My Review of Steven Universe Future · 12:39am Jul 6th, 2021
My TV Show Rating Score:
5/5: It is an awesome show!
4/5: It’s a good show with minor flaws
3/5: It’s overall okay/guilty pleasure
2/5: It’s bad but not awful
1/5: Look, up in the sky! It’s super bad!
0/5: MY EYEEEESSS!!!
Greetings to all my friends! This is yours truly back once again with another review on Steven Universe! It's about time I finally express my thoughts and feelings in regards to the epilogue-limited series by the name of "Steven Universe Future". Now, I am fully aware of the massive backlash and harsh criticism this show has gotten due to the writing, returning characters, Steven himself, the plot, and most of all, the finale. There are plenty of analysis videos where multiple YouTubers expressed their passionate hatred and opinions of Steven's character development and everything that happened up until the grand finale. Coming from someone who is only new to the series since earlier this year... even after watching this show... I can see where they are coming from. As far as my opinion is concerned... I actually liked most of it.
So hear me out, guys. This epilogue series tells the closing story of our titular protagonist suffering from post-traumatic experiences and mental health issues after everything he went through and endured throughout the main series and the previous movie. Starting with the first episode, he started to develop anger issues in the form of pink energy through his own head. Throughout the whole season, his trauma and anger started to slightly grow more and more until they escalated into erratic behavior (including physically and abnormally changing size). His friends try to help him and figure out a solution to his problem, but he continually kept refusing under the guise that he was fine. Unfortunately for him, it only got worse and he transformed into a literal monster and sought to destroy his home town.
Before I get to the end, from episode 1 to episode 14, I actually found myself having a lot of fun with it including the so-called "filler" episodes. Although other characters such as Peridot and Lapis were underutilized, I still enjoyed the episodes that featured them. However, there were a couple of them that were a bit meh or boring such as "Prickly Pair" or "Rose Buds". Still I deeply enjoyed the rest; "Why So Blue?", "In Dreams", and "A Very Special Episode" (wow, how original 
) are my favorite episodes of this show.
Steven was so bearable as a character up until episode 15 where he and his father, Greg, go on a road trip, visit his old home, and drive back on the road during nighttime. After Steven ranted of how his childhood could have been a lot better if he was like the other kids and how Greg basically ruined his childhood life, he angrily rips the steering wheel off in an attempt to kill his father via car accident. Also, after Jasper tauntingly goads Steven into a fight and challenging him to not hold back, Steven goes all out as the pink energy consumes him and uses all his strength to overpower Jasper, shattering her in the process. Stricken by guilt, he reforms her gem in a tub full of water along with tears from his eyes. But it's not the same Jasper anymore... she becomes fully subject to Steven's authority out of nowhere.
Oh my darkness... are you really kidding me? He brings her gem back to full form without anybody knowing what he did or what he tried to do to Greg. It teaches children watching this that as long as they don't get caught doing something wrong, they can get away with it. Toxic moral is what it is. Plus, I hated what they had done with Spinel when she reappeared in episode 17. Outside of the fact she was of little help to him, she was completely obnoxious, naïve, annoying, and unbearable which she exactly was when she was in her previous form. It's like they completely derailed her character development from the movie and rewrote her character back to her old personality instead of having her be more understandable and empathetic to Steven's situation.
The finale itself was overall bad but not totally unwatchable since it had its moments. The final episode itself was not that bad although it could have been a lot better. So out of all twenty episodes this show has, I enjoyed 14 out of them which means I only dislike 6 of them. Thus, I can conclude that this show has more enjoyable content whereas I can easily ignore a few bad stuff. Therefore, I rate this series a 4/5: actually good just like with the main series.
Lastly, it would have been so much better if we actually saw Steven get some therapy on screen after episode 19. However, Rebecca Sugar stated in an interview that... you know what? Let me just quote what she said as follows:
Interviewer: In the last episode, Steven mentions that he has a therapist. Did you consider showing him in therapy?
Rebecca Sugar: I really did not want to show that. I really wanted the character to finally have privacy. As an audience watching the show, and as us writing it, we’re complicit in Steven feeling exposed. The idea of being in that space and watching him unpack it felt like a violation of his privacy. I wanted you to know that he was getting that help, and that he was taking steps to live the life he wanted to live, but I wanted him to be able to do it without the pressure of being the show’s protagonist anymore.
Translation: "I did not want to go through the trouble of bringing my fictional character into full circle through proper writing on-screen. Therefore, I took the easy way out by making this half-assed excuse."
Steven is not a fourth-wall breaker, Ms. Sugar. He is a non-existent character. Why on Earth did you feel it would "violate" his privacy? By that logic, you shouldn't have showcased all those mental breakdowns he had or all the times Steven went through anguish and depression in his own bedroom because that "violated" his privacy. Now, if you will excuse me, I must recover my missing brain cells after reading that comment from her. Don't worry, my babies, Daddy's coming!
Hello there. I'm doing well. How are you?
I've read both of your reviews and I'm glad to know that you enjoyed the main series and epilogue series. The episode where Eyeball and Aquamarine fuse into Bluebird Azurite to fake being nice to everyone and showed their true colours to Steven further proves your point about the unrealistic nature of all antagonists being redeemed. Speaking of, I agree with what you said about Spinel. I just can't stand her over-the-top eccentricity and it felt like a waste of time to just see her be a nuisance to Steven.
As the epilogue series progressed, I relate to Steven a lot more because he and I went through toxic experiences from biological families and how it messed up our mental health the more we let them live in our heads rent-free. The climactic scene of the penultimate episode genuinely got me into tears, reminding me of the scene from Inside Out where Riley broke down in tears as she didn't want to pretend to be happy anymore. Both of them displayed a message that it's okay not to be okay.
Steven going to therapy inspired me to go to therapy as well. I attended a total of 10 sessions this year and it really helped me to know more of myself, manage my emotions, and heal wounds from the past.
To wrap it all up, I'm fortunate that Rebecca Sugar created Steven Universe as it helped me come to terms with my gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender expression. This truly is a pioneer for LGBTQ+ representation in animation and I truly wish something like this existed back when I was growing up. I came out on my birthday in 2018 as a non-binary and asexual person and I received nothing but love and support from my friends.
That's all I have to say and I wish you well.
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I fully appreciate your comment, Anthro. And thanks for sharing your life experience as well. I wish you all the best in life and stay strong no matter what happens. Peace.
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BTW, I would like to share with you what Rebecca Sugar said in an interview with CBR.
At no point does he forgive White Diamond, or any of the Diamonds. He thinks how he feels about what's going on matters less than the greater good, because throughout the show, he's not sure if he even really exists. Ultimately, in “Change Your Mind,” you see the moment he realizes he is himself and he loves himself. Steven’s existence proves White wrong and crumbles her entire reality, and with it her authority. And knowing that he is himself, and he does exist, is what he needs in order to respect himself enough to leave those self-destructive patterns behind.
I could absolutely never understand where this idea of Steven being a “forgiving” character was coming from, because internally we all understood Steven’s self-sacrificing nature as his biggest flaw, one that related directly to his identity issues. This is all over the show: in “The Test,” even though he’s disappointed in the Gems and feels disrespected by them, he lies to them to make them feel better -- a huge turning point for his character, one of the first times he decides that their comfort matters more than his own feelings. Even though Steven will not allow Connie to sacrifice herself for him in “Sworn to the Sword,” he does exactly what he tells her not to: puts himself in harm's way countless times and ultimately turns himself in to Aquamarine and Topaz. Connie even calls him out on this in “Dewey Wins.”