Beach City Drift

"You know, Kevin, you were right. The view from the mountain was pretty great."

"Beach City Drift" is the 11th episode of the third season of Steven Universe and the 89th episode overall.

Synopsis
Steven and Connie face their biggest foe in a car race.

Plot
Steven is inside a car, wearing sunglasses, metaphorically saying that “they", told him that there wasn’t enough room on the road for him, and, metaphorically, that the universe is his road. Steven pretends to start the car, and pretends to drive it, when Connie knocks on the car window to get his attention. Steven rolls down the window, and greets Connie, and thanks his dad for letting him practice his driving in the car, but thinks that it might be too small to live in. Greg says that the idea of the car was not to live in, but get a new car now that he is rich.

Connie notice the used sticker on the back window of the car, and is confused by how the car is new. Greg puts a “Dad On Board” sticker on it, after telling Connie that he likes to think of it more experienced than used. Greg tells the kids details about the old car before, and before they were born. Connie describes this as a “time to be alive”, and Greg shows the kids many pictures of him when he was younger with the car. The kids then pick up sponges, and help Greg clean his car, when Suddenly, a large, yellow car races toward It’s A Wash, and breaks near them. The driver rolls down the window, revealing himself to be Kevin, who tells Greg to “give him a wash” before calling him an old man. Greg, however, listens to his disrespectfulness, running over to his tires and rubs them. Kevin, who is on the phone, telling someone that he wants his socks pressed, and tells Greg to go easy on the tires because his car has to look as beautiful as him, at the time, calling him a grandpa. Steven runs over, and tells Kevin to back off, defending his dad from the name “grandpa”. Kevin turns off his phone, asking Steven if they have met before, calling him a twerp. Connie nervously runs over, exuding Steven by saying that Kevin looks like another guys that they know. Kevin denies this, saying that there’s only one Kevin. Kevin rooms off, and Greg notices that he has “forgotten” to pay, but excuses this, considering that he is rich. Steven says that he hates Kevin, and Greg tells him to watch the word “hate”, it being a strong word. Steven says that it’s a strong feeling too, Greg asks if the two know Kevin, and Connie explains the events of what happened when they formed Stevonnie before, and how he tried to get them to dance, and Steven calls him a creep, Greg gets mad at the word, but Steven points out that it has five letter, instead of four like the word “hate”.

Connie then continues that it was uncomfortable when Kevin kept asking them to dance, and Steven adds that Kevin didn’t even care about their feelings. Greg says that if he’s causing this much trouble, then there’s no point to even thinking about him, and Connie thanks Greg. At night, Steven and Connie are sitting on Greg’s “new” car at I’s A Wash. Steven is still mad at the incident with Kevin, but Connie is somehow thinking about the situation, and wishes that she could just say something big to Kevin to get him to think. Steven says that he wishes he could race Kevin, and rub the winning ribbon in his face. Connie says that kids can’t drive because it’s against the law, but Steven mentions that they weren’t kids when they were Stevonnie, and Connie understands Steven’s metaphor. At the race, near a hill, at a parking lot, Kevin fishes before Jenny does, who is mad that he practice didn’t pay off, and Kevin rubs it in her face before asking anyone else if they would want to race him down the hill. A car then pulls up in the parking lot, and Stevonnie gets out, telling Kevin that they’ll race him, after flipping their hair.

Kevin is confused by this, and Ronaldo walks over to Stevonnie's car, and asks then if it is a '96 Supremo, and Stevonnie responds saying that they thinks it's a Dondai, and Ronaldo tells Stevonnie that this is the same thing as a '96 Supremo. Kevin, however, realizes that the "brats" at the car wash that seemed familiar were Stevonnie. Kevin says that he won't be fooled by the fact that they are two kids, and Stevonnie tells him that he doesn't know what he's talking about, and will beat him at the race. Kevin claims that Stevonnie is obsessed with him, and that he's a little old for them. This angers Stevonnie who asks if he wants to race or not. Kevin says that the start of the race is at the top of the mountain, and that they will start when the clock strikes the hour. He also includes that the first one to the bottom of the mountain wins, but that they do not have to worry about the last part (implying that Stevonnie will loose). this angers Stevonnie, and Kevin races away, up the mountain, leaving a cloud of dust and smoke that everyone coughs on, exempt for Stevonnie, who claims that Kevin is "going down".

