The Summer of Steven — Season 3
Steven Universe Season 3 Returns from hiatus on July 18.
The best family of superheroes on television will return on July 18, introducing ‘Orange Is The New Black’ star Uzo Aduba (Crazy Eyes) as she voices a new gem, Bismuth.
The Summer of Steven: When Steven Universe, Season 3 ends its hiatus this July 18, it will do so with a new episode every single weeknight for 4 weeks. That’s 20 full episodes of Steven Universe Season 3 as confirmed by Entertainment Weekly, between July 18 and August 12. (Gasp!)
Steven’s family has grown from his original four parental units, Greg Universe, his father, and his three foster parental units: Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, officially dubbed the Crystal Gems. Team Steven now includes Peridot, Lapis Lazuli and possibly the latest addition, Bismuth.
For the uninitiated: The Crystal Gems are alien crystalline lifeforms who wear bodies composed of solid light. This empire and its soldiers traverse the universe seeking planets capable of supporting their needs and converting them into way stations, expanding the Crystal Gem Empire across the galaxy. Armed with photonic-construct weapons and the ability to fuse into larger and more powerful entities, the Gem Empire is a nigh-irresistible force against less-developed species such as humanity.
A rebellion 5,300 years ago, lead by Rose Quartz and other gathered gems who believed the Earth was worth saving, defied the Homeworld Gems and damaged the infrastructure enough to make Earth an unacceptable site. But parts of the Earth had already succumbed to the Crystal Empire including sites where new gems were formed, called Kindergartens.
The primary champions of the rebellion were Rose Quartz, whose powers gave her mastery over plants and the ability to create a near-impregnable shield. Her close confident was the formerly decorative Pearl, who has trained herself to become a formidable warrior, obsessed with keeping Rose Quartz safe.
The powerhouse of the trio is the giant, Garnet, secretly a fusion of two Empire gems engaged in a forbidden love affair and near-permanent fused state. The seer, Sapphire and her bodyguard Ruby fall in love and in their synchronicity become the new being Garnet. With the Homeworld Gems, such fusions of different gems is frowned upon if not completely forbidden. Judging by Jasper’s reaction to Garnet (Jasper was an Homeworld operative who tried to destroy the gems and retake the Earth) such a fusion is considered an abomination.
The last member of the trio of Crystal Gems is Amethyst. A purple gem born in a Kindergarten on Earth, she was rescued before she was done and is a bit smaller than the warrior she was expected to be. Wielding an energy whip, and despite her diminutive size, Amethyst is an adept shape-changer and deadly warrior. When she fuses with any of her sisters, the resulting fusion form is always a powerful fighter made stronger by Amethyst’s combative nature. But of all the Gems, Amethyst has the strongest connection to Earth and engages in activities the other gems ignore such as eating and sleeping. She is a bit of a prankster as well.
The star of this show is Steven Universe. A Human boy who has a rose quartz gem in his belly. As he learns to use his powers he discovers his mother is Rose Quartz and she gave up her existence for him to be born. Living with the Gems in Beach City, his father nearby, but available, Steven has four parents who love, protect and teach him values, demonstrate the value of relationships and why they gave up everything they knew of a space-faring civilization to protect the Earth for over 5,000 years.
The series has dozens of other characters who are developed over the range of the show interacting in varying degrees with the Crystal Gems. Of particular note is Connie, Steven’s love interest and now warrior-companion. Connie’s development in the story has proven to be one of the high points for me, since she starts as a non-magical participant I didn’t expect to see too often. A math geek and violin player, she has decided to join the fight to protect the Earth and has with Pearl’s tutelage become an excellent addition to the team.
The show has layers of complexity which cannot easily be covered in a short post like this one. Suffice it to say there are entire websites out there discussing the Crystal Gems, their enemies, their fused forms, the threat of the Crystal Empire and the new additions to the Crystal gems lineup including the neurotic Peridot, the moody Lapiz Lazuli and the soon to be joining, ancient warrior Bismuth (played by Uzo Aduba).
The first two seasons of this show have been a tour-de-force with art, stories, music and character development the like of which has rarely been seen in American developed animations. The shows creator, Rebecca Sugar, started her career working with Adventure Time before branching off into her own well-loved and highly respected series.
The show exists in 15 minute segments so it is often tightly scripted with story arcs which span several episodes. I still say it is one of the finest animations produced on television. Family-friendly, smartly-written, with a bit of story for almost everyone, the Summer of Steven will be welcomed in my home. Give it a chance.
You can catch up with previous episodes on Youtube and plenty of other places on the Internet. Here are a couple of my earlier articles on the Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems, one of which includes an AMA with the show’s creator, Rebecca Sugar.
The Answer-Man’s Archives are a collection of my articles discussing superheroes and their powers in relationship to their respective universes. We deconstruct characters, memes, profiles and how superheroes relate to real world culture. You can find other Archives on Quora and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Stack Exchange or at The World According to Superheroes.
Quick and Dirty Reviews are exactly what the name implies. I saw it. I liked it. I shared my immediate opinions and kept it moving; so much to write, so little time. You can assume if I took the time to write a review, you might want to take a look at it.
Thaddeus Howze is a writer, essayist, author and professional storyteller for mysterious beings who exist in non-Euclidean realms beyond our understanding. You can follow him on Twitter or support his writings on Patreon.
