Say Uncle

"Good Morning!"

"Say Uncle" is the 4th episode of the second season in Steven Universe, and the 53rd episode overall.

The episode was announced at Cartoon Network's Upfront Slate for 2015-2016. It is a non-canonical crossover between Steven Universe and Uncle Grandpa, another series made by Cartoon Network.

Synopsis
A long-lost relative of Steven's comes to town to aid him in unlocking the power of his mother's gemstone.

Plot
Steven is sitting on the shore of the beach trying to practice summoning his shield so he can do so with ease. Failing, he summons his bubble instead. When he wishes there were someone to help him summon his shield, a variety of different sea animals appear and a giant clam arises from the sky. The clam opens, revealing what seems to be the form of Rose Quartz. But under closer inspection, it turns out to be Uncle Grandpa. Uncle Grandpa sees that Steven is having trouble summoning his weapon, so he offers to help him. After probing Steven's gem and after asking a few questions, Uncle Grandpa decides that the best way to activate his powers is by assaulting Steven with an array of weapons including rocket launchers, snakes, bees, and vaporizers. However, Steven is either only able to summon his bubble or is injured by the weapon. Pearl then walks out of the temple to see Amethyst amused by Uncle Grandpa testing these various weapons on Steven. Pearl is shocked when she sees Uncle Grandpa aiming a large, futuristic vaporizer at Steven. He fires the weapon at Steven and a giant ball of smoke engulfs them both. The smoke clears only to find that Steven summoned his bubble once more and not his shield.

The Crystal Gems find out what is going on and are introduced to Uncle Grandpa and learn how he relates to Steven through a sequence of their heads orbiting the earth. The Gems, who are disoriented and unnerved by Uncle Grandpa, attack him after concluding he must be a super powerful, reality-warping entity who is a danger not only to Steven but to all of space. Uncle Grandpa and Steven are able to escape using a "plot hole" provided by Belly Bag which then allows them to regroup in the U.G.R.V. Steven then meets Pizza Steve, Giant Realistic Flying Tiger, and Mr. Gus. Mr. Gus has extensive knowledge about Steven Universe and his adventures. Unable to think of a plan, they decide to wait until "something happens". A giant Belly Bag attached to a giant Uncle Grandpa then ends up sucking the two inside of it. Meanwhile, Pearl, Garnet and Amethyst are lost within the Plot Hole. Pearl has become erratic and unhinged by the very strange events. Amethyst eats Pizza Steve after he walks in (dressed like Steven). Garnet gets annoyed and smashes the ground, which breaks through the Plot Hole, allowing the Gems to escape.

They arrive back at the beach to find Steven, Uncle Grandpa, Lion, and Giant Realistic Flying Tiger enjoying tea on the sand, at a loss for what to do. The Gems proceed to attack him, only for Steven to intervene, suddenly being able to summon his shield. Steven was able to reason with the Gems, explaining how just because Uncle Grandpa is weird and unknowable, that does not mean the Gems should fear and attack him. The Gems apologize before Uncle Grandpa bids them farewell as he goes through his checklist of kids to help (all of which are characters from different Cartoon Network shows) as he makes his way to Clarence from Clarence to help.

Characters

 * Steven
 * Uncle Grandpa
 * Mr. Gus
 * Pizza Steve
 * Belly Bag
 * Giant Realistic Flying Tiger
 * Garnet (antagonist, until the end)
 * Amethyst (antagonist, until the end)
 * Pearl (antagonist, until the end)
 * Lion (cameo)
 * Lars
 * Sadie (non-speaking cameo)
 * Rose Quartz (pictured by Uncle Grandpa)
 * Greg Universe (mentioned)
 * Hopper (pictured)
 * Tiny Miracle (pictured)
 * Hot Dog Person (in wormhole)

Locations

 * Beach City
 * U.G.R.V.
 * Plot Hole

Objects

 * Cookie Cat (flashback)
 * Greg's Van (mentioned)

Soundtracks

 * Steven's Shield (shortened)

Production Notes

 * While Say Uncle was produced as part of Season 2, based on Garnet's outfit, it seems likely that Say Uncle was planned to air during Season 1, before "The Return" and "Jail Break", but ended up airing during Season 2 because of the StevenBomb schedule adjustments.