Later, at the top of the mountain, Kevin and Stevonnie are lined up, getting ready to race. Kevin looks at his watch, as it is almost time for the race to start. Kevin mentions the beautiful view of the mountain, but it's too bad that Stevonnie will only be seeing his tailor lights. Stevonnie blows this off, and looks at the clock on her car that says "8:59". Stevonnie at Kevin turn on their headlights, as Kevin says "It's Kevin time.", and races off. Stevonnie yells "Shoot!" before starting her car a little later than Kevin's. Although, and upcoming curved road sign is show. On the mountain's road, Kevin seems to be far ahead from where Stevonnie is, but Stevonnie race in front of him, saying that they won't let him win. Stevonnie laughs at Kevin, who is behind them, but sees the upcoming curve on the road. Ronaldo, who is using his binoculars, says that they are about to witness the true power of the Supremo. And, they all look up to watch the race. Stevonnie breaks and turn quick enough to make it, and they laugh at the end, but somehow, Kevin appears next to them, and he teases them for actually knowing how to drive the car, and speeds up in front of them.

Continuing to race, Kevin continues to mock and tease Stevonnie. Stevonnie then asks kevin why he always has to be such a jerk, and Kevin responds with a story about his "little brother" being sick. Stevonnie shows empathy for Kevin, but he reveals his story was a lie. Stevonnie gets angry as Kevin speeds up in front of her. Stevonnie begins to see vision of only seeing Kevin's car and the road, but tries to focus on the race and ignore it. Suddenly, the road appears to be breaking off, and falling behind them. Stevonnie then sees a vision of Kevin's face, but with large, glowing eyes, and Stevonnie screams, and turns away, before blacking out. The car is shown again, and Steven and Connie are shown in the back seat, asking each other if they are ok. Steven figures that the car is ok too. Connie opens the car door, walks out onto the street, and is asked what she's doing by Steven. Connie asks what they're doing, and explains to Steven that all they've been doing for that past day is because they are obsessed with Kevin. The two decide to finish the race, but not for us. Jenny says that she's going to go up to the Supremo to check if they are ok, but when the headlights come on, Stevonnie shows up in the car, appeared to have feud back together. They go after Kevin, and catch up with him, who begins to taunt them again.

Kevin is confused that Stevonnie is not getting angry at his mean comments, and Stevonnie eventually races in front of him. Stevonnie notices the beautiful view of Beach City as the drive by it, but Kevin turns his booster rockets so he would win the race, in which he does. Kevin rubs it in Stevonnie's face that he's won, and Stevonnie puts out their hand, wanting to shake hands for a good race. When Kevin denies, Stevonnie says that he was right about the beautiful view of the mountain. Kevin tells Stevonnie not to teach him a lesson, considering that he had just won. Stevonnie then adds that second place isn't so bad for her first time driving. Stevonnie gets in her car, and drives away. Kevin runs after the car, desperately telling Stevonnie that they are obsessed with him, but Stevonnie ignores.

Characters

 * Steven
 * Connie
 * Greg
 * Kevin
 * Stevonnie
 * Ronaldo Fryman
 * Jenny Pizza
 * Buck Dewey (non-speaking)
 * Sour Cream (non-speaking)
 * Ticket Booth Lady (non-speaking)

Objects

 * Greg's Dondai Supremo
 * Kevin's Himitsu X-12
 * Jenny's Car

Locations

 * Beach City
 * It's a Wash
 * Racing Site

Music

 * TBA

Trivia

 * When Steven and Connie are fused into Stevonnie, they are able to skillfully drive the Dondai Supremo, even though neither have driven before.
 * This episode's name was first revealed in the episode listing on the Cartoon Network website.
 * This episode reveals Stevonnie's first power.
 * Though it happens off screen, this episode shows that Steven and Connie can fuse and even re-fuse at will.

Cultural References

 * This episode's title may be a reference to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and/or the Japanese MMORPG Drift City.
 * At the beginning of the race, a Blue Jay is on the racetrack, the Blue Jay resembles Mordecai from Cartoon Network's "Regular Show".
 * Steven's "Kevin!" resembles Mr. Turner's "Dinkleberg!" from The Fairly OddParents.
 * The episode has references inspired by the hit manga and anime series Initial D.
 * The racing site where Kevin and Stevonnie raced resembles the famous Akina Pass in the anime Initial D. 
 * Greg's Dondai Supremo is based on a 1992 Volkswagen Golf MK2, with elements borrowed from a 1986 Toyota Sprinter Trueno (AE86). Similarly, it resembles Takumi Fujiwara's AE86 from the Initial D manga and anime series.
 * Kevin's Himitsu X-12 is based on a 1991 Mazda RX-7 Type R (FD3S). Similarly, it resembles Keisuke Takahashi's RX-7 in the Initial D manga and anime series.
 * When Greg shows pictures of himself longing to buy a Dondai, he shares a plate of spaghetti with it. This is a spoof from the famous spaghetti eating scene from Disney's "Lady and the Tramp".

Continuity

 * Kevin makes his second appearance since his debut in "Alone Together"
 * The events of Sour Cream's rave from "Alone Together" are brought up by Steven and Connie.
 * Kevin's car is a Himitsu, which is the same type of car seen in several advertisements in Empire City during "Same Old World" and "Mr. Greg"

Errors

 * TBA