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"Jail Break" is the 49th episode of the first season of American
animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
television series ''
Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who lives with the Crys ...
'', which premiered on March 12, 2015 on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
. The episode was written and storyboarded by Joe Johnston, Jeff Liu, and series creator
Rebecca Sugar Rebecca Rea Sugar (born July 9, 1987) is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and musician. She is best known for being the creator of the Cartoon Network series ''Steven Universe'', making her the first non-binary person to in ...
. The episode acts as a continuation of the arc started in the previous episode, "The Return", and the two aired alongside each other as a two-part special. Both episodes were watched by 1.697 million viewers. The episode covers Steven's attempt to save the Gems from the captivity of Peridot and Jasper, two Homeworld Gems leading a scouting mission on Earth. The episode reveals that
Garnet Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. Garnet minerals, while sharing similar physical and crystallographic properties, exhibit a wide range of chemical compositions, de ...
is a fusion, and introduces the characters Ruby and Sapphire, Garnet's component Gems. The romantic relationship between Ruby and Sapphire has been interpreted one of the ways in which ''Steven Universe'' provides LGBT representation.


Plot

Having been knocked unconscious by Jasper (
Kimberly Brooks Kimberly Brooks is an American voice actress. Brooks has voiced characters in video games since the mid-1990s. She has played the voice of Luna in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise as part of The Hex Girls, Ashley Williams in the ''Mass Effect'' s ...
) in the previous episode, Steven (
Zach Callison Zachry Dean Callison (born October 23, 1997) is an American actor and singer. He is primarily known as the voice of the titular character Steven in the ''Steven Universe'' franchise. Career Callison began acting on television in 2009, with ...
) awakens in a prison cell on the Gem warship. The door of the cell is a force field which can neutralize the strength of any Gem; but Steven is able to pass through it unharmed. While searching for the Crystal Gems, Steven comes across an unfamiliar Gem, Ruby (
Charlyne Yi Lo Mutuc, born Charlyne Yi (January 4, 1986), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and writer, known for their role as Dr. Chi Park in the Fox medical drama ''House'' (2011–2012), and for providing the voices of the Rubies in the Cartoon ...
), and disrupts the force field with his body so she can escape. He then helps her search for her companion Sapphire (
Erica Luttrell Erica Luttrell is a Canadian actress. Personal life Luttrell was born in Toronto, Ontario to a Tanzanian/African mother and a white American father. Luttrell is the youngest of four sisters. Because of mixed-language, she can speak some French ...
) by following the sound of her singing. Steven and Ruby encounter Lapis Lazuli ( Jennifer Paz), but she insists that Steven leave her in her cell to avoid exacerbating their current problems. As Steven and Lapis talk, Ruby runs off in impatience. Steven finds Sapphire and frees her from her cell. Soon, Ruby and Sapphire meet up again; as they happily reunite, to Steven's surprise, Ruby and Sapphire
fuse Fuse or FUSE may refer to: Devices * Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current ** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles * Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protec ...
into Garnet ( Estelle). She sends Steven to find Amethyst (
Michaela Dietz Michaela Dietz (born November 1, 1982) is an American voice actress whose professional career started in 2005. She voiced the character of Riff on the PBS children's television series ''Barney & Friends'', Amethyst on the Cartoon Network televisi ...
) and Pearl (
Deedee Magno Hall Deedee Magno Hall (born April 2, 1975) is an American actress. She is best known for her work in the pop group The Party (band), The Party, and as the voice of Pearl (Steven Universe), Pearl in the ''Steven Universe'' franchise. Early life Magn ...
) and free them from their cells. After he leaves, Jasper confronts Garnet. As they fight, Garnet sings the song "Stronger Than You", celebrating the power of Ruby and Sapphire's relationship. Meanwhile, Steven, Amethyst and Pearl overpower Peridot ( Shelby Rabara) and take control of the ship. Garnet and Jasper's battle destroys the ship's power core, causing the ship to crash-land onto Earth as Peridot flees in an
escape pod ''Escape Pod'' is a science fiction podcast magazine produced by Escape Artists, Inc. It proclaims itself "the world's leading science fiction podcast". The present co-editors are Mur Lafferty and Valerie Valdes. While episodes are free, the ...
. After the ship hits Earth's surface, the Crystal Gems, Jasper, and Lapis emerge from the wreckage. Jasper convinces Lapis to fuse with her to defeat the Crystal Gems. However, once they fuse into Malachite, Lapis uses her water powers to drag the fusion into the ocean and subdue Jasper. The episode ends with Steven receiving a frantic phone call from Connie (
Grace Rolek Grace Sakura Rolek (born October 10, 1997) is an American actress. She is best known for voicing Connie Maheswaran, Steven's best friend and eventual girlfriend on the Cartoon Network animated series ''Steven Universe'' (2013–2019) and its two f ...
).


