“The Star” Review

Original Airdate: September 21, 2023

Written & Storyboarded by: Iggy Craig, Graham Falk, Jacob Winkler & Sonja Von Marensdorff

And we’re back!! Was a bit burnt out by Fionna and Cake but the time I got to the sixth episode review, so I figured instead of forcing myself to muster up the inspiration to get through those last few episodes, I’d take time away to do other stuff and eventually return back. Since then, we’ve also gotten some exciting news – the show has been renewed for a second season! Of course, that means I continue to be trapped in a reality where I’m stuck reviewing Adventure Time episodes for the rest of my life, but hey, at least we’ll get to see more of sexy adult Finn probably!! In all seriousness, I do pretty much plan on continuing this gig as long as I have to drive to do it. I definitely don’t have the same passion as I used to – I started this project about 8 years ago now and I could churn out reviews like crazy, now it takes me weeks to complete just one! But I love AT and it will always have a special place in my heart, so it’s always a treat to get to return to it time and time again. And hey, this blog has actually never had more views! I was shocked to see that last year performed better than it ever did during the show’s original run, which is really, really cool to see. Thank you to all the devoted readers over the years, you are appreciated endlessly!

My gushing aside, let’s get to the real MEAT here. The Star takes us through yet another alternate reality of Ooo, and serves as the unofficial spiritual successor to Stakes. I mean unofficial pretty loosely, because they even brought back the tarot naming conventions with “The Star.” I’m not really a tarot expert or anything, but just scanning over explanations online, I can only assume the reversed meaning most directly correlates with Marcy’s portrayal. On The Tarot Guide, specifically with love in mind, the reverse description reads:

“The Star reversed indicates loneliness and lack of faith in the universe’s plan for you. You may be feeling like you will never meet the right person for you. You may feel that you are becoming cynical about love.”

A large chunk of this is an exploration of Marceline and Bubblegum’s relationship through multiple different iterations, and displaying that, regardless of intent, the passion they share for each other is relatively unchanging. Though Fionna and Cake’s world finds their incarnations in the least toxic of situations, the vampire world features a different type of dependency. Bubblegum has devoted her life to bringing down Marceline and the Vampire King, while Marceline views PB more as a playmate than an actual person. Despite claiming to have zero feelings of affection towards her adversary, PB sure has devoted much of her life around the downfall of said opponent. Even more so than the Vampire King, apparently! Marceline claims that Bubblegum shouldn’t be underestimated, but really, I think she probably could take her out more easily than she lets on. The reason their rivalry spans across so many meetings between the two (enough for Marceline to know that PB’s first name is “Bonnibel”) is because Marcy is restraining herself just a bit in the spirit of fun.

While the Stakes miniseries tackles Marceline’s struggle with feeling as if she can never truly grow as a person, The Star plays with a version of Marceline that never developed out of her childhood worldview. The way she interacts with both PB and the Vampire King prove how infantile her version of connections are, in a way that I don’t think that pain described in the tarot reading is even felt in a conscious way by herself. She only knows how “human” connectedness works from the perspective of a seven-year-old mind, which was likely instantly warped when meeting with the VK. The Vampire King returns once more in this one, with Billy Brown reprising his role. With the amount of tertiary characters that got recasted this season, it’s pretty cool to see they got Brown back, even for such a small role. I do wish he got a biiit more to do, only because Stakes provided us with hints of a really cool character, somewhat squashed it, and then never really did anything with him again. He gets a few neat moments here (namely the scene where VK tries to allure a vulnerable Cake) but is mostly around to drive forward how much Marceline’s motivations have shifted without Simon around.

The episode admittedly has a bit too much fun with Bubblegum and Marceline’s dynamic that it slightly overshadows Simon and Marcy’s connection to each other, but I kind of prefer it that way. There’s a few moments that reinforce how much Simon’s presence had an impact on Marceline’s life, but I didn’t need the whole episode to be devoted around that. We already know that from everything we’ve seen in the series up to this point and it simply serves as an important reminder for Simon when he’s at his lowest, especially considering that he initially figured that Marceline would be fine without him in the flashback shown at the beginning of the season. Although, it was even a bit on-the-nose to have Simon call VK a bad dad, but I like how much of a dork Simon is so I’ll let it pass.

Gary and Marshall continue to be very cute and the entire blood drive event parallel was quite fun. Once again, we’re treated to a lot of different genderbent cameos, this time with a special Jesse Moynihan theme! You’ve got lookalikes of Xergiok, Bandit Princess, Ron James, Magic Man, Maja, Crabbit, Samantha, Tiny Manticore, and even some deep cuts like Gridface Princess, Bella Nocce, and the demon guard. Moynihan’s presence on the show is surely missed, so this is a great little tribute to him (P.S. check out his project Jesus 2 if you haven’t yet!) Along with some other character additions like Eberhardt, Ricardio, and Caroll (did you expect Steve Wolfhard to not bring her back as a genderbent character?) And of course, you have the big reveal of Hunson Abadeer’s counterpart, aptly just as dancey and cruel as her male stand-in. She’s also kind of a baddie! I had to look up who actually voiced her and was surprised to see it’s Erica Luttrell, who portrayed Elise back in Obsidian. A great casting choice, especially since she’s essentially just portraying different versions of Marcy’s mom. Also a nice touch – Tom Kenny voices the male version of Maja, who was portrayed in the original series by his wife, Jilly Talley. Granted, Kenny only has one line of “well!” and I’m sure they just had him do it because he was already in the booth, but I’d imagine at least ONE staff member made the connection.

