Why I Really Enjoyed Escapism

singlepalerose:

There’s been some divided opinions in the fandom about whether the episode was good or not, so I’d like to share my own thoughts. 

The thing that struck me most about Escapism was it’s soft melancholy and exhaustion. Thats entirely what it’s trying to convey; Escapism is about Steven’s mental state after all of the gem drama going on. It’s his longing to return to being a child.

“We never should have come here. This whole plan – what was I thinking?”

We start off the episode with a sour note. Stevonnie is trapped inside of gem jail, with nothing they can do for themselves that would help their situation. After un-fusing, Steven says (above^). He’s already accepted his defeat against White and failure to save the Corrupted Gems. Steven just wants to throw in the towel. Can we blame him?

When Steven arrives on Watermelon Island, like others have pointed out, everything is a metaphor for the fight between the Crystal Gems and Homeworld. Steven is thrust into the middle of their conflict, and wanted on both sides of the war. He tries to signal to them for help, but they are too wrapped up in their own pointless fighting that they hardly notice his calls. This applies both to his struggle in the episode and his feelings and position in gem conflicts.

Steven then manages to escape Watermelon Island, but he is afterward pummelled by a storm, attacked by a shark, and beginning to rot. Steven is utterly exhausted at this point, but he has to keep moving on for everyone’s sake. A soft guitar plays in the background, and Escapism (the song) starts to play. 

I really like how the lack of dialogue is used in this scene. The expressions are all we need to understand what’s going on, and the music playing keeps the scene emotional. It reminds me of the ending scene in Rose’s Scabbard, where they used the same trick. 

Steven is on his last legs (literally), desperately trying to explain to his family what’s going on before his body gives out. 

“I’d rather be free,
Free,
Free from here.”

This part of the song really hammers in the message that Escapism was trying to send. Everyone, collectively the fans and the gems in the show, need to realize that Steven is just a child that was born into a danger that he never chose to be a part of. The Crewniverse purposely chose the silliest way they could convey this to us – through a Watermelon Steven episode, which actually helps to show us how everything in Steven’s life has been affected by the gem war. Watermelon Stevens, which were in Season 1 solely silly characters are now becoming part of the overarching narrative as even their society has plunged into war. 

Escapism reminds us that the show will never be the same as Season 1 – Steven’s (and Connie’s) life and world will never be the same. He’s struggling to grapple with that. He can’t return to being a child anymore, his ‘freedom’ has been taken from him.