“Like ALIENS, Steven! Aliens who invaded Earth!”
I like The Return more than Jailbreak.
To be clear, it’s not by much, and it’s certainly not because of flaws on Jailbreak’s part. The latter is a spectacular episode of a spectacular show, for reasons I’ll get into in my next post. But I’m a guy whose favorite episodes are Steven and the Stevens and Hit the Diamond; I’m all about those microcosms, and The Return is a terrific snapshot of everything Season 1 has built up to.
Like Marble Madness, this is a pivot episode, but kicked into overdrive. The sheer number of callbacks packed into its eleven-minute runtime is staggering, but The Return isn’t content with simply referencing the past. We don’t just open with an extended reference to Laser Light Cannon; we hear the Gems now treat Greg as an equal, and see the initial cannon now joined by the Quartizine Trio from Lion 2, Rose’s Scabbard, and Political Power. Speaking of which, Political Power is next in the slate, showing that The Return is going to pull material from episodes old and new; the one-two punch of Dewey’s evacuation siren and his rambling speech on the virtues of evacuating are hilarious, but my favorite bit from this section is that Lion and Onion have phone numbers.
From here, we get the cheeseburger backpack and megaphone from Cheeseburger Backpack and Coach Steven, each of which defines one of Steven’s key roles: as an innocent child who’s helpful but in over his head, and as an inspirational force. Again, it would be easy to just show these items and be content with the reference, but within the scene they’re imbued with deeper meaning. Their episodes meant something, and the ways they represented and changed Steven at those points in time are crucial to the character he’s become.
The best callback, though, is Steven and Greg’s long drive from Beach City. Why is it the best? A few reasons, the first of which is Aivi and Surasshu scoring the scene with a continuation of Night Drive from The Return’s closest counterpart, Ocean Gem (putting a pin on that comparison for now). The track feels familiar and calm, but just the slightest bit eerie as the conversation begins, and tension seeps in as Steven and Greg veer towards talk of the past.
One of the show’s perfect decisions is to make Greg, not the Gems, reveal explicitly what the Gems are. Because up to this point, the Gems have held all the answers about their history, while Greg has represented Steven’s human half, but of course Greg would’ve talked about this stuff with Rose. Realizing that our lovable schlub knows more than he lets on is a reveal in and of itself, and an amazing parenting moment.
As for the big “twist,” it may have been obvious to the viewer since Ocean Gem, and Steven casually acknowledged that the Gems come from space in On the Run, but this is the first time he’s really forced to directly encounter the truth: they’re not just aliens, they’re invaders. And then, as we get flashbacks to moments that Steven now associates with this new information, the score shifts to a dark distortion of Rose’s Theme.
But what makes Steven special is that even with this sudden knowledge, his biggest takeaway is that the Crystal Gems survived thanks to Rose’s shield. He’s more concerned with their safety than their history, and has caught wise to why they sent him away. Here comes another reason I like The Return a little more than its successor: this is Steven’s show, and as beautiful and cathartic as Garnet’s victory is, the emotional climax of the first season is Steven’s Return.
With one last callback—to Opal, showcasing Amethyst and Pearl’s shared resolve and hinting at the imminent importance of fusion—the extended third act completes the pivot to the future.
Aivi and Surasshu’s other big track here is, well, big: at nearly four minutes, it consumes the entire final act. If you haven’t before, you should really take a moment and listen to it without dialogue: the intertwined themes of Peridot, Lapis, and Jasper are certainly the highlight, but it’s amazing how well the composers capture the heroic highs and villainous lows of this scene.
Everything Jasper says here is fascinating. Pearl is a pearl? Amethyst is a runt? Garnet is…a shameless display? What does that mean? What’s Jasper’s history with Rose? Who the hell is Yellow Diamond? Jasper is something entirely new to the show: a bored brute that even Steven, who sees the best in the likes of Lars and Peridot, shudders at. But she’s just the kind of threat that would prompt him to his crowning moment of the season, throwing himself in front of his family and summoning a gigantic shield to save them.
“I’m a Crystal Gem, too” sums up everything about Steven’s character; the only thing keeping it from being the header quote is that he’ll continue to struggle a bit to be seen as a peer after The Return, because this is a show necessarily about his growth into the role. Regardless, his giant shield is a gratifying culmination of an entire season of not being taken seriously, and a big step forward in being recognized for the team player he is.