We’re also treated to some alternate versions of other recurring characters in the vampire world – namely Huntress and Martin. It’s pretty cool how Huntress’s human form is marked only by the lack of there being any source of magic for her with the sun being covered up – though I’d imagine the sun isn’t the only thing that makes her a magic user. It also curious that her name is just “Huntress”; at this point I’m wondering if it’s just a Doctor Princess-esque surname for all of her incarnations. Martin returns once again in a much nobler light. I was kind of wondering what the real purpose was of showing that Martin and baby Finn (who stowed away from baby world) were able to bond together in Martin’s current state. Similar to what I said about Simon and Marcy, we already know that Martin’s capable of showing love under the right circumstances. However, I think this kind of works hand-in-hand with what is being shown between Bubblegum and Marceline: that Martin and Finn have a connection pretty much across all (or most) universes where they coincide. Even in this case, across several universes! It’s interesting to think that such a tumultuous relationship that we’ve come to know is somewhat bound by a strong connections across the multiverse.

We also have the titular alternate reality versions of Bubblegum and Marceline, whose dynamic I’ve spoken heavily about, though not their individual roles. Honestly, while I love how their relationship plays out and parallels the interactions between Marshall and Gary, I don’t love these depictions of the characters that much. I think Bubblegum’s characterization is a little too standard in playing into post-apocalyptic survivalist tropes – it just doesn’t really feel engaging to me when it’s an archetype that I’ve seen across so many different pieces of media, and even then, it’s not an archetype I love in general. I don’t really have a problem with Marceline’s depiction and how it plays into a more childlike version of herself, but I dunno, I don’t really think I like Olivia Olson’s delivery here? It’s a bit too… theatrical? I can’t really articulate what does and doesn’t work for me about the performance, and maybe it’s more so the dialogue that was given to her, but something about it just didn’t jibe with me. Which I know I’m probably gonna get shit for because I’m pretty sure this is the one episode that everyone really got into, but it’s nothing like, awful to me. Like I said, I still really like their dynamic and I do think there’s interesting things to explore with their individual portrayals, namely that Bubblegum still needs to be validated by her own accomplishments and is still vulnerable to deep insecurities beyond her gruff exterior. I just wasn’t swayed by the anime vampire dresses. Sue me!

Oh yeah, and Fionna and Cake are here too! Remember them? I feel bad for anyone that comes to this blog wanting me to whip up paragraphs upon paragraphs of Fionna and Cake’s character journeys, but like, I just don’t have all that much to say! As I’ve mentioned, I don’t think anything with them is especially bad (except for some moments we’ll be exploring in the next episode), but their arcs just kind of speak for themselves and there’s not a ton I feel that is needed to be said that wouldn’t be just reiterating what the episode is showing. You have Fionna feeling guilty in her inability to be able to make a difference through her actions, even when they are out of goodwill, and Cake’s fight for wanting her own autonomy in her new self-sufficient form. It’s all fine stuff, it’s just never something I feel the need to dig deeper into/what I’m particularly drawn to with this season as a whole. Which sounds kind of harsh for a show that’s primarily about them, but I do think each episode comes with its own unique sense of individuality and explores the nature of multiple worlds in a super intriguing way that I don’t really mind that I’m not drawn to them as much! Just be grateful if you’re not a Scarab fan, because I have even less to say about him.

I do mostly dig this one overall, even purely from an aesthetic perspective. It’s got a really great, bleak look to it all, especially in the background department. Which, you think would get less interesting when hopping over the human world, but DAMN, I love the way Hana Abadeer’s stain glass tower looks and really meshes with the gothic tone that the episode is going for. In general, it serves up some very bleak imagery (that the next episode also really excels with) such as vampire world Simon’s lifeless body and, what might be my favorite shot in the entire season, the dead body of Billy with the words “turn back” written on a rock. Quite haunting atmosphere throughout, though I will say, most of the wall writings in this one feel a little lackluster. I live in Philadelphia, so I’m used to seeing super soul-crushing things on bar bathroom walls that could easily rival any graffiti included in a post-apocalyptic landscape. But, as desolate as it feels, the world is also equally as invigorating. The high-adrenaline vampire fight sequences are great, with some really great boarded action, cool Cake transformations, and a solid score to boot. This is probably my favorite of the episodes Amanda Jones scored this season. The track “Vampire World,” which was released as part of the official soundtrack, perfectly captures the frantic energy of the scene it’s in and feels like it encompasses a lot of the spirit of what Tim Kiefer brought to the table in the original series.

The Star is another solid one from the season, and though I don’t think I loved it as much as most people did, there’s no denying that it’s a decent amount of fun. Like the few before it, I really enjoy how it plays with the concept of the multiverse, not showing us entirely different versions of the characters we know, but playing around with what makes them tick across pretty much every realm. I was initially kind of opposed to the idea of having all of these major characters show up throughout the season, because I wanted the franchise to evolve out of needing them to tell stories. But I think exploring these different looks into their lives are insightful not only for themselves as individuals, but for the scope of the world as a whole.

This episode’s little staff tidbit comes from Derek Ballard, who whipped up some concept designs for vampires and Marceline’s second outfit in this episode, which can be seen here. Ballard boarded a few episodes during the run of the original series (Breezy and Nemesis) and also created some of my favorite title cards in the entire show for Betty, Wake Up, Breezy, and Nemesis. It’s great to see another alum back, and even greater that one of his designs did make it into the episode! Sorry I was dissing on the anime dresses earlier!

Favorite line: “How could you bring a child into this world?”

