Peridot (Shelby Rabara) has made her decision.
(As with “The Answer”, a 12-minute episode that deals with a radical change to the show’s status quo is essentially spoilers from beginning to end, so keep that in mind before reading this review.)
“I can tell you with certainty that there are things on this planet worth protecting!”
At the end of “It Could’ve Been Great” and the beginning of this episode, we weren’t sure if Peridot was going to side with Earth; episode writers Raven M. Molisee and Paul Villeco were definitely willing to lead the audience through the absolute nadir of the Crystal Gems’ relationship with Peridot to get to the last few minutes of “Message Received”.
Many people are already saying that this episode was one in which Peridot “joined the Crystal Gems”, but that’s not wholly accurate. Steven (Zach Callison) and the Crystal Gems — and even Earth itself — have given Peridot music, humor, love, and the dawning realization that she can be seen as the Peridot instead of a Peridot: facet 2F5L, cut 5XG. There was an awareness on her part that in the month she’d spent with the Crystal Gems, she’d become too big to go back to the smallness that had been her life on the Homeworld. As the saying goes, innocence — even the malignant innocence of enslavement — once lost, can never be regained. But at the same time, Peridot couldn’t rid herself of the existential bad faith she’s cultivated that tells her that the prosperity of the empire is the prosperity of the galaxy, and that the Diamonds are enlightened rulers who always make the right decision, if only they have the right information!
Peridot wasn’t trying to join the Crystal Gems in “Message Received”. Her real goal was contrary to Rose Quartz’s (Susan Egan) ideal of an independent Earth and free humans: Peridot wanted to turn Earth into a vassal of the Gem Homeworld’s empire. Earth and humanity would continue to exist, and the Gems could harvest the planet for resources to fuel their galactic conquest. It wouldn’t be improper to say that Peridot’s proposal was just as villainous as Yellow Diamond’s, but limited itself to a pragmatic kind of villainy that would preserve all of the things she appreciated on Earth. Still, it’s apparent to everybody that it’s a non-solution for both parties. And yet, it reveals so much about Peridot’s character that, at the end of her story arc, at the moment where the status quo has to give way, she clutches desperately at an answer that will free her from the responsibility of choosing a future for herself.
So why did Peridot finally burn her bridges with Yellow Diamond (Patti LuPone)? The answer’s so wonderfully in line with Peridot’s fastidious nature, and so wonderfully human. When faced with a spiteful, petty undercutting of her compromise proposal, Peridot’s temper prompts her to respond with a furious outburst and an insult to her god-empress. There’s no heroic choice to be made. There’s no philosophical soul-searching here. Peridot’s anger and frustration made her impulsively seize the right decision and render her an outlaw from the Gem empire latae sententiae.
Steven and the Crystal Gems celebrate Peridot’s defection at the end of the episode, but Peridot’s decision hasn’t magically made her a good person. It hasn’t made her free in her own mind. It hasn’t made her strong. But it’s a continuing motif in Peridot’s character arc that being good, free, and strong aren’t things that you are; they’re choices made in the moment. Now, with the end of the character arc for Peridot, the Homeworld Gem, the new one for Peridot, the Crystal Gem, begins. I suspect that in the coming seasons, that arc is going to deal heavily with Peridot’s choices and what they mean to her.
Why am I giving this episode a nine out of ten? I generally consider eight to be the upper ceiling for episodes, but this episode was special: it’s the ideal culmination of Peridot’s character arc over the last two seasons. “Message Received” doesn’t stoop to Saturday morning cartoon-level platitudes about how love and courage made Peridot become a hero. Yes, Steven’s love definitely helped Peridot to see the value in Earth, but the episode never betrays Peridot’s complex character. It’s her flaws — her easily triggered outrage and her harsh sense of utilitarianism — that really save her. I don’t want to give this episode a ten (despite tossing it up in my head) because this episode, despite being a masterful look at a complex character, is almost completely Peri’s show; very little time is spent on the other characters. The “ten out of ten” episodes of Steven Universe are ones capable of absolute symphonies of character complexity and development (“Rose’s Scabbard”, “Sworn to the Sword”, and “Cry for Help”, for example), and while “Message Received” is an exceptional episode full of unexpected humor and on-point character development, it’s still a solo.
I will note, as a final aside for this episode, that one other character did manage to catch my attention. I’m sure that the Amedot crowd — Amethyst (Michaela Dietz) and Peridot for the unchurched — will be interested in knowing that Amethyst seemed to be the Crystal Gem most personally hurt and outraged by Peridot’s betrayal at the beginning of the episode. I think that because of her parallels to Amethyst, Peridot’s become Amethyst’s friend and counterpart in a way that the older Gems and Steven and the humans can’t quite equal. It’s definitely of interest to me to see what their relationship looks like in the future.