Too Far

"I'm still learning. I hope you understand. I want to understand. I'm sorry."

"Too Far" is the 21st episode of the second season of Steven Universe, and the 73rd episode overall.

Official Synopsis
Amethyst and Steven get in on some Gem gossip.

Plot
The episode begins with Peridot recording log entry #7 11 2 at Greg's Storage Shed, where the Crystal Gems are working on the drill. Pearl calls Peridot to look at the layout for the drill, Peridot then asks why she should be working for a Pearl, replaying one of her logs in which she states that Pearl has an intellect that she should be able to treat as an equal, though begrudgingly. Garnet arrives and tells everyone to get to work. Peridot asks Garnet to unfuse, as her being a fusion is making her uncomfortable. This leads Garnet to leash her to the fence to work on the microwave, reiterating that Peridot having free reign of the place makes her uncomfortable. Steven and Amethyst bring scrap metal to Pearl, but she says that she specifically needs tungsten and leaves to find some herself.

Steven and Amethyst then walk over to Peridot, who is complaining that she needs a "leverage optimizer" to open the microwave. Steven hands over a screwdriver and asks Peridot why she didn't use it in the first place, to which she replies that it was out of her radius. Amethyst begins to make fun of Peridot's little knowledge of Earth by asking her what common body parts are named, all of which Peridot names incorrectly, except for the rear end. A significantly humored Steven then tells Peridot that she is killing him, which she denies and states that killing Steven would violate their truce agreement. Amethyst assures her by saying that she is "funny", to Peridot's confusion. Pearl walks in and tells Peridot that all she needs is the magnetron from the microwave to finish the drill, as well as the drill head. Peridot insists that she go to the Kindergarten to obtain a drill head from one of the Injectors. Garnet tells her that she isn't going to the Kindergarten without a chaperone before Amethyst and Steven volunteer. Garnet approves and they leave to retrieve the drill head.

At the Kindergarten, Peridot is recording a log when she is called a nerd by Amethyst. She asks what a "nerd" is and Amethyst simply tells Peridot that she is a nerd. Peridot continues to record her log entry #7112, calling the Earth and everything on it "annoying" and calling Garnet a "perma-fusion". Amethyst asks if that is what she is now calling Garnet, Peridot then explaining that she can be called many things, such as "clod" or more accurately, "two clods" acting like one. Steven asks what's wrong with Garnet being a fusion. Peridot is at a loss for words, but considers it inherently bizarre that two Gems would stay fused all the time outside of combat advantages. Amethyst asks Peridot what is wrong with Steven, Peridot answering that she couldn't even begin to explain what's wrong with him, calling him an "abomination" and a "hybrid Gem". She explains that his energy level is so high that he must always consume food and expel waste to live. She then calls Amethyst a soldier, although a defective one, describing her size as smaller than intended. Irate, Amethyst asks what she is supposed to look like. Peridot explains that Amethyst is a Quartz Gem, which are meant to be twice as tall, broad-shouldered, and intimidating (i.e., like Jasper), in contrast to Amethyst herself, who has none of these qualities. Peridot observes the hole that she infers Amethyst first came out of in the canyon wall, and confirms that it is too small, too low, and appears to have opened about 500 years later than all of the others. After being insulted, Amethyst begins to raise her anger at Peridot. When Peridot asks Amethyst to break off the drill head, she uses her whip to violently slice it off. They return to the barn and give the drill head to Pearl, who is more than happy to see it. Peridot tries to cheer up Amethyst with jokes, but is unsuccessful. Steven explains that she hurt Amethyst's feelings, and that the emotion that Peridot is feeling (which she describes as feeling "small") is guilt. Peridot goes to work on the drill head, and it accidentally activates. Peridot is then thrown off of the drill head as Steven tries to stop it as the drill head starts moving towards Amethyst. Peridot realizes this and jumps to push her out of the drill's way, saving her life. Steven rips the control panel out, and the drill head deactivates. When Pearl and Garnet return, they find that the ground is torn up and the drill has been destroyed. Still feeling bad for Amethyst, Peridot replays one of her logs describing how she feels about them and herself. In her log entry #7112, she has made an apology to Amethyst, as she is still learning about Earth and wants to understand more about it. Amethyst thanks her and accepts the apology, but still calls her a nerd. At the end of the episode Steven asks how Peridot feels, to which she replies "big".

