Bluebird
Air Date: 12/16/19
Official Synopsis: Steven questions the motives of a mysterious fusion that suddenly shows up at his house.
This episode begins with Steven shooting a commercial for Little Homeschool. We've seen Steven take on this spokesperson role before. In general, commercials and advertisements exist to make you feel like there is some problem or void in your life that needs to be fixed with whatever product or service is being sold. In true advertising fashion, Steven frames Little Homeschool as a solution to problems he assumes Gems have. "Feeling lost without direction from the Diamonds? Come and find your center." Steven is specifically addressing Gems like Jasper and Holly Blue who have resisted the fall of the Diamond empire--although his approach is tone deaf to say the least. His slogan, which gets repeated later in the episode, is "Everyone deserves a chance to change." But he's making the big assumption that any of these Gems see a need to change at all.
After shooting wraps up, Steven immediately falls victim to a series of pranks: someone has put a sign on his back that says "Tell me I smell good," his juice box has been switched out with a container of tomato soup, and someone putting toilet paper on--that is, neatly stacking rolls of toilet paper on top of--the Dondai. It's pretty obvious a Gem has done these, as the pranks come off like they were played by someone who only knows about pranks through Wikipedia or archaeological research and doesn't understand food, social embarrassment, or the special hell of cleaning up unrolled toilet paper.
Upon returning home, Steven finds that the Gems are throwing a welcome party for the newest Gem in town: Bluebird Azurite. Steven immediately recognizes Bluebird as a fusion of Aquamarine and Eyeball Ruby, two of his enemies from the original series whose stories never got wrapped up. He calls an emergency meeting in the bathroom with Greg, Amethyst, Pearl, and Garnet, assuming they don't know who Bluebird is. He knows it was Bluebird who pranked him and is very concerned about having her around, since she both kidnapped him and attempted to kill him in the past. He tells the Gems about Bluebird's pranks, but they're not convinced that Bluebird is out to get Steven. "That was then, this is Bluebird," Garnet says.
Record scratch.
Alright, I will bring this up again in Prickly Pair, but this moment is perhaps the biggest plot hole in all of Steven Universe. We know that Garnet's future vision isn't perfect, and especially the less predictable something is, the less insight she has into future outcomes. I'm not holding Garnet to a standard of perfection here. BUT it's clear by the end of this episode that Bluebird came to Earth with no other purpose than to harm Steven. She clearly has been plotting about this for a while and does everything in her power to make Steven uncomfortable, make him second guess his instincts, and, finally, do real damage to people he loves. There is no way that Bluebird's arrival creates a multiverse of unpredictable possibilities; Bluebird's intentions are transparent and single-minded. Garnet should have been able to see with great clarity where this was going to go.
If there were some greater purpose in Garnet not telling Steven what's going to happen--as there is in Together Forever--I could see it. But nope, Garnet never mentions at the end of the episode that she was surprised by the outcome of Bluebird's behavior or, if she saw it coming, why she didn't intervene earlier. This one just doesn't make sense to me, folks!
Anyway, back to the summary. During the meeting in the bathroom, the only person who expresses sympathy with Steven's point of view is Greg. He tells Steven that it's valid for him to not want Bluebird around. It's at this point that Steven decides to ignore his instincts and acquiesce to the Gems' perspective. I think this moment is a bit of foreshadowing of the dynamic between Greg and Steven explored later in Mr. Universe. But it also shows how motivated Steven is to believe that every Gem can turn to his side. He even repeats his slogan, "Everyone deserves a chance to change," before going back outside and trying to be nice to Bluebird. Social support from Greg might have been enough to persuade Steven to listen to his gut, but since his gut is telling him something he doesn't want to hear, he goes against his better instincts.
Bluebird continues to prank Steven by offering him food she knows he won't like and shaking a can of carbonated apple juice before giving it to him. Over the course of the next day or two, Bluebird messes with Steven's head by putting herself in positions that she knows he'll perceive as threatening but that the other Gems will perceive as supportive, like holding a big knife...to cut up a surprise cake she made for him. After an encounter like this with Bluebird, each of the Gems, and Greg, Steven basically talks himself out of his doubts about Bluebird.
Steven has a rude awakening the next morning, however. Bluebird pranks him in his sleep by drawing an outline of her Gems on his face. Although marking someone's face while they're sleeping is creepy, invasive, and a huge power play, Steven laughs it off as a silly prank. But then Greg's van warps into the living room of Steven's house and Steven hears Greg screaming outside. He tries to tell himself that it's just Greg and Bluebird having fun. Outside, Bluebird is literally holding Greg upside down from the roof, and Steven isn't sure how to interpret what's happening. "Are those screams of fun?" he yells to Greg, who is obviously not having fun.
