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toyota12 · 5 months

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Steven Universe Future Episode Tier Ranking explanations

Before starting, know that this ranking is purely subjective on my part and I don’t expect people to share my opinions on them. Feel free to read the explanations.

Little Homeschool, S: For what it's worth, this does serve as a good introduction to Steven's conflict this "season" and Steven's fight as well as his acquaintanceship with Jasper does seem to set up a sort of student-mentor relationship between the two.

2. Guidance, C: On later watches of this episode, it seems to retread that ground Little Homeschool had already established, with Steven needing to be taught a lesson opposed to teaching others a lesson, and the part where Steven gives a balloon handling job to someone with a literal pincer for a hand pratically screams at you that his idea is going to end in disaster. Also the ending gets kind of muddled where it tries to spin Steven's meddling into positive despite the episode trying to portray it a problem. The reason this episode is not lower on this list is because I did enjoy seeing Steven called out on this, however muddled it was, and Steven's habit of assuming he knows what's best for others and doesn't consult them on how to help has been a thing that's been consistent with his character since the main show, and especially during the early seasons.

3. Rose Buds, D: If there was any episode that made it clear that most new characters and plot points introduced in this season exist soley for Steven's development and nothing else it would be this one. Not only do the Roses show up at the same time Steven is trying to figure out where to put Pink/Rose's portrait, it's never explained how the human zoo is somehow able to fly, and the fact that only three of the Rose Quartzes want to see Steven despite them all being free thanks to him and the fact that they waited two years to do so is kind of hard for me to believe. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to focus on Steven's character, but this episode comes across as if I should ignore the contrivances in the story in order to enjoy the episode.

4. Volleyball, S: Initially, I was turned off to the episode because watching the promos, I knew this would be the episode Steven would have that outburst that destroys the reef and I've gotten tired of the whole "Pearl acts a pathetic while pining after Rose/Pink" storyline that was seen in the main show. However, what made me enjoy this episode is when the Pearls and Steven get to the Reef. I did enjoy seeing the different ways all three of them act towards the subject of Pink Diamond cracking Pink Pearl's eye, as well their own forms of denial. While Pearl sparks an argument because of her denial, Pink Pearl tries to brush off how the incident affected her, and Steven goes to great lengths to avoid talking about it and attempts to deny he is anything like Pink. Something I could probably point out objectively though is the contrivance of how Steven couldn't break the shell trapping the two Pearls, which is used for the sake of Mega Pearl being formed (especially since he could nearly lift Spinel's injector, which is 50 times his size, with his powers drained in the movie), but beyond that it's still an enjoyable episode.

5. Bluebird, D: As much I've wanted the idea of Steven finding gems that actually enjoyed the pre-era 3 system, I barely enjoyed this episode. One of the things I disliked is the Crystal Gems suddenly wanting to give Bluebird a chance despite, A. Knowing her and what her components have done and B. Never being shown to do so with any other gems both in the main show and the movie. There is nothing wrong with trusting people have changed, but the CGs have never shown any prior instance of wanting to do so. And I'll bring this up when talking about the Diamonds in Homeworld Bound, but half the time it feels as though the characters are written to act vastly different from their established characterization specifically to contrive a narrative where Steven is the only one not adjusting to Era 3. Another thing to point is how this episode feels like it should have been much shorter than 11 minutes long. In that runtime, the episode tries to do fake-outs where it's "Bluebird is evil, and she can't be trusted, joke's on Steven, he was wrong," and it does this through the episode four times before finally getting to the point that they (Eyeball Ruby and Aquamarine) were out to get Steven. One final thing to point out and this is brought up in later episodes is how is Steven suddenly able to activate the pink state conciously. If the Crewniverse was going with the idea that it's uncontrollable, shouldn't he be tapping into this state accidently? But if he can do so willingly, is it really under his control or not? One of the reason this is in D and not F is because while it's unlikeable to me, it doesn't infuriate me as much as the F-episodes do.

6. A Very Special Episode, F: The moment it was revealed this episode was non-canon to the rest of Future, it made want to skip this episode without trying to rewatch it. I honestly, have never liked Sunstone as a character as she has always come off as a character who belongs in one of those shows for pre-school children. Also the aesop of "don't overwork yourself" feels like it could work in any other show and feels too on the nose for a series meant for slightly older audiences. Also the franchise as a whole has always suffered from a tone problem where it constantly switches between moments that are childish and silly and moments that are meant to be played for drama, and this episode was definitely the former category for me.

7. Snow Day, S: Although this episode features, two of the most cliched lessons out there, "growing up doesn't mean you have to stop having fun," and "parents needing to stop treating their kids as if they were still little," what makes this episode enjoyable is how it's able to have you sympathize with both Steven and the Gems' viewpoints (although the gems and Steven haven't been seen spending that much time apart since the "season" started), and how both were able to reach that by end of the episode. I don't care much for the anime references, but for the most part, Steven tag was entertaining. Also how Future seems to portray Pearl as on a winning streak in Future with this episode having her shapeshift for the first time in millenia (and eventually eating for the first time as well).