Characters

 * Steven
 * Amethyst
 * Pearl
 * Peridot
 * Garnet
 * Ruby (indirectly mentioned)
 * Sapphire (indirectly mentioned)

Objects

 * Gem Drill
 * Injectors
 * Peridot's Voice Recorder

Locations

 * Greg's Storage Shed
 * Kindergarten

Instrumental Songs

 * "Little Peridot"
 * "Peridot and Steven"

Trivia

 * Pearl using tungsten as the outer shell for the drill is plausible in real life, as tungsten has one of the highest melting points of all the elements, and an extremely high density.
 * The episode aired at the NYCC early.
 * This is the last episode of 2015.
 * Steven Universe Hiatus.png the staff in Cartoon Network take the winter holiday off, all shows go on hiatus for the rest of the year.
 * This title card features the location of Greg's Storage Shed.
 * Gem genetics are revealed to be known as "gemetics".
 * Peridot states that Pearl is prone to spontaneously singing, crying, and singing while crying. This could be a meta-joke at how frequently characters cry and sing within the show.

Cultural References

 * The name "Too Far" is most likely a reference to when someone takes a joke "too far", which is what Peridot did.
 * Peridot recording herself in her tape recorder is a reference to Special Agent Dale Cooper of the nineties cult classic Twin Peaks.
 * On Peridot's Voice Recorder, there is a picture of Lauren Zuke's Twitter profile picture.
 * The jet engine that Pearl is disassembling may be a Boeing 747 Rolls-Royce RB211 Engine.

Continuity

 * The Crystal Gems are still working on the drill to the Cluster.
 * Peridot still refers to fingers as "touch stumps" from "Friend Ship".
 * Garnet attached Peridot to a nearby fence by a leash, as half-jokingly suggested by Pearl in "Catch and Release".
 * Jasper previously referred to Amethyst as "an overcooked runt" when they first met. Peridot reveals in this episode that her statement was literally true: Amethyst is a Quartz-type Gem like Jasper, and like Jasper should have been tall and an intimidating soldier, but she stayed in the ground at the Kindergarten for too long ("overcooked") and came out small.
 * This revelation of Quartz Gems being created for war also explains Rose Quartz's legacy as both a great Gem warrior and military leader.
 * In the previous episode, Peridot confirmed that Homeworld has a caste system, with hundreds of pearls as custom-made servants (who are inherently low ranking, but a status symbol for higher ranking Gems that possess them); peridots are a technician caste, ranking slightly higher than Pearls, but low enough that it is uncommon for them to have their own Pearls. In this episode, Peridot has confirmed that quartz-type Gems are a soldier-caste, and they outrank peridots and Pearls.
 * Rebecca Sugar stated in the 2015 guidebook that Jasper and Amethyst are Quartz Gems, as was Rose Quartz and therefore Steven as well.
 * The similarity between Amethyst and Jasper was hinted at in their character designs and abilities - particularly their shared spin-dash attack ability.
 * Amethyst is still easily offended when someone mocks her or her origin, such as in "On the Run".
 * At the beginning of the episode, Peridot said: "It's the 3rd rotation of the earth since commencements of a collaborative approach to stopping the cluster."
 * It is not clear whether this means that it's been three days since she agreed to start working with Pearl at the end of "Back to the Barn" or three days since she agreed to start working with Steven and the Crystal Gems at the end of "Catch and Release".

Errors

 * Peridot referred to Amethyst's foot as a "gravity connector", despite saying, "I've got no foot!" in "Catch and Release". Although this is probably intentional as Peridot's prosthetic foot doesn't connect her real foot to the ground. She would consider them different things.
 * Peridot also refers to fingers as touch stumps, despite saying fingers in "When It Rains".
 * However, what Peridot calls her "foot" and "fingers" are both parts her limb enhancers, as opposed to her natural limbs. It's plausible that she coined these terms only on her limb enhancers for reference.
 * In the scene where Amethyst picks up the unicycle, the chalkboard and boxes are missing from the background.Too Far00060.png
 * In the scene where Pearl is talking to Peridot (after previously talking with Steven and Amethyst), Peridot's gem is missing.

Videos
Too Far