TV Review: Steven Universe (2×02) “Open Book”

So here I am, just beginning to review this show, right as we get a break from the heavy stuff. But in order to move forward, I need to glance back at what to make of the past episodes.

Steven Universe has peers in Adventure Time and Gravity Falls, all with lighthearted fun built into their foundations and lifted by strong, slow-boiling central plot lines…

Steven Universe is, by far, the easiest of these shows to jump into and immediately appreciate those lifting foundations. Adventure Time dawdled, only engaging in substantial continuity in its 51st and 52nd 11-minute episodes, the Lich-centered “Mortal Folly” and “Mortal Recoil.” The show is a great time even up to that point, but the investment thereafter elevates significantly. Gravity Falls, meanwhile, doesn’t reach this point until the very end of 20 full-length episodes. The first season is dragged down significantly by an uninteresting primary antagonist, and the second season is very much on another plane of quality.

Likely thanks to Rebecca Sugar’s work on Adventure Time, Steven Universe steadily raises its stakes right alongside its character development, with Steven’s personal growth advancing in parallel to his mastery of his gem powers (the first episode culminates in him accessing his powers for the very first time, after all).

“Open Book” could have taken place before the arc of the first season finale, but here it largely speaks to how Connie and Steven find that their relationship is unchanged, despite her new knowledge of his dangerous life.

We return to Connie’s love of the complex themes of The Unfamiliar Familiar, which seem to be over Steven’s head. Connie’s frustrations with the series’ ending seem to mirror a lot of complaints about The Hunger Games. She’s angry that the ending didn’t have a message about corrupt government, it broke its tradition of bucking tropes, and it “described a wedding cake for fifty pages!”

I deeply hope that we hear more about The Unfamiliar Familiar, or at least the YA universe of Steven Universe, because these little nods to Hunger Games frustrations are hilarious.

But the sweet moment of this episode is that Steven has his own, differing opinion from the more intellectual Connie, and he actually can talk lit analysis with his brainy girlfriend.

I wonder if this speaks to a significant difference in the two, though. Connie’s an idealist who wants to see tradition challenged; whereas, Steven’s a romantic who wants happily-ever-afters…which is a curious thing to want after his recent traumatic abduction.

It’s episodes like these that don’t really flirt with any major continuities in the show while still bringing out more in its characters. There’s catharsis in something as simple as a young boy realizing he’s allowed to disagree. And that’s brought forward in the show just as much as new information about the Gem Homeworld.

Score: 8/10