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itsdappleagain · 1 year

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THIS WEEK'S THE WEEK, FOLKS hopefully

IM GOING TO TRY TO CATHC UP ON CS WEEKLY AW YEAH!! ALRIGHT YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS

IT'S TIME FOR THE CHASING PAPER CAPER!

(look how cool these stars are they actually are sharp!! i folded a few of them, look!)

highly recommend- super easy to do with just sticky notes

ANYWAY here we go!!! notes under the cut as usual <3

MAN i am late on this episode but i am soo excited for it!!!

maelstrom wins for worst eyebags

sdjjfd mael's like yeah 💅 perhaps I am a little deranged

mael's va put his pussy into saying "intellect"

everyone and their mother has made vile presentation power point jokes already so im not going to beat a dead horse but. yeah. thats so fucking funny

CLEO ROLLS HER EYES AT BRUNT TOO HAHAHA

this bitch i stg

the way she smacks that table when she says darn right. i do believe her. she is texas proud. she would hate abortion

i also like that the show uses brunt as a vessel for the american seven year olds watching this who also have no idea what the magna carta is. its cool

i had no idea there were seventeen original copies of the magna carta. i guess i should have guessed but i think im used to the constitu- never mind there are 13 copies of that too. okay well we're learning today

okay so i think the museum the magna cartas is in is the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya?? it looks very similar

in style, if a little changed for the show. really cool! i guess they didnt want to have to try to pronounce the name though

law and disorder (svu theme chime)

stealing paper, yes. but have you considered that paper star also. folds and throws and destroys with that paper and is generally NOT great at keeping it intact

bark bark i love watching season 1 through a post-shadowsan reveal lens. he knows paper star IS a threat, unlike most of the other operatives, so he opposes the idea,,

love maelstrom just cutting shadowsan off with a vote. he's stealing the symbols of democracy so his colleagues cant keep skipping out on majority rules

there actually is a cafe on the museum grounds that isnt EXACTLY where carmen is sitting but is pretty close. cs team did their research with this one

some guy named john is so funny

player jumped from the very general "you can't be arrested for no reason" to "YOU CANT HAVE YOUR HORSE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU" very quickly

well there isnt actually any "of the liberties" in the direct translation but alright

love how they have the english article "the" in the title of the magna cartas while talking about how its latin wheeze

rest in piece 3/4 turn views of the face. the carmen sandiego artstyle is beautiful until it has to neogotiate carmen not having a nose

interesting that the museum gets subtly lighted in green. we alll know what that means

i like the dramatic reveal of paper star but i also think. how did player not notice the security cams were already down

she had a lil choker

i love paper star so much. she's fantastic

she does make horse noises when she skips though, which is why jo likes her so much

yeah. paper star is so cool

hmmm

THEY HAVE NEVER WRITTEN A BETTER AND MORE DEFINING LINE IN THIS SHOW THAN "RED IS A SMART COLOR FOR YOU. IT WILL HIDE THE STAINS." WHAT THE FUCK THEY POPPED OFFF ON THAT LINE

SHE SAYS IT AND CARMEN CANT DO SHIT SHE JUST RUNS. CARMEN IS LITERALLY ON THE DEFENSIVE ALWAYS IN THIS FIGHT KSHFDSH ITS SO GOOD

you know shit is real when someone protects the face

i love how carmen puts her fists up to fight like a normal operative v carmen fight and then ps just pulls out the stars its so funny. its like the indiana jones scene when he just pulls out a gun

YES this fight is a challenge for carmen and i LOVE IT

LITERALLY WHAT COULD BE BETTER CARMEN ALMOST GETS STABBED IN THE NECK ITS GREAT. PAPER STAR IS A GREAT VILLAIN. YEAH

so glad kimiko glenn could voice her god she does such a good job

paper star used up the smear frame budget in this one scene alone

i love how carmen tries her quip and fight formula again and AGAIN paper star is like. no <3 i am going to rip you to shreds with this terrible pun i made up and carmen is SO OVER IT JSDHGHS

love how carmen didnt move like girlie what did you think she was going to do with those pamphlets

papertiger fans go wild

no way did that fucking tiger decapitate a stone statue what the fuck does she put in there knives??? paper star gives children razors in their halloween candy i guess

once again carmen's love for saving things that she has mostly already ruined causes her to have a disadvantage! it sure would suck if another falling statue at some point was weaponized. that would suck