It's here that Bluebird launches into a well-rehearsed monologue. She tells the story of two Gems beloved for capturing Steven, Homeworld's greatest traitor. "Then they were cast out, forgotten, when the traitor duped all of Homeworld into loving him instead." At this point, Aquamarine and Ruby do their big reveal, only to be disappointed and puzzled that Steven and everyone knew that Bluebird was a fusion of them the entire time. Now that they have nothing to hide, they threaten to hurt Greg unless Steven destroys his home, bubbles his Gem friends, and burns down Little Homeschool.
Steven refuses and Greg sees an opportunity to free himself while Aquamarine holds him up by the hair, grabbing Ruby's knife out of her hand and cutting his hair off. It's at this point, when Steven sees that they've taken something important away from Greg, that he gets angry, turns pink, and proceeds to fight. The Aquamarine and Ruby are having trouble fusing into Bluebird in the heat of battle because they don't have a stronger connection to each other than hatred of Steven. In response, Steven gives them one of his classic heartfelt lectures about love and friendship, which makes them hate him enough to fuse successfully.
I do find it endearing that Bluebird, although powerful in her own right, thinks that she has a chance at defeating Steven. But in this case, Steven doesn't even really need to fight. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl come outside to see what's going on, instantly fuse into Alexandrite, and squish Bluebird. Aquamarine and Ruby retreat into space, defeated but still hating Steven as much as ever. Steven comforts Greg as Greg gives his hair a funeral sendoff into the ocean. Greg says that he's proud of Steven for sticking to his principles even if it didn't work out. It's a nice parental sentiment, but doesn't reflect what Steven actually needed to learn about listening to his gut.
★
In 2019, when this episode aired, the concept of gaslighting was nearing its pop cultural apex. Gaslighting is the main theme of "Bluebird," which is very of its moment. Steven's instincts about Aquamarine and Ruby are correct from the beginning, but the Gems persuade him to dismiss his own valid concerns. This episode doesn't go into detail about the back stories of Aquamarine and Ruby, but it's worth noting that Steven originally faced each of these enemies alone; the Gems weren't really there to see what happened. Perhaps that's why they're so quick to give Bluebird another chance, even though Steven certainly has trauma he's carrying because of them.
But it's not just the Gems who participate in the gaslighting, though. Steven's own motivations are part of this, too. How often do we lie to ourselves because we don't want to accept the truth? Steven wants to believe that every Gem out there accepts the fall of the Diamond Authority and the changes he's fought so hard for. Although he knows Bluebird is up to no good, when Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl try to persuade him that she can change her ways, he caves very quickly.
Finally, Bluebird herself engineers some pretty classic gaslighting. Her pranks have just enough plausible deniability that Steven judges himself for doubting her motives. She also systematically turns his family to her side. But even then, the other characters aren't as fooled. Once Bluebird shows her true colors to Greg, he has no trouble understanding that he's been duped by a Gem with bad intentions. Likewise, once Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl see Bluebird attacking Steven, they squish Bluebird without hesitation. But Bluebird has messed with Steven's head so much that he has a hard time understanding that he and Greg are in danger even when it's obvious.
To successfully gaslight someone, you have to know them well enough to take advantage of their psychological insecurities. Bluebird knows that Steven's greatest weakness is his need to have Gems need his help. The commercial at the beginning of the episode shows that Steven sees the Gems who come to Little Homeschool as projects, rather than people. It's not surprising that Steven is easily persuaded to try and help Gems who hate and want to hurt him. I'm not trying to drag Steven here. Given the events of his childhood and the extreme pressure put on him by his "magical destiny," it only makes sense that he grew up with the belief that in order to be loved, he has to save the universe. But now that the universe doesn't need saving, this trait is a maladaptive one that will cause Steven and those closest to him a lot of grief.
I also want to consider things a bit from the perspective of Aquamarine and Ruby. Yes, they're assholes, no doubt about it. But they've also had their entire world upended. They went from being cherished and respected to being outcast and despised, almost overnight. The person they had been commanded to destroy is now being celebrated as a hero. It must feel like they are being gaslit by every Gem in the universe. No wonder they would want to turn that energy back on Steven.
While "Bluebird" is, to me, one of the weaker episodes in Steven Universe Future, it's also the most direct answer to the critique of the original series that it was unrealistic that Steven persuaded so many enemy Gems to be his friends. But this episode also moves the conversation one step forward by showing the shadow side of Steven's desire to make everyone his friend.