“The Winter King”

Original Airdate: September 14, 2023

Written & Storyboarded by: Jim Campbell, Lucyola Langi, Iggy Craig, Graham Falk & Nicole Rodriguez

Of all the Fionna and Cake episodes, The Winter King is probably the most popular of the bunch. For good reasons – it’s a ton of fun! Almost deceptively fun because there’s a ton going on beneath the surface. It’s always interesting when we get to see the perspective of someone else under the crown’s influence along with the additional information we can gather about its power. Despite that sounding like a mostly bleak concept, The Winter King makes for a thoroughly entertaining exploration while still proving that there’s really no “good” relationship with the crown.

This one has a subplot that takes up the other half of it, so I’ll go ahead and cover all the Winter King stuff and then talk about the Gary and Marshall Lee stuff. The Winter King returns after his brief dream debut in Fionna Campbell, and I wonder if his presence accounts for the fact that Fionna and Cake naturally have more of a connection to the multiverse in their subconscious because they are Prismo’s creation. The connection between the Winter King can be made because they are stored in Simon’s brain, but the way that the Winter King is able to present himself, even without Simon being able to perceive his presence, is because of their thinly veiled ties to the macrocosm. But it’s also interesting because the Winter King scene in Fionna’s dream is clearly a different design and voice entirely, making me wonder if there is indeed another Winter King lurking in the multiverse or if it’s a result of Fionna’s own projections of what she personally wants to see from him. Generally, those projections seem to be true at first, as the Winter King presents himself as a noble hero figure that is not plagued by the powers of the crown. At first, this seemed like a cool way to explore the possibility that the crown may not be limited to only causing suffering to its host. This contradicts the already established idea that magic users inherently struggle with levels of madness and sadness, and when it derives from one of the most magical items in the universe, it’s hard to believe that the crown’s power could be subverted in such a drastic way. One that, of course, makes Simon feel instantly inferior. It’s difficult to watch him struggle with the idea that his suffering with the crown is the fault of his own, but hard to not get swept up by the charisma of Winter King’s character at the same time. Brian David Gilbert does such a great job at instilling an immediate charm into the character that feels both convincing while simultaneously being cartoonishly over-the-top.

Even in the midst of his glamour, there’s clear signs that Winter King may not be the generous hero that he paints himself to be. For starters, he never really offers direct answers as to how he overcame the debilitating powers of the crown, only alluding to overly-simplified non-answers that really don’t enlighten Simon to the possibility of solutions. Most notably, of course, is Winter King’s deflection when it comes to discussing Betty. Despite WK’s life mirroring Simon’s up until the point he gained independence from the crown’s power, he barely acknowledges Betty’s presence, referring to her only as “the dead one.” I do wonder if this is part of WK’s method of deflecting his pain and sorrows outward instead of stomaching those emotions on a conscious level or if this additionally can be factored into Simon’s later inflections about his own relationship (spoilers for future episodes, so skip ahead to the next paragraph if you need). Simon later has to confront the idea that he may have been putting his relationship on a pedestal in way that made him avoidant to the possibility of self-reflection. It seems that Winter King may have taken what is generally a reasonable level of self-centeredness and has let that engulf him to the point where he isn’t interested in even exploring parts of his past self. That is, with the exception of Marceline, who now has an ice version of her child likeness. Considering it is a more childlike interpretation, I’d guess that Marceline must have rebelled or abandoned Simon at some point and he created an ice version companion that wouldn’t/couldn’t betray him, especially because if she does, she’s ice. It’s fucked up, and even more fucked up that she ends up MELTING by the end of it.

But Winter King does offer a chance to explain himself to Simon… through song! A guest animated song sequence, no less! The Smallbu Animation team returns to the show once more, this time boasting their most impressive effort. I really enjoy their contributions for Beyond the Grotto and Ketchup, but they were either permitted a lot more freedom, were compensated more graciously, or simply have evolved as a studio over time, because MAN is this whole sequence gorgeous. It boasts the usual Smallbu hallmark of having jittery, pencil thin line art, but it’s the colors and the choreography that really elevate it to masterful levels. The painterly, Christmas-like backdrops look especially gorgeous, incorporating these really lush textures and beautiful details, like the reflections of house lights and character outlines off the icy lake. It’s worth giving additional kudos to Nicole Rodriguez who boarded the entire sequence; there’s so many great camera angles that Rodriguez incorporates in, such as the entire sled segment or Winter King’s skate tricks. The whole thing feels conscientiously planned out, with SmallBu’s animation complementing the boards to the best of their abilities. The song sequence is additionally phenomenal, written by Pat McHale and performed elegantly by Brian David Gilbert. Had no idea we’d be getting more than one McHale song this season, let alone two in the same episode! In an interview, Adam Muto referred to this episode as being similar in tone to a Rankin-Bass special, and I think that really checks out – the overly hammy characters, the expositional musical numbers, and the sparkly Christmas imagery. Could see it being factored in as a pseudo-Christmas special for the franchise as a whole.

But a Rankin-Bass special isn’t complete without a comical villain, and that’s where the Candy Queen comes into play. I don’t know if I’ve seen ANY Adventure Time character blow up as quickly as she has in terms of popularity. I guess you could throw Huntress Wizard as well, though she had multiple appearances to help build on her underground popularity. As far as one-off characters go, Candy Queen is easily one of the most of the franchise’s most beloved, though we’ll see if that popularity lasts the test of time. As for me, I quite like her as well! It should be a given, but I often kind of forget just how impressive Hynden Walch is as a voice actor. Up until Candy Queen starts singing, I truly was not sure if it was Walch performing or if they got someone else for the part. Walch clearly has a blast with the role, mirroring Tom Kenny’s performance as Ice King to a seamless degree while still making it her own thing. I know she played Harley Quinn in some Batman animated iteration years ago, and I figured her performance in that would be very similar to what she brought to the table here. But when I looked it up, I think she even channels something pretty different for Harley Quinn as well! This was really a defining moment in recognizing how much her energy can really take on a life of its own without even changing her voice that drastically.

