Review: Steven Universe “Off Colors”

Lars the MVP.

Spoilers Below:

The palanquin crashes, but both Steven and Lars are alive. They’re both starving and wonder how they’ll survive when a probe comes after them. It scans Steven’s gem and becomes hostile, shooting lasers at them. They run, and Lars says that he’s tired of being scared all the time. He says that he never had the guts to stick up for anyone, including himself. Steven tells him to not be so hard on himself, and then they see a Gem beckoning for them down a hole. The probe returns and they escape through there.

The new Gem, two Rutile Twins, leads them to safety, to a massive abandoned Kindergarten. There they meet other fusions, Rhodonite, Padparadscha, and a giant Fluorite. Fluorite explains that gems like them aren’t needed because they are either fusions or seen as flawed by Homeworld. They have to hide, or else they’ll be shattered.

Three probes enter the Kindergarten, having followed them down, and all the gems hide. The scanners nearly catch the twins, and Lars throws a rock at them to distract them. When the scanners pass over Lars without recognizing him, due to him not having a gem, Steven realizes that Lars is invisible to them. Lars pulls Padparadscha out of the way when she is recognized, and Steven equips his shield to help fend them off. The probes’ lasers reflect off the shield, and Lars defends Rhodonite before breaking the last remaining probe. The explosions send him into a pillar of rock, where he lands hard and unresponsive.

Steven, realizing that the fall killed him, begins to weep. His tears fall on Lars’ body, which revives him but also turn him pink.

Overview:

Lars is definitely the star of this episode. He berates himself for his continuous cowardice, but as it turns out, being human was exactly what was needed to save the day. Without a gem, he’s invisible to the scanners, and is able to act as a shield, and attack them without them noticing. He sympathizes with the Off-Colors’ plight about hiding for their whole lives and works to save them from certain doom. For the first time ever, he becomes a hero, but it costs him his life.

So far, Lars has since been recognizable, but not overly significant. However, when pushed to be, he has just as much heroism as everyone else. He’s scared and unconfident, but he’s by no means a bad person.