Steven welcomes a member of the Ruby Squad with characteristically open arms.

Garnet and Steven stumble upon a falling ruby, who’s quick to endear herself to Steven.

Navy: Oh please, oh please don’t make me go back to Homeworld! I just want to stay here with you!

Garnet: This…is a surprise.

Steven: You want to live on Earth?

Navy: Yeah. All the other rubies were mean to me. I just want to be somewhere I can be myself.

Steven: You’re not mad at us from before?

Navy: What do you mean?

Steven: You know, about tricking you into playing baseball?

Navy: That was fun!

Steven: Or, when Amethyst pretended to be Jasper?

Navy: I gotta admit, that was pretty clever.

Steven: Or when we blasted you all into space and stole your ship so you’d be stranded forever?

Navy: Well, we were fighting so, it’s understandable.

Garnet: I don’t know about this. She tried to stab you in space.

Steven: That was Eyeball. This is Navy. She always seemed really nice, actually.

Garnet apparently still has some reservations, but I think she trusts Steven to handle any potential complications himself.

Steven: Let me take it from here! I know exactly where she’ll fit in.

Garnet: Alright, Steven Universe. Go work your magic.

Just a reminder that this show is still gorgeous, even if it doesn’t make any sense time-wise for there to (still) be such an abundant crop of vegetables.

Peridot: Well, well, back again. You should just move in with us at this point!

Steven: Actually, maybe not me, but I know someone else who might be interested.

Navy: Hi! I’m Navy, a refugee from Homeworld, just like you guys!

Peridot: So, uh, when did you show up on Earth?

Navy: Today.

Peridot: New barny!

Lapis: What? Wait, no, hold on! Can we talk about this first?

It’s honestly completely understandable that Lapis would be hesitant to accept someone new so quickly, especially since they were enemies the last time they saw each other.  Literally the only reason she wasn’t poofed on the spot is that she didn’t show any open hostility and Steven thought she was nice (and, you know, Steven instinctively trusts EVERYONE).

Lapis: Steven, this makes no sense. Why would she want to live here? We’ve been awful to her, she must hate us!

Steven: She doesn’t, though! Give her a chance, she’s on our side now.

Peridot: Just like that? Wow.

Lapis: There’s no way.

Steven: Well, you guys wanted to start a new life here, too. It can totally happen.

Steven and Peridot both dismiss Lapis’ distrust as irrational, and Peri proposes they “pay it forward” by helping Navy adjust to life on Earth (like what she tried to do with Lapis, but failed miserably), and eventually Lapis herself dismisses her fears.

Peridot: So you’re an Earthling. But what does that mean? The answer is…who knows! And that’s the beauty of Earth! Nothing here makes sense, but that’s why you have us now.

Lapis: It can be hard to like Earth at first. It is where…a bunch of bad things happened.

Navy: I love it. It’s so sunny.

Part of it could very well be that Navy simply has no particularly painful associations with Earth (less than even Peridot), but her instant love of basically the entire planet is definitely odd.  They introduce her to the concept of rain, and she’s equally happy.

Navy: Oh! A planet that’s not always sunny…it’s almost like, it’s always changing! That is so beautiful!

Steven: Yeah! Exactly!

Peridot: Wow, that’s like Chapter 97 of Earth stuff! Looks like we’ve got an advanced student on our hands.

They introduce her to various other Earth things in rapid succession, like sleep and plants, and none of it seems to faze her.

Lapis: Plants may seem strange to you at first, but don’t worry. You don’t have to love everything right away.

Navy: I love plants!

Lapis: Well, what about Pumpkin? Do you love Pumpkin?

Navy: I love Pumpkin!

Lapis: Well, what about dirt? Do you love the dirt, too?

Navy: What’s dirt? Oh! I do love the dirt!

Lapis: What about us? How do you feel about us?

Navy: You guys are the best! Thank you, thank you! Thank you all for taking me in! We’re gonna be the best of friends!

Lapis: But we were just enemies! Don’t you remember? Why don’t you get mad?

Navy: I think, even if I really tried, that’s the one thing I can’t do.

At this Lapis flies off in a huff, and I really can’t blame her.  If she was really so bad off that she would choose to defect from Homeworld, she must have some sort of baggage.  Literally nobody is actually that happy all the time…and then it makes Lapis feel like she’s the one in the wrong.

Lapis: She’s just…it’s just like she’s fine with us! Like there’s no problem!

Steven: Lapis, are you okay?

Lapis: No. Something is seriously wrong with me. It took me so long to learn to like this planet.

Peridot: Hey, no one said there’s a rush.

Lapis: Navy just loves everyone and everything right away! She has no guard, no fear…I just don’t get it. Why is it so easy for her when it was so hard for me?

Navy: Oh, no! I didn’t mean to make anyone upset! Oh, maybe I should just go!

Lapis: No, no, it’s my problem. I didn’t mean to make you feel like you don’t belong here.

Peridot: Yeah, you should stay!

Navy: Aw, you guys! I’m so glad! I don’t know where I’d go, anyway. Can’t go anywhere without my ship…it’s the only place I ever really belonged, anyways. I miss it so much!

And of course Steven caves and lets her take them for a spin in the ship.

Steven: This is perfect! The Crystal Gems finally have a pilot!

Peridot: Things are going okay now, huh?

Lapis: Yeah. Yeah, they are.

Navy: Hey Steven, hit that button behind you and I’ll show you what this baby can really do.

Then the hatch opens and Steven & co are left clinging to the back (but fortunately they’re still within the atmosphere, dangling over the ocean)

Steven: Navy? Hello, Navy? I think something went wrong with the ship!

Navy: The only thing wrong…is that you’re still holding on!

Steven: Wait. This whole time, all you wanted was your ship? You could’ve just stolen it to begin with!

Navy: I could have done that. But then I wouldn’t get to see the look on your face when you were tricked by your favorite little ruby!

You know, I think Navy might actually be a sociopath.

So she eventually shakes them off into the ocean, and I guess you can either laugh or cry at a betrayal like that.

Lapis: I was right! No one could be that well adjusted…

I’m not sure what they were going for thematically with this episode – Navy’s turn seems both obvious and like it came out of nowhere.  I feel like the least they could’ve done was have Garnet warn him about the possibility at the beginning (as she clearly sees this as a possible outcome), because Steven was always going to give her the benefit of the doubt. As it is, it feels like Lapis gets put through all that emotional turmoil for nothing – getting to say “I told you so” doesn’t make up for all that self-doubt.  The only clear point to this episode is a purely functional one: Removing the spaceship in preparation for the season finale.

Until next time…