Trivia

 * This is the first Steven Universe crossover.
 * In honor of the crossover, CN Studios held an ice cream social at the episode's premiere.
 * This episode of Steven Universe has possibly the most mixed reaction. Many enjoyed it while many others did not.
 * Before the airing of the episode, Steven Universe Story Writer Matt Burnett stated via his twitter that the crossover was to be canonical.
 * He also stated via his twitter that Pizza Steve and Steven were to permanently switch shows after this episode.
 * He later confirmed both of these tweets as an elaborate April Fools Day joke; the crossover wasn't to be part of the canon of the show nor were Pizza Steve going to replace Steven.
 * The episode itself made reference to these tweets by having Uncle Grandpa himself saying "Don't worry bro, none of this is canon!" before firing his head out of cannon leaving a trail of gun smoke spelling out the letters "April Fools!" and by Pizza Steve dressing up as Steven.
 * This is unofficially the first episode in which Steven uses his shield against the Crystal Gems.
 * This is unofficially the third time Steven has pulled out his shield.
 * Uncle Grandpa sinks a ship that Lars and Sadie are on. This is a visual pun based off of the Lars/Sadie relationship pairing, or "ship" within the fandom. Additionally, Uncle Grandpa uses a head-cannon to do this (a pun on "headcanon").
 * When Uncle Grandpa's head is flying toward the ship, the words "April Fools" can be made out in the smoke trail. The episode premiered on the day after April Fools Day, and this was a hint that the episode was a April Fools Day joke.
 * Mr. Gus appears to be a fan of Steven Universe and has clear insight into how Steven is able to access his shield.
 * He also draws a "gemsona"— a fan term for a fan made Gem based on oneself - named Mr. Gusite.
 * Mr. Gusite was posted on a Tumblr blog purporting to be Mr. Gus' before the episode's release.
 * There are multiple moments in this episode where the fourth wall is broken.
 * Garnet says, "I'm ready for this episode to end," and breaks the white void around the Gems.
 * When the Gems chase Uncle Grandpa, Amethyst trips on the "Run Away" subtitle.
 * Uncle Grandpa says that the episode isn't canon.
 * Uncle Grandpa asked Belly Bag to open a "plot hole" bringing them in the white space.
 * Mr. Gus made a "gemsona," a fan-made gem based on oneself, which is what Steven Universe fans in the real world commonly do.
 * Uncle Grandpa said he saw Steven's predicament with his shield before, during the first episode where he was trying to talk to him through an advertisement of his own show.
 * Mr. Gus mentioned the multiverse, which is the representation of all TV shows existing in different universes.
 * A lot of the writing for Pearl in this episode is an exaggeration of her character, including her maternal caring for Steven, her anger towards Amethyst, and worrying about current situations they get in.
 * When Uncle Grandpa and Giant Realistic Flying Tiger leave, Lion howls at Giant Realistic Flying Tiger which might mean he might have developed a friendship with her or romantic feelings for her.
 * On Ronaldo's blog Keep Beach City Weird, he rants about a crossover between the Crying Breakfast Friends and "Interdimensional Family Friend." Using this as a fictional example of the real Steven Universe - Uncle Grandpa crossover, Ronaldo's reactions match many of those of the community including skepticism at the announcement and events within the episode. The Interdimensional Family Friend character is a reference to Uncle Grandpa.
 * When Steven and Uncle Grandpa play the SSBM (Super Smash Bros. Melee) parody, they are playing as Tiny Miracle Robot from Uncle Grandpa, and Hopper from the episode "Garnet's Universe".
 * The title is a reference to the expression "say 'uncle!'."
 * It is called "flanderization" when a single trait from a character is the only personality that character has, which describes Pearl in this episode.

