Steven Universe Future Episode 5 Review: Bluebird

This Steven Universe Future review contains spoilers.

Steven Universe Future Episode 5 Review

Before I begin, we should all take a moment of silence for Greg’s hair.

…

I audibly gasped when he cut it off. That hair was always there! A true secondary character in this show! People talk a lot about how Steven Universe has built up its world, Gem culture, and its storylines but this singular moment displays just how much even the smallest aspects of the show have made an impact. A guy cutting his hair off can serve as trigger to the emotional climax of an episode. Brilliant.

The real meat of the episode focused on the new fusion of Bluebird that finally addressed something of a complaint many had towards the series. As much as Steven Universe is all about love being the answer and Steven trying to be friends with everyone, there’s still a nagging sense that it’s all a bit… simple. Obviously what Steven and the Crystal Gems is incredibly taxing but the end result just being everyone is mostly friends? That’s fairly unrealistic.

Sure, Jasper is still sort of an enemy and Steven doesn’t want to hang out with the Diamonds or Spinel but those are a little things. Minor annoyances. Even Jasper seems to at least have a begrudging respect for Steven at this point. So the fact that Aquamarine and Eyeball Ruby just flat out hate him? It’s an acknowledgement, one that show takes it time to make explicit, that not everyone wants to change. Not everyone is down for learning to love and be friends.

read more: Steven Universe: Should Steven Forgive Rose?

Some just want to be fueled by their hatred and never let it go. It’s, not surprisingly for those living in our world today, comfortable. Change is hard. Staying the same and having an easy to hate enemy is much easier and safer. 

Letting Aquamarine and Eyeball Ruby get away further showed that no matter how hard you try there will always be someone out there who won’t like you. You can the nicest person in the universe and someone will just want to claw your eyes out. You just can’t help it. Being kind, as Steven is, means you eventually have to do something about those who are hurting others. Most in this universe seem willing to change after awhile but now knowing there are at least a few who won’t? It makes Steven Universe more emotionally grounded. It’s still an ideal world (it’d have to be for the Diamonds to get such an easy pass from Steven) but it at least acknowledges there are some problems you can’t solve and a few people who will never change. 

That alone makes this episode worth it… but Greg losing his hair just made it even better. Fair thee well, old friend.

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Shamus Kelley is a pop culture/television writer and official Power Rangers expert. Follow him on Twitter! He also co-hosts a Robotech podcast, which covers the original series and the new comics. Give it a listen! Read more articles by him here