The Zoo

This article is about the episode. You may be looking for Pink Diamond's Zoo.

“	They've never been anywhere else. They love it here. I mean, look at this place. Can you blame them? They've got everything they need, and they never have to worry about a thing.	”
—Greg

The Zoo
Season	4
Episode	14
Overall	117
Broadcast Information
Airdate	February 1, 2017
Production Code	TBA
Viewers	1.233
Credits
Written and Storyboarded by	Lamar Abrams Katie Mitroff
Directed by	Byung Ki Lee (animation) Ricky Cometa & Elle Michalka (art) Joe Johnston (supervising)
Episode Guide
Previous	"Gem Heist"
Next	"That Will Be All"

"The Zoo" is the 14^th episode of the fourth season of Steven Universe, the 117^th episode overall, and the fourth episode in the fifth StevenBomb.

Official Synopsis

Steven visits a special zoo.

Plot

Steven pops out of the water to see Greg being groomed by two humans who Greg introduces to be Wy-Six and Jay-Ten. Steven expresses his worry, having believed the containment area was a dystopia where the humans were all chained up to a wall doing tricks for peanuts. Greg reassures Steven, and introduces him to the inhabitants to whom he had told stories of Steven such as "the bits". Steven informs Greg that there is a door they could not open from the other side, so the two plan to find that door tonight and figure out a way to exit the Zoo.

The little voice greets the inhabitants in the containment to begin the daily routine which includes eating, playing, reaching into outer space, smelling the flowers, and cleaning up with a refreshing bath before taking a nap at night. Steven is discomforted throughout, however, because the utopia is actually a glorified prison. Greg understands why everyone else is so happy because they do not know they are trapped here since they have never been anywhere else and on top of that, the prison is a utopia.

Night sets in and everyone goes to sleep except Greg and Steven who search for the door Steven mentioned earlier. Steven bumps into the door and tries to open it by bashing on it which attracts Wy-Six and Jay-Ten. They think it is a game Steven is playing, but Steven tells them he has to get the door open which they do not know such a thing exists. However, Jay-Ten recalls a time where the door or "opening wall" let a Gem through to help someone who was "hurt". They do not know what "hurt" is, so Steven explains. Afterward, Steven tries to get Greg to punch him in the face. Greg declines but offers Steven to punch him instead. Greg is sent flying into a tree after a dud from concern, but it does not get the door to open.

The little voice announces the "choosening" has begun. The inhabitants surround the "circle of choosening". According to Wy-Six, it is a very special event that he is glad to have Greg here with. It is seen that the choosening is a matchmaking ceremony between two random people. Being a possible candidate for anybody stresses Greg, but Jay-Ten says anybody here would be very lucky to have him. Luckily for Jay-Ten, Greg is matched with her, but Greg refuses, as back on Earth, there was no "little voice" that controlled their lives or "choosened" them for someone, but rather there existed free will. Steven backs him up by mentioning how Rose and Greg's relationship took time knowing each other to fall in love, resulting in them "choosening" each other.

After the explanation, the human inhabitants all decide that they choose Greg. However, Greg has a say in the situation as well, so he declines being chosen and choosing anyone as well. This makes the inhabitants cry and experience the feeling of being "hurt" for the first time. They beg Greg to take the hurt away and chase him and Steven. The Amethyst guards open the door and rush into the containment to avert the crisis. This gives Greg and Steven an opportunity to exit through the door. They attempt to escape but are stopped and caught by an Amethyst, who informs them that they are in deep trouble.

Features

Characters

• Steven
• Greg Universe
• Zoomans
  • Y-6
  • J-10
  • U-12 (non-speaking)
  • F-3 (non-speaking)
  • Others
• The Famethyst
• Blue Diamond (mentioned)
• Rose Quartz (mentioned)

Objects

• Fry Bits (mentioned)
• Zoomans's Earrings

Locations

• Pink Diamond's Zoo
• Earth (mentioned)

Music

Instrumental Songs

• TBA

Trivia

• The Zoomans have mostly black or green eyes.
• Similar to the episode "Bismuth", this episode does not have a title card, with the title and credits superimposed over the beginning of the episode.

Cultural References

• The containment area was likely inspired by the Garden of Eden.
• The Zoomans may be inspired by the Eloi from The Time Machine with the Amethysts being the Morlocks.
• The Zoomans' earrings' music cue is a direct reference to the "announcement" musical cue heard when waiting in line for Disneyland's Star Tours ride.
• Greg shouting "Watch out for that tree!" is a quote that is also in George of the Jungle.
• The Choosening is similar in concept to "Caroussel" from the 1967 novel (and 1976 film adaptation) of Logan's Run.
• The Zoomans' earrings resemble the antenna implants in the 1967 Star Trek episode The Apple.

Continuity

• This episode continues from "Gem Heist".
• This is the second time the original Star Tours wait-in-line music cue is used.
  • It was first heard when Pearl used her ship's keyboard console in "Space Race".

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.}

Design

• [10:25] There is an error where J-10's blue vest is the same color as her skin when she is being carried by an Amethyst guard.
• [05:52] There is an error where Greg's brown belt disappears completely revealing the background behind him.

Transcript

View the episode's transcript here.

Gallery

Click to view the gallery for The Zoo.

Videos

Steven Universe Strange Paradise Cartoon Network