Steven Universe Season 4 (2016)
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Steven Universe Season 4 Review
The fourth season of Steven Universe is an improvement upon its predecessor as it leads the show into a very interesting direction.
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“Amethysts are so cliquey“
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As is the case with all seasons of this show, this one also focuses on supporting characters in the entirety of some episodes to middling results. The best example is Doug Out which focuses on the frustrations of Connie’s father to solid results, but he’s not an important character so that whole episode felt inconsequential.
But then we have The Good Lars which is a very relatable episode about Lars as he grapples with his insecurities in a very dramatic, very emotionally rich episode. But again, he appears way too rarely to make a proper impact on the whole show.
Future Boy Zoltron is pointless, Tiger Philanthropist revisits wrestling in an annoying way and Onion Gang deals with Onion who is the stupidest, most pointless character on the entire show. Those three episodes are very easily the worst of the season.
But in terms of the best, Three Gems and a Baby tackles Steven’s baby days with a lot of care and poignant moments whereas Steven’s Dream introduces a new Gem very intriguingly. That Will Be All is an action-packed, villain-heavy, very entertaining and dramatic episode that really works and of course the finale two-parter is great, ending on a terrific cliffhanger.
But my favorite episode of this season, and probably also the entire show, has to be The Zoo. In this place like heaven, people are trapped, but spoiled and they do not want to be set free. Couple that with inbreeding and chosen mates and you’ve got one surprisingly dark, very thematically rich episode. I wish we got more such episodes.
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The new Gems are all great and intriguing, but the main trio isn’t particularly emphasized this time around, especially Garnet. But their obvious huge care for Steven rings true in that fantastic, emotional last moment of the season. Steven is still hopelessly naïve, but braver. And Greg is particularly likable in this season.
Overall, the fourth season of Steven Universe has its weaker episodes, but it also has some shining examples of what this show does best which is characterization and also emotion. It ends on a great cliffhanger which made me quite excited for the next season.
Worst Episodes: Future Boy Zoltron, Tiger Philanthropist and Onion Gang.
Best Episodes: Three Gems and a Baby, That Will Be All, Steven’s Dream and The Zoo.
