What i noticed first in this episode was the color coding. Steven wears a light pink, puffy jacket while Connie wears a dark green hoodie (which made her look like Link, even more with the sword :D ). I like to think they consciously reversed the colors on them to contradict mainstream gender roles. This even more reflects in the dynamic of Connie and Steven, not only in this episode. When Steven got stuck in the snow after he rolled down the hill, Connie offers him help and he takes it. That is only a small gesture, but it isn't often in any show, even more in cartoons, that the male protagonist takes the help of his female sidekick. Connie is not only the girl, that is dragged along, she is a vital part of the team. She has the fighting and snowboarding skills. She is determined. In the end the whole story arc wasn't about Steven but about Connie and her relationship to Pearl. I really love to see her in episodes, because every time her story arc is as much important as Steven's. I think the whole episode is about realizing you need and asking for help. Stevens accepts Connie's help to get out of the snow and in a bigger arc Connie realizes she needs help with the monster, and calls Pearl. In any other show it would play out like this: Connie overestimates her strength and ability and tries to take on the monster until in the last second she is saved by Pearl and then Pearl teaches her about taking help etc. But Pearl told them already they should call her when they are in danger. It really angers me, when plots are woven around the fact that a team doesn't hear on each other, but the in this case it is the opposite. Again SU tries to go new ways in terms of story telling and character building. Also i really like Connie's relationship to her parents. In a lot of cartoons, parents are antagonists or at least hurdles that the kid protagonist has to overcome to advance in the plot. I think this is because kids often see their parents this way and so they can connect easily to it. But Connie has a strong bond to her parents, and naturally shows them all her pictures of her adventure. It doesn't come to her to have secrets before her parents. And why should she? They are her parents and only wish the best for her, even if the best is to fight monsters with a sword. I think it is okay to have secrets from parents but it is also important to show in such cartoons that healthy parent-kid-relationship is based on trust and truth.
Review by vanilla_chiefVIP 7BlockedParentSpoilers2016-08-02T12:15:05Z
What i noticed first in this episode was the color coding. Steven wears a light pink, puffy jacket while Connie wears a dark green hoodie (which made her look like Link, even more with the sword :D ). I like to think they consciously reversed the colors on them to contradict mainstream gender roles. This even more reflects in the dynamic of Connie and Steven, not only in this episode. When Steven got stuck in the snow after he rolled down the hill, Connie offers him help and he takes it. That is only a small gesture, but it isn't often in any show, even more in cartoons, that the male protagonist takes the help of his female sidekick. Connie is not only the girl, that is dragged along, she is a vital part of the team. She has the fighting and snowboarding skills. She is determined. In the end the whole story arc wasn't about Steven but about Connie and her relationship to Pearl. I really love to see her in episodes, because every time her story arc is as much important as Steven's.
I think the whole episode is about realizing you need and asking for help. Stevens accepts Connie's help to get out of the snow and in a bigger arc Connie realizes she needs help with the monster, and calls Pearl. In any other show it would play out like this: Connie overestimates her strength and ability and tries to take on the monster until in the last second she is saved by Pearl and then Pearl teaches her about taking help etc. But Pearl told them already they should call her when they are in danger. It really angers me, when plots are woven around the fact that a team doesn't hear on each other, but the in this case it is the opposite. Again SU tries to go new ways in terms of story telling and character building.
Also i really like Connie's relationship to her parents. In a lot of cartoons, parents are antagonists or at least hurdles that the kid protagonist has to overcome to advance in the plot. I think this is because kids often see their parents this way and so they can connect easily to it. But Connie has a strong bond to her parents, and naturally shows them all her pictures of her adventure. It doesn't come to her to have secrets before her parents. And why should she? They are her parents and only wish the best for her, even if the best is to fight monsters with a sword. I think it is okay to have secrets from parents but it is also important to show in such cartoons that healthy parent-kid-relationship is based on trust and truth.