Steven Universe Season 5 Episode 5 Review: Dewey Wins

This Steven Universe review contains spoilers.

Steven Universe Season 5 Episode 5

Steven Universe is finally back! It felt like an eternity, didn’t it? It actually makes me really glad Cartoon Network is releasing a whole batch of new episodes after this long of a hiatus. Can you imagine if they only released one? My god, it’d feel like a drop of water in a desert. 

Instead of reviewing these episodes all in one go I thought I’d review them one at a time to more properly digest them. Steven Universe often deserves close examination so I want to make sure each episode gets their due.

Which is kind of a shame because this episode doesn’t have much substance to it. I’d even say it’s a simpler episode than what we’re used to with the series. Of course it could all be set up for future episodes but I felt like Steven’s realization he’d been kind of a jerk to Connie came too easily.

The start of the episode was just fine. Steven taking all the responsibility is totally in line with his character. He even feels justified in it! Steven forgets however that he can’t handle this all alone. He’s brought so many people into his life that now they’re part of this to.

While some things he should handle more or less on his own (Storm in the Room is a great example of this) other times he should rely on others. If he’s hurt it doesn’t just affect him, it could hurt people like Connie or the Gems.

This is some great emotional ground to cover but the rest of the episode’s plot is too easy a mirror to Steven’s problem. It’s good to see Mayor Dewey finally taken to task for his poor leadership but relating it with Steven’s problem? Eh, it doesn’t quite work.

Steven feels betrayed by Mayor Dewey so he realizes how Connie felt. Yeah, it makes sense. Steven sometimes needs a reminder of how to relate to others feelings. Totally get it. It’s certainly better handled than other series out there, and with Nana becoming the new mayor it changes the status quo, but for Steven Universe it’s a little on the nose.

It also doesn’t quite fit because Steven and Dewey don’t have the same emotional bond as Steven and Connie. Steven might imagine a deeper friendship with Dewey but it’s just not there so his feeling betrayed feels small in comparison to Connie’s reaction.

I am interested to see if Connie will forgive Steven or if they’ll play this out a bit longer. As always with Steven Universe, you never know which episodes are relatively self contained and which ones are setting up for bigger events down the road.

Still, it’s good we have those other episodes because we can go right from this weaker entry to something hopefully stronger.

Extra Thoughts 

– Little details like the “Speech-A-Palooza” sign does so much to make Beach City feel like a real place.

– “You’re like the son I never had.”“You… have a son.”

Please don’t let Mayor Dewey be gone. This guy is a treasure.

Shamus Kelley really wanted to hear those Ocean Town jokes. Follow him on Twitter!