“Off Colors” is the 3rd episode of the fifth season of Steven Universe and the 131st episode overall.
Official synopsis
Steven finds some unusual new allies.[3]
Conspiracy
After managing to escape Yellow Diamond’s attacks as a result of Steven’s trial, Steven and Lars wake up on the ground next to a crashed stretcher. Lars tells Steven that his bones are only slightly broken from his bubble, and he agrees. The two begin to run, but both realize they have no way to get off the planet. Lars also expresses his hunger, but they are interrupted by a Shattering Robonoid approaching them. The two try to avoid it, but his scanner identifies Steven’s gem and the Robonoid begins attacking them.
Steven and Lars run behind the wall and Lars admits how scared he is. Suddenly an arm coming out of a hole in the ground tells them to come. Although Lars is initially skeptical, the Robonoid attacks and Steven tells him they have no choice. They jump into the tunnel and thank the stranger who saved them. The stranger turns out to be a mated pair of Rutils, surprising Lars. They are confused by the strange looking gem, but Steven and Lars decide to believe her. The Rutile twins lead them out of the tunnel to a large abandoned nursery school. They meet the rest of the villainous gems hiding in the nursery (Padparadscha, who makes late predictions and rhodonite-fluorite fusions), who explain themselves to be a group of outcasts on Homeworld because they are defective, abnormal, or “off-color”. “. They also explain that if anyone finds them, such as the Robonoids, they will all be broken.
Soon, another group of Robonoids find the Off Colors cave and Steven tells everyone to hide to avoid being scanned. Steven and Lars hide in an empty hole in the nursery school and Lars starts hyperventilating. Steven reassures Lars, telling him it’s okay to be scared, and he calms down. Lars turns to see the Rutile twins about to be scanned and says someone has to do something. He runs outside, grabs a rock and throws it at one of the Robonoids, interrupting its scan. The two Robonoids scan Lars again, who stands still, knowing it’s okay to be afraid. However, Steven realizes that since Lars is organic and has no gem, he is not detected by the Robonoids’ gem scanners. Padparadscha leaves the Rhodonite and approaches Lars, informing him of her late prediction of his invisibility to the Robonoids, oblivious to the Robonoid scanning her. Lars manages to save her by kicking away the Robonoid and moving the Padparadsch to safety.
Steven tries to avoid being scanned again by raising his shield, but the scanner still notices his gem. Lars grabs a large shard of rock and starts blasting the Robonoids. One runs away from him and blasts Steven, but his beam is deflected by his shield to the other Robonoids, destroying two of them. Rhodonite tries to warn Padparadscha until she realizes she is being scanned. Lars quickly jumps forward and blocks her exposed gems from the scanners, preventing her from being detected. Lars then jumps onto the Robonoid and attacks it with a rock. The Robonoid starts shooting all over the place and almost hits Steven. Lars ends up jabbing a rock into the Robonoid’s lens and it explodes, sending Lars flying into a wall and seemingly knocking him unconscious.
Steven runs to Lars to check that he is okay, but Lars is unmoved by his concern. Unaware of Lars’ injury, the Gems are happy and amazed that Lars saved them from the Robonoids. Steven puts his ear to Lars’ chest and tries to listen for a heartbeat, but hears silence. Steven gasped as he realized the blast had killed him. Distraught over Lars’ death, Steven bursts into tears. Everyone around stands in silence. Steven picks Lars up and a drop of his tears falls on Lars’ face. Lars’ body begins to glow and turn pink from head to toe, and to their shock, he wakes up with a scar over his right eye. As Lars questions what happened, the episode ends with Padparadscha making another late prediction.
Details
This episode has a different title card than the others shown so far. It has a view from Homeworld with the White Diamond ship in the background. The same title card is seen in the following episode “Lars’ Head”.
The scene where Lars flies backwards, hits his head on the kindergarten wall and falls to his death after the Shattering Robonoid explodes was censored in many countries.
Cultural references
Lars makes a reference to Jurassic Park when he says that the Robonoid’s scanner won’t pick them up if they don’t move. His reasoning is that he “saw it in a movie once”. A failed Lars admits that “the movie was about dinosaurs”.
While wandering around the Gem Homeworld, Steven and Lars stop under a giant sword that is similar to Kirigaya Kazuto’s clarifier from Sword Art Online. The only difference is the sizes and symbols.
Steven using his tears to revive Lars is very similar to Belle reviving an animal with her love from the 1991 Disney film Beauty and the Beast. It is also similar to another Disney film, Tangled, where Rapunzel revives Flynn Rider with her tears at the end of the film. It’s also similar to Pokemon: The First Movie where the Pokemon use their tears to revive Ash Ketchum at the end.
Continuity
Steven’s newfound healing tears are a callback to “The Indirect Kiss”, where Garnet mentions that Rose Quartz has the ability to heal tears, and Steven tried to heal Amethyst’s cracked gem that way.
This episode follows the events of “The Trial”.
Steven comforts Lars with the same high five as in “Lars and the Cool Kids”.
The term “Off Colors” was first used in the episode “That Will Be All” by Holly Blue Agate. She used it when addressing the flawed Jasper and Carnelian, hinting at its meaning.
Steven makes a reference to the events of this episode in “Your Mother and Mine”.