Bubble Buddies

"Hey! Don't mess with his funky flow."

"Bubble Buddies" is the 7th in the first season of Steven Universe, and the 7th episode overall.

Synopsis
Steven looks like a hero when he forms a magic crystal bubble around himself to protect a girl from danger, but then panics when he can't figure out how to turn the bubble off.

Plot
The episode begins with Steven walking out of the house with his bike. We then see the gems discussing whether the seismic disturbances are earthquakes until they see Steven. The Gems are confused as to why he's riding a bike on the beach, but he walks off. He stops in front of a girl who's reading a book nearby. Steven then tries to impress the girl with the bike, but when he stumbles, he panics and retreats into the house to find the Gems were watching. Amethyst realizes that Steven likes the girl and Pearl wants to set up a play date, but Garnet stops them by telling Steven to just talk to her. He agrees, but only if they do not watch next time, claiming that it will mess up his "funky flow." Steven grabs a glowing bracelet from the freezer and runs out. As Steven approaches the girl, practicing his greeting, a piece of the cliff crumbles and falls towards her. When Steven jumps to rescue her, his gem activates and encases both of them in a protective bubble that saves them at the last minute.

Steven introduces himself to the girl. She reveals herself as Connie, thanks Steven, and asks if he can disable the bubble. He then realizes that he cannot disable the bubble. Steven says the Gems can help, but they are to reach the Gems who are purposefully looking away. They go to the Big Donut to ask for help from Sadie and Lars. Sadie tries to break the bubble with a hammer while Lars makes fun of Steven for being trapped with Connie. Sadie tells Lars to quit being a jerk and they start arguing. Sadie then goes inside and attempts to smash the bubble with a chair, but that fails like the other attempts.

Connie and Steven later go to the pier and ask a kid named Onion to help them. Steven tries to ask Onion to use a harpoon gun to pop the bubble, but he couldn't hear him through the bubble or understand Steven's drawing. Connie writes backwards and Onion understands. Unfortunately, the harpoon bounces off the bubble and sinks a nearby trawler (boat). Steven and Connie then go to Funland because Steven wants to use a roller coaster to pop the bubble. Connie objects, but a tremor rolls them on the coaster's tracks. Instead of popping the bubble, the coaster launches the two into the ocean.

As they try to roll back to shore, a giant worm (which was causing the tremors earlier) appears, frightening Connie. Steven tells her it only wants to eat some nearby glowing seaweed. The worm then creates a trench which the kids fall into. Steven discovers he accidentally got his foot in Connie's face. He tries to apologize to her, but she finally explodes, frustrated that Steven does not know what he's doing and that she might die without ever making a friend.

Connie cries and Steven shows her a glow bracelet, telling her that they can be friends. He reveals that he saw her during a parade the year before but could not find her to give back the bracelet, so he kept it in case he met her again. Connie reveals she saw him last year too. As the two reconcile, the bubble finally bursts and they make it to shore, but the monster chases them. Steven realizes the monster is chasing Connie because of her glow bracelet, so he takes and uses it to lure the worm to a nearby pier where he uses the pillars to trap and defeat it. The Gems show up and Garnet disposes of the monster's gemstone. When Pearl and Amethyst try to introduce themselves, Garnet stops them by telling them not to wreck Steven's "funky flow". Connie asks what a "funky flow" is, and Steven gets embarrassed.

Characters

 * Steven
 * Connie Maheswaran (debut and flashback)
 * Pearl
 * Amethyst
 * Garnet
 * Lars
 * Sadie
 * Onion
 * Rose Quartz (mentioned)
 * Greg Universe (flashback)
 * Worm Monster (debut/antagonist)

Objects

 * Connie's Glow Bracelet
 * Harpoon Gun (debut)
 * The Appalachian (debut)
 * Steven's Bike (debut)

Locations

 * Beach City
 * Beach City Pier
 * Crystal Temple
 * Beach House
 * Big Donut
 * Beach City Funland (debut)

Soundtrack(s)

 * Connie (Piano Demo)

Trivia

 * The first major hiatus of the series occurred after this episode, which lasted 6 weeks.
 * This is the first episode where Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl had minor appearances.
 * Steven is shown to develop a crush on Connie.
 * Connie is shown to be proficient at writing backwards.

Cultural references

 * Half of the musical score is similar to that of the score in the 1985 Steven Spielberg film The Goonies.
 * The name of the episode may be a reference to Bubble Buddy, a character from the Nickelodeon TV animated series Spongebob Squarepants introduced in the episode of the same name.

Continuity

 * Connie's bracelet was first seen in "Gem Glow", inside Steven's freezer, behind the Cookie Cats.

Errors

 * Connie seems slightly taller and of a lighter colored than in the opening theme.
 * Connie's book vanishes in a cut to a wider shot when Steven starts to create the bubble, the book being neither inside nor outside the bubble after it forms.
 * Steven places the glow stick ring on Connie's left arm. When they surface the water, the ring is seen on her right arm.
 * When Garnet tells Steven that the Gems won't watch him interact with Connie, Sapphire's gem appears on her left hand instead of the right.

Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.

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