LOOK AT THE GOUGES THOSE PAMPHLET STARS MADE WHAT THE FUCK

the cut hat staying there is so funny to me for some reason

dont try to be sneaky, carmen. just walk right up the center

the transitions with the tapestry and paperstar's folds are cool as fuck

HOW DID SHE GET UP THERE

also she disappears behind that second tapestry which means she was clinging onto the back of the fabric like a koala. good image

paper star: wraps carmen in a tapestry s4 evil carmen in the finale: hey that was a good idea. julia come here

paper star is the queerest bitch on the map at all times and i love her so much for that

laughing so hard imagining how many takes gina had to do of carmen's pained moaning as she struggles in the paper wrap

yeah. paper star. okay as if i haven't gushed about her enough she is. so good. the little mm-mm-mm! as carmen struggles. going against all of vile's ideals as she leaves traces EVERYWHERE and then pulls the fire alarm, not hiding in plain sight at all. she leaves carmen wrapped up for the cops. yeah. god. yeah

least favorite part of this episode of carmen being more upset about her hat than she is about losing The Fucking Magna Cartas and GOOD GRAVY SHE MOANS ABOUT THE HAT FOR SO LONG CARMEN YOU HAVE LIKE FIFTEEN

i love seeing the remains of the fight when acme steps in the next day!! you can track where paper star shot at carmen and then wrapped her up, where she was firing on the first floor, the different types of paper..

where did paper star put that glass circle she cut out

chase just randomly picks up evidence barehanded and then tosses it to the floor 2. fuck him fuck him straight to hell. so glad this is a pro-julia episode jhfashgdfa

all she does is romanticize the scoundrel it is all she CAN do

yeah acme is secret and not even their families know about it. but also every cop ever knows about it too okay

chase. thats it thats the post (i dont actually hate him. hes funny. but also insufferable at times. that is our wife you are slandering, sir)

i cant tell if i want to make a joke or a serious comment about how she's doing a finger gun at the image of carmen so i'll just leave it here

FULL OF LOVE AND AUTISM

chase: the only agent who has been face to face with her the train scene: i am about to ruin this whole man's career

HAH. says player. next on the news

(eda voice) look its an outdated human reference

why was le chevre up there. did he come down from the cliff face just for fun. or scale it just for fun. nevermind that checks out

the people in this show have ankles of steel they be dropping 20-30 feet and just fine with it

everyone tries to banter with paper star and she just. no

the shifty glance around from le chevre shdgkjsghd

the drop in her tone and face when she says he looks like he would get caught is so good

PIPPI PUNKSTOCKINGS

she is straight up torturing this guy how did paper star get past the censors

its like he was swinging his dick around in her face and going NOO NOT MY DICK PLEASE NOT MY DICK you are literally offering them as targets sir they are the closest thing to her

and from that day on fanfiction writers across the globe only called her tammy again

rOLL CREDITS /ref

oh i havent mentioned the music in this episode yet. its so good. yeah

the animation also is beautiful. the train is very nice w/ the reflections in the water

and then chase showed up to ruin her day

THE LITTLE tsk. ugh. SHE DOES IS SO FUNNY

i love how she's just humoring him he's not even in the realm of worth her full attention

honestly impressed by how chill chase is in the conversation? last time he was on a train with "her" he whipped off "her" hat and screamed in "her" face. then with ivy he jumped her snowmobile and triumphantly yelled at her again

he's just kind of like. yeah cool. im around carmen sandiego. we should have a lovely chat and then i shall get her to lead me calmly to the magna cartas. this could not possibly go wrong

love chase where did he think she was hiding them

awww theyre holding hands

criminal of this show to not show her kicking his ass in the tunnel it would have been soo funny

i love the little fakeout they do in the tunnel too. like omg did he cuff her??? no she used an uno reverse card

