Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26808654-20150516082728/@comment-26808654-20150517231325

Just because something is referenced later on doesn't mean the episode it appears in isn't filler anymore. Secret Team is still a filler episode despite introducing Gem Shards because the gem shards have yet to become plot relevant. It'd save time to just introduce the shards when they become important.

For instance, the Wailing Stone was utterly irrelevant until The Message and what it really did wasn't even explained until then. We learned about the Pizzas in Beach Party, but that hasn't contributed to anything, not even whatever side plot they may have. So far, Jenny has the most development and it isn't much.

I think I explained my issues with shapeshifting in my first list. It's an incredibly awesome power that is never used for anything useful. And that's not even counting all the other powers the gems have but rarely use because the plot says they can't.

Look, like I said, I love Steven Universe. It's just that I also love tearing creative works to bits and analyzing each piece. In doing so, I can find flaws to the series and learn from them and think critically and such. Steven Universe is an awesome series but it's not perfect. It's 9(borderline 8)/10.