The Candy Queen’s character is equally a blast. I love the persona flip, along with the added bonus that PB possessing the powers of the crown perhaps makes her even more crazy than Simon was. PB’s character already has an established struggle with harming others under the guise of authority or for scientific research, and her counterpart has that same mad-brain that allows her to conduct schemes and machinery that Ice King could never even fathom to complete. It is interesting to see the slight differences between how their crazy operates; I wonder if it’s part of the crown’s nature to anchor onto the negative aspects of the individual wearer and cause them to flare severely. Like, we’ve seen what Simon’s like when he’s under stress – dude just drinks beer and sloshes around in a self-pitying stupor. It’s really not that different than how Ice King operates on a day-to-day basis, outside of the sheer madness element. It seems Candy Queen as a character is still continuously desperate for the need to control others and have her kingdom thriving, as it seemingly is. Though, it does make me wonder one thing – I kinda figured that the crown didn’t MAKE Ice King desperately horny for women, but rather that he somehow misinterpreted down the lines that he needed to rescue his “princess.” Candy Queen seems similarly obsessed with IK in the way IK was for her, but would this mean that the crown inherently causes this type of desperation in its user? I guess you could argue that Winter King projected his individual madness onto PB as opposed to the crown’s magic itself. Also, maybe Winter King is just that hot. Also, also, I totally believe that Winter King is willingly kidnapped by Candy Queen all the time because he’s a sick narcissistic fuck. He probably loves all the attention and getting rescued every single week.

McHale’s second song for the episode Baked with Love is additionally superb. Might honestly be the better song over Winter Wonder World? It lacks the gorgeous supporting animation, but once again, Hynden kills it on the vocal front and adds so much energy that makes the already catchy melody really pop. I additionally love the unsettling inclusion of the wide-mouthed Banana Guards and all of the additions to the dilapidated Candy Kingdom. In general, this is another great episode from a visual perspective, but that’s almost redundant to say at this point in the season. I love all of the unique new designs for inhabitants of both the Ice and Candy Kingdoms like the Ice Clops and the monstrous versions of candy citizens. From the Ice Kingdom’s perspective, they didn’t really need to reinvent the wheel with its inhabitants since the kingdom is really only relegated to animal life and the occasional cryptid, so it’s nice to see all of these luxurified citizens added to the equation. I thought for sure the Ice Scouts were supposed to be some riff on the rollerblading characters we saw iterations of in the first two episodes, but I’m not sure that’s the case. They’re very cute, regardless! There’s also that really fucked up looking hairless penguin that I want to know more about.

Fionna and Cake also get some fun stuff to do. Well, Fionna mostly – there’s a bit of Cake’s resentment towards her continuing to build which eventually comes to a boiling point in the eighth episode, but we’ll get to that when the time comes. I like Fionna’s little journey in this one, getting really into the thrills of taking on a hero role, but being forced to confront her own actions when she realizes that it’s not all just a simulation. It’s a good exploration of putting her own selfishness in place and letting her naturally begin to make more decisions that are conscious to the feelings of others from this point on. But really, it is just fun watching her act in a way that is very similar to how Finn perceives adventuring to be in his own life. A lot of what goes on here is very much like a Dungeon Train scenario, in how much Fionna is enthralled by battling miscellaneous bosses in an effort to quell her own suffering. And like that episode, it’s also got great loot (so nice seeing a new sword, the ice sword design is sleek!) and is just funny to watch Fionna get so enmeshed in murdering Candy People. Love when she gets wide-eyed about “action stuff,” it’s probably the most she feels like Finn’s counterpart all season.

Of course, her fun takes a turn when she inadvertently removes the magic from the Winter King’s crown, similar to how Cake did this with a Hot Dog Knight back in Cake the Cat. It’s probably the most morbid onscreen death we’ve seen so far from the franchise (though not all that different from Old Man Prismo’s death) and it makes me wonder why the same thing didn’t happen when the crown’s power was removed from Simon back in Betty. I think the obvious answer is that it’s just for dramatic effect, and really not any particular way I can personally theorize around it. But it works, and as I mentioned earlier, the shot of the melted Marcy child is wild. The twist that reveals PB was under the Winter King’s spell the entire time was certainly a surprise, and I love Simon feeling vindicated that he isn’t simply weak for falling under the control of the crown. There’s really no way out of it unless that energy is projected onto another person – at least, that’s what we know for now. Didn’t mention it earlier but I also love Simon’s general affection and support for Candy Queen despite her insanity, it’s so sweet that he empathizes with her.

Alright, so we got all that out of the way, now it’s GaryLee (I think that’s the name of their ship?) time babies!! In a nutshell, I think that they’re very charming together. I don’t think any of the stuff with Fionna and Cake has been bad so far this season, but I’ve struggled to find a focal point in really caring about the human world that they’re leaving behind. That is until this episode – I think Gary and Marshall Lee hitting it off not only helps bring to light Fionna’s selfishness in wanting the world to be altered in her vision, but is also just very genuinely endearing on its own. So much of the original series, and even Distant Lands, has focused on the somewhat tumultuous aspects of Marceline and Bubblegum’s relationship. It’s nice to have a glimpse into their relationship that is fully committed to showing what makes them work. That’s not to say that the series has never emphasized these elements, because I think Obsidian and even episodes like Varmints or Broke His Crown do just that, but The Winter King breaks it down into very simplistic terms. At the beginning, it plays into their polar opposite personalities, being Gary’s by-the-book attitude and Marshall Lee’s laidback, often anarchistic nature. But soon, this blossoms into a mutually beneficial sharing of worldviews. Marshall values Gary’s commitment to bringing his own dreams to life while Marshall’s spontaneity helps Gary get out of his own desire for monotony. I especially like how the conflict that comes from this, being Marshall calling the Lemoncarbs without letting Gary know, doesn’t instigate drama between the two and instead is used for a quiet moment of open communication. I also really love how their part in the episode wraps up with Gary conceiving of Slumber Party Panic‘s plot through a vision of his pastry menschen. The continued sprinkled bits of ideas that aspects of the multiverse exist merely as ideas in the minds of “lower” beings is really cool to me, I would love to see that expanded on with the other cosmic characters at some point in a future series.

