“Thank you.”

I’ve said before that my favorite moment of Steven Universe is the end of Winter Forecast, when Steven and Connie watch the snow fall. Well, it turns out Lamar Abrams has a knack for pulling my heartstrings through precipitation, because Peridot walking into the rain might be my second favorite.

Where the snow scene’s magic is in its silence, Aivi and Surasshu get a chance to work their magic in the rain scene. Their string-backed score begins with quiet chippy droplets as we zoom in on Peridot’s hand, which intensify as she tentatively tests the water (the animation here is gorgeous), and builds to a cathartic climax as she finally takes her first steps into a new world, with a wonderfully ambiguous streak of water running down her cheek.



(Oh, also, uh, hey there Pearl.)

As Peridot mulls over what to do next, we get a new melody that eases into a mellow remix of her tense main theme, showing an even greater shift in her personality than her bubbly but similarly anxious cute theme—we’ll get an even mellower lo-fi remix after a few years of cooling down. That transition to her theme comes right before she stops hemming and hawing (more fantastic animation) and thanks Steven.

Peridot’s expression of gratitude isn’t as memorable as “Wow, thanks” will be, but think back to Lapis Lazuli. The first thing she says when she’s released in Mirror Gem is “Thank you.” The first thing she says when Steven heals her in Ocean Gem is “Thank you.” Now Peridot, who has spent half the show’s runtime at this point as an antagonist, is saying “Thank you.” And in Earthlings, thirty episodes in the future, after sharing what she loves about Earth to Jasper in the same way Steven does for her now, the arc that begins right here concludes with a triumphant “You’re welcome!”

It’s one thing for Peridot to have joined Steven through necessity, but When It Rains is the moment she actually befriends him. Earth confuses her, and it’s natural for confusion to lead to fear, so it makes sense that hearing her first thunderstorm would lead to her freaking out about the end of the world, especially given the actual impending world-ender beneath them. Steven first explains through facts what rain is, but when that’s not working, he addresses what she actually wants: a sense of safety. He doesn’t just tell her everything’s going to be fine after appealing to her well-established affinity of information and data, he demonstrates it by playing outside. And I’d imagine that’s the first time anyone has helped her this way.



Peridot values logic, but we already know she’s an emotional being from how frazzled she gets. Soon we’ll see that her idol, Yellow Diamond, is similarly driven by emotion despite her cold facade. Steven Universe’s messages about the power of kindness are given a new light when we introduce a character who has never experienced it; Steven has plenty of information about Earth, but presents it with emotion and enthusiasm and empathy that Peridot has never gotten from a screen.

(I do think there’s also a message in there about not letting solo screen time get in the way of your relationships, but it’s subtle and the lesson the crew is going for is far broader than that. That said, maybe talk to someone in person after reading this essay on the internet?)

If there’s one area where this new dynamic falls short, and it’s really minor, it’s when Steven is explaining where he comes from. Peridot is fascinated by his origins, but when he refers to “The Ballad of Rose and Greg,” Peridot immediately cuts him off with an “I don’t care.” I know it’s a joke, but really? Peridot, who soaks up information like a sponge and literally just asked “How is that possible?” doesn’t care? This seems like something she’d care about!

Still, I love the ways Steven helps Peridot out while they explore Kindergarten. When I first watched When It Rains, her outsized reaction to him tugging away a panel that she couldn’t move made me think she might be playing him, but nope, she’s just really impressed! These physical acts of assistance aren’t explicitly referenced when they get to talking about the episode’s moral of everyone needing help sometimes, which makes them work that much more smoothly.



Steven and Peridot’s encounter with the Cluster Gems continues the conversation they have about Steven and Greg not knowing everything by showcasing just how passive Steven’s powerset is. While he does eventually figure out how to weaponize his shield and bubble, it’s a great reminder of how different our hero is from other fantasy protagonists. He isn’t useless by any stretch, but he’s necessarily part of a team, and can’t do much but stall without help.

By the way, I am positive Garnet manipulated this situation into occurring. She adjusts her glasses in a familiar way when she tells Steven to keep an eye on Peridot, and saves the two of them just before things get really bad. Moreover, she knows Steven well enough at this point that she wouldn’t even need future vision to predict he’d turn Peridot, especially because the remaining Crystal Gems had exhausted all other avenues and Peridot’s clearly okay sharing her bunker with Steven when he asks nicely.



This interpretation doesn’t cast too bad a light on Garnet, though; I like how it continues the show’s trend of leaders, even friendly ones, making choices that might not be the most ethical. It obviously works out in the end, but reading Garnet’s actions as manipulative gives a neat insight into how adults occasionally do what they think is best for kids through deception.

Regardless, this episode soars for being so sweet. Garnet’s vital message to Steven before the Gems warp out is that she loves him (even at my most cynical I’d never call this part manipulation), and his ensuing aw shucks dismissal is soon accompanied in the pantheon of Great Steven Reactions by the starry smile above after he convinces Peridot to hold hands for their trip. Peridot’s earnestness can be hilarious (look how badass she thinks she is when it comes to reading reports), but she just so sincerely believes that Steven has all the answers and she’s finally on the right track that it breaks your heart a little. I often use the Steven Universe wiki’s fan-maintained transcripts to help me get quotes exactly right, and was surprised to see Peridot’s smile when she says “It’s you, Steven” transcribed as malevolent. I suppose it might look that way on its own, but between the context of the scene and Shelby Rabara’s read, I’ve always seen it as an expression of determination. Steven has given Peridot something she hasn’t had since she crashed on Earth: hope.

Oh yeah, by the way, underneath all that lame character-building stuff we finally learn what the Cluster, which has been teased since all the way back in Jailbreak, actually is: the gigantic, cataclysmic result of the experiments that created the mutant Cluster Gems (which, I should note, are called Gem Mutants primarily in-universe so as not to ruin the surprise). It’s brilliant to tie in these mutants, easily the most consistently unnerving monsters on this show, with the cosmic horror of a beast incubating in the Earth that will grow into a planet-busting atrocity. Just saying “it’s a big big space monster” is a generic threat, but associating it with things we’re already disturbed by gives the Cluster some immediate emotional oomph. Kind of like how knowing that rain isn’t dangerous doesn’t get as strong a reaction as seeing someone playing in it.

We’ve seen time and again from Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl how stubborn Gems can be, and Peridot is no different. One might argue that she only changes her mind on letting Steven and his friends help out of pure rationality: they’re the only resources she has left, and if the choice is siding with them or getting blown up, the only logical choice is the former. But that’s not what When It Rains is about. It’s about how a little kindness goes a long way, especially if it’s done without the pursuit of reward.

This, more than Catch and Release, is Steven’s Peridot Episode, soon to be joined by Pearl’s in Back to the Barn, Amethyst’s in Too Far, and Garnet’s in Log Date 7 15 2. The thing about these episodes is that they touch on the big Season 2/3 character arcs for Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl (coping with toxic views on fusion, self-image problems, and self-worth issues, respectively—and yes, poor self-image and low self-worth are slightly different in this context), but they aren’t really about Garnet, Amethyst, or Pearl. They’re about how Peridot relates to these struggles and grows as a person. She certainly does in all three, but she never grows more than in When It Rains. Peridot might be mean-spirited and aggressive, and she’s not done making mistakes, but she never takes advantage of genuine kindness. She immediately accepts it and responds with gratitude, even if it’s from people she hates, and that’s what makes her a hero.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!



I didn’t plan to have Winter Forecast and Catch and Release right next to each other but it’s sort of perfect that I can slip When It Rains right between them. Important precipitation meets Peridot!

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