This is mostly wonderful for how fun it is to see her have fun, but I also love how it tracks with her former life trapped in a mirror, only able to communicate by copying who she saw and heard. While Connie and Peridot are a lot of fun as the Steven and the Garnet, and Pumpkin is obviously a dead ringer for Pearl, Jennifer Paz does the most impressive vocal mimicry as Lapis gets super into playing different members of the group. This is a planet where not only a human but a sentient pumpkin dog can be honorary Gems. Back on Earth, our heroes instead feel compelled to fill in the roles of the original Crystal Gems, and while the “be yourself” message couldn’t be more blatant, the execution is a delightful reminder that freedom from Homeworld rules allows for malleability and growth. The New Crystal Gems is an answer of sorts to Gem Heist, an episode about the restrictive identities of Gems in their native society.
This is high concept sitcom plot through and through (“Jerry and the gang wait to eat at a Chinese restaurant!” “A conman sells Springfield a monorail!” “April and Andy have a surprise wedding!” “Connie, Peridot, and Lapis take over as the substitute Crystal Gems!”), and I am here for it. But it cleverly fuels the story of three major but supporting characters getting a big promotion and not knowing what to do about it. When Connie and the Barnmates are both tasked to protect Beach City by Steven and Garnet respectively in Adventures in Light Distortion, it seems irrelevant compared to the stakes at hand. But I’ll certainly settle for seeing Connie, Peridot, and Lapis do their own thing. I’d kill for an episode about Greg giving Buck guitar lessons, or a day in the life of Onion and Sour Cream’s family, or Garnet interacting with literally any human that isn’t a Universe for an extended period of time. By design he’s nearly always a part of the show that bears his name, and while I love the kid, it can be refreshing to see what it’s like for people in his world to hang out without him. It’s something that Steven Universe (which to be fair is not a sitcom) unfortunately doesn’t get a chance to do very often, because we see the world through Steven’s eyes. And even that one has Sad Dewey.Ī staple of great sitcoms is developing a strong core roster and pairing characters together in interesting ways episode to episode. Especially because this is our last fully goofy episode, without any forays into angst or the larger plot, until Letters to Lars. It’s a time-honored tradition at this point to follow emotionally heavy arcs with Peridot being silly, and while Greg’s kidnapping might seem like small potatoes compared to the Peridemption or the conclusion to Act II, The New Crystal Gems is a welcome salve before we dive back into turmoil mode. “We can be exactly like them, but better!”
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