ALSO the little details of this show. before carmen says "or what? you'll cuff me?" she glances out the train window. she already has this scene so perfectly choreographed in her mind that she can just time the tunnel and make her escape its so good

acme keycard!!!! little did carmen know that pickpocketing that card would lead to coach brunt most of the way murdering her in a basement a few weeks from now

HERE WE GO YOU GUYS THE GAY SCENE OF ALL TIME

AGAIN julia is on her tablet gosh i dont know why i dont ever think of her as tech savvy but she is ALWAYS tapping on that thing

julia is so nice to her carmen just. sits dsgjagkdsh

THE WAY SORRY CAN YOU IMAGINE IF SOME RANDO HOT LADY SAT DOWN ACROSS FROM YOU WITH NO PERMISSION AND THEN JUST WENT PARTNER 🤨🤨🤨🤨???? AT YOU WHEN YOU MENTIONED THE WORD LIKE SHE WAS DOING HER MAKEUP (so it seemed) AND SHE JUST. DROPPED EVERYTHING

is the plausible reason that "partner" set off cop warnings in carmen's head? yes. but is the gay reason that she wanted to make sure she wasn't about to flirt with some poor married woman? also yes is the gay response to this gay reason julia canonically going "NO GOD IM NOT WITH HIM WITH HIM"? yes and yes!!

THE IMMEDIATE JULES GOD

julia puts down her tablet and gives her FULL attention to carmen to talk about the taj mahal,,, yeahh....

ALSO i enjoy how carmen maneuvers the conversation. she asks julia's name and then immediately asks an engaging question afterward so that julia doesn't think to ask for HER name...

love how julia leans forward to talk to carmen augh...she is so engaged and relaxed

that line is so fucking iconic. the Eyes she's giving. the lean. she loves history even more. the fucking setup for way down in season 4

HAHAAAA JULIA PICKS UP ON THAT LITTTLE TINY CLUE CARMEN DROPS HER SO FAST AND I LOVE THAT SO MUCH...THE WAY SHE JUST IMMEDIATELY SITS UP AND HER BRAIN GOES wait a minute something about that remark wasn't right YEAH...YEAH YEAH YEAH

AND THEN SHE JUST STANDS UP OUT OF SHOCK ONCE SHE REALIZES WHO SHE JUST CHATTED WITH HEHEHE

god i honestly think that if chase hadn't been putting her down and scoffing at her interests and making her stay behind at crime scenes she would have gone after carmen. can you IMAGINE how different the episode would have been if she'd gone after her???? GOD (i can imagine....i have imagined....the polycule has done....a LOT of imagining...)

that liiiittle glance behind that carmen does to see if julia is following her before she starts focusing on paper star..

man i NEVER used to be able to figure out how paper star sensed carmen peeking around the corner but i realized about a year ago that she saw her reflection in the window...AUGH the little details of this show are so good

THE WAY CARMEN JUST POUNCES ON HER IS SO FUNNY

that gay little roll. paper star makes every fight just a little gay actually. now kiss

those shoes must have hurt so bad to get kicked with ow

second toilet paper joke of the episode. laugh.

i love the pro-environment message this episode was halfheartedly trying to juggle. it did not come across fantastically

the way paper star's eyes light up when she sees new paper is great

PAPER STAR'S THEME IS SO GOOOD....HOW SHE JUST. she just goes. "you should run." somehow she's the most campy villain and the most down-to-earth serious threat could and would kill you villain in the show and she rocks both at once

paper star is vaccuming her

you also know shit gets real when the background turns into a mass of colored streaks

i ALSO love about paper star that she can and does hold her own in hand-to-hand. yeah she's bet with her stars but she can pack a punch or a kick

