Mindful Education

"Mindful Education"
Steven Universe episode
Promotional art for the episode by storyboarder Jeff Liu
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 4
Directed by	Ki-Yong Bae (animation) Jin-Hee Park (animation) Ricky Cometa (art) Joe Johnston (supervising)
Written by	Colin Howard Jeff Liu Takafumi Hori
Featured music	"Here Comes a Thought" by Rebecca Sugar
Original air date	August 25, 2016
Running time	11 minutes

"Mindful Education" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of American animated television series Steven Universe, which premiered on August 25, 2016 on Cartoon Network. The episode was written and storyboarded by Colin Howard, Jeff Liu, and Takafumi Hori. The episode was watched by 1.334 million viewers.

The episode focuses on Steven and Connie's fusion training, where they practice fighting as Stevonnie. However, when personal problems interfere with Stevonnie's training, Garnet helps them face these problems and focus better.

Plot

The episode opens with Connie (Grace Rolek) arriving at Steven's house for training. Failing to recognize a joke he is doing, Steven (Zach Callison) realizes something is wrong with Connie, but Pearl (Deedee Magno Hall) and Garnet (Estelle) arrive before he can ask. Pearl says Garnet will be sitting in on the training session, eager to see them fight as Stevonnie (AJ Michalka).

At the Sky Arena, the two form Stevonnie and battle a fused Holo-Pearl. The fight goes well until Stevonnie has a vision of a boy, causing them to defuse. Connie runs off and Steven learns that she accidentally beat up the boy they saw after bumping into him at school. Steven says that he understands and that when you hurt someone by accident you just have to "try not to think about it". Garnet overhears the conversation and educates the two on fusion.

On the beachside, Garnet tells the two that an imbalance causes a fusion to lose touch with reality; if one of them is falling apart their fusion will as well.^{[A 1]} Requesting that the two form Stevonnie again, Garnet leads them in a guided meditation. The meditation then appears as a blue landscape while Garnet sings "Here Comes a Thought". In the landscape, Ruby and Sapphire appear. Ruby becomes distracted and enraged by a single white butterfly (a metaphor for issues and problems) while Sapphire becomes overwhelmed by a whole swarm of them. Ruby calms down and comes to Sapphire's aid, scattering the butterflies. Stevonnie takes over the song and looks to Steven and Connie where Connie is becoming overwhelmed by a swarm of butterflies that then forms one large butterfly which displays her bumping into and beating up the boy at her school. Connie then comes to accept what has happened, and the two sets of components lay down and watch the butterflies.

The next day, Connie returns to Steven's house, having made amends with Jeff, the boy she beat up, refreshed and ready to form Stevonnie. Once again at the Sky Arena, Stevonnie is fighting the Holo-Pearls and performing well until they have a vision of themselves impaling Bismuth, who transforms into a swarm of butterflies. Recognizing the problem is coming from Steven, they try to regain stability, but a partially corrupted Jasper appears, then becoming Eyeball (one of the five Rubies that appeared in "Hit the Diamond", "Back to the Moon" and "Bubbled"). The three bear down on Stevonnie, who cries that they can't do it, before transforming into an enormous cloud of butterflies which take the shape of Rose Quartz. Overwhelmed and not being in touch with reality, Stevonnie falls from the Sky Arena.

As they fall, Steven and Connie split again. Connie calls for Steven to fuse so they can float to the ground, but Steven cries and says that he didn't want to hurt anyone, but they left him no choice. Connie says that it's okay but he insists that it is not. Connie replies that it's okay to think about it, and Steven bemoans how bad hurting Bismuth, Jasper and Eyeball made him feel. Connie says that this too is okay and there was no other option, but he has to be honest about how bad he feels in order for him to move on. The two fuse and Stevonnie regains stability, managing to safely float down to the ground. Gleefully laughing, Stevonnie falls to the ground and contently proclaims, "I'm here".

Production

Episodes of Steven Universe are written and storyboarded by a single team. "Mindful Education" was written by Colin Howard, Jeff Liu, and guest animator Takafumi Hori of Studio Trigger. Ki-Yong Bae and Jin-Hee Park provided animation direction, and Ricky Cometa served as art director.

Music

The episode features the song "Here Comes a Thought". The song was written by series creator Rebecca Sugar, and arranged by Aivi & Surasshu, the music team for the series, with strings performed by Jeff Ball.^[1] It features vocals by Estelle as Garnet and AJ Michalka as Stevonnie. A shortened version of the song was first performed by Sugar at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, where she described it as a song she wrote to talk herself off of a proverbial ledge.

The song runs for three and a quarter minutes, making it the longest song to be sung in an episode of Steven Universe.

Broadcast and reception

"Mindful Education" premiered on Cartoon Network on August 25, 2016. Its initial American broadcast was viewed by approximately 1.334 million viewers. It received a Nielsen household rating of 0.3, meaning that it was seen by 0.3% of all households.^[2]

The episode received positive attention from critics. The animation, Hori's storyboarding and voice acting of the "Here Comes a Thought" sequence was particularly lauded,^[3][4][5] with James Whitbrook of io9 calling it "one of Steven Universe's best songs since 'Stronger Than You'",^[6] and Eric Thurm of The A.V. Club, who gave the episode an A grade, singling out AJ Michalka as "the real MVP of the song".^[7] The message of the episode was also praised,^[7][8] with Vrai Kaiser of The Mary Sue comparing it to Pixar's Inside Out,^[3] and ND Medina of iDigitalTimes calling it a "bite-sized dose" of cognitive behavioral therapy.^[4]

Notes

References