The episode caps off with a baby world version of Ooo, which seems like the team picked the gimmickiest idea they could think of for an alternate universe and decided to tack it onto an episode just for fun. It’s cute, though it somewhat bothers me that there’s a baby version of the Lich just hanging out in the open. I kinda like that idea that the Lich would exist as just himself in every single universe that he’s in and is not impacted by the conditions of said universe, but I guess that a whole baby universe wouldn’t really be able to exist in that case! Might’ve just made more sense to leave him out of the equation. The episode caps off with Simon comforting Fionna over all the fucked up things they just witnessed as the two continue to develop their friendship. I mentioned that I’m still getting a feel for the newer board artists, but Lucyola Langi has the most immediately recognizable style in my eyes. She boards the last six or so minutes of the episode and those massive pupils are what really make her touch identifiable and definitely instills a lot of inherent cuteness in the characters. Also, noticed a classic Falk monobrow when Gary throws a shirt on the bed around the 7 minute mark.

The Winter King is easily one of the strongest of the season; it’s fun, has an interesting exploration of the crown’s power, great character moments, beautiful animation, terrific songs, and great voice work to boot. Like I said before, it’s easy to see why this one caught everyone’s eye, and I think the joy of the experience can’t be understated. It’s been a while since Adventure Time has been able to let its silliness unfold properly, either because its wrapped up in more serious stories or has struggled to recapture the weirdness of the past. The Winter King doesn’t lean too, too far on the odd spectrum, but it shows that both the fun and intrigue of the series can coexist in one outing, which is balance that AT has become so recognized for. And in general, I commend the season for managing to have a continuing story while still allowing each episode to have its own self-contained feel. It’s something that I feel serialized shows have really struggled with, and even AT did to an extent towards its original run. It’s part of why I think Fionna and Cake works so well, because each episode is able to be looked at and remembered for its own unique attributes.

Another Steve Wolfhard tidbit! Wolfhard created an outline for characters that would appear in the baby universe, mainly basing them off season one characters, which can be seen here. Some of them made it in, like the baby Jiggler, baby Ricardio, baby Magic Man and other recurring and major characters (baby Lady is especially cute!). Though it would’ve been cool to see some of the rarely seen denizens of Ooo make it in, like baby Gut Grinder or baby Head Marauder. Side note: Wolfhard was the supervising director for this episode, and I love whenever you can tell that he chimed in with a drawing. The shot where the main Lemoncarb cracks her knuckles has Wolfhard written all over it, wrinkles and all.

Favorite line: “Nonsense! You looked ugly.”

“Prismo the Wishmaster” Review

Original Airdate: September 7, 2023

Written & Storyboarded by: Iggy Craig, Graham Falk, Jim Campbell & Lucyola Langi

I’m glad I took some time to let these episodes sit a bit before jumping in to review them, because there’s A LOT that Prismo the Wishmaster dishes out. The entirety of this episode essentially acts as an answer to one of Adventure Time‘s most unusual questions after the events of the episode Fionna and Cake and Fionna. I previously lambasted that episode as the worst in the series, because it seemed like it was just throwing shit at the fan to try to mystify Fionna and Cake at a point in the series where it felt like they really had no place anymore. Turns out, Fionna and Cake and Fionna was actually setting up an idea that the crew played around with for a while but never really had the time or place to explain it in full detail. According to Adam Muto in an interview with Inverse, Prismo’s introduction in season five naturally came with the idea that he would be the true creator of Fionna & Cake. I do admire the current place AT is at where they can just come back later on and address unopened doors in the past, while continuing to plant seeds for the future. And Prismo the Wishmaster is just that – AT at perhaps its most convoluted, chock full of answers to questions and questions raised from those answers. Not that that’s a bad thing, of course.

The episode begins with a neat little cold opening taking place in The Drift from BMO, which also doubles down on this season’s personal goal of having as many Cheers references as they can possibly squeeze in. This one’s mostly just for gag purposes, though it may show that even a cosmic being like Kheirosiphon craves the mundane and simplistic life that Simon and Fionna so vehemently reject. Or maybe it was just to feature an alien version of Norm, which I’m also okay with. This is also the moment we’re introduced to Scarab – the main antagonist for the season. He’s a character that I have pretty lukewarm views on overall; I think Scarab at the very least boasts a cool design and presence in the general worldbuilding of the series. I like his crystal scythe and his little Tamagotchi-esque captor eggs, and I think it’s cool to have some kind of understanding of how cosmic crimes (or what seems to be cosmic misdemeanors in this case) are addressed from an authoritative level. As a character, Scarab’s not really anything to write home about. AT in general has been kind of struggling with villains since the last season of the OG series and I think it just boils down to them never being funny or intimidating enough. Aside from The Lich and rare instances of genuinely threatening baddies (Ricardio’s presence in Lady & Peebles comes to mind or Hierophant in May I Come In?), Adventure Time villains are kind of supposed to be lame. The idea is always taking a concept that should make for a terrifying villain in any other fantasy series but making them super humanized and pretty mundane. Like, Kee-Oth is a demon that belongs to this super distorted underworld-type dimension but he also takes Pilates classes. Or Hunson Abadeer, the literal ruler of the Nightosphere, who uses karate moves when he’s pissed off at his daughter and vocalizes those exact karate moves when he uses them. There are other villains, such as Lemongrab or Dr. Gross, that have interesting pieces of psychological baggage that make them more engaging, on top of being funny as well. But Scarab just doesn’t really get any committed character depth and isn’t given anything particularly funny to say or do, so he just kind of ends up being a foil. I don’t really totally fault the crew for not taking the time to flesh out this character when there is already so much else going on, but I also wonder why they chose to include him in the first place. I like how his role further explores the presence of cosmic beings in the universe, but any other time he shows up is just kind of a reminder of the stakes of the situation at hand.