And, of course, we see how easily the Crystal Gems fall to the foreshadowed advanced technology of Homeworld. Peridot’s cold high-tech finger cannon maneuvers contrast sharply against Lapis’s frantic attempts to defend her friend against what she knows is coming, all building up to Garnet’s slow, graphic destruction at the hands of the destabilizer. The stage is set for a dramatic conclusion, and fortunately The Return provides the resolution we desire.
The Return and Jailbreak are the first two-part duo since Mirror Gem and Ocean Gem, and both pairs are finales of sorts, so comparisons are bound to come up. But as I said earlier, I find that The Return actually correlates more with Ocean than Mirror, despite being the first half rather than the second. The van sequence, complete with similar music and a revelation prompting Steven to flash back, is certainly a factor. But thematically, both The Return and Ocean Gem focus on Steven as a member of two worlds, with Gems in outer space symbolizing one side and the people of Beach City symbolizing the other. It’s no mistake that both episodes provide a quiet panorama featuring the vast majority of Steven’s human neighbors.
Sure, Ocean Gem also comes to mind when Steven goes back to space for Jailbreak, but Jailbreak is more formatted as a mystery episode, like Mirror Gem, than an episode about preparing against an overpowering foe, like Ocean Gem/The Return. At this point I’m sure to just get the names of Mirror Gem and Ocean Gem mixed up a bunch, but I appreciate that our two two-part finales correlate without sticking with one-to-one mirroring of structure.
This may be a low point for the Gems in terms of morale, but it’s a high point as characters. It’s heartbreaking to watch Amethyst and Pearl struggle to hold it together as they send Steven away, then collapse for a moment when he’s gone. And Garnet proves here even more than in Jailbreak why she’s the leader: she needs to comfort Steven while sending him to safety, and she needs to pull her team back together for the upcoming fight, and as the biggest, strongest Gem, she needs to take on Jasper when the going gets tough. We’ve known since Warp Tour that the threat of a Homeworld invasion hits her where it hurts, and as recently as Political Power she’s openly admitted how scared she is. But despite her fear and anger, Garnet always does what’s best for the people she loves, and that’s what makes her a hero.
I’ve talked about the plotting, characters, and music, but the visuals of The Return are especially gorgeous. Emotions flow off the characters as they prepare for the end in their own ways, and the green lighting of the final scene, interrupted only by the colors of characters’ eyes and weapons, gives extra alien discomfort to the conflict. Visual callbacks to the fry stand and the room around Connie’s phone ground us in the world we’ve gotten to know over the course of the season, and allows a firm contrast with the alien architecture of the ship in Jailbreak.
The Return may not have a big song or a lot of laughs compared to other episodes, but what could’ve been a pure setup episode is instead a suspenseful, reminiscent, and satisfying story all on its own, and that’s pretty special.
Future Vision!
- Steven’s sweet prediction about Peridot is Ronaldo-level accurate.
- Up in that panning shot, we get our first glimpse of Barb right next to her daughter.
If every pork chop were perfect, we wouldn’t have inconsistencies…
- …but if Barb is up there, where are Vidalia and Lars’s parents? This is supposed to be a full evacuation, and we even know that Vidalia’s model was more or less done, given this was supposed to air after her debut in Story for Steven. Sure, I guess they might be back in their cars with Jenny, but still.
I guess you could read it that way…
- Not that Say Uncle matters that much, but it was meant to air before The Return, and I definitely prefer Steven’s worry about his shield to come after his big moment in the finale, where he just did something amazing but still isn’t sure how it works.
We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!
The Return is one of the best, and perfectly wraps up the first season so Jailbreak can tie it with a ribbon. Not much else to say here that I didn’t up there: this is top-tier Steven Universe.
Top Ten
- Steven and the Stevens
- Mirror Gem
- Lion 3: Straight to Video
- Alone Together
- The Return
- Rose’s Scabbard
- Coach Steven
- Giant Woman
- Winter Forecast
- On the Run
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
- Maximum Capacity
- Marble Madness
- The Message
- Political Power
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
Enh
- Cheeseburger Backpack
- Together Breakfast
- Cat Fingers
- Serious Steven
- Steven’s Lion
- Joking Victim
- Secret Team
No Thanks!
4. Horror Club
3. Fusion Cuisine
2. House Guest
1. Island Adventure
Steven, Universally 