Beach Party

"The shop is closed today because... it's broken!"

"Beach Party" is the 18th episode of the first season of Steven Universe and the 18th episode overall.

Official Synopsis
After a battle damages Fish Stew Pizza, Steven throws a cookout at the Temple to mend the relationship between the Pizza family and the Crystal Gems.

Plot
The episode begins with the Gems fighting a pufferfish on the beach. The corrupted Gem easily deflects their attacks with powerful gusts of air as Pearl's spear is flung back at them. Garnet attempts an aerial assault, but the Gem quickly flings her far into the air. Frustrated at their inability to do damage, Amethyst rushes towards the creature, shape-shifts into a giant baseball bat, and knocks it far out to sea. Pearl chastises her for only delaying the inevitable fight, but they leave to find Garnet. Upon further inspection, they find Garnet planted firmly in Fish Stew Pizza's sign, completely unfazed by the fall. Kofi and Kiki are already outside, examining the damage while Kofi attempts to elicit some response from a stoic and unresponsive Garnet. Garnet completely ignores him and only responds when Steven and the others get there. Amethyst is amused at the destruction and Pearl explains what happened to the pufferfish. Garnet suggests they "regroup back at the temple" and jump off, seemingly unaware of Kofi's protests at the destruction of his shop's sign. At their departure, an irate Kofi questions why a nice boy like Steven would hang around with the Gems, who always mess everything up. The ruckus causes Jenny and Nanefua to appear at the door. Nanefua lightheartedly jokes about the noise with a fish, but stops at the sight of the destruction. Kofi continues to insult the Gems, calling them "animals". Steven tries to defend them, but his words fall on deaf ears. Nanefua, sensing escalation, excuses herself and the girls inside while Kofi carries on, culminating in him banning the Gems from his store forever. Steven protests, but fails as Kofi follows the rest of his family inside and closes the door behind him. Back at the Temple, the Gems debate what to do about the pufferfish. Amethyst suggests letting it roam free but Garnet quickly vetoes the idea. Steven returns with "bad news" about the banishment, which elicits little to no response from the Gems. Steven starts to argue why they should care, but Pearl continues that taking care of the pufferfish is more important. Steven, however, takes exception to this attitude and maintains that people should know how "funny, smart, and mysterious" they are and that they should patch things up with the Pizzas. Garnet's amused at being called mysterious. In order to prove his point, Steven decides to throw a "small party" in front of the temple on the beach. Later on, Steven sets up the barbecue for the party and exclaims his excitement for it. The Gems appear behind him and he greets them, handing them a fashion magazine. Steven asks them to change into something more casual for the beach. The whole Pizza family rounds the corner approaching the Temple, which Jenny claims she's never seen before. Steven hurries to greet them. Kofi grudgingly explains that they're there because their shop is closed "because it's broken". This makes everyone nervous until Nanefua brings up the food, which Steven then leads them to. Steven begins to introduce the Gems, but Garnet interrupts as they introduce themselves in a flashy manner, stating their names and then transforming into their beach outfits. Kofi exclaims that he believes they're a "circus act". The Gems and Pizzas all sit down to eat, the Gems explain they don't need to eat, and Kofi complains about the decrepit state of the Temple. Kofi exclaims they have a lazy attitude towards broken things "just like the sign at [his] shop". Steven nervously intervenes by asking if they'd like to play volleyball.

Steven finishes making the court and then picks the teams: Amethyst & Jenny, Pearl & Kiki, Garnet & Kofi, and himself & Nanefua. Pearl & Kiki win their point against Amethyst & Jenny after Amethyst's failed attempt to kick the ball. The second point goes to Amethyst & Jenny when Jenny cheats using the net to block the ball, which Amethyst spikes by transforming into a tennis racket. The next match is won by Kofi & Garnet against Amethyst & Jenny when Kofi threatens to ground Jenny if she touches the ball, causing her to miss the hit. The next point, Amethyst sends the ball flying into the air, but Garnet jumps higher and slams it with such force that the ball craters the ground and forms glass shards out of the sand. Nanefua explains to Steven that sand crystallizes into glass at super-heated temperatures. At this point, each team is shown using cheap tactics to win points (Pearl using clones, Kofi threatening to take away privileges, etc.), resulting in the teams beginning to argue loudly about how each is "cheating" at the game. Nanefua claims it's "getting out of hand", so Steven decides to go and get the ball.

