Cheeseburger Backpack (episode)


 * This article is about the episode. For the object, see Cheeseburger Backpack (object).

"Cheeseburger Backpack" is the third episode of the first season of Steven Universe, and the third overall episode of the series.

Official Synopsis
A mission to the Lunar Sea Spire takes a treacherous turn, but Steven has packed his totally amazing Cheeseburger Backpack with anything they could ever need!

Plot
The episode begins with Steven sitting on top of his mail box. He starts talking to Jamie, a postman, when he walks up and asks him if he has a package for him. After numerous packages being taken out of his bag, the postman finds Steven's package from a company called Wacky Sacks Supply Company.

He eagerly runs into the house and sees Garnet covered in feathers. Amethyst is trying to get a gigantic egg into the fridge while Pearl is discouraging her. Pearl begins to tell Steven about how they are only in for a minute because they need to put the Moon Goddess Statue at the top of the Lunar Sea Spire before midnight or the whole place will be destroyed. She goes on to talk about how beautiful of a place it was in its day. She explains how it was an oasis for Gems on Earth, but is currently abandoned. When Steven realizes they need to carry the statue there, he finds this a suiting time to debut his newest piece of gear, his Cheeseburger Backpack.

They decide it would be a good educational trip for him. After packing as many things as he can fit in the backpack, he and the Gems take the crystal warp pad in the living room to the Lunar Sea Spire. The Spire is falling apart at the seams. Pearl says that it isn't what it looked like 100 years ago. Their first obstacle is getting into the Spire. They have to jump a gap that Garnet says is magically protected with a gravitational force pulling down towards the water. Steven goes into his backpack and pulls out the first of his odd items he brought along with him: spare shirts. He ties them together and throws them towards the Spire, attaching them and using them as a rope swing. After he succeeds, Amethyst pulls out her whip and brings her and the rest of the Gems over. Shocked, Pearl angrily tells Steven to never do it again, but claims it was a pretty good idea.

They head to the top where the statue needs to be placed and Pearl is distressed at all the crumbling statues and walls. Eventually, Pearl and Steven are next to a statue without a head, as Pearl tells Steven possibly about how the place will all be repaired once the Moon Goddess Statue is placed, but is interrupted as some Crystal Shrimp are seen crawling from the back, panicking her, and summons her weapon and destroys the statue. Suddenly they come face to face with an infestation of Crystal Shrimp. Steven wonders if he can just squish them, but Pearl stops him, saying that their shards are deadly. Pearl comes up with a complex plan and starts to explain it, but Steven just throws some bagels from his backpack into the room and the shrimp clear a path for them. The Gems are so impressed with his ingenurity that when a ravine forms in front of them and fills with water, they immediately look to him. Steven reaches into the backpack and pulls out the first sensible item he packed: a raft. Unfortunately, as soon as he tosses it into the water, it is carried down a waterfall. Garnet kicks over a column to use as a bridge, but says that Steven had a nice idea anyway.

They pass over the bridge that Garnet made for them and begin to trek up to the top of the spire. Once they are there they see a beautiful view of the sky and realize that it isn't quite midnight and they still have time to place the statue and save the spire. Garnet asks Steven for the statue from his bag. He begins to rummage through it and look more nervous with every second. Disappointed, he tells the Gems he doesn't have the statue, but has an alternative. He proceeds to pull out Mr. Queasy, a plush doll he got in his room when packing for the adventure, from his cheeseburger backpack.

The Gems are clearly frantic since Steven had only one job, but they don't mind his mistake and brush off his imperfections. They say it's worth a shot and Steven puts Mr. Queasy where the Moon Goddess Statue was supposed to go. A beam of light goes from Mr. Queasy directly to the moon. It seems as if the replacement statue is going to work for a moment. Mr. Queasy begins to levitate and starts yelling as if in pain. The doll then explodes, and along with it comes the destruction of the Lunar Sea Spire, and ends as it sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

Miraculously, Steven and the Gems survived. Again, the Gems don't seem to upset by this and revive a consistent theme from this show: not being perfect is okay. The Lunar Sea Spire floods and the Gems one by one pop up from underwater. Steven apologizes that the spire sunk, but Pearl and Amethyst cheer him up saying that 50% of his ideas worked. Not long after that, the raft that went over the edge earlier pops up and they get on it to head back home. Steven is rather amused with the situation, saying that 75% of his ideas worked. Amethyst and Pearl start chanting "cheeseburger backpack" over and over again. Garnet however, mentions that it's going to be a three hour paddle to get home. The episode ends with Steven asking the others "Anyone want a wet bagel?" which is Steven's next great idea to get them back home.

Major Roles

 * Steven
 * Pearl
 * Garnet
 * Amethyst

Minor Roles

 * Jamie (debut)
 * Crystal Shrimp (debut)

Songs

 * Water Damage
 * Atop the Sea Spire

Trivia

 * Pearl shows her ability to project holographic images from her gemstone for the first time.
 * Pearl states that the Spire "didn't look like this 100 years ago," implying that the Crystal Gems are immortal. We then learn in the episode "So Many Birthdays " that Crystal Gems are hundreds of years old and are biologically immortal (they don't age, but they can still get injured and die)
 * This is the first episode where the main setting isn't Beach City as most of the episode took place at the Lunar Sea Spire.
 * The characters' eyes were larger than usual in this episode.
 * Steven's trip to the spire was actually a test.
 * Virgin Media (UK) offers this episode and "Laser Light Cannon" on their TV Choice service.

Cultural references

 * Several references to the sitcom Full House were made. Jamie bores a striking resemblance to Danny Tanner. Later on at the Lunar Sea Spire Steven winks and says "You got it, dude!" which is a popular refrain of Michelle Tanner.
 * Steven has what appears to be a Nintendo 64 plugged up to the TV in his room.
 * The name on the jury summons, R. J. Finkle, may be a reference to Ray Finkle, fictional former Miami Dolphins kicker and main antagonist of the film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

Errors

 * After Mr. Queasy explodes, Garnet's lips disappear.
 * At the beginning of the episode when the Gems appear, Garnet's star is inverted. This happens again with the star on her back, moments before Mr. Queasy explodes.

Transcript
Click here to see the transcript.

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