Since Cartoon Network considers this “Steven’s Birthday” week, it makes sense that there’s an episode titled as such. All I know is that I’m happy they picked a week where there wasn’t much else going on.
So, here’s the weird bit; Steven is actually 14. But since he’s only really as old as he feels, he hasn’t aged for roughly 6 years, much to Connie’s surprise. And she thought she was the older of the two of them! The really interesting bit about the episode is that Zach Callison (Steven’s VA) is actually 18, and has a fantastic ability to play younger. Most productions usually get a woman to play a young boy role, since it always sucks when puberty hits one of their primaries like a truck (see: Hey Arnold). So I absolutely have to give props to Zach’s incredible range.
Anyway, Steven overhears Connie talking with Greg about how weird it is that Steven hasn’t grown at all. Seeing Amethyst stretch up to hang a banner gives him a bad idea.
This lets Steven sound slightly more his age. Nothing he has fits, including the shirt Connie got him. But as the day goes on, it’s clear the transformation is wearing on him. When he ducks behind a corner of the barn to revert, Amethyst sees him and warns against doing it any longer or there’s no telling what will happen. He doesn’t listen.
It’s made pretty clear that the Gems don’t understand the whole baby thing. Greg flat out states that he raised Steven until he was old enough to start learning things from them. Makes sense; they’ve proven that they don’t really get the more mundane aspects of human life. Nothing really works to calm him down until Connie talks to him and dispels his fears about not being normal for his age.
When they wake up the next day, Connie is terrified that she can’t find him, imagining he reverted to a zygote. But he’s just back to normal. And that’s it. That’s the whole thing.
Final Thoughts:
- Of course Connie would know what a zygote is.
- I have no idea why they’d send her there with a defibrillator.
- Pretty much an excuse to let Zach Callison perform in his normal speaking voice.
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