8. Why So Blue, A: What makes this episode not reach S-tier for me is the fact that despite this episode being the only one that is not purely Steven-centric, outside of the foreshadowing of Steven going too far with fighting Jasper with Lapis nearly doing that in this episode, almost nothing plot relevant seems to come from it, nor does it have seem to have anything to do with Future's storyline. Nice Lapis or "Freckles" is never seen again, not even in a silent cameo. This episode is still good as a standalone episode, Lapis' song was great and Steven's dynamic with all the Lapises was good as well.

9. Little Graduation, C: One thing that annoyed me about this episode upon rewatch is despite the fact Steven almost crushed his friends and himself to death, albeit unintentionally, neither party seems to treat this as something of actual concern. In fact, most of Steven's breakdowns in his pink state is treated as if he were an ordinary human having a breakdown and trying to hide it, with those around him unaware of serious his issues are. If that were really the case, it would make both Steven and his friends reactions towards this understandable, but since it isn't it makes them either uncaring or incredibly stupid. Steven doesn't treat his unintentional endangerment of others as something of actual concern until after he does this a third time and endangers Greg, and no one confront him about until then as well, which makes me think, oh so now they finally care about whether or not Steven could hurt people when they didn't before. The reason this isn't any lower on the list is just like, Guidance, there is still continuity from the main show in which, Steven has always shipped Lars and Sadie as a couple to the point of being intrusive on their relationship, and how the latter reemphasize how they want their privacy from Steven by not telling him about it.

10. Prickly Pair, B: I believe the dynamic between Steven and Cactus Steven was developed great, and I did a post of the ties it has to Pink and the other Diamonds. Two things, I didn't like about it is first, how easily the gems were curbstomped by Cactus Steven once it eventually grew into a monster, leaving Steven to be the one to talk to it, which seems to have carried over from the main show, and second, despite becoming aware of how Steven has been struggling none of the gems seem to confront him after this episode and go back to being oblivious or not focusing on it, making the ending seem inconsequential to the story.

11. In Dreams, B: Despite this episode having an admitedly heartwarming moment between Steven and Peridot towards the end and the various dream sequences, Steven's new power of being able to overwrite a VHS tape, while interferring with the TV while sleeping seems like too much of a strech for me to believe. Also I have never bought Steven's line of "I don't know how to be friends if I'm not fixing stuff for people," because it implies that Steven doesn't have a life outside of gem activities, which both the main show and the movie would beg to differ on since at least half of their screentime is spent doing Beach City shenanagains, so this line is mostly false by that logic.

12. Bismuth Casual, A: While this episode features another one of Steven's lines that I don't buy: "If they were enemy gems, we'd be friends by now," implying that Steven instantly became friends with most of his enemies, which both the show and its fandom have gone out of its way to debunk, Steven's conflict of not knowing how to connect with Connie due her being away for some time did peak my interest. Also the rest of the episode is hardly dragged down by that aforementioned statement.

13. Together Forever, F: I have always hated this episode the moment I watched it for the first time, and most of that had to do with Garnet's actions in this episode. She basically came off as repeating the same anger inducing moments from Steven's Dream where she says Steven would only want to visit Pink's pallenquin more if she tells him why he shouldn't, which is nonsense. You seriously mean to tell me that if she were to tell Steven Blue Diamond is visiting the pallenquin, he'd still want to go? And the reason I bring that up is because that's exactly what happens here. Garnet tells Steven she didn't stop from proposing to Connie because she didn't see a future where he didn't, which sounds more like she's making excuses for herself because she just unfused when Steven came to ask for her advice. That's not even mentioning how this episode portrays Ruby and Sapphire as more incompetent than they've ever been portrayed as for the sole aim of having Steven propose to Connie. I usually fine with characters intentionally acting bad for the sake of learning a lesson afterwards, but I think there's a difference between the former and having characters act like idiots or out of character for the sake of conflict. The closest comparison I can give to this is Think Positive from Regular Show, where Mordecai and Rigby act more incompetent than they've ever been for the sole aim of arousing Benson's temper and nothing else.

14. Growing Pains, S: While this episode follows up one I can't stand, I very much find this enjoyable. The montage of Steven at the doctor are somewhat funny for the most part, and the part where Dr. Maheswaren explains how a traumatic childhood could cause later issues down the line are very informative. The final scenes with Steven and Greg where they discuss the former's issues are very heartwarming for me, and the ending as well is also good.

15. Mr. Universe, C: Upon rewatch, the ending of this episode seems to want to continue to have Steven cut people out of his life opposed to showing his healing or reconnecting for the sake of the breakdown at the end. The subtle parallels between Greg and Pink's early life are good for the most part, but the reason I brought up the aforementioned statement is because of how I can pretty much guess how the ending is going to turn out the moment Steven and Greg arrive at Greg's childhood home. Also Greg telling Steven, he was "better off than he was" feels very forced for the sake of the fight as well considering how this comes an episode after he just found out the extent of his son's issues.

