Steven and the Contradictory Title
(This review contains
spoilers!)
Hot on the heels of one of the best
townie episodes ever, Steven Universe
gives us…Lars.
Oh, Lars. I so desperately want to
like his character. With how often he’s appeared over the course of this series
it’s clear that the crew are trying their absolute hardest to make him
relatable and likable. But every time the guy’s onscreen he just reaffirms why
I dislike him so much. He doesn’t contribute anything, his will-he won’t-he
relationship with Sadie is infuriating, and his personality would make
Squidward Tentacles tell him to be less of a stuck-up jerk. I think the only
character in the show I’d less rather spend time with is Ronaldo, because at least
with Lars I don’t want to tear my ears off after listening to his voice for
more than a few seconds.
So whenever his name appears in the
title, I’m usually pretty unenthusiastic about the episode that follows. This
episode was actually better than most other Lars episodes in that he was a bit
more tolerable this time, but it still had its fair share of irritating
moments.
The Cool Kids have invited Lars, Sadie
and Steven to a potluck they’re having, so they decide to bring something. It
turns out Lars is good at baking, which is monumental because that means that
Lars has at least one redeeming quality. They make something called an ube
roll, and then it’s off to the party.
Of course, things start to go wrong.
Lars no-shows, and Steven finds the roll they made in the garbage outside of
the Cool Kids’ house. Considering what happens in the next episode you can
assume that it wasn’t his fault it ended up in there, but the episode implies
that it was.
This is why Lars is such a frustrating
character to me. He so desperately needs character development, but the crew
doesn’t want to give it to him! His character is at exactly the same place it
was back in Season 1 after Island
Adventure. It doesn’t help he’s been essentially absent for the past two
seasons (although I’m pretty grateful for that), but even after this episode
it’s obvious that he hasn’t changed whatsoever. The last episode of the bomb
really makes me think that the crew has big plans for him, but I really think
they should’ve laid more groundwork beforehand.
The
Good Lars is a better Lars episode than most, but it’s still a Lars
episode. He’s still the same annoying jerk he was back in Season 1, and that
makes it incredibly hard to root for him. Again, I really want to like the guy,
because the crew makes it clear that he’s one of the more prominent side
characters. But when I enjoy an episode with a one-off townie we’ve only seen
in passing before more than an episode with one we’ve already spent several
episodes with, I think that’s a signal something’s gone horribly wrong.
FINAL SCORE
3/10
Bad
No comments:
Post a Comment