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.

Official Synopsis
Steven and Connie get into a high-speed car race with their biggest foe.

Plot
Steven is inside a car, wearing sunglasses, metaphorically saying that “they" told him 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 notices 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 over it, after telling Connie 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. Suddenly, a large, yellow car races toward It’s A Wash, and brakes 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 rubbing them. Kevin, who is on the phone, telling someone that he wants his socks pressed, 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, excusing Steven by saying that Kevin looks like another guy they know. Kevin denies this, saying that there’s only one Kevin. Kevin drives 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 is 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 did not even care about their feelings. Greg says that if he is 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 It'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 cannot drive because it is against the law, but Steven mentions that they were not kids when they were Stevonnie, and Connie understands Steven’s metaphor. At the race, near a hill, at a parking lot, Kevin finishes before Jenny does, who is mad that her practice did not 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 will 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 think it is a Dondai, and Ronaldo tells Stevonnie that the Supremo is a Dondai. Kevin, however, realizes that the "brats" at the car wash that seemed familiar were Stevonnie. Kevin says that he will not be fooled by the fact that they are two kids, and Stevonnie tells him that he does not know what he is talking about, and will beat him at the race. Kevin claims that Stevonnie is obsessed with him and that he is 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 lose). This angers Stevonnie, and Kevin races away, up the mountain, leaving a cloud of dust and smoke that everyone coughs on, except for Stevonnie, who claims that Kevin is "going down."

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 is too bad that Stevonnie will only be seeing his tail lights. Stevonnie blows this off, and looks at the clock on their car that says "8:59." Stevonnie and Kevin turn on their headlights, as Kevin says "It's Kevin time," he races off. Stevonnie yells "Shoot!" before starting their car a little later than Kevin's. After driving for a bit, an upcoming curved road sign is shown. On the mountain's road, Kevin seems to be far ahead from where Stevonnie is, but Stevonnie races in front of him, saying that they will not 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. Moreover, they all look up to watch the race. Stevonnie breaks and turns 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 them. Stevonnie begins to see a 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 is doing by Steven. Connie asks what they are doing, and explains to Steven that all they have been doing for that past day is because they are obsessed with Kevin. The two decide to finish the race, but for themselves instead of to beat Kevin. Jenny says that she is 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, fused 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 they drive by it, but Kevin turns on his booster rockets so he would win the race. Kevin rubs it in Stevonnie's face that he is 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 is not so bad for their first time driving. Stevonnie gets in their car and drives away. Kevin runs after the car, desperately telling Stevonnie that they are obsessed with him, but Stevonnie ignores him and keeps driving.

Characters

 * Steven
 * Connie
 * Greg
 * Kevin (antagonist)
 * Stevonnie
 * Ronaldo Fryman
 * Jenny Pizza
 * Buck Dewey (non-speaking)
 * Sour Cream (non-speaking)
 * Jane (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

 * Dire, Dire Drift
 * The Final Drift

Trivia

 * When Steven and Connie are fused into Stevonnie, they can skillfully drive the Dondai Supremo, even though neither has driven before.
 * This episode's name was first revealed in the episode listing on the Cartoon Network website.
 * Steven and Connie fuse and re-fuse into Stevonnie easily implying they have learned how to fuse at will.
 * Jenny specifically refers to Stevonnie using the singular "they," a canon nod to their non-binary gender.
 * Peridot could hear the sound of the cars in this episode, and went to investigate the noise before giving up and going back to finish writing her essay on Camp Pining Hearts. You can read about it on her Twitter.
 * This is the very first episode to feature 3D animation.

Cultural References

 * This episode's title may be a reference to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
 * Or the Japanese MMORPG Drift City.
 * At It's a Wash, the water in the bucket rippling is a reference to the T-Rex water scene from Jurassic Park.
 * Much of the episode forms an extended parody of the 1990s 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). As such, it resembles the AE86 used by Takumi Fujiwara in the Initial D series (which, like the Supremo, was owned by his father), while Kevin's Himitsu X-12 is based on Keisuke Takahashi's 1991 Mazda RX-7 Type R (FD3S) from Initial D. Both are painted similarly to their Initial D counterparts, too.
 * The driving sequence, with the Eurobeat-inspired soundtrack and closeups of the pedals, imitates the races in Initial D, which have also been widely parodied in other anime series.
 * Stevonnie's ignorance about the car (knowing it only as "a Dondai", when Ronaldo talks about the "power of the Supremo") also references the anime, in which Takumi initially doesn't understand when his car is referred to as an "AE86", as he only knows the "Trueno" name on the badge.
 * When Greg shows pictures of himself longing to buy a Dondai, he shares a plate of spaghetti with it. This is a reference to the famous spaghetti-eating scene from Disney's Lady and the Tramp.
 * Dondai may be a spoof of the South Korean based company, Hyundai.

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

 * There is a spacing error in the ending credits, making it appear as though "Pearl Deedee" was played by "Magno Hall", instead of Pearl being played by Deedee Magno-Hall.

Videos
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