He’s back. After a week of new episodes back in January, the show once again went into another hiatus but has returned with a 4 week event called “In too deep.” The event begins with two new episodes. In Super Watermelon Island, Malachite (the fusion of Jasper and Lapis Lazuli) has returned and it’s up to the Crystal Gems to fuse together to stop her. In the second episode, Gem Drill, Steven and Peridot have no choice but to dig towards the huge weapon known as the Cluster in hopes of finding a way of stopping it from destroying the Earth.
The two episodes deliver lots of action, some satisfying and some not. Fans have been waiting for a while to watch Malachite return and use her destructive power against Steven and the team and they will not be disappointed (providing they didn’t watch the sneak preview clip for the episodes weeks ago). The action with the Cluster thought is a bit of a let down. Instead of getting the great destroyer of worlds which was built up for several episodes, Steven finds a solution and the danger is fixed relatively easy. Maybe the Cluster will find a way to be a threat in later episodes but for now it’s fixed in a neat and proper way tied up with a bow.
The two episodes do dig into some creepy territory with the images they portray. First it’s revealed the Watermelon creatures were selecting one amongst them, dressing it up to look like Steven and making sacrifices to Malachite in an effort to keep her from rampaging. This is followed up by Steven having a mind trip as he gets closer to the Cluster and begins to see the screaming faces of the souls of the gem fragments which seem to talk in unison through lens flare. It’s moments like this which make is hard to believe it’s supposed to be a kid’s show.
There is a lot to be enjoyed here for fans but overall this was a bit of a disappointment. Hopefully with Lapis Lazuli back and Jasper still out there, the other three parts of the event will be more entertaining. For know though, it might be better to not watch anymore previews or risk spoiling the best parts of the episodes.