But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself – after the detour in The Drift, we once again see a depressed Prismo shirking his duties in the Time Room. Similar to Choose Goose, it is really funny how committed the staff is to including Wyatt across multiple different iterations. Though, unlike CG, I think Wyatt’s inclusion is much less overdone and it is funny to also see those parallels painted as to how he ended up (and stayed) within the First Dead World (who knows what type of cosmic crimes he committed on his own to get there??) It’s also pretty clear that Prismo gave up caring about the consequences that came with making wishes a long time ago, and honestly, why should he? Wyatt probably would’ve wished for Tree Trunks to rub his shoulders for all of eternity or something, it’s not really the type of wishes that require him to be extra careful and caution. And also, you get the clear idea that not really any other person who has entered that Time Room in years has had any kind of concern or interest in Prismo’s life. Honestly, Jake might’ve been the only non-cosmic being to ever show interest or compassion for Prismo, so it really adds to how much he’s sunk into desolation. Also worth noting is that Prismo has a new voice actor as of this episode, making for another point where I’m just going to divulge into production notes that all of y’all have probably heard already! Prismo’s original voice actor, Kumail Nanjiani, did not return to the role because of a representative of his passing on Nanjiani’s behalf without his knowledge. It is sad because Nanjiani’s reaction on social media shows how legitimately bummed he was by this and how even with how big he’s become, he has a special place for Prismo in his heart. Nanjiani brought so much natural charisma to the character, it’s a performance that will be truly missed. Though it’s not all in vain, because Sean Rohani, who voices Prismo in Fionna and Cake, does a pretty great job taking over! It definitely took some getting used to – I thin even if you sound very much like the actor that you’re replacing, there’s still an adjustment period to the new performance and inflections that impacted my immersion slightly on a first watch. However, watching it again and having seen the whole season by this point, it’s much less noticeable and easier to appreciate what Rohani brings to the table. Also, as many people have mentioned, Prismo being depressed definitely supports Rohani being a bit raspier than Nanjiani was in the role.

I love the little black-and-white sequence that results from Wyatt’s wish. I like that the design of it didn’t immediately jump to rubberhose as a main inspiration point and instead just uses weird, more stylistic interpretations of 20’s designs. Graham Falk boarded the entire sequence, which really gives him a chance to shine with his more expressive style. The animation for the scene was done by Nick Cross, who seems to have been the main source for in-house animation during the entirety of Fionna and Cake. Cross animated the intro for F&C as well and it’s delightful to see energy that he instills to knock an already well-boarded segment out of the park. This is the man who animated the entirety of the Highway Man scene in Over the Garden Wall, after all! It’s also cool because Cross’s work with Falk dates all the way back to when Cross was a storyboard artist on The Untalkative Bunny, so things have really come full circle here.

I mentioned that Cake the Cat felt like it was plodding a bit and held on certain bits that felt like they could’ve been used for other space. Prismo the Wishmaster is definitely an episode the earns its 24 minute runtime and not even because every second is jam-packed with knowledge overload. It does have some little moments of Prismo interacting with Fionna, Cake, and Simon, while still managing to sprinkle in some dialogue that establishes Prismo as the true creator of F&C (more on that in a bit!) We get a few good glimpses as well into what Ooo’s inhabitants are currently up to, though it’s not especially juicy. Kind of odd that Finn has had extensive changes since we last saw him while Huntress Wizard looks exactly the same as she did 10+ years ago in-universe (they even use her pre-Flute Spell model sheet). In fact, everyone in these clips looks like they could use a little time gap update. You mean to tell me Susan is still wearing her same pre-memory jog outfit? I can’t imagine that smells even remotely decently, but good to see her and Frieda are still traveling together. One clear change is that Pep appears to be advancing through wizard school with his pal Blaine. The most jarring change of all, however, is when we see a brief clip of Lemongrab later on, with a… very noticeable voice actor replacement. Justin Roiland has been outed as a big ol’ creep since F&C went into production, but my guess is this news didn’t break until the scene was fully animated or at the very least in the process of final animation taking place. Jinx Monsoon, who provides the voice for genderbent Lemongrab 1, does her best imitation of LG but it REALLY falls flat. Can’t really blame her or the staff for this as it was clearly a last minute decision that had to be made, but man, if Prismo’s voice change altered my immersion slightly, this nuked it on a first watch.

