Well, Jamie’s back in today’s Steven Universe, and he managed to beat his record too. Only ten episodes between appearances. This leaves me wondering whether he can go for the hat trick.
Anyway, he’s delivering mail to Steven as usual, except not. He hands Steven a flyer for a community theater play he’s going to be in… and directing, and literally doing everything for. Steven does generic foreign accent 37, and promises to show up to help.
Steven is literally the only person to show up. Jamie points out that some plays literally only have one actor, so they’re already ahead of the game by having two. The difference being that one man shows tend to be written with the fact that there’s only a single actor in mind, and theirs most certainly is not, as Jamie is playing literally every other part. Their play is the masturbatory historical telling of the founding of Beach City by William Dewey. Written by Mayor Dewey. Funded by Mayor Dewey. Of political importance to Mayor Dewey.
Mayor Dewey sits in on their rehearsal, which as depicted above, features a 50 foot William Dewey saving his ship. Also, he has no flaws whatsoever. Jamie tries to convince Mayor Dewey to let them portray more of his ancestor’s character, to no avail. The Mayor is firmly convinced that William Stu Dewey was good at everything on the first try and faced no adversity whatsoever. After Mayor Dewey leaves, Jamie lets Steven know that the script is pure crap, because William Dewey is a flat character with no flaws whatsoever. And changing things is out of the question, since the entire production is wrapped around the Mayor.
Steven returns home to find Pearl sitting on the couch, miserable. Seeing that he’s not happy about the play, she asks if there’s anything she can do to help. He tells her that there isn’t, unless she can make William Dewey interesting, which prompts her to ask how he knows about William Dewey. Steven is going to be him in the play, and decries the [art as boring because he’s perfect and never makes mistakes. Pearl wishes that she never made mistakes, but Steven points out how real people are flawed, and perseverance is a valuable commodity in the face of failure. This finally makes her feel a little better, and she flips through the script, noting that the real William Dewey was nothing like this, because she was actually there.
Pearl revises the script, and Steven takes it to Jamie, who instantly declares it excellent. He notes, however, that they basically have no budget to account for all of the changes, plus Mayor Dewey would have their heads. Steven points out that Jamie was the one that taught him that facing adversity is important to a hero, and Jamie resolves to do it anyway.
Jamie mentions that the play could make or break his career. Steven asks how it could affect his job at the post office, and he revise “career” to”hobby”. Pearl acts like that over-enthusiastic Parent in the audience of a school play. The play itself begs to be seen; lots of cardboard monster limbs and cheap costumes for the added parts of the Crystal Gems, who ultimately save the Dewey expedition. Also, it ends on an election banner for the Mayor.
The audience is appreciative of the more nuanced script, surprising Mayor Dewey. Ever the politician, he spins it to his favor. Jamie basks in the glory of success, and Mayor Dewey offers him the position of lead director of the Beach City community theater, which he accepts immediately. Steve points out Pearl’s involvement with the script, and Dewey gets flustered enough to make an excuse to leave. Pearl notes that she didn’t recall the campaign banner at the end of the script. Steven points out that it’s best to end on a joke to make the audience happy. The episode itself doesn’t, which actually works as a joke for the audience. Very meta.
Final Thoughts:
- Nanefua smacks Jamie right on the ass. Dirty old woman.
- The whole episode raises more than a few good points on how to write characters.
- Mayor Dewey knows a thing or two about bad scripts.
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