“ |
Give it up for Pea-Pod! |
” |
—Amethyst |
"Too Short to Ride" is the 9th episode of the third season of Steven Universe and the 87th episode overall.
Official Synopsis[]
Steven and Amethyst take a trip to Funland but run into trouble when their friend is too short to ride the rollercoasters. [3]
Plot[]
The episode opens with Steven extending to Peridot a present wrapped in green paper with a green ribbon attached to it. Peridot expresses her gratitude with her now typical declaration of "wow, thanks", but she fails to realize that Steven's gift is a tablet. After a brief explanation from him, however, she comes to understand the nature of his gift, remarking in glee about how the touch-sensitive nature of the tablet reminds her of her old finger screens. Steven is gladdened by Peridot's happiness, stating that she now has full access to the world-wide-web. She scoffs, boasting that her old finger screens had the ability to search and retrieve information from multiple star systems, a declaration which Steven accepts as being impressive. He proceeds to open TubeTube which he jokingly considers superior.
Peridot is grateful for Steven's gift. She would, however, prefer if it came attached to her body, the way her former limb enhancers did. Shortly after her remark, she dashes to the closet under Steven's staircase. After creating a considerable mess, she reveals to him her self-proclaimed innovation: a holder for her tablet made from two pieces of Velcro that she found in Steven's old shoes. One piece is attached to her wrist, and the other to her tablet, making the operation of said tablet similar to using a smartwatch. Amethyst enters the scene and sits on the couch, Peridot asking whether or not she likes her invention. Amethyst says only that she looks like a square, a statement that Peridot proceeds to correct, telling her that the tablet is, in fact, rectangular. After a somewhat awkward exchange between the two, Amethyst asks her friends if they are ready to go hang out. Peridot, being new to human social customs, expresses initial confusion, before arriving at the conclusion that hanging out is a "friend thing" to do.
The three walk into Funland and the group decides to ride a rollercoaster first. They head over to the entrance, only to discover new rules. Steven and Amethyst are measured by height and are not tall enough, but when it is Peridot's turn, it looks like she is tall enough because of her hair. Mr. Smiley notices this and says that the group has to do some more growing before they can ride. This angers Peridot, saying that she does not have to grow because her height is perfect. She demands entry, calling Mr. Smiley a "clod". After Mr. Smiley threatens them with another lifetime ban, the three walk away, as Amethyst says "Shorty Squad, out". The three are disappointed that they cannot ride, but Amethyst gets the idea of shape-shifting to the correct height. Peridot tries to shape-shift, but fails, saying that she is a bit rusty. She tells Steven and Amethyst to quickly go on the ride without her, so they can quickly come back. The two come back with their original height, Amethyst saying that the ride was 'so good', and Steven asking what they should do next. The three then go to the House of Mirrors. Steven and Amethyst enjoy this by making use of their shape-shifting, but Peridot visibly does not.
Later, while strolling on the walkway, Peridot spots a Plush Alien and is determined to get it. However, Steven explains that she has to win it first. The three all try the ring toss together as the 'Shorty Squad', but fail to land a single ring. The three then trick Mr. Smiley by telling him that Onion is trying to light the rollercoaster on fire. Mr. Smiley says he is not falling for that again, but Onion actually is about to burn down the rollercoaster. Mr. Smiley, after seeing this, runs off to stop him. While Mr. Smiley is gone, Amethyst cheats by shape-shifting her arm long enough to put the ring around the bottle. When Mr. Smiley comes back, Amethyst tries to get Peridot to lie about getting a ring around a bottle and reveals that she 'does not' steal Steven's clothes when he is not looking. Mr. Smiley gives Peridot a miniature finger version of the toy that she expected to get. When Peridot demands the larger one, Mr. Smiley explains that she has to get ten rings around a bottle to win the larger Plush Alien. This disappoints her, and the Shorty Squad leaves the booth in defeat. Later, the three sit on a bench, with Steven eating a corn dog, Amethyst eating four at a time, and Peridot simply on her tablet trying to get rid of a "cute roommates in your area" advertisement.
Peridot says that they should call Funland "Shape-shift Land" because that is all that happens there. Amethyst asks Peridot what is wrong with shape-shifting, to which Peridot admits that she can not shape-shift at all. Steven says that he could not use his powers, but then the Gems helped him out. Steven and Amethyst agree to help Peridot learn to use her powers too.
Later, on the shore, Steven and Amethyst shape-shift their tongues to reach their elbow. Amethyst then shape-shifts into a cat, and Steven shape-shifts a cat finger, screams, and touches the water, making it go away. Amethyst then shape-shifts into a ball, and Steven shape-shifts his arms longer to catch her, and throws Amethyst at Peridot, who gets knocked down and falls on the ground. The two then pick up Peridot and attempt to manually shape-shift her by pulling on her. This fails and Peridot sadly walks by the shore, giving up.
She then explains that Homeworld is currently low on resources and, due to this, they are unable to create Gems with standard Gem abilities, and give Era 2 Peridots "technological enhancements" because they do not have powers. Amethyst explains to Peridot that she has not been having fun because she is always been focusing on what she could be, instead of accepting what she already is. Peridot is typing on her tablet as Amethyst says this, so she throws her tablet out into the ocean so she will listen. Peridot, however, stops the tablet from falling in the air, discovering her powers over metal by doing so.
