| This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the soundtrack. |
| “ |
Don't worry, Peridot. It's our sworn duty to protect anything that calls this planet home, and that includes clods like you. |
” |
| —Garnet | ||
"Hit the Diamond" is the 5th episode of the third season of Steven Universe and the 83rd episode overall.
Official Synopsis
Steven and the Gems play an old fashioned game of baseball.[2]
Plot
Steven and the Gems are stunned to see a group of Homeworld Rubies emerge from the Roaming Eye tracking vessel. Steven is pulled away by Garnet to hide in the barn with the others, including a worried Peridot. This quells a surprised Lapis' doubts about Peridot being hunted down by Yellow Diamond. Steven tries to calm her down but does so with little success. However, Garnet reassures Peridot that it is their sworn duty to protect all that call Earth home.
Garnet announces that she has a plan and unfuses, forming Ruby and Sapphire. They plan for Ruby to infiltrate the Homeworld Rubies in hopes of disrupting them. Outside, the Ruby leader states that they have come to retrieve the leader of the Earth mission and that their target must be close by. The Crystal Gem Ruby nervously points out that the target is not in the barn, in doing so exposes it. The Ruby leader notices the barn and decides that they should search it. The Crystal Gem Ruby volunteers to search the barn by herself.
Ruby returns to the barn and frantically tells the others that they plan to search the barn. Sapphire calmly tells her to try to convince the Homeworld Rubies that the barn is a place where humans live. Ruby does not want to go alone, so Steven decides to come along with her, bringing along a bat given to him by Amethyst. Both of them try to convince the Homeworld Rubies that there are only humans in the barn. The Ruby leader is unconvinced so Steven tricks the Rubies, saying that in order to search the barn, they must beat the humans in a baseball match. The terms are that if the Homeworld Rubies win, they are allowed to search the barn, and if they lose, they have to leave forever.
The Gems, except for Lapis, are shocked. Sapphire states that she saw this as a possibility, but is surprised that they are taking this path. Steven gets the Gems to pretend to be humans, except for Peridot, who is to stay and hide. Lapis agrees to play baseball with them despite her disinterest and criticism of the plan. Steven announces the human team, with the Gems using fake names. Afterward, the Rubies announce their team members. Steven explains the rules of baseball. Throughout the course of the game, the Crystal Gem Ruby, playing on the team of Rubies, deliberately plays poorly to aid the Crystal Gems. However, this assistance is offset by Ruby and Sapphire's occasional flirting, contributing to a close game.
By the bottom of the ninth inning, the Rubies have a one-run lead. Steven tries to convince Ruby and Sapphire to stop flirting with each other. Sapphire becomes the batter and quickly gains two strikes. She struggles to concentrate, stating that all she wants to look at is Ruby. Ruby tells her that she can look at her "when [she's] running for home." The Ruby pitching ignites the ball and pitches with incredible force, and Sapphire hits it with all her might, freezing the bat in her fury. She scores a home run and begins running around the bases.
Approaching the home plate, Sapphire tackles Ruby in euphoric laughter, accidentally fusing into Garnet and giving away their identities as Gems. The Homeworld Rubies are furious and fuse to form one gigantic Ruby. Peridot then runs out of the barn and attempts to surrender herself in exchange for the safety of her friends. The giant Ruby, much to Peridot's surprise, asks where Jasper is. Peridot is unable to answer so Steven covers for her and tells the Rubies that Jasper is on the planet, Neptune. The Rubies, seemingly appeased, unfuse and get back in the tracking vessel, then depart for Neptune. Amethyst comments that the Rubies are dumb. Garnet smiles, saying, "Not all of them."
Features
Characters
- Steven
- Garnet
- Ruby
- Sapphire
- Amethyst
- Pearl
- Peridot
- Lapis Lazuli
- Ruby (Eyeball)
- Ruby (Doc) (debut)
- Ruby (Army) (debut)
- Ruby (Navy) (debut)
- Ruby (Leggy) (debut)
- Ruby (Giant Ruby) (debut)
- Yellow Diamond (mentioned)
- Jasper (mentioned)
- Greg's Aunt and Uncle (pictured)
Objects
- Roaming Eye
- Baseball Equipment
Locations
- The Barn
- Gem Homeworld (mentioned)
- Neptune (mentioned)
Music
Instrumental Songs
Trivia
- This episode's name was first revealed in the episode listing on the Cartoon Network website.[3]
- Promotional content for the episode was first shown on Cartoon Network's mobile application, "Cartoon Network Anything."
- Sapphire's legs are seen for the first time.
- This is the first time Garnet voluntarily unfuses on-screen.
