A giving of thanks
(This review contains
spoilers!)
When
you hear the words “Gem Harvest, a half-hour Steven Universe special” a lot of
things can come to mind. The only half-hour special before this was Bismuth,
arguably the best episode of Steven Universe save for Mr. Greg. The word
harvest has also been used in the show before by Peridot in Catch and Release (“Oh my stars, you’re going to harvest me!?). But in all honesty, after
episodes like Hit the Diamond and Last One Out of Beach City wound up having
pretty down-to-earth plots, an episode about farming isn’t exactly a surprise.
Peridot and Lapis have begun farming
at the barn, just in time for Greg’s long lost cousin Andy shows up, demanding
that they leave his family’s barn. So Steven, Greg and the Gems all try to win
him over by cooking him a not-Thanksgiving dinner.
Just getting this out of the way first
and foremost, unless Andy returns in a future episode, Gem Harvest really has
nothing to do with the overall plot. In fact, I’m not even sure why it’s a half
hour special. I feel the exact same plot could be conveyed in the standard 11
minutes. So it’s not that. On the other hand, it is a fun episode with really good character interactions and a
great lesson for kids behind it all.
Gem Harvest never really takes itself
too seriously until the end. A lot of the humour in the episode is in the Gems
not understanding human tradition, similar to an early Season 1 episode.
Peridot and Lapis continue to be the highlight of the show for me, as their
dynamic has come a long way in just a few episodes. Their reaction to Lapis’
mirror joke at the dinner table compared to everyone else’s was downright
hilarious.
As for the new character, Andy, he’s a
decent addition to the cast and is basically the crux of the plot for this
episode, but I doubt I’ll be disappointed if we never see him again. He showed
up, acted really angry for most of the episode, was on the receiving end of
this episode’s lesson, gave Peridot and Lapis his blessing, and that was about
it. He wasn’t super memorable or interesting, but I did like him for what he
was.
Again, Steven Universe proves that, in
addition to already having a fantastic plot, it holds a lot of good lessons for
kids. Gem Harvest pushes the point that trying to make everything stay the same
and fighting against change will only make you upset, as we see with Andy. As
someone who spent a lot of his life doing this exact thing, I feel that this is
a really good lesson to teach kids.
My one complaint with Gem Harvest is
that there continues to be no elements of the overarching plot in the show.
While on its own this episode is good, after nearly 8 episodes with little to
no update or additions to the overall story of the series, I’m starting to get
a little frustrated.
But in all honesty, that’s criticizing the episode for what
it isn’t rather than for what it is, and for what it is, it’s a good watch and
an episode I don’t recommend skipping. Gem Harvest will get you in the
Thanksgiving mood, and remind you that sometimes spending time with family is
the best thing you can do.
FINAL SCORE
7/10
Good
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