Original Airdate: April 24, 2017
Written & Storyboarded by: Seo Kim & Somvilay Xayaphone
Bespoken For could easily land itself on a list of best Ice King entries. It’s an episode that almost feels like it’s deliberately trolling the part of the fanbase that wanted to experience strictly lore (which they kind of still got) throughout its entirety. Even Finn and Jake are included for the sole purpose of representing all of us who are seeking out answers. But, even though Bespoken For doesn’t weave us an intricate backstory on the formulation of Patience St. Pim’s plans for elementifying Ooo, it does give us a hilarious and thoroughly entertaining exploration of Ice King and Betty’s complicated relationship. While most great Ice King episodes typically bank themselves off of how insane the Ice King truly is, Bespoken For portrays him in a pretty charismatic light, as he comes across as the true hero of the story.
I always wondered why Finn and Jake never told Ice King that they were leaving for an unprecedented amount of time, but it was probably a decision for the best. IK could have very well pulled a desperate move by freezing the boys so they wouldn’t be able to leave their BFF. It is cute that Ice King is beyond filling his hobby list with something as notorious as princess-napping, and instead chooses something light and harmless, such as bird-watching, even if it means just doing what he always does. As always, the inconsistencies with Ice King’s intelligence are always quite funny, like the fact that he can spell “pterodactyl” but not “Choose Goose.”
It isn’t long before Betty shows up at his window, and she certainly sounds… different than usual. This marks the first episode Felicia Day portrays Betty, which is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing primarily because Day is a waaay better voice actress than Lena Dunham ever was. Dunham has her own fair share of experience, but it was clear from the start that she didn’t really have any interest in this world or its story. It’s a curse because, at least in my eyes, it’s really hard to replace a character’s voice actor successfully. No matter how much energy and talent Day brings to the table, the sad truth is that I’m always going to associate Dunham’s voice with Betty. This is why celebrity voices should never portray characters that have the potential to be important. Just look at Sugilite – she hasn’t spoken in four years!
That bit of venting aside, Betty does bring a lot to the table in this one. Heck, Bespoken For feels like the first time she has any sort of semblance of a character, and it’s awfully refreshing. Betty’s one of the strongest additions to the miniseries in terms of the mystery surrounding her character; her madness and sadness often allow for her to make complex and often heinous decisions, most of which are never entirely explored until the climax of the miniseries. She certainly keeps things interesting, and her interactions with the Ice King are irresistibly tragic, and hilariously relatable. I love how Betty essentially is to Ice King what the mad, crazed squirrel is to Jake – an utterly forgettable face. His efforts to try to reassure her doubts are as awfully improvised as possible, concluded with the always humorous running gag of IK possessing an actual banana as a cell phone. I always wonder in the back of my head if the banana actually is a phone after all, and the show has been conning its audience after all these years.
Of course, the episode only gets progressively funnier as Ice King continues to get further and further into a detour that has practically nothing to do with what Finn and Jake want to hear. The suit fitting sequence is tons of fun (with the added bonus of Life Giving Magus) and Ice King lookin’ absolutely sharp was surely the highlight of this one. I’m reiterating myself, but I truly love how committed he is to actually going on a real date with a woman. It isn’t often he ever gets the opportunity to, but Ice King is genuinely confident, dressed to impressed, and even gets flowers for his lady! It would’ve been so easy for Ice King to give Betty some kind of meaningless or gross gift, but I’m glad that Seo and Somvilay knew when to add in these rare moments of earnestness. In general, there’s quite a few during the dinner scene.
The date in general is a recipe for disaster, but more at the fault of Betty’s high expectations than anything. Ice King clearly does not remember his past self, and no attempts at jogging his memory have ever proved successful in the past. As for Ice King himself, he’s surprisingly not terribly awkward. Granted, he does make the suggestion to go dutch on their very first date, but I don’t think it’s that unreasonable. I mean, Betty is the one who asked him out, after all. And his method of trying to bail by pretending a roll of bread is a phone was hilariously less than smooth, but I’m truthfully just baffled at how Ice King actually recognized a red flag in someone and chose to back out because of it. That’s shockingly admirable.
Betty’s tale is a sad one, no doubt about it. Despite her forcefulness, her rage and frustration is understandable beyond just her state of lunacy. Much like Marcy and Simon’s relationship, Betty tries to be understanding and calm about getting to know her former fiance as he is, but can’t seem to accept the changes before her and resents him because of it. Even without the transferal of magic energy that occurred, it’s very clear that Betty’s descent into madness equally stems from her inability to recover something that clearly doesn’t exist anymore. It’s where everyone’s favorite life coach comes in, Tiny Manticore, and sets Betty’s perspective into place. I will say that this section of the episode is perhaps the most unbelievable; the entire episode is supposed to be told from Ice King’s point-of-view, yet he couldn’t possibly know about this exchange between Betty and TM. I wouldn’t mind it so much if the rest of the episode didn’t seem so committed to the framing device. It isn’t like Joshua & Margaret Investigations, where the entire backstory is supposed to be separate from the perspective of the storyteller.
Patience St. Pim shows up in a couple of scenes throughout the course of this episode, and is expectedly fun, per usual. I love the random addition of a propeller cap that somehow gives her the ability to fly… couldn’t she just do that with her ice magic anyway? It’s great that her and Ice King are on such cordial terms that they casually refer to each other as “roomie” now – she even brings him a donut, even though he specifically asked for a surprise in doing so. Her inclusion also boils down to the big conclusion, in which Betty is used for her ultimate power source that elementifies Ooo as a whole. For those who sought out deep and rich lore within Bespoken For, they did end up getting it… all with a little bit of patience. Yeah, that pun is exceptionally awful.
But Bespoken For is great! A classic Ice King entry that both builds on his character and works off of what already worked so well to begin with. This is the really the first episode that deals with Betty interacting with the Ice King, which luckily continues throughout the course of Elements and builds to the ultimate climax of their relationship all together.
Adventure Time Reviewed 