Catch and Release

"Catch and Release" is the 18th episode of season 2, and the 70th episode overall.

Synopsis
We finally see inside Steven's bathroom.

Plot
The episode begins with Steven in his bathroom getting ready to sleep. He goes to bed, and says good night to his plush toys, including an "ominous triangle". After glancing again, it goes missing. Suddenly, Peridot grabs him and takes him to the Galaxy Warp. He asks Peridot what she wants, and says she wants to get off the planet, and demands that Steven fix the Homeworld warp, since he managed to fix Lapis Lazuli's gem, and Peridot is missing her Flask Robonoids and has not received a response from Yellow Diamond. Steven attempts to fix the Warp Pad the same way he fixed Lapis' gem, but fails. Peridot panics, and Steven apologizes for not fixing the warp. She mutters that she will die on Earth, and when Steven says Earth isn't that bad, she tells him that Earth will completely change soon. When the Crystal Gems warp to the galaxy warp, Peridot starts to run away.

The gems reunite with Steven and fight Peridot. After a short fight, they poof Peridot, but not before she tries to tell them that she is the only one who knows something. When she is poofed, all her limbs and fingers fall to the ground, with Garnet holding her gem intact, and sends her to the Burning Room. The gems wonder about Peridot's limbs, and Amethyst throws them down the ocean. Steven tells Garnet that Peridot was trying to say something important, but Garnet dismisses that as nothing more than desperate lies to get out of the fight. The gems return to the Crystal Temple.

Amethyst meets with Steven on his bed. She asks him what he's doing with Peridot's foot, and replies that he thinks the foot is lucky. Amethyst says that she's glad to have him back, and walks away. Steven tries to ask her something, but eventually chooses not to. Steven wonders why Peridot was scared, and what was she going to say. He simply wants to talk to her only for a bit more, and the gate to Rose's Room opens. He enters the room and asks to talk to Peridot. The room shows Peridot saying something before she was poofed back at the galaxy warp. He asks the room to show him the way to the Burning Room, and a crystal vein leading to the room appears. He slides down and lands in the room, then searches for Peridot's bubble. He drops the bubble, and Peridot emerges, this time without robotic limbs. She tries to shoot Steven as she finishes what she was about to say before poofing, and realizes she's unarmed. Steven teases Peridot, and she demands to know where she is and why. She gets angry, and starts slapping Steven repeatedly. They have a cat fight, and Steven exclaims that he freed her. She asks why, and he explains that he wants to know what she was trying to say at the galaxy warp. She says that she knows everything there is to the Cluster, explaining that that is the only reason behind her visit to Earth, and now it will emerge and cause destruction. He asks her for more information, but she runs away, as Steven gives chase.

They emerge out of the temple gate into the house, where the gems are in the kitchen. Peridot yells that she has escaped, then notices the gems staring at her. Steven tries to defend her, but she runs away. The gems corner Peridot to Steven's bathroom, as she locks the door behind her. Pearl muses if she should tell Peridot that that is the bathroom. Peridot examines the bathroom and notices a toilet. The gems demand Peridot to leave the room, as they hear flushing. Amethyst informs Peridot that flushing herself won't free her, as she has tried to do so before. The gems wonder how Peridot manage to reform, and Steven admits that he freed her with the purpose of getting information from her. He found out that she knows something about the Cluster, and the gems are clueless as to what the Cluster even is. Garnet agrees that Peridot is more valuable in her form rather than bubbled, and peacefully tries to get Peridot to talk. After Peridot refuses, the gems get ready to break in and bubble her, but she responds that they won't get anything out of her if that happens. Pearl says that, unfortunately, they need Peridot in her form right now, to which Garnet says that it'll be tricky to get her to talk.

At the kitchen, Steven asks Pearl if they'll just let Peridot stay in his bathroom, to which she muses about keeping Peridot on a leash. The next morning, the gems contemplate on how to get Peridot to talk and what to eventually do with her. Steven gets to the bathroom, and asks Peridot if he could use it, to which she declines. He offers her robotic foot, and she snatches it as she hides back in the bathroom. Steven enters the bathroom afterwards. She asks if Steven has the rest of her limbs, to which he says no as he gets ready for the day. He asks Peridot to pass him the toothbrush, and she asks him if it's a weapon, which he says no. She continually asks him whether or not various objects in the bathroom are not weapons, and he replies only a wet towel can be dangerous, which scares her. Steven tells her that she knows she's scared but he won't hurt her. He offers help to Peridot against the cluster, and although she doubts that he can do anything about it, she appreciates Steven's offer. He asks her to move away from the toilet for him to use, and as the star iris closes on Peridot's head, she asks, "for what?"