TELL ME HOW CARMEN NABBED THAT CASE IN THE MILLISECOND BETWEEN PAPER STAR GRABBING THE PAPERS AND DRAWING BACK

carmen: yes i do think i will run now

i also like this fight because we don't often get to see carmen fighting when she's not in her trench coat. it gives it a much more sporadic, caught-off-guard feel to the whole thing somehow- which is again a trademark of paper star!! she doesn't do things like everyone else

something about the way carmen sprints to the end of the train and then turns around is so fucking funny. yes that is the last car! congratulations! its a good thing you came up here instead of trapping yourself in the interior of the last car I guess

rock paper scissors wind

THE FLIP OVER THE SHOULDER GAY STARE IS ALSO ICONIC AND SUCH A GOOD MOVE. carmen initiated it but fuck if she knows what she's going to do afterwards

ill say it again and a fcuking gain how much i like how much of a threat paper star is. yes girl. fling her off the train not once (sort of) but twice. carmen was an inch away from falling headfirst off that train and she knew it

i am not sure how exactly carmen pulled herself up from a lean by grabbing paper star's boobs and pulling her towards her but im good with it. also look at this animation she is desperate!! yess!!!!!! EMOTION!!!!

AND LEGO HANDS!!!!

now KISS

OBSESSED WITH HOW STRONG PAPER STAR IS WHEEZE SHE JUST F L I N G S CARMEN OFF THE SIDE. HER FEET ARE OFF THE FLOOR. BYE

the couple not even looking up from the newspaper is so funny

i love the broken physics of that vent(?) cover (?) throw its extremely entertaining to watch

carmen's triumph motif playing and then cutting to paper star just hanging there while a crow squawks at her is very funny. she just looks at it. i would like to think she makes friends with it. she does like murder

"agent devineaux??" "mnyeh.."

AND SHE DELIVERS THE MAGNA CARTAS TO HERRRR

good hands :))))

i love that she doesn't even need to say anything. we are just left to understand that paper star did end up one-upping her here in the end, and its this moment that nearly kills both her and chase

sassypants

i like the contrast of brunt and cleo shielding themselves when she throws the card, versus maelstrom standing and not flinching. he knows her better than they do

damn

i thought that was a vase theyre just his pants

HEHEE GOD THATS A GOOD EPISODE. yeah. yeah. okay

thats all i have to say for this one. other than the french connections caper this is my favorite episode in season 1!!

#carmen sandiego #cs weekly #csweekly

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mandareeboo · 4 years

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If you don't mind me asking. Have you seen the new season of Carmen Sandiego Netflix?

I know I’m waaaay late on this and season 2 dropped fucking forever ago but I finally got off my butt and watched it and WHOO BOY I loved every dang minute of it!! I made a bullet point list for you but it kind of turned redundant so idk if ya’ll’ll get anything out of it but here she is!

Shadow-san and his brother’s backstory fucking wrecked me. The final scene where he’s bowed to the floor and his brother quietly leaves holy shit.

That said I legitimately cannot handle reading/writing the name “Shadow-san”. I just can’t. Mr. Shadow. Bitch. Pick a better name.

(Along the same lines: Paper Star-chan fucking killed me. I paused. It was bAD.)

Ivy and Zack continue to be 10/10 and I love them

Shadow-san constantly demanding to know why Carmen ‘hired’ a bunch of super-hyper millennials was great.

“Can I get this?” -Raised eyebrow- “Zack got ice cream and pizza.”

Shadow-san: I do not understand why I bother with you hooligans Zack: yew say that like you ain’t part of this family, bucko, but yer on the card.

The entire thing with Julia and Carmen at the fashion show was great. I will never be over it. Julia coming in like “Alright time to bust some crime” and Carmen effortlessly taking her sleepy-time gun, studying it, and handing it back before telling her her fashion is shit was amazing.

Julia is so smart and has such a great gut instinct and everyone holds her back or brushes it off except for Carmen and that episode rlly proved it- she readily handed her peeps over for Julia to lead and Julia fucking kicked ass.

Ivy honestly assuming Player lived “on the cloud” like he wasn’t a real ass person they have video calls with often was amazing I love these dumb children

The whole thing with widdle Black Sheep pestering Shadow-san to take her to Japan made my heart melt. You really do get the feeling that she looked up to him and tried to get him to pay attention to her the same way the other heads did, not realizing Shadow-san was caring for her in his own uptight way.

