IDW Comics Revisited - Main Series #21

With "Reflections" done we're getting close to the end of these re-reviews. I'm only going to go up to Main Series #24 since I think all my reviews on the issues since then are still pretty relevant and still sum up the good and bad about them pretty well, at least for the ones I reviewed. The ones I didn't review I don't plan to ever review and others have already rightfully ripped them a new one.

Anyway, the main series comics had to quickly adjust as "Reflections" wrapped up and the show's hiatus stretched on with no end in sight and no airdates for Season 5 yet confirmed. The Friends Forever series was generating much more attention for its many ambitious team-ups and pairings. So, was the beginning of this two part arc focused on characters like Trixie and Babs Seed able to keep the main series afloat, or did it only prove that "Reflections" was the exception and not the rule for the comics going forward? Well, let's find out.

We begin in Manehattan as Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Apple Bloom are all in Manehattan to see Babs Seed, and they're all going to a ponyfied Carnegie Hall to see a performance. This serves as exposition for what will soon become very important, a rash of jewel thefts have swept Manehattan. Anyway, all take their seats and are shocked to learn that Trixie will be performing on stage (did none of them check the tickets or the advertising before purchasing? It seems highly unlikely they couldn't have known). But they don't heckle her like they did during her last performance and the show goes off without a hitch. Then, for the finale, Trixie pulls out a show stopper. She will make a diamond disappear without touching, while blindfolded, hanging upside down as a rope burns while dangling over a bowl of pudding. Of course since she's a unicorn and she never promises to not use her horn she could just teleport, something no one in the audience seems to consider.

Trixie pulls off the trick as planned, up until the diamond doesn't show up in her hat. Just then the Manehattan police arrive and reveal that Trixie has been working with them to catch the jewel thief Rough Diamond. Trixie identifies Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Apple Bloom and Babs Seed as friends even though she only knows about half of them. And the police chief reveals that Trixie used a fake diamond to lure out Rough Diamond, and the fake is outfitted with a tracking spell Trixie can perform. The fake diamond, however, ends up in Applejack's hat, which means the real diamond might have been stolen.

Two police officers then report that the theater manager's office where the real diamond was stowed was broken into, and there are signs of a lock being picked. The diamond is stowed inside of a safe, the combination to which is 4-14-84 which is the airdate for the G1 special "Rescue From Castle Midnight" (April 14, 1984. And it was confirmed that Tirek was added into the Season 4 finale when they had originally planned on the Pony of Shadows specifically because Tirek was the villain in that G1 special, and the Season 4 finale would air right around that 30th anniversary). When the safe is opened a smoke bomb is set off, but the police chief reveals that he outfitted the real diamond with a tracker and locating spell. The real diamond ends up in Trixie's hat, which causes Trixie to become the suspect.

However, it should be noted that they didn't verify when the break-in occurred. They don't know for sure that it occurred after the show, and neither can they prove that the diamond remained in the safe until the break-in attempt as intended, on top of Trixie having no reason to steal the diamond when there's no indication of its worth or that Trixie was struggling financially. I know fictional crime works take liberties with various aspects of criminal investigations and law enforcement, but I think the key to having a good mystery and a good suspect is to ensure that there's a well defined time for the crime, a window of opportunity for the suspect and a motive for them to do what they do. None of this is enough to break the story, but at best Trixie is a potential suspect that could be questioned, but legally the police wouldn't be able to arrest her or force her to testify.

Trixie decides to flee, however, especially when the police think that the others knowing her means they were accomplices despite knowing nothing about any of the plan until they were told it. Thankfully, they don't think Trixie did it and Trixie actually cares about making herself innocent and being nice, she completely drops the ego and lets herself be vulnerable. Applejack then decides that the only solution is to catch the real thief and clear Trixie's name. They have to evade the police by taking the subway in order to do so, and while on the subway Babs notices a piece of paper in Trixie's hat that is part of a map for the Manehattan Museum of Art, thus indicating where Rough Diamond will strike next.

And that's the story, so what do I think of the issue? Quite honestly I have to ask why we never got this Trixie in the show. A Trixie who can drop the ego and let herself be vulnerable, a Trixie that doesn't make everything worse for herself and for others all the time. This was definitely a story that called for less being more, though it does seem odd that no one knew ahead of time Trixie would be performing. And as I said before the mystery isn't exactly clear cut, the time of the crime can't for sure be established since we don't know for sure when the break in occurred or if the diamond remained in the safe as it was supposed to. It doesn't ruin the story, but I don't think it would've killed them to elaborate a bit more on the details to make sure it fit as they intended. Definitely pick this one up if you can, though I would still say not to go outside the five to ten dollar range.

And there you have it, come back tomorrow when we'll see how this arc wraps up with Main Series #22.