| “ |
I just turned all my fingers into cats! |
” |
| —Steven | ||
"Cat Fingers" is the 6th episode of the first season of Steven Universe and the 6th episode overall.
Official Synopsis
Steven attempts to master the power of shape shifting, but can only shape shift his fingers into tiny cat heads.[2]
Plot
The episode begins with Steven and Greg, cleaning Mayor Dewey's Van and play fighting with the water hoses. After they finish cleaning, a cat holding a hose in its mouth starts spraying Steven and Greg. The cat reveals itself to be Amethyst.
Steven asks Amethyst if he could shape shift like her as they walk to the Crystal Temple. When they arrive Amethyst shows off her shape shifting powers, and Pearl tells Amethyst that just because she can shape shift doesn't mean she should. Steven asks Pearl if she could shape shift. She answers that all Gems can, and Amethyst interrupts by shape shifting into Pearl and mocking her.
Pearl leaves, and Steven asks Amethyst how to shape shift. Amethyst explains her methods of shape shifting, and Steven attempts to turn into a cat. He manages to transform one of his fingers into a meowing cat head. Amethyst then tells Steven to show it to his dad, and Steven runs around showing off his cat finger. Steven meets Greg at It's A Wash and shows him his morphed finger, and Greg, frightened, sprays the cat with a hose.
Steven walks to Big Donut and shows Sadie and Lars. Sadie is amused and pets the cat, making it purr. When Lars tries to pet it however, it bites him. Sadie says it was probably playing, and Steven realizes it doesn't have any friends, so he transforms four more fingers into cats so the original finger won't be lonely. At the fry shop, Steven demands fry bits from Peedee, which he then feeds to the cat fingers. Peedee's older brother, Ronaldo, notices and takes a picture of the cats for his blog, "Keep Beach City Weird". In the process, Steven turns the fingers on his other hand into cats. He tries to pick up the phone and look at the picture, but the cat fingers screech at him for having their faces smashed into the phone.
Steven returns to the Crystal Temple and asks Amethyst for help returning his normal fingers, as the Gems are leaving to fight a "living island".
Pearl insists that they stay to help Steven, but Garnet says they can't because the mission is urgent. Pearl blames Amethyst for this; Amethyst replies, "that's fair". Pearl tells Steven to stay calm as they leave.
Back at the Temple, Steven tries to return to his regular fingers. Unfortunately, his efforts exacerbate his condition and Steven begins to sprout writhing, meowing cat heads all over his body at a cancerous rate, and he runs to the only person who may be able to help: Greg.
By the time Steven reaches Greg, the cats have almost completely over taken Steven's body. Greg surprised by his appearance sprays Steven with the hose, which allows Steven's face to emerge as he begs his father for help. Greg reaches toward his son in an effort to comfort him but one of the cat fingers bite him. Steven begins to contemplate the full extent of his condition, then suddenly realizes the only thing that can stop the cats is water. He tells his Greg to spray him with the hose but it does not produce enough water to affect the cats. Steven begs his Greg to use the car wash, but Greg insists that the super wash is too dangerous. Greg finally relents and heads into the car wash as the cats almost completely consume Steven's body. Steven struggles to crawl into the car wash, and is blasted numerous jets of soap and water.
The wash successfully clears the cats from Steven's body. Before they can celebrate, they find that one cat finger still remains, but Greg immediately sprays it with a hose.
The Crystal Gems return the next day and Pearl rushes to ask if Steven is okay. She then begins to lecture Steven about him listening to her instead of Amethyst, to which Amethyst agrees. Garnet interjects that the alternative lesson, they all learned, was to place more faith in Steven. The episode concludes with Steven dropping several cheesy cat puns, much to the annoyance of the other Crystal Gems.
Features
Characters
- Steven
- Garnet
- Amethyst
- Pearl
- Greg
- Bill Dewey (debut)
- Mr. Fryman
- Peedee Fryman
- Ronaldo Fryman
- Lars
- Sadie
Objects
- Gem Sloop (first appearance)
- Greg's Van
- Mayor Dewey's Van (first appearance)
- Ronaldo's Phone
Locations
Trivia
- It is revealed in this episode that all of the Crystal Gems have shape shifting powers.
- Estelle said in an interview that she thought this was the least child-friendly episode in the entire series. But it is her favorite episode of Season 1A.
Cultural references
- The promotional poster for "Cat Fingers" is an homage to the book series, Animorphs.
- Steven's transformation is similar to that of Tetsuo from the cult anime movie, Akira.
- When Amethyst said "Chill it dude" after she turned into a blue jay, is a reference to Mordecai from Regular Show.
- The title of the episode may be a reference to the psychological horror series Salad Fingers.
Continuity
- Amethyst ate the same brand of chips Steven ate in "Pilot".
- Pearl shows her ability to project holographic images from her gem, just like she did in the episode "Cheeseburger Backpack".
- Amethyst shows her ability to shapeshift just like she did in the episode "Together Breakfast".
- Amethyst transforms into Purple Puma, who appears again in a later episode, "Tiger Millionaire".
- Peedee now runs the deep-fryer instead of his father. He was probably promoted in the episode "Frybo," after he told his dad how he wanted to be more important to the business.
- Steven's Cat Finger picture that was taken by Ronaldo will be seen again in "Steven's Lion" in Ronaldo's blog and again in "Story for Steven" in Greg's van.
- In a later episode, "Keystone Motel", Steven comments that "The car wash brushes feel weird on your fur".
Errors
- When Amethyst turned back into her human form after turning into a cat and squirting Greg and Steven, she put the hose down next to her, but then when the screen showed back to that same frame again, the hose was gone.
- In the beginning of a scene, Amethyst shape shifted into a seal and showed Pearl, but if you look very closely, just before she shape-shifts into a seal, she was already in the form of a seal.
- In the first shot after Steven has stepped into the water to chase after the Gem Sloop, Garnet still has her back turned to the camera but is colored in reverse, as if it were her front.
- When Steven opened the fridge, its handles were right-handed. When he closed it, it was left-handed again.
- After Amethyst tells Pearl to chill, and Pearl starts talking, her mouth is slightly off-centered on the side of her face for a few frames.
Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.
Gallery
References
- ↑ The Futon Critic staff (2013-11-26). Monday's Cable Ratings & Broadcast Finals: MNF, Voice Lead Demos; DWTS Tops Viewers. Ratings. The Futon Critic. Retrieved on 2013 November 26.
- ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/steven-universe-vol.-1/id714962395