16. Fragments, A: The reason this episode isn't any higher on this list is two-fold. One: how it has the aforementioned issue Crystal Gems and Steven himself finally showing concern over the latter's powers and the possibility that he could hurt someone after not treating it as anything of actual concern until this moment. Two: How it continues the inconsistency of Steven conciously tapping into the pink state when it's been said to be uncontrollable, which again makes me wonder, can he control himself while in this state or not. Besides those two problems, the training montage as well as the final fight with Jasper are good. I previously didn't mind the revelation that gems could unshattered, the first time, because I thought it was going to treated as a one time thing that only Steven could do so shattering would still have that feeling of danger to it.

17. Homeworld Bound, F: Another episode I despised upon the first watch, which only grew more detestable on rewatch. The first reason for this is because the changes where the Diamonds learn to use their powers in reverse and them suddenly wanting to help other gems seems to come up out of nowhere. What was their incentive to want to do so in the first place since in the movie, even though they regretted how they managed the system and treated Pink, it's made clear that they had to be told to enact the reforms they did by Steven, but now, in literal months in the show's canon, they suddenly want to change without him? This continues the problem I have where it feels like this only exists, just so Steven is the only one struggling to adjust to Era 3, with the episode essentially saying, "even the Diamonds are doing better than Steven now." Gems being able to be uncorrupted permanently completely contradicts the show runners saying how it would take longer for gems to recover from corruption the longer they’ve been like that. A YouTuber made the point of latter episodes feeling like wanting to one-up each other on Steven’s breakdown, and I agree with them. This episode seriously wants me to believe Steven would jump at the opportunity to shatter White Diamond (or at least consider doing so) after just shattering Jasper last episode. The revelation that Yellow can just unshatter gems effortlessly, even without every piece not only renders the arguments how shattering is the worst thing to happen to gems null and void, but adds more fuel to the fire of how it's absurd no one figured out Rose and Pink were the same gem. If Yellow had simply unshattered the "shards" of Pink Diamond, she and the others would have known they were fake, also am I expected to believe the Diamonds couldn't tell the difference between real and fake gem shards, how before The Trial no one questioned how a simple sword could shatter a Diamond, the gem equivalent of a god on Homeworld, but that's all I'll say about that.

18. Everything Fine, F: The reason this episode also made it in F is because I've gotten tired of the whole "Steven tries to solve a problem, but only makes things worse" and "everyone ignores Steven's problems just because he asked them to" that has been dragged out for the entire season up until this point, and also the reason I can't get behind people saying how Future teaches people how to ask for help with their problems since Steven rarely does so. The fact the intervention at the end only happens because Steven subconciously sent a gif to Connie is ridiculous. Neither Steven nor any of his family or friends (except for Connie) try to actually confront this problem in any meaningful way, while the intervention itself is only the last few minutes of the episode while rest of it repeats themes that have become far too familiar at this point.

19. I Am My Monster, D: Many things rubbed me the wrong way about this episode. The first is that I don't understand what the Diamonds were thinking, trying to use their powers on Steven again after it already failed in Homeworld Bound, that didn't work then, and it's not going to work now. The second is the contrivance of The Cluster showing up after Steven knocked everyone over. The reason I call it that is because Spinel's injector ripping Beach City apart wasn't strong enough to awaken The Cluster, so why is this the thing that gets its attention? The last thing how much it annoyed to me to see the very over top crying scene of the gems and Greg when they blame themselves for Steven's transformation, and not just in the way it was supposed to. I personally saw it yet another moment of the gems being too incompetent to actually do anything to help in any meaningful way, and the fact that they all had to be told off by Connie didn't help in the slightest. Most of Future feels like she's the only person that takes notice and treats Steven's problem with the urgency they need while everyone else doesn't (which includes Steven himself to an extent). The reason this isn't in F as well is because I did enjoy the part where everyone hugs Steven and relates their experiences to help him. I know there are some who say the gems forcing themselves on Steven would only make things worse, but it's mostly on brand with the franchise at this point, think of how many times Steven has chased someone down to get them to open up about their feelings. Also the part where Steven cries profusely at the end was a good scene, however the majority of this episode hardly makes me want to revisit it.

20. The Future, D: This ranking is mostly because, even though the parts where Steven says his goodbyes to everyone and hands them each gifts are good, the fact this episode once again has Steven and the gems not talk to each other about their problems until the last possible second really annoyed me. To me this only comes across as the characters not having really changed in the slightest despite Steven saying how the gems have grown more protective of him since the last episode. It's more a case of listen to what the crew says and ignoring what they show, since that's what sparked this entire conflict in the first place, them just not talking to each other, and again how Steven only does so the moment he's about to leave really doesn't feel there's been a change in their dynamic.

#tier list #steven universe future #steven universe future spoilers

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