Okay, so. Uncle Andy and Steven meta.
In the episode Gem Harvest, Uncle Andy comes face to face with the Gems for the first time ever. He has little to no knowledge of their typical abilities, their hardiness, nothing. It’s all new information to him.
This also extends to Steven. Beyond seeing him summon a shield out of thin air while cooking dinner, he has no idea what kind of powers this kid has. He has no idea he’s able to float when he’s in the right state of mind.
So, when he’s quickly plummeting from the sky, of course Andy literally thinks his new nephew is going to die.
Steven, on the other hand… has become the master of downplaying the reality of any danger he’s a part of. It seems to be something of a coping tactic for him? Perhaps it’s a method to assuage both himself and others of his “safety,” and that he’s “totally okay.” So when Andy pulls off a risky gambit and manages to rescue him from the sky, Steven is- habitually- all smiles and encouragement and cheer. (Can’t show the fear he felt to others, because that would be burdening them!)
Steven: “That was a close one, Uncle Andy! You sure are good at-”
Uncle Andy: “Do you have any idea what could’ve happened to you?!”
Look at that. Those words immediately sober his enthusiasm. The mask falls. A little bit of hard realization sets in. And his uncle- he’s so upset at what could’ve happened that he’s literally crying a little right now.
Uncle Andy: “What good are you to me as family if you’re-”
If you’re dead.
What good is Steven as family if he’s dead?
Y’all, it’s so, so rare that anyone in Steven’s immediate sphere of influence actually bluntly points out the inherent danger of Steven’s life, actually points out the risks he entertains sometimes on a daily basis with the lifestyle he has, living with the Gems. It’s so rare because Steven has very few people who actually exist entirely separate from the small microcosm he’s built for himself in Beach City. Even the townies are super desensitized to the existence of all this Gem related danger by now. In many respects, even his dad is.
So when Uncle Andy cuts through Steven’s jovial downplaying of what just happened, it rattles the kid. He’s genuinely not used to people calling out what could’ve been a near-death experience.
In the whole of SU, this is a very rare moment. The other one I can call to mind that strikes at a similar theme is when Priyanka tells Steven in the hospital that his adverse experiences as a child “are serious!” after he’s listing them off like they’re merely a series of harmless misadventures on a very long road trip. And it’s stuff like this that genuinely makes me wish that this character had more access to people outside his immediate sphere of influence, because honestly… if Steven had more people telling him that the things he’s going through aren’t normal, that they’re genuinely dangerous and genuinely have the potential to be traumatic occurrences, he might have been able to recognize his need for help far earlier, and far before all his muddled emotions exploded to the surface.
This is some really good commentary. It also occurs to me that since his powers usually require positive feelings to work reliably, learning to suppress negative feelings and force himself to be “happy” would actually be a necessity for his survival. So it makes total sense for it to become a conditioned response to any time he feels threatened.