Cultural References

 * During the scene when the Crystal Gems are speaking with Uncle Grandpa and Steven at the beach, there is a scene where Steven and Uncle Grandpa are playing an in-universe variation of Super Smash Bros. on Steven's GameCube. Hopper's move resembles one of Yoshi's 3 Custom Specials, a move called Lick.
 * Uncle Grandpa's introduction by emerging from a clam-shell may be based on the painting "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli.
 * A number of Cartoon Network characters are listed by Uncle Grandpa including: Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup from The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter and Dee-Dee from Dexter's Laboratory, Billy and Mandy from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Mac from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Juniper Lee from The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, the titular characters from SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron (which wasn't actually made for CN, but rather sister station TBS, and predated the What-A-Cartoon project that spawned Dexter's Lab and the PPG), Flapjack from The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Finn from Adventure Time, the titular characters of Ed, Edd n' Eddy, and Clarence from Clarence.
 * This could also possibly be hinting there would be a Clarence and Uncle Grandpa crossover.
 * Mr. Gus also makes reference to the "multiverse", which is comprised of all the universes of various Cartoon Network shows.
 * When Uncle Grandpa is leaving, he tells Steven and the Crystal Gems to "see with eyes unclouded by hate". This could be a reference to the Studio Ghibli film, Princess Mononoke, where the same phrase is stressed throughout the movie.
 * During the montage, Uncle Grandpa dressed up as Robin Hood.
 * Lars and Sadie sinking with the ship is a reference to Titanic and possibly to the fan theory that they will have a romantic relationship.
 * When the Gems are about to deal the final blow on Uncle Grandpa, they yelled "FINISH HIM!!!". This is a reference to the Mortal Kombat games when a player depletes the opponents health and are about to apply the finishing blow.Say_Uncle_Compare.png
 * The moment when Belly Bag explains Uncle Grandpa is everyone's uncle and grandpa and the Gems' heads fly in space is similar to a moment in the Uncle Grandpa episode "Belly Bros".
 * The bees Uncle Grandpa fired at Steven look nearly identical to the Pokémon Beedrill.

Continuity
(It should be noted that due to the episode not being canon, any actual connection to other episodes is highly questionable.)
 * The bees seen in "Future Vision" make a return.
 * Hopper from "Garnet's Universe" make a cameo as one of the two characters in the Super Smash Bros.-esque video game Steven and Uncle Grandpa are playing.
 * The way the Crystal Gems summon their weapons to fight against Uncle Grandpa is the same way they summon them in "Ocean Gem" to fight Lapis' water clones.
 * Uncle Grandpa plays a flashback to "Gem Glow" when Steven was trying to recreate the event that first activated his gem. He can be seen breaking the fourth wall by attempting to make contact with Steven from his own show's corner-screen advertisement.
 * Steven's Shield is replayed after Steven re-summons his shield.
 * In a very obscure/hard to spot call-back, the moment where Uncle Grandpa arrives in the clam dressed as Rose is actually a reference to Laser Light Cannon, in which Steven asks Greg if Rose's cannon was in a "cave-dungeon" (Rose's Armory), a cloud base (Rose's Room), or a "clam at the bottom of the ocean".

Errors

 * Amethyst's gem is colored white after summoning her weapon.
 * In the "Gem Glow" flashback, Garnet's outer and inner star colors are reversed.
 * If you look closely while Amethyst is hissing at Uncle Grandpa, her shirt flashes light-blue for a split second.
 * Steven's mouth is moving when his head is orbiting Earth, despite his silence.
 * Before Mr. Gus enters the room, Steven and Uncle Grandpa are in front of a sofa. Once Mr. Gus enters the scene, the sofa is replaced with a TV and a wood burning stove.
 * The set in the U.G.R.V. changes MANY more times.
 * In one scene, Amethyst is seen wearing Pizza Steve's glasses, in the other, it was gone, but in the next scene, she's wearing them again.

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