(spoilers ahead)
I generally like all of the Crystal Gems on Steven Universe about the same, but why do so many of my favorite episodes feature Pearl in extended roles? “Mr. Greg” is perhaps the most musically based episode of the series to date, which is saying a lot if you’re familiar with its usual format. And to be fair, this isn’t the first time Bird Mom’s pining for her former comrade Rose Quartz has been a central plot point, nor do I expect it’ll be the last. But this may have been my favorite “Prose” (or whatever you want to name the “ship”) episode to date, so if any more are consistently this good I’d be all for it.
Based off of the song “Comet” from the episode “Story For Steven”, a jingle Greg wrote for Pepe’s Burgers (featuring Marty) becomes a success and the sweet hearted musician is rewarded with a big fat check. After going over their options, him and his son Steven decide to spend it on a vacation to Empire City- which is mostly described in song.
Wrong Empire, Lucious.
Unfortunately we don’t get to see as much of the town as we’d like to due to SU’s relatively short episode lengths. What we do see is damn enjoyable though, and Steven insists after the end of the sequence that Pearl come along in the hopes he can ease the tension between his two parental figures (shades of “Keystone Motel”).
The hotel scene that follows is simultaneously funny, adorable and also somewhat sad. Pearl- who is the cutest thing ever conceived wearing a tuxedo- clearly sees how much fun Greg and Steven are having and doesn’t want to ruin the mood with her Rose related angst, but every time she sees Greg, the ghost essentially comes back to haunt her.
I think Pearl deserves some credit- as neurotic as she often is, she still shows a good amount of emotional maturity from the more condescending figure she was in Story For Steven (who could forget that classic mic drop?), so her character is evolving. In a worse show, the writers could have kept her spiteful and jealous, but Pearl obviously cares about Greg and Steven a lot, making her dilemma all the more frustrating for her. Deedee Magno puts her all into Pearl’s lament song (“It’s Over”), detailing her guilt over her inability to move on from Rose, and keeping our sympathies with all three of our heroes.
Steven isn’t shy about why he arranged this particular trip, and through a gentle piano ballad, he gets Pearl and Greg to sit down and reflect on their similarities as opposed to their differences.
When they finally do reach common ground, it’s great to see especially because the audience is already aware they could make good friends. There weren’t any wacky hijinks, or the usual cliche of their issue turning into an out-of-control competition.
Rebecca Sugar’s adventure cartoon about queer rocks protecting the world from evil invaders continues to subvert my expectations. It’s a smart show to be sure, but I’m consistently impressed by how emotionally mature its narratives are, especially when I think back on how good televised animation for children was generally expected to be in the past (i.e, not at all). Easily recommended.