As the episode moves along and we get into Prismo’s introduction to Fionna and Cake, the puzzle pieces start to come together about his connection with the two, along with Simon. Prismo being the true creator of Fionna and Cake is something I’m still kind of grappling with. I think I was much more negative to the idea off the bat, grew a bit more positive to it, and now I’m kind of in neutral territory. I think the main reason it put me off to begin with is that it doesn’t really fully mesh with the timeline that Adventure Time has set up. Fionna and Cake, the episode, takes place two full seasons before Prismo is introduced in Finn the Human, and I wasn’t really satisfied with the theories to combat this, such as how Prismo is omnipresent and seems to exist outside of time. We know that the Time Room itself exists outside of time, but the way that Prismo interacts with Ooo, along with Finn and Jake, seems to at least exist in a linear way with how Ooo perceives time. Even Prismo himself seems to be mourning Jake’s death in a process that meshes with Ooo’s general timeline, so it wasn’t a theory I was willing to roll with. I think the easiest justification for this is that Adventure Time episodes, outside of clear continuity points, don’t really need to be seen as entirely linear storytelling. They’ve even broken this on occasions, with BMO Noire and Princess Potluck occurring on the same day but being a full season apart, or the flashback in Joshua and Margaret Investigations happening without a clear framing device. So, I’m pretty much fine with accepting that this as part of Adventure Time‘s lore and don’t believe it truly accounts to discontinuity. However, I feel generally mixed about Prismo’s role as the true author. This kind of feels similar to a development like Orgalorg, where the execution of the concept is fun, but the concept itself sort of overly mystifies a relatively simple idea. I liked that Fionna and Cake stories were something that came from Ice King’s obsession for Finn and Jake and that it was actually something he was good at! Ice King couldn’t really constructively do anything worthwhile in his condition, but it was cool to see that Fionna and Cake was the one thing that he actually seemed to pour his heart into and that he gradually accrued a fanbase over time. It’s somewhat of a bummer to me that this small accomplishment was taken away from him, though it depends on how you view creative ideas a whole anyway. I do love the construct that creativity comes from a magic source and is channeled further by peons in an almost spiritual experience, so I don’t reject the mysticism of it entirely. There’s also the implication with how the stories are told that Ice King DOES have some control over the direction on how they are told and that he’s adding his own unique spin to them. It is additionally confusing that Fionna is the central protagonist in all of these stories – wouldn’t it make more sense for Prismo to center them around Jake? Maybe he’s taking their relationship, and Ooo as a whole, and looking at it at a glance, but it’s just strange because Prismo and Finn have never had a very developed relationship. There’s even that dumb line that they included in Hoots where Prismo doesn’t even immediately remember who Finn is – this is the kid you based an entire fanfiction off of?? Though I guess it’s more the fault of that episode than this, so generally speaking, I’m still a bit polarized with my sentiments for this development, though not totally opposed to how it presents itself in the series mythos.

Additionally, some of the lore about wishes being made is cool, namely that wishes only occasionally add to the multiverse and create entirely new dimensions, which supports that Shelby wishing for his GF to have a pony did not in fact create an entire alternate wish universe (a damn shame). Also, this is where we get the hilarious Flapjack cameo, which at this point, I’m all for. I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m pretty opposed to any Adventure Time crossover opportunities and I wouldn’t be into the idea of this explored further (as Adam Muto mentioned was an original episode idea), but fuck it, if the multiverse is being explored in detail, I’m fine with a cute little cameo homage to Adventure Time‘s granddaddy. Also super sweet that they chose an episode and clip that was boarded by Pen Ward himself. We also get the neat little tidbit that Beyond the Grotto‘s dimension hopping was created by a wish (possibly the Sea Lard’s?) It really only opens up for the possibilities that other instances of guest animation and unique reality jumps, like Pillow World, also factored in multiverse theorem.

It does seem like Ice King’s individual achievements are slowly whittling away from him, though again, I’m kind of fine with this in how it plays into this specific series. Ice King and the crown have been used for a number of different allegories throughout the franchise’s run, and while I’m bummed that the events of Skyhooks II never really further elaborated on Ice King’s existence as an independent being, Fionna and Cake is clearly going for a different take on it. Addiction is a theme that Simon & Marcy briefly toyed around with when dealing with the crown, and it’s the main thematic push that Fionna and Cake often deals with. Simon being left to look at old memories of himself while everyone in the room praises how funny and cool he used to be when he wore the crown feels like an alcoholic being knocked at for becoming sober. Simon knows that the crown was something that completely disconnected him from his humanity, but you really can’t blame him for becoming increasingly pro-magic as the episode continues when everyone around him is making him feel like he doesn’t have worth in his current state. They’re harsh sentiments from Fionna and Cake, though you can’t really blame them entirely either. Simon spends most of the episode at his absolute worst, defaulting to self-blame and general apathy to everything and everyone around him. Almost to the point where you think, yeah, maybe he would be better off as Ice King! He was out of it and often tortured by the powers of the crown, but at least he was often aided by a clueless joy that took away from any of the pain he is currently experiencing. Of course, this is only looking at one side of it, and only further aids the addiction comparison.

The general interactions between the four central characters of this episode are lots of fun. I like Prismo’s growing understanding of Fionna and Cake’s ability to comprehend things outside of the traits he has already given them, such as Fionna’s difficulty wearing shorts and her opinionated responses to the information being divulged to her. I also love Cake’s experimenting with different shapeshifting abilities that often feel like a child’s wobbly sketches as opposed to fully articulated formations. As mentioned, Simon’s general “fuck this” attitude and him chugging beers with Prismo was quite funny, and I loved how unsentimental the foundation of Fionna and Simon’s relationship is. The implication that she’s going to level with him and then smacks him is great, though it does lead to a genuinely somber speech from Fionna. Again, Madeleine Martin (incorrectly referred to her as board artist “Madeleine Flores” in my Fionna Campbell review – my bad!) does a great job at breathing life into the character and makes her entire situation feel dire, as it is.

