The Steven Universe Podcast: Steven Selects episode 3, hosted by McKenzie Atwood, covers the episodes “Mirror Gem" and "Ocean Gem.”
It’s the third of an eight-part series of spotlights on fan favorite episodes. The guests are Matt Burnett and Ben Levin. The official description:
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Steven Universe writers Matt Burnett and Ben Levin talk about the two-parter, “Mirror Gem / Ocean Gem.” Discover what changed about the episode from origination to completion, the injury that Greg was supposed to sustain, the Gems big fight scene, the development of Lapis’ personality, and the many callbacks to previous episodes that were worked into this two-parter. Plus, Matt and Ben answer fan questions including music that inspires their writing, why the show doesn’t feature many pop culture references or puns, and how they view collaborate with storyboard artists in general.
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Outline:
Matt and Ben acknowledge that they hadn’t necessarily intended this to be a two-parter, but for most of the development they realized they’d need two episodes to tackle it. Initially they thought it would be an even bigger deal, with elements later incorporated into “Jailbreak,” but they decided to push that out.
They say by episode 25 the audience has kind of accepted the status quo of the show: Gems exist on Earth, they fight monsters and have adventures. So “Mirror Gem” was supposed to help you question WHY are there monsters and whether there are more Gems than those we’ve met. They decided it would be more satisfying for the audience if they could see more of the steps in between, which is why they created a story where the Homeworld Gems could find out something is still going on on Earth, partly through the inclusion of Lapis. They initially thought Lapis would arrive as early as episode 13, or that episode 26 might be the end of the series since they’d only had an order of 26 at first. But eventually they figured out how to best pace it for the most satisfaction.
McKenzie asks Ben and Matt about the changes from conception to completion. Apparently an early image was the water tower, drawn on a post-it. And an early idea that got cut was that Mayor Dewey was supposed to sing a song about summer instead of the speech he gave in the final version, and Steven’s shout of “noooo!” that Lapis would use was from Steven shrieking about how horrible the song was. Paul changed it to Mayor Dewey making a speech that got turned into fart jokes. They maintained Lapis liking the fart jokes throughout, because she was amused by this early on. They said it was difficult to map out people saying the words Lapis would need to use later for her messages.
Another idea that was scrapped was that Greg would lose his leg, and from then on he would have a robot leg. They scaled it back to him just breaking his leg. They do sometimes discuss whether Greg should be involved in a battle and then they bring him back out because they love Greg representing the pure human side of Steven’s life. They do sometimes talk about giving him a laser gun. ;)
Matt and Ben made sure to hit certain elements with this two-part mid-season finale, and some of that was about including important characters like Greg and Lion, while it was also about showing off Steven’s three (at the time) big powers: healing, protective bubbles, and using his shield. They had to build on many elements, like the monsters’ existence, what happens with a cracked Gem, and that Gems can be poofed and reform. And Connie’s relationship with Lion, initially built in Lion 2, is important here because it’s Connie and Lion who save Steven while he’s falling. This episode set has many great payoffs and references to other episodes. They know this episode set really shows off how things track, build on themselves, include real details that people who love that stuff can pay attention to.
McKenzie asked about alternate endings to “Ocean Gem,” and they said it would have always ended with Lapis leaving but they might have given Garnet a less ambiguous ending line if they hadn’t gotten another set of episodes ordered. They felt comfortable leaving it open with “we wait and see” knowing they’d have more time to tell us. Lapis’s awkward goodbye was always part of the plan, and Jeff was the one who added the “Bob” joke and Lapis’s disgusted shiver when she was getting healed. Joe boarded the big fight.
McKenzie comments about Lapis’s incredible power, being able to hold this tower up while fighting the Gems with doppelgangers, and Lapis was a game-changer due to the level of her powers.
They also reveal that Lapis probably only kidnapped some of the Atlantic Ocean or whatever ocean is along the Delmarva seaboard. McKenzie asked if Lapis cared that Steven would fall from the tower if she left, and the writers said she probably didn’t even think about it. She cared more about leaving and her self-preservation. She also doesn’t really understand humans’ limitations or what would happen to him if he fell.
Fan questions:
Question: What is good music to help write to?
Answer: They mostly just talk in a room to plan an episode, but listening to music that’ll accompany a fight or a scene can help picture moments. Mostly movie soundtracks. Actual writing process doesn’t mix too well with music–it’s more of a distraction.
Question: Is localization ever considered when figuring out what’s appropriate to write?
Answer: Sometimes they do think about what other countries will think, like with the baseball episode, not everyone’s familiar with how baseball works. They worked in an explanation to the episode. They don’t struggle with pop culture references because they don’t use any that need to be understood, but puns usually don’t work too well in translation, and they don’t worry about it. Certain phrases might be adjusted to avoid meaning something unintentional, or they’ll edit out characters spitting.
Question: What are the biggest differences with animation writing?
Answer: Writing should really be done however is best for you regardless of medium, because you can’t really write “for animation” without animating it. Just write the story you want to do, and don’t worry too much about making it feel like it’s animation at the writing stage. They focus on the story structure and beats. Basically just leave it open for animation to elevate the action.
The next podcast features Ben and Matt on the show again to discuss “Monster Reunion.”
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