So apparently we got one more episode in the Summer of Steven event before the show moves into the weekly format, and that is "Know Your Fusion". It's pretty much a straghtforward episode, really.
In "Know Your Fusion", Steven and Amethyst decided to show off their fusion as Smoky Quartz to Garnet and Pearl. The latter two then got a fangasm and they fused into Sardonyx. She then invites Smoky to her room in the temple, which turns out only materializes so long as its respective Gem exists.
Apparently, Sardonyx's room is just one endless running talk show and interviews Smoky, as well as place her in a series of tests to see if she had any qualities of the previous fusions. When Smoky fails every test, she then depreciates herself, making Sardonyx's audience laugh at her. Sardonyx is upset at her audience's reaction, despite them being her own creation, and is unfused, causing the room to collapse. Smoky uses her powers to get everyone out to safety before unfusing herself. Amazed at Smoky's powers, Garnet and Pearl sat down with Steven and Amethyst as the latter two provide the play-by-play, ending the episode.
This episode is a miss for me. At first, I actually thought this provides us into more insight on how fusions work so Steven could use it to his advantage in future stories. But this episode is less about fusions, let alone the plot itself, and more of serving as a social commentary by the Steven Universe staff about the show itself, Cartoon Network, and its fanbase. I'll highlight two of those in this review.
In one scene, Sardonyx comments about how cartoon characters make people buy products, or else her "show" goes off air. This is of course, a reference to how merchandise sales play an integral part of a show's longevity, and not just viewer ratings. Indeed, according to Showbuzz Daily, the Bismuth episode was not only the highest rated episode Steven Universe ever achieved in its history, but also the most watched show on cable at that time. A milestone, for sure. But it's not enough to merit an order for another season.
Merchandise plays a big part too as that's where a good chunk of the revenue comes in. It's the reason why Teen Titans Go remains at the top of the chain within Cartoon Network, despite all the hate. Not only it's getting high ratings, but it's also making a lot of money in merchandise sales because it's a DC property. All those comics, toys, and other stuff from DC that you buy? You're basically supporting Teen Titans Go as part of that money goes to them. Also the Arrow-verse on TV, and the DC Extended Universe, like the recent Suicide Squad movie.
So you want to get rid of Teen Titans Go? Get the ratings to go way down, and boycott the merchandise. Of course, if you do the latter, you're also not supporting DC in general. So for those who want to see Young Justice again, like it or not, you gotta buy all that DC stuff, which also means in effect, partially supporting Teen Titans Go.
Second commentary is one of the tests for Smoky to see if she is as strong as Sugilite. Again, Sardonyx commented on how Sugilite isn't exactly in the episode, but still needs to pay her voice actor, Nicki Minaj, to use her pre-recorded lines. Obviously this is a reference as to why Sugilitie rarely makes an appearance, or at least not have any speaking lines, because the Steven Universe staff don't have the money to pay Nicki Minaj to do those lines and have to pay her big time for the pre-recorded ones. That's how much of a Diva Nicki Minaj is.
I personally never listen to her music, but I don't think Minaj is ever in the same league as Mariah Carey, Madonna, or even Miley Cyrus. And yet she thinks she's the Queen of The World that she charges a very high fee if they want her to do anything - well, you can pretty such say that on most Hollywood celebrities being a cesspool of mega-rich circlejerks. Don't take my word for it, though. It's only my opinion of them, that's all.
If there is anything we ever learned about fusions in this episode, it's that we see the personalities of the differentiating characters mixed and acted out in virtually complete unison. Also, probably because Steven is half-human, his fusions won't be as gigantic as the pure gem-to-gem fusion, with the exception of Garnet. It does make me wonder what would happen if Steven were to fuse with all the Crystal Gems?
So yeah, "Know Your Fusion" is a disappointment, and for the most part, it's an episode that can be skipped, pretty much. That leaves us with three more episodes that is slated to air on a weekly basis up until September 1st. As there is no info on the airdates after that, it's best to assume the series will take another hiatus. If that's the case, I'm personally fine with it. We got well over 20 episodes in the course of a month, so the show does deserve a break and allow time for Sugar and the gang to work on the rest of the episodes.
It is also worth nothing that the show only has less than 50 episodes left in production. Remember that the show was originally ordered for around 150 episodes or so, with each season originally comprised of roughly 50 episodes. Then Cartoon Network divided them further to 24-26 episodes per season. So while "Know Your Fusion" is officially labeled as the 2nd episode of Season 4, if we are to follow the original labelling, we are, technically, in the 2nd episode of Season 3. So believe it or not, we are in the show's final stretch, UNLESS like what happened with Gumball, Cartoon Network orders another set of episodes.
So like Sardonyx said, buy the merchandise. Keep the show's rating in high numbers. And maybe, JUST maybe, it would persuade the top brass of Cartoon Network to give Steven Universe another season. There is one last thing about "Know Your Fusion" that was never answered, though.....
WHO THE %^&$ IS 'JORGE'?!
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