#invalid opinion

First and foremost, I absolutely loved the way they set up the tone and atmosphere of the episode. They were not lying when they called it 'Horror Club'. The writers and storyboard artists did a fantastic job of making it all feel like a horror movie, and allowed the audience to get immersed even when they suspected that a gem was the true cause of the situation.

They all got together to watch a movie, one called Evil Bear 2 (and if that wasn't an homage to Five Nights At Freddy's, I don't know what it is). By they, I mean Lars, Sadie, Steven, and Reinaldo, with all of them hanging out at Reinaldo's place.

Originally, Lars didn't want to go with Steven, but once he saw that Sadie was going with him, Lars decided to join, having already expressed to Steven how little he wanted to be near Reinaldo.

Partway through the movie, the lights go out, and things start to get eerie. My favorite part, however, was when the group tried to leave the house and was attacked by possessed scarecrows.

As Sadie and Reinaldo attempt to close the door, one of the scarecrows slips in through the cracks and attacks Lars. Lars, I believe, survived by sheer luck, because the way that scarecrow was moving, I swear it had a high-ranking belt in martial arts in a past life.

Now inside the basement searching for Sadie (she had been swallowed up by the floor), the group found Lars' name scratched into the wall, glowing fiercely as the wall opened up to reveal a giant mouth.

Believing that the poltergeist was asking for Lars as a sacrifice, Reinaldo threw him into the mouth in an attempt to get Sadie back. Steven jumped in to save Lars, using his powers to summon the protective bubble. In turn, the mouth attempted to swallow them both only to destroy the shield along with itself.

Sadie and Lars were safe and sound, and the gem is found by Steven. Just before Steven sends it away, the gem reveals that Lars and Reinaldo used to be friends at one point, but Lars ended the relationship to avoid being embarrassed in front of other people.

This is the most important part of the episode, as before this scene, they had not revealed that Lars and Reinaldo had known each other beyond what one might expect from those living in a small town.

There are three points to consider here:

1/Lars was embarrassed to be friends with Reinaldo even back then.

2/When the group arrived at Reinaldo's house, Lars took the chance to scare Reinaldo often, either with simple tactics such as the classic 'Boo!' or threat of physical harm (at which Reinaldo cowered despite being larger and stronger). This leads me to believe that there is some bullying subtext between the two, with Lars being the bully.

There are so many things to love about this episode. So much that not only has it become my favorite episode for the moment, but I honestly believe it is the best episode shown thus far.

Not only did Steven finally learn to fuse, but he fused with Connie. I love their adorable little relationship, and I love how they try to help each grow and slowly expand their comfort zones.

Garnet's approval of this was a definite plus, especially when she told them to go enjoy themselves. What I found really special about this is that Garnet has always behaved like a mother to Steven, telling him to be careful and warning him not to get in over his head. Telling Steven and Connie to enjoy themselves was a wonderful moment, mostly because their fusion was seen as somewhat of a... mistake, so to speak. (Pearl was definitely worried about the whole situation, and did urge them to split apart).

All of the animation for this episode was amazing. I loved every bit of it. Got to congratulate the artists and animators for all they did.

Back to the relationship between Steven and Connie. Their fusion was an interesting way to see it grow and develop. Both of them seemed to be pretty happy when they were fused together, and the fact that they did so and managed to remain so for so long shows that they have a truly deep and meaningful connection with each other.

Then came the part with the donuts, and the part where they danced at the raid. They weren't happy. They weren't very comfortable. The whole situation made them realize that although they were fused together, things were much different. They realized they work better together when they're by each others' side than when they are fused.

Relationships (of any kind) don't really work as well when you behave as a hive-mind. It's great when two people connect so well and have similar interests, but they work better when they are supporting each other and trying to grow, both as individuals and as people in a relationship.

This episode didn't really reveal much in terms of the plot (aside from showing us that Steven can fuse with other human beings), but it showed us so much about Steven and Connie, and the way they both work.