Gem Hunt, the 95th episode of the show, and the coolest episode since Winter Forecast. This episode started the third week of the "Steven's Summer Adventures" event, which according to the Crewniverse, is gonna be INSANE.



Spoilers ahead. If you haven't seen this episode yet, do not read this review.



This episode was pretty simple, yet INSANE at the same time. Connie is on her "first" mission with Steven and Pearl. Her first mission is a simple gem retrieval mission, like the ones we saw early on in the series. They have warped over to a wilderness to retrieve a corrupted gem. And guys, this is the first new corrupted gem we've seen on the show in THIRTY-SIX EPISODES. The last time we saw one was "Rising Tides, Crashing Skies"!!!



The corrupted gems in this episode are so freaking bad-ass. They're like, giant polar-bear-slash-yeti monsters, with REALLY interesting circular markings. The first gem they encounter is the blue gem with red markings on it. But they encounter a second corrupted gem, even though there was only supposed to be one. The second corrupted gem is similar to the first one, but orange, and with different markings.



But the corrupted gems start running, and they run in different directions. This forces the group to split - Connie and Steven go after one monster, whilst Pearl goes after the other.



Steven and Connie share some great moments along the way. We get a few reminders that Steven ultimately is still only 14, and living in an area where he probably only sees snow a couple times a year. So of course, Steven does have SOME fun in the snow, but ultimately, this episode is NOT about having fun in the snow, which was a nice subversion to that trope that whenever there's a kid and snow, the kid gets distracted by the snow and drops everything to play in the snow. Also, I thought this episode was going to turn into a 'stranded in the wilderness survival' episode. This episode also subverted THAT trope, as they were never in any danger of getting lost. They just needed to survive the short time they were exposed to the extreme cold. The location itself was a nice new location. Any new location is a treat to see.



Pearl keeps in touch with Steven and Connie through walkie-talkies. And through this, we have the callback of the season - Pearl sings a line of "Do it for Her" when giving Connie a pep-talk about fighting the monster. This was just SUCH an amazing touch to throw into this episode, and made millions of people fangirl right there and then. The writers were probably aware by the time they wrote this episode that the "Do it for Her" song was such a hit, so they threw in a little fan service there.



Steven has now speculated, due to the strange tracks they've found in the snow, that the monster is only half-corrupted. It is fluctuating between corrupted form, and humanoid form. He believes that a gem in this state can be saved. So when they DO find the monster, Steven tries to reason with it of course. AND IT DOESN'T WORK. Yet ANOTHER subversion to the Steven-being-kind-fixes-everything trope that plagued early season 3. Every single subversion I see to this is delightful. I know I sound sadistic for writing that, but in terms of the writing of this show, it's great that they are trying new ways to fix things.



Connie tries fighting the beast with Rose's sword, but suddenly finds herself nervous. She was able to defeat the mutants at the hospital no problem (they even mentioned that in this episode, ANOTHER point to the show's continuity!) but this monster is much bigger than that mutant. She is shaky, and has to call Pearl to bail her out. Pearl doesn't bail them out. JASPER DOES.



If you ignored my spoiler warning above and read this review anyway without watching this episode first, you probably think I'm having you on. I am not. JASPER is up there in the frozen hell of northern Canada in the month of November. Pearl arrives, but Jasper has already poofed both of the monsters. Holding the two gems in her hands, she very ominously states, "Hey Rose, look what I got"...



This episode was meant to raise a BUNCH of questions, like why were there two monsters instead of one, and what in the name of all things good and true is JASPER up to?! Is she trying to build an army of corrupted gems? This episode leaves you hanging so well and really wanting more. And it's also great we got to see follow-up on Jasper so quickly after she was punched out of the frame in "Alone at Sea".



Connie is upset because she believed she failed the mission, as she wasn't able to even take a swipe at the monster. Pearl then makes her feel better by finding a way in which she was successful. I don't think anyone realizes how much of a sign of maturity that is for Pearl. Instead of telling her that she's just a human and she would have never been able to beat that monster, she really trusts Connie and has faith in her, and tries to tell her that the mission was a success in other ways. A bit like when Steven went on HIS first mission. He ultimately didn't succeed, and the tower collapsed, but he got lots of OTHER things right.



I think the only thing missing from this episode (aside from Garnet and Amethyst, but that's typical of season 3), is some more action. Jasper pummelled the monster to death in like 10 seconds. I personally would have liked a longer and more epic fight between the brute and the monster, but hey, the 10 seconds we did get were still pretty epic. My other minor complaint is that all the stuff with Steven taking loads of photos throughout the episode wasn't really necessary. It wasn't bad or anything, but it didn't really add anything to the episode, and they kept doing it as if it was supposed to be a funny joke. It wasn't funny even the first time. Mind you, it did lead to a really great final shot of the episode - the photo Steven took when Jasper was holding the two poofed gems. Along with ominous music.



Overall, this episode was insane, and I really enjoyed it. Something is REALLY up with Jasper and the crew are doing a really good job at building it up. Let's hope it's worth the hype!



Stray Observations

-"I'm just going to keep talking until someone answers"

-The gemstones were the same shape as Amethyst's gem... I wonder if that's significant at all.

-Those monsters were definitely quartz gems, due to their size and long white hair. They even looked to be types of Jasper.

-Disappointed at the lack of a yellow snow joke.

-The gem monsters are a bunch of fight-or-flight responses. Mostly fight.

-Jasper with a corrupted gem army would be something I'd REALLY like to see.

-What the hell was up with that giant wailing stone near the warp pad? Is that where the corruption song came from?

-"I'm the one who has to restart humanity once we run out of oil and we're all damned" -Connie.

-Jasper poofed the monster by literally RIPPING ITS GEM OUT.