STEVEN UNIVERSE: FUTURE Episode 4 "Volleyball" Full Length Reaction
Added 2024-10-14 22:17:38 +0000 UTCHere is my full length unedited reaction for Steven Universe: Future episode 4!
Streamer: Hulu
Comments
The thing with these 2 pearls is… For a long time the fandom had theorized that our Pearl originally belonged to White Diamond… Why? Well because of the placement of her Gem, it’s in her forehead just like White has her Gem on her forehead… and we’ve already seen that all of the Diamond’s pearls not only match their respective diamond’s color scheme… but the placement of their gems as well… Both Blue and Yellow Pearl have their gems on their chest just like their respective Diamonds… But our Pearl was different, she has her gem in her head even tho Pink Diamond’s gem was located in her belly. But in the Season 5 finale we got the answer we’ve been looking for… our Pearl wasn’t Pink Diamond’s original Pearl… it was Volleyball (cute nickname xdd)…. And our Pearl was most likely a gift from all the other Diamonds after White took Volleyball away. After all if we look at Pearl’s original outfit (the one from the episode “Now we’re only falling apart”)… we can see that she wears colors from all 4 Diamonds. And just in case…. Yes, all of this means that White Diamond never had her own original Pearl, but that makes sense given that she used to think that she was Perfect… and when you think you are Perfect you obviously think that you don’t need any kind of assistance.
Julio Castillo
2024-10-15 21:01:53 +0000 UTCI ADORE the level of glee you had about that pretty piano cue after both Pearls fused, ahah! Delightful. The music in this show is so damn good. Re: did the show mention if "Volleyball" was Pink's original pearl or not previously, well... the show didn't say it OUTRIGHT. It was very strongly visualized, with her showing up in Steven's diamond themed dreams while he was staying on Homeworld at the end of the main show, but not hammered in by a character in dialogue until this exact episode. I assume this situation is one that the showrunners would've liked to go into more depth with, had they been given more time on the original show instead of being forced to wrap it up swiftly. Lore notes in the art book clarify that Pink's first pearl was taken away for a combo of her exhibiting bad behavior and damaging her in a tantrum, and also for getting too close emotionally with her, treating her more like a friend than a subordinate. Then in time, she was given Spinel as a "proper" playmate, a Gem who was overtly Made to be her friend, and a new pearl (our Crystal Gem pearl) to once again fill that intended role of servant. Even if we never got to explore all that lore in the show proper, I'm glad we got this episode to see these two pearls interact face to face and sorta hint at all that deeper history. I'm very happy you caught on very fast to the fact that we've already gotten hints of Pink's temper and destructive potential before this! That's a detail that I often found many viewers- and even longtime fans- gloss over when getting to this episode. The other thing that I find so interesting is that we've overtly seen the destructive ability this pink diamond gem harbors play out in full once before, and that's when Steven's own gem (while separate from the rest of him) screamed at White Diamond in the SU finale. His scream cracked the floors around him in much the same way as it did here, and even managed to knock White clear onto the ground. The very fact that our Pearl never even knew this was a power her Rose had buried deep within her gem speaks volumes, I think- because not ONLY does this mean Rose must've never flaunted this level of power ever again out of her sheer guilt for hurting her first pearl, who we know she was very close with from those dream memories Steven had about her, but it also makes her development of healing powers all the more bittersweet... perhaps this was Rose's desperate way of trying to atone for the harm she knows she's been causing others. At the end of the day though, the sentiment CG Pearl makes is right- even IF Rose didn't mean the harm she caused, people were hurt- BADLY hurt. Understanding the reasons Why people acted the way they did doesn't mean pushing down your own hard feelings of weathering the ramifications of said actions. Your own feelings matter, and it's okay to speak up about them- it's okay to admit that you were hurt, and that... regardless of all the complications of the situation involved... you didn't deserve that treatment. Good episode. Steven Universe still bringing the emotional bangers, even in an otherwise chill epilogue so far.
Novantinuum
2024-10-15 00:02:44 +0000 UTCI love how this episode shows that healing from trauma isn't linear. The scars will always be with you, but eventually you learn to accept that they made you and can move on from them. I also love how different Pearl and Volleyball's experiences of the same person are - it's like that saying that two siblings have two completely different experiences of their parents. It's a true and complicated feeling to have one experience with a person, but to others they can't fathom it. Someone could be an asshole to you but kind to someone else, and you're left wondering what's real. The truth is, people are more than one thing. At the end of the day, you can't rely on anyone else to "fix" you, only you are able to do the work. This episode showed that, too - Steven didn't end up doing anything, it was both Pearls connecting with each other that allowed them to start the healing process. This is such a good episode, and I love your reactions as always!
vivian xavier
2024-10-14 22:53:20 +0000 UTC