Ivy and Zack literally stumbling their way into one of the biggest worldwide conspiracies is just so… Them.

Carmen: I’mma make a quip about Boston. Ivy and Zack: SIDDOWN WE’RE HAVING A WHOLE ASS LECTURE

Idk why it took me this long to realize that no one can really tell that Carmen’s talking to Player but it did. I always just read it as a Bluetooth earpiece situation, but it’s just a high-tech earring. Carmen doesn’t give a shit, obvi, but I can only imagine the looks she gets in public.

Ivy: we don’t have family. Carmen (screaming internally): UnDERstood.

I know that Carmen’s hair being so much longer just a few months after leaving VILE is just cartoon logic but I prefer the idea that she just wore a long ass wig until she got it to the length she’d always wanted but was too embarrassed to ask mom Coach Grunt for

La Chevre being 100% willing to just let Carmen walk out and never return and never telling anyone is such a really good small moment.

Same with El Topo apologizing

Also Carmen trying not to fight Chevre and tossing a little floaty thing after him and Topo

Like you can really tell these people cared for each other for a long time, once

Shadow-san being a proud dad to his hellion adopted daughter is great

Carmen being lowkey salty for AGES about Shadow-san bringing up the possibility of a base is so damn petty I love it

“How does it feel to be wearin’ the coat?” “Pretty tight around the shoulders… but powerful.” Ivy and Zack stanning Carmen is so damn precious

THEY FUCKING STOLE??? A PATIENT???? AND AN AMBULANCE???? STOCKHOLM POLICE ARE HAVING AN ANYURISM RN

I don’t think we mention this often enough but on the rare occasions Carmen does get hurt it’s always so…. horrifying?? Like the times we see her falter aren’t from a kick to the face- it’s shit like cracking multiple ribs, it’s shit like being left in the tundra for hours until she literally needed hospital attention, it’s shit like being tied up and left with no way to get help on a train. The show doesn’t fuck around with its punches.

Carmen taking after her dad is so damn bittersweet

I love Chase but I’m terrified of what he’s gonna do with ACME power

Julia’s gonna end up a thief before this show is over and it’ll 100% be bc the dumbasses around her didn’t trust/listen to her in the first place

#Ask #Question Mandar #professoruber #Black Sheep #Ivy #Zack #Shadow-san #Player #Chase Devineaux #Julia Argent #Carmen Sandiego

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stevenuniversallyreviews · 5 years

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Episode 125: Doug Out

“It can't be all ‘Bam!’ ‘Pow!’ action all the time.”

(First things first: Lamar Abrams’s delightful promo art leans away from traditional cards with the title and storyboarders, and this is my favorite of the bunch. He really knocks the visual pun out of the park.)

Dr. Maheswaran is a titanic presence in her daughter’s life, and while she does have a canonical first name—Priyanka, according to Ian Jones-Quartey—it says a lot that the show itself only presents her as “Doctor” or “Mom.” She, not Doug, is the person Connie must reconcile with in Nightmare Hospital. She, not Doug, is the one that’s late picking Connie up in Storm in the Room. She, not Doug, takes the role of Yellow Diamond in Stevonnie’s psychic dream from Jungle Moon. And Doug, as should be clear now, has a first name that we actually hear on the show. Hell, it’s in the name of the episode.

Doug’s status as a background character allows his characterization to be more fluid than his wife’s. In Fusion Cuisine, which is a weird episode period in terms of Maheswaran behavior, he tells a joke to break the tension and disapproves of Steven and Connie hugging. In the far superior Winter Forecast, he’s frustrated with Greg in the bad timelines, appreciative of Greg’s cherry sweater in the good timeline, and we learn that he can’t drive in the snow (but thinks he can). Connie has told us that her parents are strict, which logically means he’s strict, but we see more impatience than strictness in his voiced appearances.

