conuly

I think I was burned out on watching TV or something?

As episodes, everything was fairly well-plotted and laid out... well, excluding Steven's sojourn as a watermelon, which was a bit self-indulgent and pointless. Don't get me wrong, I like the watermelons... even the watermelon shark, I guess... but I like them over there. Way over there, that is, not anywhere near the camera.

As the conclusion of a major arc - or, god forbid, the series - it's entirely too rapid, too pat, and too complete.

Steven might not have the maturity and experience to understand this, but you can't just convince abusive parents and/or tyrannical despots to stop being that way by breaking through to them emotionally and then demonstrating the essential illogic of their position. It'd be great if you could - what couldn't you do!? - but you can't. Not even if you have hyper-empathetic mind control powers. (Also, seriously, somebody needs to explain to Steven's family that he can't be everybody's therapist. He's a kid. He needs to be a kid.)

I don't want to say that people can't change... but the gems, on the whole, are not shown to be good at change and emotional growth, and "stop being an abusive jerk" is not a change that seems to be easy for people to make to begin with. Sure, it's self-evident that White Diamond is making herself miserable along with literally everybody else... but even being forced to recognize that doesn't mean that now she will forever do what makes her happy. (And is she clear on the fact that it isn't just her relations with her immediate family that need to change? Are Blue and Yellow? And what is this massive policy upheaval going to do to Gem society?)

If all this is addressed in the movie, so much the better. If not, then we'll have to admit that the ball has been well and truly dropped.