The most adorable villain
(This review contains
spoilers!)
While Steven Universe hasn’t quite escaped the non-plot storyline rut it
seems to be trapped in just yet, Room for
Ruby has answered my plea for more gem related episodes and characters. Honestly,
I’m just glad that there’s not a town character in sight this week.
The Ruby Squad is a fun group of
characters that I honestly really enjoy seeing every once in a while, even if
it’s just one of them. This week Navy (aka the cute one) fireballed back to
Earth, telling Steven she wanted to live there. Steven takes her to stay with
Peridot and Lapis, and the two of them teach her what life on Earth is like.
Although the episode is named after
Ruby, it’s actually a Lapis episode, and I can’t tell you how glad I am she’s
finally getting development after literally an entire season’s worth of
episodes out of the spotlight. She’s basically done nothing but sit at the barn
for ages, and her character has devolved into basically nothing but reacting
accordingly to what’s going on around her. As much as I like her in episodes
like Ocean Gem and Same Old World, it’s hard to deny that
she’s become little more than Peridot’s sidekick lately.
Fortunately, this episode swoops in
and finally gives her a starring role. Navy immediately falls in love with
everything on Earth, leaving Lapis bemused. While we unfortunately didn’t get
to see much of it on camera (but it’s okay, we got an entire episode dedicated
to Ronaldo complaining instead…), it’s been made clear that she’s had a much
harder time adjusting than Peridot did. Seeing Navy enjoy everything so much
right off the bat makes her feel like something is wrong with her, as she still
is uncertain about Earth.
One of the best parts of this episode
is the animation. All the characters are much more detailed in their
expressions this week than they usually are, and it adds a lot to the episode.
Navy wouldn’t have been made nearly as lovable without the exaggerated cute
eyes and cheeks they gave her, and Lapis was animated more stiffly in stark
contrast to her. Even characters who aren’t as prominently featured this week,
such as Garnet and Peridot, were animated differently so as to make each of
them stand out more than they usually do. I legitimately hope we get to see
more of this style, because it really made the episode pop.
Then, of course, Navy tells Steven
that the one thing she misses about Homeworld is her ship, leading Steven to
bring her aboard. Of course, she hijacks the thing and speeds off while
laughing maniacally. Yes, it’s a pretty predictable twist, but the execution is
one of the funniest things Steven has
done in a long time. Navy keeps the adorable façade up until the very end,
making her evil turn all the more hilarious. Charlene Yi did a great job as
Navy as always, and honestly made me hope it won’t be long before we see the
Rubies again.
But that’s not the end of it. The
episode closes with a fantastic visual gag courtesy of Garnet. It would ruin it
if I spoil it here, so I’ll just say that the entire episode is worth seeing
just for the ending alone.
While Room for Ruby doesn’t have much in terms of overall plot (except
for the Gems losing their ship, which I guess is pretty important), it does a
lot in terms of character and humour. It’s great to finally see more of Lapis
after so long, and the ending is a fantastic bit of both physical and visual
humour.
FINAL SCORE
8/10
Great
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