None of what we’ve witnessed lines up too well with the Doug we get in Doug Out: sure, we’ve seen his awkwardness, and I guess his tendency towards jokes at inopportune times means he can be funny, but he’s super silly in this episode. Normally such a huge shift in characterization would bug me, buuuut:

Doug is such a minor character that it’s not a huge deal that his personality adjusts to fit the story better, and

We’ve only seen Doug with Dr. Maheswaran nearby and I can totally buy that he acts differently when she’s not around.

It would’ve been nice for the canon if a little more of Doug’s behavior from Doug Out had been established earlier, but yeah this isn’t a dealbreaker for me. It’s already weird that Connie said in Bubble Buddies that her family moves around a lot because of his security job, considering they don’t move at all over the course of the show and her mother’s job certainly pays more than her father’s, so at least showing Doug at work lends some consistency to her claim.

Entering the episode by pulling a prank on Steven is a succinct way for the show to tell us this is a new Doug. We do get references to the Maheswarans being all about safety, namely his concern over Steven's hydration after eating salty fry bits, but he’s simultaneously silly with the kids and proud that his daughter is a “swashbuckling swashbuckler.” Plus his dopey smile is the same as his daughter’s dopey smile and it’s the most precious thing in the world.

There hasn’t been any indication that Connie is distant from her father, despite his lack of screentime; in fact, one of my favorite unspoken bits of characterization for the family is how she (and through her, Stevonnie) often wears his signature flight jacket. But it’s still great to see them get along so well, keeping up the light mood from the beginning of the episode and amplifying it through paternal playfulness.

While bringing kids along for a security mission after hours doesn’t sound like something an ultra-responsible parent would do, I choose to see it as a sign of Doug’s respect for his kid and her friend. He knows they’ve handled dangerous situations before, and it’s neat to see him acknowledge this by allowing them to ride along. Moreover, the whole point of the episode is that he doesn’t think his job is exciting, so it’s not like he thinks he’s throwing the kids into a violent situation. And considering he wants to see more action like his daughter does in missions or his wife does in the hospital, I’m glad that this jealousy never turns petty or mean-spirited: this wasn’t a given, as he’s been unfriendly in the past. Doug sort of rules in this episode, and it’s nice that veteran voice actor Crispin Freeman finally gets something to do with him.

The goofiness isn’t limited to Doug, as half of what makes him great is his playing along with Connie and Steven’s prepackaged goofiness. The kids are in top form in Doug Out, dressing as ridiculously-named parodies of Carmen Sandiego and Mario while they’re on the case (Connie’s assertion that Pizzapoppolis sounds more Greek than Italian is in contention with her bemoaning the laws of physics in the Gravitron for the best “Connie’s A Nerd” joke of the night). They’re down to mess around and ruin a teen’s night, and I’m here for it.

Still, I wouldn’t call this a full-on goofy episode, particularly when it evolves into a sequel of sorts to Gem Hunt. Aivi and Surasshu’s soundtrack evokes exaggerated noir as Doug talks shop, but shifts to a menacing drone as the trio encounters evidence of something sinister afoot at Funland. Steven and Connie stay in-character during the chase, but drop the act when discussing the possibility of a Gem Mutant or Homeworld Gem. Whatever they’re hunting is clearly hunting them, and perhaps the most impressive aspect of Doug Out is maintaining a tone of genuine looming danger that isn’t undermined by the episode’s numerous jokes.

The mystery, as in Gem Hunt, is complicated by a red herring. During Connie’s first big mission we’re led to believe that a Corrupted Gem might be healing itself, given the multiple distinct footprints, but we learn in the third act that it was Jasper all along. This time we get a wide array of dangerous possibilities, so the third act Onion reveal initially comes as a relief. But we’ve never seen him this scared before, and his distinct silhouette doesn’t match that of the shadowy figure on the roof.

Before we can think about the hints that Onion isn’t our perp, the focus shifts back to Doug as we conclude his character’s episode-long arc. He wants to be taken seriously, projecting a badass vibe that’s often undermined moments later by an intentional joke (like calling his daughter by her “Cucamonga” alias with a straight face) or by the emergence of his inner square (pretending to be undercover by removing his glasses then instantly relenting because he needs them to see). He’s not incompetent, correctly deducing that the culprit isn’t a regular teen and quieting the children to listen for clues, but he’s just a normal security guard in a family with a surgeon and a kid hero. You can’t blame the guy for developing a bit of an inferiority complex.

