“Raising the Barn” is the 7th episode of the fifth season of Steven Universe and the 135th episode overall.[2]
Official synopsis
The pumpkin disappears.[3]
Conspiracy
After the events of “Dewey Wins” and “Gemcation”, Steven is still impatiently waiting for Connie to respond to his several text messages. Steven tries to vent by playing the ukulele on the beach, and just as he’s releasing a new song, his phone starts vibrating. Praying for Connie to finally answer him, Peridot is revealed to be asking to video chat with him. He receives and is welcomed by Peridot, Lapis Lazuli, and Pumpkin, who point out that Steven has not communicated with them since his return from Homeworld. He tells them that Connie has been unresponsive lately, which they don’t care about at all, and asks to find out about his visit to Homeworld. So Steven explains how the citizens of Beach City were kidnapped and how he had to go out to protect them and how he was then put on trial in front of Blue and Yellow Diamond and as he does this Lapis starts pulling out and informs Peridot that she needs to leave immediately Earth and suddenly hangs up on Steven.
Steven then rushes to the family barn where Peridot is trying to reason with Lapis. Steven arrives just as Lapis plans for them to live in some remote place in space where the Diamonds will never find them. Steven lets them know that as far as the Diamonds know, he is still on the homeworld and avoiding their detection. As Peridot comforts her, Lapis becomes persistent in explaining that Steven is too precious and their mounting transgressions, saying that the Diamonds will take out their wrath on Earth just like they did thousands of years ago. He then declares that he will not be caught in the middle of another war.
While he’s devastated, Steven lets her know that he won’t stop them from leaving if they want, but Peridot points out that taking their Meep Morphs from the Barn won’t be as special as they were before. After an emotional outburst, Lapis uses her powers to release water from their smaller than average lake to lift all the contents of the Barn, ready to take their lives with her and take off. Steven gets emotional when Lapis tries to leave every now and then, so after a tearful goodbye hug, Peridot notices that Pumpkin is MIA. Lapis puts down the Barn and they split up to find her.
]Peridot and Steven search far and wide to find Pumpkin, where he tells her how much he’ll miss them, and she assures him that they’ll keep in touch with him through her tablet, the only problem is that there’s no WiFi in space. As he explains that it’s best that they stay out of touch and how he wants to keep Lapis happy, he comes across a vegetable stand selling onions, from none other than Onion.
When they return to the Barn, the two find Pumpkin sadly hiding in the cornfield the whole time. Peridot tries to get her out so they can leave, but she doesn’t want to leave and neither does Peridot. Steven insists that she talk to Lapis about the matter, but she says she has no choice. Just then, Lapis returns and is happy to find Pumpkin safe and sound, now they can proceed to fly off the planet.
Peridot then tells Lapis that Pumpkin doesn’t want to go, but Lapis claims that they know better and she doesn’t. So Peridot finally admits that she doesn’t want to go either, surprising Lapis, and demands to know why she’s telling her now but not before, and why she lied to her. Peridot says that she doesn’t want to upset her and explains that if something happens to Earth, she wants to be there when it happens, and that if the Diamonds try to attack Earth, that they should stay and fight to protect it instead , to run away with whatever they can carry on their backs because she knows they will win together. And so when Peridot tries to reason with Lapis one last time, she lets her know that Earth is now their home, reaching out to her and asking, “Isn’t it worth fighting for?”
Despite this tender moment, her past trauma of being imprisoned for 5,000 years during the Gem War makes Lapis refuse, so once again, using her powers, she lifts the Barn and escapes. Lapis then takes one last look at Earth and Peridot, Pumpkin, and Steven, and as she fights back the tears in her eyes, the Barn flies off into space, presumably leaving Earth forever. Emotionally shaken, the three then return to Steven’s house, where Steven allows Peridot to take refuge in his bathroom again, this time with Pumpkin, for as long as they need. After Steven checks his phone one last time for any replies from Connie, the episode ends with Peridot asking Steven what they’re going to do with the answer of silence now.
Details
The title of this episode may be a play on the phrase “raising the bar” or have a more literal meaning, as in the episode Lapis lifts a barn off the ground to transport it into space. It may also be a play on the phrase “barn raising”, a collective community action where members of the community build or rebuild a barn for one of the members.
Zach Callison, Shelby Rabara, and Jennifer Paz were the only three voices in the entire episode.
This episode is the second time Lapis leaves Earth.
This episode’s title card, like that of “Gemcation”, uses the credits font for the episode title. However, in “Back to Kindergarten” it changes back to regular font.
Cultural references
The episode’s title is a pun on “raising the bar”, primarily due to Lapis’s overwhelming fear of what’s to come from Homeworld, and the term “barn raising” as a double-entendre.
Continuity
Steven is still waiting to hear back from Connie since the events of “Dewey Wins”.
Peridot appears to be able to video chat, as seen in the abbreviation “Video Chat”. Lapis seems to have gotten used to the idea as well and doesn’t think he would have been trapped in the tablet before.
Onion wears Steven’s straw hat from “Watermelon Steven”. He even comments on it, revealing that it’s actually the same hat.
Peridot exclaims “Oh no! Our smaller than average lake!”. This is a reference to “Barn Mates” where Peridot says “H2Oh my god. It’s smaller than the average lake!”
Mistakes
At the beginning of the episode, Steven is leaning on the arm that was destroyed by Centipede in “Gem Glow”.RTBWingError
As Lapis looks back at Steven and Peridot, the white highlights on her wings disappear for a brief moment just before she flies away.