- Each of the fake aliases that each of the Gems gives themselves when playing baseball against the Rubies.
- Steven: Steven, his name is unchanged.
- Pearl: Earl, ¨Pearl¨ without the ¨P¨.
- Amethyst: Amy, Uses multiple letters from her original name to form the fake name.
- Sapphire: Sophie, Sounds similar to her original name.
- Lapis: Bob, maybe a reference to the end of Ocean Gem, when Steven called Lapis this name.
Concept art
- In the episode's ending credits, the five Rubies are given designated nicknames:
- Eyeball, the Ruby with her gemstone placed where her left eye would be.
- Doc, the Ruby with her gemstone placed on her chest.
- Army, the Ruby with her gemstone placed on her left shoulder.
- Navy, the Ruby with her gemstone placed on her navel.
- Leggy, the Ruby with her gemstone placed on her left leg.
- As seen in the concept art by Rebecca Sugar, and the episode "Back to the Moon", Steven is the one who named them.
- The concept art also reveals that Leggy was made the day before the episode.
- Additionally, in the concept art, Eyeball originally had her gem on her right eyeball, and Leggy originally had her gem on her right leg.
- As seen in the concept art by Rebecca Sugar, and the episode "Back to the Moon", Steven is the one who named them.
- This episode first premiered on Cartoon Network France.
- This episode is the first episode to not be bundled with any other episode on services like iTunes and Google Play.
- Aivi Tran revealed in a comment on SoundCloud that the soundtrack that plays during Sapphire's home run is called "The Magic Glory of Sports."
- From the 4th episode of the Steven Universe Podcast, Rebecca Sugar stated that this was the episode where all the voice actors of the same episode were present to voice for the first time – the voices of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Steven, Ruby, and the Homeworld Rubies, Sapphire, Lapis, and Peridot.
Cultural References
- "Hit the Diamond" is a popular expression used to mean "play baseball". The bases are arranged in the shape of a diamond when viewed from overhead (as seen here), so the "diamond" is the field.
- While Steven explains the rules of baseball to the Rubies, an instrumental version of the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is played. The song is performed at most professional baseball games and is closely associated with the game.
- This episode bears similarities to the Samurai Champloo episode, "Baseball Blues".
- The Gems' uniforms represent different eras and cultures in baseball's history:
- Steven wears the collarless, striped jersey that has become an iconic image of baseball.
- Pearl's outfit, with its knickers and collared shirt, is representative of the early uniforms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
- Amethyst takes a more Eastern approach with a scarf over her jersey in a look inspired by Japanese baseball players.
- Lapis Lazuli evokes the 1970s with the cropped, Raglan sleeve T-shirt, tube socks, and short shorts she wears.
- The flared skirt and high socks of Sapphire's feminine ensemble are not unlike the kind worn by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the 1940s.
Continuity
- Lapis' human name, "Bob", is a reference to Steven's line "No prob, Bob" from "Ocean Gem". (Lapis' hair is also styled in a "bob cut").
- Jasper is revealed to have been the leader of Peridot's mission to Earth.
Errors
- Note: Time is displayed in [mm:ss]; [00:00] refers to the point after the title card is displayed and before the episode's start.
Plot
- [00:07] When Eyeball first gets out of the Roaming Eye, she is using her left hand. In her next scene, she is using her right.
- [00:59] When Steven lifts the box off of Peridot, the box is facing upside down. However, in the next scene, the box is facing right-side up.
- [05:18] Steven's glove is on his left hand when he is pitching. It switches to his right when he tags out Eyeball.
- [08:20] After Sapphire freezes the bat and hits the ball, all the ice on the bat disappears.
Design
- [02:22] [04:57] [08:13] Ruby's gem is missing in multiple shots: when Doc is suggesting that the Rubies should check the barn when Army punches Ruby after she strikes out at the start of the game and while Ruby watches Sapphire hit the ball at the end of the game.
- [04:43] [06:24] [06:35] [08:50] Army does not have a unibrow in some shots.
- [05:33] As Amethyst begins to spin dash around the bases, Ruby's hand is backward.
- [08:40] After Ruby's hat falls off when Sapphire jumps into her arms, her headband is nowhere to be seen.
- [08:41] When Ruby and Sapphire accidentally fuse, Sapphire's gem has the same cut as Ruby's. Additionally, Ruby and Sapphire's gem placements are swapped.
- [09:07] After the Homeworld Rubies fuse and inquire about Jasper, the Ruby fusion's gemstone on her eyeball is rotated such that the cut appears as a diamond instead of a square; however, the fusion may simply be able to rotate the gemstone.
Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.
Gallery
Videos