So again, I really appreciate that his behavior doesn’t devolve into toxic overcompensation, because that’s the obvious route to go and it would’ve made this episode so much worse. He respects the kids and doesn’t pretend he needs to protect them, and he doesn’t let his desire for action let him get in over his head—in another similarity to Gem Hunt, he stresses the importance of calling for backup instead of stubbornly going it alone. When Connie talks about how much she loves and values him, we’re allowed to feel it, because she’s reiterating what we’ve seen rather than letting a petty control freak off the hook.

We’re coming off another terrific Dad Moment in Lion 4, but Greg being great is par for the course. Most Dad Episodes are understandably about him: other father/child relationships have their days in the limelight (Fryman and Peedee in Frybo, Kofi and the Pizza Twins in Beach Party, Bill and Buck in Shirt Club, and Yellowtail/Marty and Sour Cream in Drop Beat Dad), but Greg gets more focus episodes than all of those combined. So while I would’ve liked to see more of him in an arc that hinges on the phrase “my dad,” I love that we get one last new Dad Episode to kick off the end of Season 4, especially if it lets us see Connie again before her kidnapping.

Onion may be a red herring, but the whole ending with Doug and Connie’s sweet talk is another red herring, tricking us into thinking the episode is wrapping up and that despite the suspicious inconsistencies, Onion was just being Onion. Unlike Gem Hunt, our heroes don’t solve the mystery, and because they don’t, neither do we. We have more information than Steven that something sinister is afoot, with an alien threat that for some reason is going after Onion, but before our sleuths can learn more, we cut to black.

After the victories of taking the ocean back from Lapis and saving the world from the Cluster, Act III of Steven Universe is the first with a tragic midpoint, and the fallout of Steven’s sacrifice at the end of Season 4 ripples through the first third of Season 5. Episodes like Storm in the Room and Lion 4 bring plenty of angst as well, so Doug Out wisely gives us some comic relief before the sweet-and-somber flavor of The Good Lars and the tension that follows. That tension is still present here (we get a cliffhanger, after all), but I’ll take moments of pure happiness where I can. This isn’t a silly episode in the vein of The New Crystal Gems, but it’ll still be a while until we have this much fun in one episode again.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

It’s time again to expand our Top List, from a Top Twenty to a Top Twenty-Five! Most are Act II classics that got pushed down by the sheer volume of great episodes, but Lion 4 makes the cut as well. We’ll keep it at 25 until Change Your Mind; normally I’d switch to 30 at Episode 150 to keep up the Top 20% trend, but it seems more fitting to expand when the original series concludes.

Doug Out sadly does not make the cut, but it’s still an episode I love. We’ve had plenty of cliffhanger episodes that feel incomplete, and while this one also leaves us wanting more, it still works as a full story and not just setup. And the story is great!

Top Twenty-Five

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

Last One Out of Beach City

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Mindful Education

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Earthlings

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Bismuth

Steven’s Dream

When It Rains

Catch and Release

Chille Tid

Lion 4: Alternate Ending

Keeping It Together

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

We Need to Talk

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Monster Reunion

Alone at Sea

Crack the Whip

Beta

Back to the Moon

Kindergarten Kid

Buddy’s Book

Gem Harvest

Three Gems and a Baby

That Will Be All

The New Crystal Gems

Storm in the Room

Room for Ruby

Doug Out

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

Greg the Babysitter

Gem Hunt

Steven vs. Amethyst

Bubbled

Adventures in Light Distortion

Gem Heist

The Zoo

Rocknaldo

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

Know Your Fusion

Future Boy Zoltron

Tiger Philanthropist

No Thanks!

6. Horror Club 5. Fusion Cuisine 4. House Guest 3. Onion Gang 2. Sadie’s Song 1. Island Adventure

#doug out #steven universe #su #steven universally #review

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