Episode Followup: What's Your Problem

 

What's my problem? My problem is that this episode ended too quickly! But we'll get to that, and more, right after the break!

Last time on Steven Universe, Sapphire got a letter from Ruby. Could this be a love letter, in an ironic reference to that episode where Garnet doesn't want to receive love letters?

No, it's a sad letter. A bad letter. I wonder what she scratched out? Did she start to sign her name as Garnet? No, looks more like a heart. Aww, why did she scratch it out? Ruby must be really hurt!

Huh, they drew Sapphire's single eye as if it were a right eye. I guess that makes sense, as her gem is also on her right side. But when they're fused, Sapphire's eye color is on Garnet's left side... so maybe this little detail doesn't actually mean anything?

Ah yes. Avoiding the drama by going off to play video games. That's my favorite coping strategy too!

Hey guys, you're blocking the TV... I mean I'm sure this is important and all, but... you're making Amethyst cry here.

"But she's so wonderful... and spontaneous! I've no idea what she could... Why would she be a cowboy!?"

You heard it here first, folks. Ruby is going to become a cowboy. Don't know how, don't know when, but Sapphire is rarely wrong.

"She's got to come back! If she doesn't, then... then there would be no more Garnet! And... what on Earth would we do without Garnet!?"

 Sapphire's crying because she misses Ruby, Pearl's crying because she misses Garnet, I'm crying because they're crying...

Yeah I'm with you Amethyst. Let's dry our eyes and move on.
Oh and now that I can see better, let's inspect the titles of the GameCube games on that shelf, shall we?
Looks like Lue's Estate, Smash Pals Scuffle, ... something I can't quite make out... and Forever Darkness? That's a bit mature for Steven, isn't it?
Also looks like the GameCube in this universe is made by Sumy. That company makes everything!

 Ok ok, I know we're supposed to be serious, but can I just point out how cute Amethyst as Ruby looks? Yeah that's mostly just because Ruby herself is cute, but I dunno... mini Amethyst is always...

Adorable! So huh, looks like the only rule of shapeshifting is that the gem has to stay its original size.

Yikes, and reverting to normal size can be destructive! I wonder if we'll ever see Amethyst use this offensively in the future.

And so we begin our underwater adventure! It's sort of a shame the episode didn't continue in this direction, but I guess they would've never found Ruby that way.

Gotta admit, that sign really does look good. RIP Elephant.

Sad but cute. Does anyone else think her hair below the headband kinda looks like dog ears?

Most of these are of classic-design Amethyst, but there's one of her in her current outfit back there. Looks like Amethyst still models!

 Steven, don't litter! Are you going to pick those all up after you find Ruby? Also I don't think we've seen these boardies before. I-is that Sosuke and his mom from Ponyo?

Good job sweeping the... back alley, Dewey. Who'd you tick off at corporate to get stuck with this detail?

Even with 3 seconds of screen time, Onion manages to creep out the audience.

I always love how much detail this show puts into the backgrounds. We've seen this shot a thousand times, but I love it all the same. Is that fish-covered doorway just the kitchen door, or is it an entrance into where the Pizza family lives?

Kiki's face says all you need to know about the combination of topping on that pizza.

One staple of east-coast seaside restaurants is big sepia-toned pictures of old locations that have since been torn down, usually by hurricanes. And hey, that woman in the picture on the right... is that Jenny and Kiki's mother?

"Soo... all this time, we thought Rose was this rebel leader, but she was just rebelling against herself?" "Apparently." "And the diamond that Rose supposedly shattered. I mean... you've got it. It's right there under your shirt."

Amethyst sums up the situation in just a few sentences. I guess as far as Amethyst was concerned, the gems Rose fought and who Rose was didn't really matter. She emerged long after the conflict. What matters to Amethyst is that Rose accepted her and loved her for who she was... and that hasn't changed, right?

"I-I thought I'd... I'd really finally got it. That mom really didn't have everything figured out even though everyone put her way up on this pedestal. But now I guess she's royalty too?"

Well yes, but from what Pearl told us last episode, Rose had even less of a plan than we previously thought! She was making it up as she went, and had no idea if any of it was even going to work. Heck, she didn't even realize she was going to build the Crystal Gems into an army of misfits until... well, until she met Garnet.

Wait, hold on a sec, what's that picture on the left? I can't think of what IMDFFNO stands for, and I'm not quite sure who the two people in it are. The one on the left looks like the woman from the picture above, and the one on the right... might be a younger Nanefua? I really don't know. What do you think?

"You were always under all this pressure to be like her! But was she even like her? Was anyone ever like her? She was supposed to be so great! She was supposed to know everything... She was supposed to make everything better!"

All those episodes Steven spent beating himself up for not being as perfect and powerful as Rose Quartz... Turns out he was working towards an impossible ideal. Rose wasn't perfect. Her heart was in the right place, but so is Steven's!

"This is everyone else's problem. This has nothing to do with me."

Amethyst's family is falling apart around her and there's nothing she can do about it. Nobody should have to go through that.

"Let me handle it, Steven! No more adults should be putting anything else on you!"

Remember the earlier episodes when the Crystal Gems would keep things secret from Steven to "protect" him? Yeahhhhh I think this is what they were worrie about.

"There's someone else who needs help even more! And it's you!" 

Uh oh! Run, Amethyst! Steven wants to empathize with you!

Aww, sad Amecopter. She didn't want to have to ditch Steven, she just couldn't think of a way to get him to stop worrying about her.

"LET ME HELP YOU WITH YOUR FEELINGS!"

AGGRESSIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY

Whoa, Steven is quite the action hero. These are stunts you'd see in a major motion picture, but for Steven, it's just Tuesday.

This face... kinda makes you wonder how we got from crying Sapphire to this in only 8 minutes, doesn't it?

And then he tops it immediately.

"I'm not responsible for what Rose did! None of us are!"

A good lesson for Steven, who not 10 episodes ago turned himself in for a crime he just found out never happened.

"But I am responsible for me, and right now, I am not gonna dump another thousand-year-old complex on you or anybody else!"

Good! Let the downward spiral of uncoiling emotions stop here. Amethyst isn't going to let Steven get dragged any further down from all this baggage he's uncovered.

"I am the ding dong sunshine future! Your friend forever! And I'm not gonna fall apart on you."

Look how much Amethyst has grown. At the start of the show, she was a flighty, irresponsible, childish gem. But now? She's exactly the mom Steven needs at the moment. She's the rock he can get his footing on. Believe in the Amethyst that believes in you, Steven!

"I think you're officially the most mature Crystal Gem." "Ohh noo! Gross, that's what this is, isn't it?" "Yeah, pretty much." "No! NOOOOOOOO!"

But she still didn't lose the qualities that make her our Amethyst.

"Target spotted!" "Let's go in for a landing."

And... that's it! What, that's it? But we were just getting started! Aww. Don't worry though. Tune in tonight to see what happens next on Steven Universe!