadie-Lars conflict took some processing. On the one hand, Sadie was right in saying that Lars needed the kind of vacation they had on the island. Distancing him from society in general and offering him genuine praise for his talents encouraged him to drop his jerkish demeanor and embrace hanging out with Steven and Sadie. On the other hand, Lars is fully justified in feeling betrayed at Sadie for marooning them on the island for a week with no way to contact their parents or friends. Steven is probably used to not seeing Greg for that length of time, but I can only imagine Sadie and Lars are not. From the way the episode ended, it seems that the short-term gain in intimacy in Sadie and Lars' relationship was outweighed by the long-term loss of trust. We'll have to see how it plays out, but sadly I'm not encouraged.
ReplyDeleteSteven's song and island montage were wonderful. I couldn't help feel that they wasted the opportunity to have Sadie sing as well, seeing as how she's voiced by one half of Garfunkel and Oates. Hopefully another such opportunity will present itself in the future.
Great episode. I love seeing Steven gradually improving in using his powers. The animation and the music were lovely - and yes, it would be super fun to have Sadie sing sometime in the future! The idea of an invisible monster is clever, too. That's one way to keep a stabbing scene from getting too gory!
ReplyDeleteAnd boy, I have no clue where there is for Lars and Sadie to go from here. Both are sympathetic (Lars less immediately so), but Sadie really crossed a line. It would be nice if they could reconcile, but interesting to see whatever happens.
Also - does time pass differently on the island than in Beach City, i.e. a week in one is an hour in the other? Because otherwise that is a long time for the Gems to not to come looking for Steven. Unless the leaves covering the warp pad inhibited its functioning?
I agree it was probably too much for where they were in their relationship at that point. The way I see it, though, Sadie's been harboring feelings for Lars for a long time, and Lars was acting from appreciation for Sadie combined with severe loneliness. So it was believable for me that they would do that, at least.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like Lars and Sadie's relationship is going to be the show's heat sink for exploring more complex relationship themes. If that's what it takes to examine those themes without interrupting the string of tooth-rottingly sweet interactions between Steven and Connie, I say so be it. Adventure Time has done a great job in exploring complicated relationship material through Finn and his love interests, but it's come with a lot of pain for the poor guy. I'd hate to see Connie and Steven go through the same thing.
ReplyDeleteAs for time passing on the island, having some sort of time dilation effect would do a lot to ease the implication that Sadie and Lars were missing from school/family/etc for a week or more. As for Steven, I kind of assume he's used to being left alone when the Gems have to go on a long-range mission, so the idea of him being away from them for that length of time is less concerning to me. If worse comes to worst, he can always get help from Greg.
I understand why Sadie had to go to such extent to get through to Lars. It must be exhausting working with someone day after day who will not express feeling what so ever. And to her credit it was working and I believe she would not have carried it out if she knew there was a monster on the loose. Which she took down by the way! Go Sadie!
ReplyDeleteSadie went Eileen Ripley on that gem monster. Great fight.
ReplyDelete