Steven Universe Episode 49-50 REACTION

Love being yelled at for something I didn't even know was a thing lol

But, for real, you're right. Pearl's character is not the most pleasant, especially at the beginning and especially towards Greg. And while we do get fun moments with her and a bit more context for her beef with Greg, it's crazy how much they leaned into her sniping at him constantly before the audience knew anything and wouldn't for years.

The fanbase probably grew defensive of Pearl because so much hate was building up for her for litteral YEARS while the show was airing. So, by the time she became more likable (for some) there was this fandom wide war about whether she was actually a good character or not.

I'm of the opinion that she is a product of her creation and that Rose was quite litterally the only thing outside of that which she cared about (she didn't even really care about Rose's cause or humans, just Rose herself) and then she was gone.

Plus, I think she never really allowed herself to greive at first, because she believed Rose would still be there in Steven. But as the show goes on she really has to confront the fact that he is someone else and that the only reason she saw for her existence, the reason she left everything she had ever known behind, is really just gone forever.

She has had to slowly learn more and more to care about things besides Rose. And Steven being human and forcing human interaction on her accelerated that process of her realising that there is more to this world than her own pain and greif. (And getting to know Steven helped her realize that humans are capable of so much more than she ever thought possible.)

I've never thought that much about it, but I think Pearl is super relatable to people who have been changed by greif and her story is about learning to move on and live for something else. (And hopefully stop being a bitter little pill about it.)

(That comment got away from me there. I know this is old news for you guys and you probably won't read this anyway. But just in case others are rewatching through, give the guys a break on Pearl. Pearl being a pain in the ass basically defines her character the first time through and these guys don't deserve hate for having honest reactions to what they see on screen. Everyone needs to chill out.)