thoughts on some of the details i loved in little graduation:
-little graduation is bookended by steven driving in his car, a symbol of maturity and freedom, but also a symbol of aimlessness. at the beginning of the episode, he has someplace to go, people to see. at the end, heâs alone, in a scene that feels reminiscent of the very wistful end credits, staring into the stars at what could represent lars, infinite possibility, his own baggage, and more.
-stevenâs floating was screwed up when he saw shep, foreshadowing his lack of emotional control. sans the movie, boy hasnât screwed up using one of his non-pink mode powers in agesâŚand now we get a pair of episodes when his powers are running wild.
-steven keeps assuming he knows how people feel. his eq has always been off the charts, but heâs not clear-headed, anymore, and thatâs throwing his barometer off a lot. no wonder he thinks heâs losing his touch.
-and we see the cool kidâs futures. stevenâs only a couple years younger than all of these people. itâs putting a lot of subconscious pressure on him, how together everyone isâand i think the whole point is that theyâve grown in ways that have made them able to face the future. like greg said, growing up is a choice.
-âwho here loves sadie killer and the suspects? well, our band tonight has only one of them.â
and lars this entire ep is just like, âthis is my penance for being an asshole when i was a teenager. true friends put up with friends even when theyâre being tools.â
-not âlars, PLEASE STOP!â it was âlars, STOP!â yeah, that feels important.
-stevenâs pink mode powers seem to be manifesting in more and more unformed, basic geometrical shapes, similar to pink!steven.
-stevenâs dome itself was made entirely out of pink diamonds. this is in no way, shape, or form paranoia provoking.
-nope nothing concerning here
-sadieâs dating someone and experimenting with a new sound, lars and sadie are now able to have healthy conversations about their relationship, lars is able to talk about uncomfortable and personal topics in front of a crowd of people without panicking and lashing out, and he can hug his friends openly? yep, this? this is Growth.
-and seriously having steven being an asshole and lars being the reasonable one feels *strange*. havenât seen this since the good lars, another episode where steven was overly controlling. HUH. almost like this is the boyâs big character flaw.
-âwouldnât be the first time.â thatâs some good pastel gallows humor right there.
-âyouâre trying to figure stuff out right now, and you want your friends around to help you through it.â this feels important, too. they kind of skim over this, but i think itâs the heart of the matterâsteven wants help. boyâs crying out for it. but he doesnât know how to ask for it.
 -we see a partially eaten pizza next to steven at the end of the episode, continuing future having the kid who used to start out every other episode making some of snack barely eat on screen. (only time i can think of is rose buds. UMMMM.) not to mention Mr. Big Eater seems to have had a couple of slices and tapped out, not to mention pizzaâs been used to symbolize togetherness several times and heâs eating it by himself.
-stevenâs really mulling over those lines, âiâm looking forward now.â at first, in the car, he seems to be getting into it. but when heâs looking at the stars, reflectingâŚhe looks concerned. a bit upset. you can really see it hitting himâwhat does forward mean?