Characters

 * Steven
 * Peridot
 * Amethyst
 * Garnet
 * Pearl
 * Yellow Diamond (mentioned)
 * Lapis Lazuli (mentioned)
 * Worm Monster (gem only)

Objects

 * Warp Pad
 * Chaaaaps

Locations

 * Galaxy Warp
 * Beach City
 * Beach House
 * Steven's Bathroom
 * Crystal Temple
 * Rose's Room
 * Crystal Heart
 * The Burning Room

Songs

 * TBA

Instrumental Songs

 * Peridot

Trivia

 * This episode was incorrectly listed as season 2, episode 17 on the Cartoon Network website; however, the correct episode number is 18.
 * Lauren Zuke said that this is one of her favorite episodes.
 * Like the episode suggests, this is the first time we see inside Steven's Bathroom.
 * The title of this episode showed up during MAGFest on January 2015.
 * It was a folder name on Rebecca Sugar's computer.
 * In the promo art, Steven can be seen talking to Rose Quartz and Pearl while Peridot looks on from within a restroom. Amethyst, who is walking with Garnet, greets Jenny on the staircase.
 * This is similar to the school theme of the promo art of "Political Power", "The Test", "Open Book", "Maximum Capacity", and "Historical Friction".
 * Ben Levin teased that this episode introduces "the beginning of some stuff", possibly referring to a story arc.
 * It's revealed that Peridot is actually very small, referring to the incredibly small size of the peridot mineral.
 * Peridot is shown to have prosthetic limbs.
 * She calls them "limb enhancers".
 * It is also revealed, when she's poofed, that her gemstone does have facets, despite looking like it doesn't.
 * Steven has red shower curtains with stars on them.
 * It is shown that as part of his morning routine, Steven polishes his gem.
 * Peridot now lives with the Crystal Gems, without wanting to get out of Steven's bathroom.
 * Steven is shown to rarely comb his hair.
 * Peridot has shown a couple of animal-like behaviors.
 * When realizing that her slap hurt Steven, her face resembled that of a cat.
 * When trying to run from the Crystal Gems while in Steven's Room, she ran on all four of her limbs.
 * Garnet is shown to use her electrical powers as an offensive weapon for the first time.

Cultural References

 * "Catch and release" is a fishing technique in which captured fish are unhooked and released back into the water. This could be a reference to how Peridot was poofed and later restored during the episode.
 * Peridot called Garnet a "war machine", this could be a reference to Marvel's "War Machine" armor used by Iron Man. The suit uses weaponized gauntlets, among other weapons.

Continuity

 * Steven complains of the Gems making him use the bathroom outside, which is a reference to when Sapphire makes him pee outside in the episode "Keystone Motel".
 * Peridot tells Steven that she knew what he did for Lapis, referencing Steven healing Lapis Lazuli's cracked gem in "Ocean Gem".
 * In the episode, "The Message", Lapis claimed that she did not tell anyone about Steven. However, Peridot knew of his healing ability.
 * This means that Lapis revealed Steven's powers after they were all captured by Jasper and were on the Gem Warship, as no Homeworld gem knew Steven had Rose Quartz's gem until after he revealed his shield. (As shown in "The Return" and "Jail Break").
 * Steven's healing powers still aren't working since the events of "House Guest".
 * Steven offers Peridot back her foot, which the Gems took at the end of "Friend Ship". Peridot calls that encounter "the other time you assaulted me".
 * Peridot attempts to use the same zapping trick to get out of Amethyst's rope that she used in "Keeping it Together", but Garnet cuts it off by absorbing it and sending it back, saying "not this time!".
 * We can see the bubbled chip bag from "Monster Buddies".
 * We can also see Worm Monster's bubbled gem from "Bubble Buddies".
 * Steven remembers Rose's Room has an exit to the Burning Room from "Together Breakfast".
 * Near the end of the episode as Steven's getting ready, Garnet can be heard discussing the events of Keeping it Together, specifically the cluster gem experiments.

Errors

 * After Steven asks Amethyst for "nothing", he lies down and his buttons are not visible. In the next scene, he is on his back and they are not visible until he rolls to his side.

Videos
Catch and Release