This episode features a good central mystery with a clever twist.

The story begins with Steven waiting for his postman to deliver a package (as he is wont to do).

Steven: Still no Jamie! I don’t understand. He’s usually so punctual.

After he’s waited for a while, Amethyst offers to watch the post while Steven grabs some donuts…

Steven: Good morning, Sour Cream! Putting on a big rave tonight?

Sour Cream: Oh, the flyers. No, it’s Onion. He’s been missing for a couple of days now. My mom and Yellowdad are starting to get worried. You haven’t seen him around lately, have you?

Steven: No. […]

Sour Cream: Eh, I’m sure he’s fine. If he’s anything like me when I was a kid, he’s probably just, I don’t know, raving in a friend’s backyard. Anyway, I better hang the rest of these up. Can you make sure Lars and Sadie get one of these? I wanted to hang one up at the Big Donut, but it’s closed.

Steven: Closed?

Sure enough, the donut shop is empty, and he only finds Barb breaking into the back room.

Barb: I only came over to drop off Sadie’s lunch. She wasn’t home last night, so I figured I’d bring it here. But the place was completely empty. Maybe it’s some sort of baker’s holiday. Certainly not a federal one!

Steven: Sadie never came home last night?

Barb: Eh, she’s an adult. Probably just snuck off for another island adventure with her boyfriend.

Steven: That couldn’t be. They were going to go to a party together, but Lars never showed. And when me and Sadie left, she said she was going home. And now Sour Cream’s looking everywhere for Onion, and I was expecting a package today from Jamie, but he- he never delivered it.

Sadie’s never gonna live down that island adventure, is she?  Although I do seriously wonder if she actually qualifies as an adult – I always thought she and Lars were supposed to be high schoolers.

And then Barb all but confirms that Jamie is missing, too – he was on his way over to Steven’s house when she last saw him.

Steven: Barb, this might be serious.

Then this little Gem shows up to add to the mystery (by dropping the title).

Aquamarine: Are you my dad? I need to find my dad.

Steven: No, uh, I’m not. Wait! Don’t leave me with another enigma!

So there are at least four people who’ve gone missing in the past few days, and now there’s a strange Gem wandering around looking for someone…

Pearl: We should be preparing for a fight! Whoever this is, she’s from Homeworld. She’s gotta be here for us!

Steven: She’s not, though. She said she’s looking for her dad.

Pearl: What? Her dad?

Steven: There are all these people missing. Maybe her dad’s gone missing, too.

Amethyst: But Gems don’t have dads!

Pearl: This doesn’t make any sense.

Connie: Steven’s a Gem, and Steven has a dad.

Garnet: There are no other Gems like Steven.

Connie: Are you sure?

As far-fetched as it sounds, Connie does have a point: They can’t be sure that Steven’s the only hybrid out there.  And Steven pondering the possibility of a sibling a couple episodes back made me believe they might actually go there the first time I watched the episode.

They end up splitting into teams to investigate, and since Steven goes with Connie, they discuss her theory at length.

Steven: Connie, do you really think there could be another Gem like me?

Connie: Well, you know more about Gems than I do, but it can’t be impossible. You exist.

Steven: Hmm…she didn’t look half human, though. She was blue and had wings.

Connie: Well, what if she’s adopted? What if she crash landed in the big city, and she was taken in by a lonely millionaire with a heart of gold!

Steven: And a house of gold!

Connie: But one day, he went on a business trip to Beach City, and never came home.

Steven: I guess I’d watch the movie of that.

Connie: Or read the book. Or neither! Cause it could be reality, Steven!

Steven: Man, I feel like I was just here with Onion and all his friends. Where is he? Poor Sour Cream, missing his brother. And Barb missing her daughter, and her mailman! And this new Gem missing her dad. I know what it’s like having your dad taken away. She must be so scared.

Connie: Well, you got your dad back. And you’ll solve this, too. We’ll solve this, together.

After all this time, they don’t seem to be any closer to the answer…until they run into that Gem again. Specifically, Connie runs into her while Steven is stuck in a log.

Aquamarine: Are you my dad?

Connie: What? No, I’m not your dad. We can help you find your dad-

Aquamarine: I’m not looking for your dad. I’m looking for my dad. I need to find my dad.

Connie: Right. Well, we’ll help you.

Steven: Connie! Connie, wait! Be careful!

Aquamarine: Connie? Are you Connie?

Connie: Yes! Connie! Me Connie! Connie friend!

Aquamarine: Topaz! I found one! I found one, I found a Connie!

And it’s about this point that you realize she’s not looking for her own dad – if she were, she presumably would know what he looked like (or at least that he’s not female).  She’s looking for someone called “my dad”.

Unfortunately, Connie is outnumbered, as “Topaz” is actually a fusion.  And manages to catch Connie off-guard by splitting, then re-fusing around her.

And little Aquamarine has some sort of freezeray wand which she uses to throw Steven into a tree.

Steven: Give me back my friends!

Aquamarine: Don’t bother listening to that Steven! He’s not my dad. Now all we need is my dad and we’re out of here! Can’t believe they wasted an aquamarine on a job like this. It’s so easy you could’ve done it yourself, Topaz!

Steven: No…you can’t take them…

Now they have pretty much all Steven’s human friends – and we all know Steven will do anything for his friends…

Until next time…