Sadie, Lars, and Steven trap themselves on an island.  A surprising amount of drama ensues (with musical accompaniment from Steven).

Steven is extremely pleased that he’s now able to use the warp pad himself, and since the others are out on a mission, he wants to share one of those beautiful Gem-related locales with someone else (and show off his new warping skills).

Steven: I can take us on a vacation! Somewhere warm and beautiful and magical, for just the two of you. And me!

Sadie: It could be worth a try.

If there was literally any responsible adult around, I’m sure they would’ve at least warned Steven that it’s not a great idea to take two teens (at least one of whom is in love with the other) to a secluded location, but to be fair, half of this show wouldn’t happen if there were responsible adults around.

Sadie: Oh, Steven, it’s beautiful here!

Lars: It’s a beach. We live on a beach!

Steven: It’s a magical beach!

Lars: Is that why my phone has no reception? Why were you even here?

Steven: We came here to look for a dangerous gem creature that we never found.

Lars: Yep. I’m gone.

But when they head back to the warp pad, it’s nowhere to be found…

I’ve got to admit, I enjoy seeing Lars suffer.

At least Sadie and Steven manage to take it in stride.

Steven: Sadie, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

Sadie: Tell me about it.

Steven: You were gonna love it here so much! You’d never want to leave.

Sadie: Don’t worry. Lars is just a tough nut. He can’t keep up this shtick forever.

Lars: I could do without the audio commentary!

I would vacation at one of these locations in a heartbeat.  But preferably after the gem monsters are already dealt with.

Anyway, as far as deserted islands go, this isn’t a bad one to be trapped on – the weather’s fine, there’s plenty of fresh water, and plentiful fish to be caught in the shallows (once Sadie gets the hang of a spear).

Sadie: I catch. You cook.

I love how in her element Sadie seems, a bit like myself – I may be indecisive at times, but when everyone else is freaking out I somehow manage to keep a level head and figure out how to move forward.

And it turns out Lars isn’t a bad cook!

So Steven tops it all off with an adorable song.

Isn’t this such a beautiful night?
We’re underneath the thousand shining stars.
Isn’t it nice to find yourself somewhere different?
Why don’t you let yourself just be wherever you are?

I resonate with this song a lot.  I don’t always have as much control over my living situation as I’d like, but I’ll still make the best of where I’ve landed.  And as usual, the tune is simple and surprisingly catchy.

Why don’t you let yourself just be somewhere different?
Why don’t you let yourself just be whoever you are?

This was probably the episode where I first felt for Lars, partly because he’s so out of his element, but I think it’s mostly because you finally get to see who he really is for the first time.  He’s not trying to impress anyone, he’s just living.  Sadie, on the other hand…

Lars: What if I never get back home?

Sadie: Oh, you’re just really homesick.

Lars: Duh! What’d ya think?

Sadie: No, it’s okay! We’re okay. Steven said the Gems could be coming for us any day. And, y’know, until then, I got your back.

Lars: Sadie…do you ever get lonely, even when you’re around people?

At least Steven’s around to keep things PG!

Lars: How long have you been watching us?

Sadie: Don’t you know what privacy is?

Steven: People walk in and out of my room all the time!

Then they finally run into the gem monster – it turns out it was just invisible! And Lars understandably panics…but Sadie doesn’t seem that scared for someone who’s been trapped on an island with a monster.  Because it turns out she knows they’re not trapped.

Sadie: Lars, come on! Let’s go home.

Lars: You knew!

Steven: Uh, guys?

Lars: It’s her fault we’ve been trapped here! […]

Sadie: Look, I panicked, I hid the warp pad. You were just gonna leave, but I knew how much you really needed this! Why don’t you ever let me help you?

Lars: Help me? Are you insane? You trapped me on an island so you could come on to me!

Well, he’s not wrong.  No matter what she was telling herself about it being “good for Lars”, she was clearly thinking more along the lines of “good for Lars and me”.  Lars was seriously scared that he would never get back home, which made him vulnerable to Sadie’s manipulation.  This twist is a lot like the one in “House Guest” in that one of the characters was lying for the whole episode to get what they wanted out of a relationship and hurting that person in the process, but it works for me because I can actually see the twisted hormonal logic that led Sadie to do it.  She convinced herself she really knew what was best for Lars, so she “helped” him without even asking if he wanted help, hoping to endear herself to him in the process.

Steven: Sadie! Use your fish-murdering skills!

She certainly got good at murdering fish!

Lars: That was really great how you, uh, saved me.

Sadie: Don’t read into it.

Steven: We should do this again sometime.

Until next time…