Those Little Things - Pt 29
It's been a long time coming. I've had personal stuff to work out but now I'm back to try and get into the habit of making regular posts. I'll be getting back into it proper in the new year but I'm getting this one out as an early Xmas present.
And thank you to all who said they wanted to see these posts return. It means a lot ot me.
Now that's out of the way, We're looking at Episode 39: The Test.
And thank you to all who said they wanted to see these posts return. It means a lot ot me.
Now that's out of the way, We're looking at Episode 39: The Test.
Continuity: the roof is still broken after the Robonoid crashed through it in Episode 36 - Warp Tour.
Steven's home is like my own; we have a lot of off-brand board games too.
"Not That Sorry", a parody of "Sorry";
"Noninvasive Operation", a parody of "Operation";
"Polypoly", a parody of "Monopoly";
and "Don't Wake Father Figure", a parody of "Don't Wake Daddy".
We finally learn the location of the Sea Spire statue, which was shown to us WAY back in Episode 3 - Cheeseburger Backpack. Way back when the show was more random adventures than any story arc.
Garnet, the most encouraging of moms.
I relate to Pearl in a lot of ways but one of the things I probably relate to most is her uncanny ability to stick her foot in her mouth and say the absolutely wrong thing in any situation, especially when actively trying to be helpful
~artemispanthar.tumblr.com/
The giant rolling boulder is an obvious reference to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. A true cultural reference; even if you've never seen the movie, you know where the giant rolling boulder is from.
(Enlarge)
Subtle, only there for a second, maybe less. As Steven leaps, the boulder should have either hit him, or at least scraped his back before he started to swing on the rope.
We think it enters this slow motion shot to show us just how close Steven came to getting hurt. However, watching it back, knowing that the test is rigged, a sharp eyed person might catch that the boulder slows and hesitates. It's very quick, with the camera angle changing just before we have time to work out what's up.
It's something that might register on a subconscious level. Some tiny part of the back of your mind might say "Something was weird there"
Right from the start we were given subtle clues that the dungeons weren't legit.
Pearl's room is similar to many rhythm based puzzles in video games; mostly fantasy based RPG's.
I'm just going to call it references to the Legend of Zelda series, because of the dungeons and puzzles thing along with the fact the show has made multiple references to the Zelda franchise before.
Yet another slow motion shot which we think is to show us how close Steven came to getting hurt. Watch it back andf try and run the scenario in your head and you might notice that the blade should have (had it been real) sliced Steven's leg off. Think on a standard running pose, at one point one of your legs is sticking out behind you. It would have caught Steven, either in the calf or around the heel of his foot, but it would have caught him.
The wiki speculated that the lava and spike-traps in Garnets room may be similar to those found on some levels from Super Mario Bros.
The exterior of the dungeon Steven discovers is similar to 'secret worlds' in video games, where the player can exploit glitches to exit the boundaries of a level. The expanse of black around the dungeon refers to parts of the level that are not occupied by loaded space.
" There’s something just so tragic about this imagery to me, because of like, how exciting they’re trying to make it for him. They set this up for one purpose only: to keep Steven’s confidence high. It’s clear how much they love him, but what becomes even clearer is how unsure they are about raising him. The episode beautifully shifts from being about Steven’s lack of confidence to the Gems’....
Pearl makes it clear why they set it up, and how their intentions were clearly coming from a place of concern. There’s no test he really has to pass because at the core, they do believe in him. Just because he’s not the infallible action hero like he thinks he needs to be doesn’t mean that they don’t see his potential and they don’t appreciate his progress.
Steven is a kid. He’s impatient. And he wants to prove himself. You see where he’s coming from. But what’s important is that now he sees where they are. And all of this leads to Amethyst’s heartbreaking line:
They think they’re failing him, just like he was worried he had done by leaving the statue behind. And Amethyst “internalized guilt is my middle name” continues along this train of thought:
Even Garnet points out that they might not be suited for this. They had motherhood kind of thrust on them, and though they’ve been trying their best, it’s almost never clear if what they’re doing is right.
And the thing is, when Steven hears this, his focus switches from his own insecurities about not being taken seriously to helping the Gems through theirs.
He goes through the course and ends up completely playing along, giving them the “success” they had been trying to give him. It’s a little bit of tragic dramatic irony to witness, because the words he’s offering them are as empty as the feeling of elation he had when successfully dodging the boulder. And yet, we see that everyone’s actions are just rooted in complete love and concern for each other.
So yeah, this episode breaks me a little bit. But it’s also the episode that highlights the foundation on which the entire series is built. And that’s pretty beautiful." ~ gifsandfusings.tumblr.com/
(Enlarge)
The Gems are like three adoptive moms. Steven’s the baby they just don’t know how exactly to take care of, but they really truly want to do their best, and it’s heartbreaking to watch them in that moment of vulnerability as they realize they really don’t know how to handle this....
(Enlarge)
BUT THE CRITICAL MOMENT IS STEVEN.
Steven sees that their confidence is the one that’s broken. He understands what THE GEMS need and recognizes that even if the whole thing was rigged, the Gems made the dungeon to make him feel better. They made it because they’re only doing the best they know how. They love Steven dearly and don’t know how to give him exactly what he needs, but they’re TRYING. And he sees that and gives them exactly what THEY need in return. A little boost of confidence. A little confirmation that they done good and he’s proud of them for doing what they’re doing for him.
THEY’RE TWO HALVES OF A KINDA BROKEN FAMILY AND THEY’RE DOING THEIR BEST TO KEEP EVERYONE TOGETHER AND IT’S JUST SO BEAUTIFUL ~ blackcatula.tumblr.com/
The congratulations scene is a reference to the infamous ending scene of Neon Genesis Evangelion where in each character clapped and individually said congratulations to main protagonist Shinji Ikari with the opening theme song playing in the background.
Taken directly from the Tumblr blog of Ian Jones Quarterly:
In the episode, the gems put together a hastily made dungeon for Steven to walk though- we imagined that it would function like a buggy video game. To top it all off, the gems didn’t even have time to build an outer skybox. SU is a very design intensive show, with tons of unique props and backgrounds in every episode. The Test on the other hand was deliberately limited in scope- it was very important to us that he’s traversing the same location with the same props and effects. To do more with less.
When putting together Steven’s out-of-bounds moment, I really wanted to make sure that the experience felt disorienting and haunting… In the above animatic, the soundtrack is ripped from Arcane Kids’ Bubsy 3D, which was a crew favorite at the time. In the final episode, our composers Aivi and Surrashu made the moment even better(and there’s a subtle secret hidden inside as well.)
At the end of the clip, Steven overhears a conversation that the gems are having. This is a very rare occurrence in the show and I had a blast writing & boarding it with Rebecca! We thought that Amethyst would be the only one honest enough to say “We’re bad at this” and tried to make it feel like an excruciating truth that nobody else could say- they linger in silence for so long before.
This is hands down one of my favorite episodes. The ending, boarded by Katie, is absolutely heartwarming or devastating depending on how you look at it. I feel really lucky that I got to work with such a talented crew to make it a reality.
ianjq.tumblr.com/post/134350782937/the-test-out-of-bounds-animatic-clip-the-annies
I'm going to stop here. While it's short, I feel that was a good place to leave it.
Short but sweet, a nice little gift to you all. Consider it a prelude to the full return of Those Little Things in the new year. Hopefully before the series starts again.
When I return, I will be filling up to the post limit, every time.
Next time we'll kick off with a look at Episode 39- Future Vision
| |