Steven is shocked, and yells "Metal powers!", and lists off all the things she can do with it. After she moves the tablet back into her reach, Peridot says that she knows what she can do. She returns to Funland with Steven and Amethyst and finally wins the Plush Alien by using her powers to put 10 rings onto the bottles, right under the nose of a sleeping Mr. Smiley. Amethyst and Steven cheer Peridot on, but Peridot corrects Amethyst, saying "No. Give it up for the Shorty Squad".
Features[]
Characters[]
- Steven
- Amethyst
- Peridot
- Harold Smiley
- Onion
- Greg Universe (mentioned)
- Buck Dewey (cameo)
- Peedee Fryman (cameo)
- Jenny Pizza (cameo)
- Lapis Lazuli (referenced)
Objects[]
- Peridot's Tablet (debut)
- Limb Enhancers (mentioned)
- Peridot's Twitter (debut)
- TubeTube
- Alien-themed prizes
- Metal rings
Locations[]
- Beach City
- Beach House
- Beach City Funland
- The Appalachian
- House of Mirrors (debut)
- Ring Some, Lose Some (debut)
- Gem Homeworld (mentioned)
Music[]
- TBA
Trivia[]
- Peridot's tablet account is named Certified Kindergartener Stranded in "Beach" "City" Leader of the Crystal Gems
- To promote the new episode, Cartoon Network's Twitter account sent out a series of tweets as Peridot.
- Jesse Zuke promoted another Twitter account called PERIDOT, which also sent out a series of tweets as Peridot while the episode aired on the West Coast.
- This episode's name was first revealed in the episode listing on the Cartoon Network website.[4]
- Steven is able to use his stretching powers much more easily than before, though he still can not fully transform.
- This episode shows that Steven is no longer banned from Beach City Funland, although it is unknown when and why this ban was lifted.
- Shelby Rabara revealed this as her favorite Peridot episode.[5]
- According to Peridot's Twitter, this episode takes place on July 20.
Cultural References[]
- Peridot's tablet has several apps, with most of them serving as references to popular apps in the real world.
- TubeTube is a reference to the popular video uploading website YouTube.
- On one of Peridot's apps, she is sending a Cheep, which is a reference to sending a Tweet on the popular social media site "Twitter".
- One of Peridot's apps shares the symbol of the popular game franchise The Sims.
- One of Peridot's apps uses a cat symbol that resembles the icon of the game Neko Atsume.
- An icon next to that of TubeTube resembles the icon of the blogging site "Tumblr", but with a purple background instead of blue.
- The symbols for Facebook, Vine, Tinder, and Instagram are also clearly visible.
- The pop-up advertisement on Peridot's tablet for "cute roommates in [her] area" is a reference to infamous real-life versions of a more mature nature.
- Peridot's pose when she shows her "innovation" is possibly based on either Kamen Rider Ichigō/Nigō or Kamen Rider V3's henshin pose. Her pose may also be based on any number of other Super Sentai introductory poses.
- Her pose loosely looks like "the bolt", Usain Bolt's signature pose.
- Peridot's pose also resembles a dab, a meme/dance move.
Continuity[]
- When an ad for roommates appears on Peridot's tablet she says "I'm all set, thanks." This is due to the fact that she's already Lapis' roommate down at the barn.
- Mr. Smiley threatens Steven with another lifetime ban, the first having been shown in "Serious Steven."
- When Steven gives her the tablet, Peridot says "Wow, thanks!" the way Steven told her to in "Log Date 7 15 2".
- Steven's cat fingers from "Cat Fingers" make a return, and just like in their debut episode they disappear when exposed to water.
- Peridot mentions her finger screens, which were previously shown in "Warp Tour", "Marble Madness", "The Return", "Jail Break", "Keeping It Together", and "Friend Ship".
Errors[]
- When Steven is inviting Peridot to hang out with him and Amethyst, the black stars on Amethyst's pants are missing.
- When Peridot is demanding entrance in the ride from Mr. Smiley, Steven's feet are completely colored salmon, as if the shoes he is wearing are close-toed.
- After Peridot said, "Just hurry up and go so you can just hurry up and come back", She has six fingers on her right hand.
- In the Hall of Mirrors, Steven's reflection is shown with his normal appearance while he shapeshifts to have longer legs. However, his pants cover all of his legs in the reflection while not even reaching his knees in reality.
- When Steven, Amethyst, and Peridot lose their last chance to win the "Ring Some Lose Some" game, Peridot's visor disappears while she is placing her hands on her face, then re-appears.
Transcript
View the episode's transcript here.
Gallery
Videos[]
References
- ↑ http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tv/steven-universe-too-short-to-ride/EP016164320410?aid=zap2it
- ↑ http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-wednesday-cable-originals-network-finals-7-20-2016.html
- ↑ http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/steven-universe/summer-adventures-too-short-to-ride-episode.html
- ↑ http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/steven-universe/episodes/season-2.html
- ↑ http://fandom.wikia.com/articles/nycc-steven-universe-gem-harvest