In this episode, the Gems discover the joys of video games! Well, sort of. After Garnet single-handedly defeats a monster on one of their missions, Steven takes the gang to the arcade to celebrate. He sets Pearl up to racing game, which she does horribly at because she misses the point of the game and drives cautiously. He shows Amethyst skee ball which she enjoys, but she soon starts cheating to get prizes. He tries out a few games with Garnet but both end badly, so finally he shows her a a rhythm game (the game is called “Meat Beat Mania”… I’m just… I’m just not going to say anything about that) that she takes to immediately. Too much, in fact. She won’t leave when it’s time to go and doesn’t even seem to hear anyone. Later, the Gems and Steven are attacked by a monster that they need Garnet’s help to defeat. Steven must tear Garnet away from her game, which she seems to have been hypnotized by, and he eventually ends up needing to break it. He gets in trouble with the arcade owner for it, but it does snap Garnet out of her trance so she can defeat the monster.
So basically what I’m getting from this episode is that everyone would be helpless without Garnet.
Okay, but seriously, we do learn a little more about Garnet’s place in the Crystal Gems and how important she really is. Since she’s normally the one to announce new missions and often goes on difficult ones by herself, it’s pretty obvious that Garnet is the closest thing they have to a leader. She’s also, so it seems, the strongest and most skilled Gem, which is probably because she’s a fusion but of course I’m not supposed to know that yet. I can understand why Garnet would be the leader. She does seem to be the most stable, and I don’t think Amethyst and Pearl would be happy following orders from each other.
Watching the Gems react to video games is pretty funny. I mean, I find it a little surprising that Amethyst has never gotten into them before, but I like Pearl’s confusion over why she’s doing badly at her game and her horror when she finds out what the actual objective of it is. Garnet taking the first couple of games she tries (which were fighting games) way too literally and breaking them is funny too. It’s just exactly how you would imagine Pearl and Garnet reacting to games for the first time.
Rating: 7/10
We learn about fusion in this episode. While Pearl and Amethyst are playing checkers, they get into an argument about why they “don’t form Opal”. Steven asks them what they mean, and they explain that Opal is their fusion form.
- Steven: *jumps in between them* Guys! Guys! What is Opal?
- Amethyst: Oh it’s the two of us, mashed together.
- Pearl: *scoffs* Is water just Hydrogen and Oxygen “mashed” together? *Amethyst and Steven look clueless*…analogy wasted. Look here Steven *manipulates the sand to demonstrate* When we synchronize our forms we can combine into a powerful fusion gem named Opal.
- Amethyst: *stomps sand* Except I don’t dance like that.
- Pearl: *annoyed* Amethyst.
- Steven: Wow, that’s so cool! But tell me more about Opal!
- Amethyst: Well Steven, she’s an ultra powerful, stone cold Betty. That part’s me. And she’s like, kinda tall, *whispers* that part’s Pearl.
- Pearl: What Amethyst is attempting to say is, Opal is an amalgam of our magical and physical attributes fused into a single entity.
So, at least now I understand what a fusion is a little more.
Later, Garnet sends Pearl, Amethyst and Steven on a mission to retrieve the Heaven Beetle from the Sky Spire while Garnet goes alone to retrieve the Earth Beetle. While on their mission, Steven attempts to keep the peace between Pearl and Amethyst while also trying to convince them to form Opal. He’s been obsessed with seeing Opal since he found out about her. Pearl and Amethyst are both adamant about not forming Opal unless absolutely necessary, but of course by the end of the episode they end up needing to fuse.
… Is it me or is Opal pretty hot?
When Opal and Steven return to the house, Garnet asks them if they have the Heaven Beetle. Opal realizes with horror that she doesn’t have it, and the emotion forces Pearl and Amethyst apart. Defused once again, Pearl and Amethyst begin to bicker about who’s faults forgetting the Beetle was, but luckily Steven has the Heaven Beetle.
This may change in the future, but at the moment Pearl and Amethyst are tied for my favorite character. Which I suppose it kind of funny since they’re foils to each other. (I’m also aware of how much hate Pearl gets in the fandom because of later episodes, but this wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve loved a female characters who gets a lot of fandom hate and it certainly won’t be the last. Sigh.)
I would have liked this episode anyway just for being all about Amethyst and Pearl, but the fact that it introduces the concept of fusion makes me like it even more. Fusion sounds pretty interesting. I like the idea that a fusion can only work if both gems (can a fusion consist of more than two gems?) are fully compatible and willing. Pearl and Amethyst’s first attempt at fusing in this episode didn’t work because neither was truly willing to work together or adapt to each other. Steven being in danger forced them to get over that, but they’re forced apart easily after a small disagreement. So I guess certain fusions are less stable than others, depending on how well the gems involved can cooperate. Pearl and Amethyst are probably too different and too prone to arguments with each other for Opal to be stable for long.
We don’t get to see a whole lot of Opal, but I like that in the short time that we do see her we can see ways in which she’s like both Pearl and Amethyst. She has Pearl’s grace and sophistication but she seems to have Amethyst’s playfulness as well. Her design, too, has elements of both Amethyst and Pearl. Amethyst’s lips and amazing hair with Pearl’s tallness and cute bird nose makes for a nice design, it turns out.
I hope we’ll see Opal again in later episodes, she’s so cool-looking it would be a shame if we never saw her again.
Rating: 9/10
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