Review: Steven Universe “Cat Fingers”

Spoilers!

We get Steven and Greg cleaning up the Mayor’s van, which devolves to a water fight between the two. The Mayor comes by, and gets it with the hose as well. After the Mayor leaves, Amethyst shoes up, as a cat. Steven naturally wants to learn how to shapeshift as well. After a well thought out mocking of Pearl, Amethyst helps Steven to learn how to shapeshift. He picks a cat as his first shapeshift. After a couple minutes, he changes his finger to a cat head. As he is showing off, he turns all of his fingers into a cat menagerie. However, he learns that he can’t really grab or hold onto anything with cat fingers.

With the other Gems on a mission, Steven is left behind to deal with this. Soon, the cat fingers try to take over. He decides that his dad could help. As it gets worse, Steven realizes that cats hate water. So, he goes through the Super Wash, and all of the cats are gone. Well, except for the one cat finger. But the hose takes care of that. The Gems get back, and Pearl is quick to blame Amethyst, but Garnet puts her back in place, by saying that they all should have more faith in Steven.

This episode was overflowing with cuteness and for a man who hates cats, that speaks volumes. The mixture of Steven’s innocence and the cats may have been the cutest thing to hit animation this week and I’m digging the relationship between Steven and his dad both of whom act more as friends which isn’t a common theme in most animated shows. Parents in cartoons are usually seen as an overbearing force, but Greg seems to be the opposite.  This show also seems to come out of left field for their plot lines, and I am really digging it but, I am still waiting for something to advance the overarching plot.

Another thing that I noticed after tonight’s episode, is how different all of the Gems are. I know I touched on it briefly with the first episode, but I need to go back over this. This is very symbolic of most friendships. You have the one that thinks she is in charge (Pearl), the care-free, fun loving one who does what they want despite what the first one says (Amethyst), the one who just gets business done (Garnet), and finally the derpy, innocent one who is trying to find their own way (Steven). It’s something that you really need to see to understand. Just watch the show, especially if you are looking for something completely off the wall.