As Steven runs after the ball, it begins to blow backwards, and the pufferfish appears around the corner of the temple. Steven runs back to the still arguing group and warns them. The Gems then quickly grab the Pizza family and jump off behind cover. Steven and Nanefua hide behind an embankment, as Garnet takes cover from the pufferfish's blasts. Steven begins to place guilt on himself about the pufferfish, but Nanefua claims she's "not afraid of that thing" and jumps out towards the pufferfish. Steven follows her as they begin to distract the fish by running in circles underneath it. As they do, Steven and Nanefua begin to shout orders at the others for Amethyst to transform into a ball, Jenny to roll her to the net, and Pearl to jump over to them. Nanefua orders Pearl to hit Amethyst (in ball form) into the air "as hard as [she] can". Pearl stretches out her hands and deviously replies, "with pleasure". Nanefua orders Kofi and Kiki to position the net while Steven orders Garnet to spike the beach with Amethyst (to which Amethyst asks her to "be gentle") and does so, resulting in a massive glass shard formation. Steven and Nanefua lead the pufferfish towards the net where they command that everyone pull the net towards its face. They manage to push the pufferfish back until it pushes up against the glass shard. However, they can't place enough pressure to do damage. Garnet shoots down from up high, punching the fish into the shards, resulting in a massive cloud of sand and dust, presuming their foe's destruction.

Later on, Kofi thanks the Gems for saving his family and officially un-bans them from his store. Steven says they greatly appreciate it, but Pearl asks what they were banned from to begin with, causing him to laugh nervously as the episode ends.

Characters

 * Steven
 * Kiki Pizza
 * Kofi Pizza
 * Jenny Pizza
 * Nanefua Pizza (debut)
 * Garnet
 * Amethyst
 * Pearl
 * Watermelon Tourmaline (debut/antagonist)
 * Holo-Pearls

Locations

 * Beach City
 * Crystal Temple
 * Beach House
 * Fish Stew Pizza

Music

 * Unknown Music Soundtrack

Trivia

 * The episode reveals that the Gems can change their clothing at will using magic.
 * It is revealed that Pearl has the ability to make multiple holographic clones of herself at once.
 * Kofi's personality adheres to the common representation of the West African father.
 * With Nanefua, all characters in the opening sequence are now accounted for.
 * This is the first episode in which Garnet failed to destroy a monster in her first attempt.RS's concept poster.jpg
 * Pearl's beach outfit resembles the dress from her first design from 2012.
 * This episode marks Pearl's first use of any kind of shape-shifting.
 * This is the second and most recent episode to be written and storyboarded by a single person. Lamar Abrams was also the only credited writer for Onion Trade.
 * This episode revealed the Crystal Gems' objectivity to human approval.

Continuity

 * When the Gems are changing their clothes, the poses they performed resemble the ones they did when they were teleporting in the "Pilot" episode.
 * Amethyst's beach outfit includes a small green fanny-pack such as the one she wore in the "Pilot", but with a lighter shade.

Cultural References

 * When the Gems were changing clothing, their transformation sequence is similar to the classic Power Rangers' transformation sequences seen in every Power Rangers show. How Garnet says "Garnet!" and the others also say their names is the same as the Red Ranger saying "Red Ranger!" with his teammates.

Errors

 * When Amethyst says "whatever," her tank top's strap colors are reversed.
 * When Garnet says "We don't do it for thanks," the middle finger part of her glove isn't colored in.
 * When Garnet is telling the Pizza family about the Temple, she waves her right hand. However, the close-up shows the gem that is on her left hand.
 * After Amethyst takes a bite of her burger, the burger disappears in the next scene.
 * In the episode "Steven's Lion", the door to Fish Stew Pizza is to the right of the windows, however, the door is shown to the far left of the windows in the episode.
 * After Pearl, Jenny, Kiki and Kofi move the net, the court disappears.

Videos
Beach Party pt-br:Beach Party