Lars and the Cool Kids

"That's not how these things work, Steven! The plan is to keep it cool and let them come to me!"

"Lars and the Cool Kids" is the 14th episode of the first season of Steven Universe, and the 14th episode overall.

Synopsis
Steven and Lars get to hang out with the cool kids in town, but their teenage shenanigans get them into deadly magical trouble.

Plot
On a mission, Steven and the Gems observe a lagoon with dangerous, fast-growing clinging moss. The moss originated from a nearby hill where it was planted by Rose. According to Pearl, despite the danger the moss showed, Rose planted it there because she saw beauty in everything, "no matter how gross". To keep humans away until the moss could be properly dealt with, Pearl materializes some police tape and the Gems cover the entrance to the area. Before anyone can come up with a plan, Steven has them warp back in order to get something to eat.

He goes to the Fish Stew Pizza, and he sees Lars "chilling" outside. After showing his usual rudeness to Steven, Lars says that he's waiting for some "cool" kids inside to notice him. Lars tells Steven their names, which are Sour Cream, Jenny, and Buck. When the cool kids leave and ignore Lars, Steven runs over to them, ignoring Lars' apparent embarrassment about Steven's assistance. Surprisingly, Steven's up-beat personality appeals to the cool kids and they invite him and Lars for a ride. In the car, Steven continues to engage the cool kids by being himself. Lars struggles to gain their approval as he pretends to be like them and have similar interests. However, each time he makes a statement, the cool kids say something else that renders his efforts useless. He directs his frustrations towards Steven, blaming him for his failure. Eventually the group decides to check out Dead Man's Mouth, which turns out to be the same place from the beginning of the episode. Despite Steven's attempts to keep the cool kids away, the cool kids and Lars decide to go for a swim. Steven manages to stop Lars by hugging his leg pleading him not to go in. As Steven restrains Lars, the moss moves in and quickly overtakes the teenagers. Steven and Lars manage to drag them from the water, but their attempts to free them are in vain. Lars unfairly blames the situation on Steven and derides Rose, calling her "weird". Steven angrily yells at Lars to defend his mother, stressing that she saw beauty in everything regardless of what it was. Hoping that the answer to their problem lies on top of the hill, Lars and Steven drive the moss-covered cool kids there. The journey is hazardous as Steven helps Lars drive the old car, as neither of them know how to drive a stick-shift. On the way, the moss begins to envelop the car and, eventually, Lars and Steven. Miraculously, they make it to the top but the moss had grown over all of them. As they are covered in moss, the sun rises from behind the clouds and turns the moss into multiple beautiful flowers with Rose Quartz gems in their center. The cool kids wake up and admire the view they have of Beach City. Steven claims that Lars brought them there and in thanks he offers Steven a very short lived high five. In the background, Sour Cream "raves" to the scenery as the episode ends.

Characters

 * Steven
 * Lars
 * Sour Cream
 * Jenny Pizza
 * Buck Dewey
 * Pearl
 * Garnet
 * Amethyst
 * Rose Quartz (mentioned, vision)
 * Kiki Pizza (cameo)
 * Kofi Pizza (indirectly mentioned)
 * Mayor Dewey

Objects

 * Jenny's Car (debut)
 * Magic Moss (debut)

Locations

 * Beach Citywalk Fries
 * Fish Stew Pizza


 * Dead Man's Mouth (debut)
 * Rose's Hill or Brooding Hill (debut)

Music

 * "The Hill"
 * "Spaced Out Beats"

Trivia

 * Kiki is revealed to have a sister named Jenny, as well as this being her first role.
 * They are later revealed to be twins in "Joy Ride".
 * Bill Dewey is revealed to have a son named Buck Dewey.
 * Lars seems to be on much better terms with Steven by the end of the episode.
 * In early development, this episode was called "Steven, Lars, and the Cool Kids".

Cultural References

 * The snake on Lars' shirt resembles a character from the Pokémon franchise named Ekans.
 * This episode's title is a reference to the movie titled Lars and the Real Girl.

Continuity

 * A billboard for Dogcopter 3 (the movie Connie and Steven go to see in "Lion 2: The Movie") was seen at the parking lot of the pizza shop.
 * Steven gives Lars a high-five similar to the one in this episode in "Lion 3: Straight to Video".

Errors

 * After passing by Funland Arcade, Jenny's car is on the left side of the road, but in earlier and later scenes, it is on the right.
 * When Lars starts talking to himself outside of Fish Stew Pizza, the businesses that are to the left disappear, so that you can see the back of the temple.
 * When the cool kids get to Dead Man's Mouth, Pearl's police tape bow is in the middle of both rocks, while it was originally on the left rock. It switches back in the next scene.
 * When Buck is sitting in the car, he is on the right of Steven and to the left of Lars. When they reach Dead Man's Mouth, Buck is suddenly to the left of Steven and to the right of Lars.
 * Lars didn't know how to drive a stick-shift despite teaching Steven how the stick-shift works after Steven made the car go into the moss-infested lake.

Lars and the Cool Kids