Production

Episodes of ''Steven Universe'' are written and storyboarded by a single team. "Jail Break" was written by Joe Johnston, Jeff Liu, and series creator
Rebecca Sugar Rebecca Rea Sugar (born July 9, 1987) is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and musician. She is best known for being the creator of the Cartoon Network series ''Steven Universe'', making her the first non-binary person to in ...
, and directed by co-executive producer
Ian Jones-Quartey Ian Jones-Quartey (born June 18, 1984) is an American animator, storyboard artist, writer, director, producer, and voice actor. He is the creator of the animated series '' OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'', based on his Cartoon Network pilot ''Lakewood ...
, while Ki-Yong Bae and Jin-Hee Park provided animation direction, and Elle Michalka served as
art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...
. In the combat scene between Jasper and Garnet, Jasper's fighting style pays homage to the video game character
Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...
. Johnston indicated on his blog that Ruby and Sapphire's fusion dance is a reference to a dance between Pazu and Sheeta in ''
Castle in the Sky also known as ''Laputa: Castle in the Sky'', is a 1986 Japanese animated fantasy adventure film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was produced by Isao Takahata, animated by Studio Ghibli, and distributed by Toei. The film stars t ...
'', and that the series often references
Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...
films. The fact that Garnet was a fusion had been previously foreshadowed; for example, in "Coach Steven", the fusion Sugilite (Amethyst and Garnet) is shown to have three gems rather than two. Sugar had intended for Garnet to be a fusion since the show's pilot episode.


Music

The episode features the song "Stronger Than You", written by Rebecca Sugar and arranged by
Aivi & Surasshu Aivi & Surasshu (stylized as aivi & surasshu) are an electronic composer duo, composed of pianist Aivi Tran and electronic artist Steven "Surasshu" Velema. They are known for composing soundtracks, including that of Cartoon Network's animated s ...
, the music team for the series. The song was performed by Estelle as Garnet, and includes strings performed by Jeff Ball. Steven Velema (Surasshu of Aivi & Surasshu) wrote that Estelle's vocals were originally recorded over a demo by Jeff Liu. Sugar wanted the duo to create an arrangement "to capture the feeling of 'there's no way arnetcould lose'". In order to "emphasize" Garnet's new form, they changed the
timbre In music, timbre (), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes sounds according to their source, such as choir voices and musical instrument ...
of the bass, which represents Garnet in the series.


Themes

The episode has been cited as an important example of LGBT representation in children's media because of the relationship between Ruby and Sapphire. Writer Joe Johnston clarified that the two are romantically involved and Jones-Quartey specified that their relationship could be considered
lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
. An
Autostraddle Autostraddle is a queer and trans-owned online magazine and social network for lesbian, bisexual, and queer women ( cis and trans), as well as non-binary people and trans people of all genders. The website is a "politically progressive queer fem ...
article compares their relationship and fusion to a marriage, where "two parts
ake Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The n ...
one whole". The relationship was also compared to similar lesbian relationships in other
animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...
, such as ''
Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...
'' and ''
The Legend of Korra ''The Legend of Korra'' (abbreviated as ''TLOK'' and also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra'' or more rarely simply as ''Korra'') is an American animated Fantasy television, fantasy action drama television series created by Michael Dante ...
''. The episode also explores the power of "partnership, love, and community over power-based hierarchy", according to Vrai Kaiser, writing for
The Mary Sue Daniel Abrams (born May 20, 1966) is an American media entrepreneur, television host, and author. He is currently the host of '' On Patrol: Live'' on Reelz, and ''The Dan Abrams Show: Where Politics Meets The Law'' on SiriusXM's P.O.T.U.S. cha ...
. This is represented in the fight between Jasper and Garnet, which is also a performance by voice actor Estelle of the song "Stronger Than You". In the scene, Garnet represents love—specifically, between two gay
non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...
individuals—which creates her "emotional balance" and strength. Eric Thurm elaborates on this point, noting that Jasper's quote, "Fusion is just a cheap tactic to make weak Gems stronger", can be interpreted as a criticism of emotional relationships. This makes the physical fight abstractly represent "a contest between Jasper's lone-wolf warrior ideology and Garnet's harmony between two people". According to Thurm, Garnet's victory supports the "thesis statement" of the series, which is that "loving relationships are the most important thing in life". The episode acts as a turning point for the show because of how Steven's relationship with the Gems changes. According to Sugar, what interviewer Lan Pitts calls "a more serious tone" in episodes following "Jail Break" stems from the fact that Steven has become a more "equal" and capable member of the Crystal Gems. Sugar states that after this point, it almost "becomes another show".


Broadcast and reception

"Jail Break" premiered on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
on March 12, 2015. 1.697 million viewers watched its initial American broadcast and the episode received a Nielsen household rating of 0.4, meaning 0.4% of all households viewed it. It aired as part of a programming event advertised as a "Stevenbomb", in which new episodes aired every day for five consecutive days. In order to give the Stevenbomb a strong plot arc, several episodes written as part of the first season were postponed to air as part of the second season, after the Stevenbomb. Thus, although "Jail Break" was written as the 52nd episode of the first season, it was the 49th episode to air. The episode received positive attention from critics, both for its animation quality and the song "Stronger Than You", performed by Estelle voicing the character Garnet. Writing for
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
, Eric Thurm called the song "funky as hell". Estelle also received praise for the strength carried in her succinct lines of dialogue. The episode was nominated twice at the
43rd Annie Awards The 43rd Annual Annie Awards honoring excellence in the field of animation of 2015 was held on February 6, 2016, at the University of California, Los Angeles's Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California, presenting in 36 categories. This year, a new ...
, in the categories of Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production For Children's Audience and Outstanding Achievement, Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production. However, it did not win either category.


References


External links

* {{Steven Universe Steven Universe episodes 2015 American television episodes American LGBTQ-related television episodes LGBTQ-related animated television episodes Television episodes set in outer space 2015 LGBTQ-related television episodes