It’s always fun going on a little detour of the Time Room and its surroundings, as Is That You? established. I like all the added bits of worldbuilding, like the clock titans that help to communicate the construct of time across the multiverse. This seems like an addition that would be important later on, but it ends up just being a cool little tidbit that helps expand the world – even maybe something that could be elaborated on later on! Speaking of which, Prismo’s boss is name-dropped once more after being mentioned in Crossover (didn’t even mention that “crossover” is the official term for overarching pieces of the multiverse, neat!) I won’t go into this now because there’s more little bits we get later on and I don’t want to spoil anything in case someone is reading these episode-by-episode, but I’ll share with y’all my own headcanon about the boss once we get to the end of the season. The whole exploration of the Time Room is a visual treat, expanding on the spiraling cyberspace-esque backgrounds that first appeared in Is That You? The original series didn’t really have the budget for especially rich backgrounds, so Prismo’s Time Room was limited to mainly flat colors and gradients, but we get some cool textural additions to these landscapes that really help it pop. The entire episode is just a treat from the color front – I love the black light colors that emerge when Prismo begins presenting F&C‘s world to them. The whole episode in general is illuminated by great color choices, I implore you to check out the great color script from background paint supervisor Carolyn Ramirez here. Speaking of staff contributions, I’m starting to recognize new board artist styles a bit more with this episode! I believe Jim Campbell’s contributions chime in when Prismo begins to attempt to hide Fionna, Cake, and Simon from Scarab; his take on Prismo is especially notable, giving him a much rounder head that looks similar to Jesse Moynihan’s take on Prismo in Crossover. Lucyola Langi appears to take over once Fionna and Cake try to escape the Time Room entirely until the end of the episode – her style is notable in just how large the pupils are on each character, perhaps most apparent when Fionna pleads her case to Simon and when F&C ponder how the time remote must work. Kudos to Digamma-F-Wau in the comments for help bringing light to some of these production notes!

Other miscellaneous highlights from this episode include the introduction of Prismo’s Pickle Room; I like how Prismo’s special pickles started from just a one-time gag to now escalate where he has an entire section of his cosmic home dedicated to his pickle storage. I like all the small cameos of cosmic criminals on Scarab’s crystal, including Martin (who is pushing that TV-14 rating with the middle finger inclusion). Any mentions of primordial lore were rad, like the implication that Prismo was chosen to be Wishmaster instead of it just being conceived with his creation. And I think it was easily the funniest portion of the episode when a butt-naked Simon was beamed in, only slightly annoyed at the inconvenience of Prismo summoning him.

Like I mentioned, it’s still one that I’m grappling with from a revelation perspective, but the episode itself is tons of fun. It really gets the ball rolling and kicks the season into full gear, with this being the last bit of set up that moves things forward. Again, it’s always fun that Adventure Time can manage to provide clarity on certain arcs and plot points that feel like they’ve been lost to the wayside, while also committing to making things more convoluted and rich for interpretation in the process. For the most part, that’s kind of how the season operates – digging deeper into certain elements of expansion while also committing to leaving doors open by the end of it. It’s one of the hallmarks of the series that I truly love and I think Prismo the Wishmaster plays around with that in a great way that never bogs down the experience. It’s an episode that easily could’ve been weighed down with its heavy dosage of exposition, but in typical AT fashion, it has the most fun with it that it can.

I’ve kind of exhausted all the production notes I had for this one throughout the blog, so we’ll skip over the footer tidbit this time.

Favorite line: “This is the multiverse, a huge web of all the different realities elegantly connected like an anthill or a camp counselor relationship chart.”

“Simon Petrikov” Review

Original Airdate: August 31, 2023

Written & Storyboarded by: Iggy Craig, Graham Falk, Jim Campbell & Lucyola Langi

Hope y’all are diggin’ the new site updates! I went a bit manic last week with messing around with the layout and testing out different images and styles. Hopefully you weren’t too alarmed hopping around on the site at that point in time – everything should be squared away for the time being!

One thing I love about AT is the motif they’ve committed to over the years with naming episodes after main characters, and usually use that episode space to demonstrate how that particular character ticks. I kinda figured Fionna Campbell was just using it as an opportunity to showcase the more humanized world of F&C, but the rest of the season mostly commits to working hand-in-hand with this theme. Simon Petrikov, of course, delves into the psyche of Simon as he continues to try to get adjusted to his life after being Ice King for so long. And, in terms of how these episodes typically go, this one is particularly grim. Finn the Human showed that Finn is just generally a very selfless person no matter what his circumstances in life are like. Jake the Dog demonstrated how Jake typically goes with the flow even in the midst of certain disaster. Marceline the Vampire Queen depicted Marceline’s struggles with her own inability to change and her making a conscious effort to try to progress in a very stagnant world. Bonnibel Bubblegum got to the root of PB’s wildly naïve perspective gained from ruling over others in a less mature state of mind. Simon Petrikov is really just about how Simon doesn’t want to be alive. Sad!

A lot of the foundation for Simon’s arc throughout the season is laid out pretty early on in Simon Petrikov. The flashback scene with Simon and young Marcy pretty much sums up Simon’s fears of having to be comfortable in his own skin, and it makes sense. So much of what we know about him up to this point is that he had a deep connection with Marceline and a deep connection with Betty. Aside from his own interest in anomalies, his identity is really built around the idea of how much he cares for these two people, so it’s not really hard to believe that he was kind of dependent on them. Not to say that Simon’s not a good egg – he’s not some egomaniac who uses people for his own wellbeing. But so much of his identity has been built around his dedication to others that there’s never really been much flex time to develop himself beyond that. Which would probably be easier to stomach if that was the only problem he’s having, but add in the fact that he’s been out of his mind for 1,000 years and he has no one that he can actually relate to and you have a real recipe for a madman.

The Cheers theme song comes in once more to really hammer in those feelings of isolation that nag at Simon. His desires for escapism are all laid out in the lyrics themselves and I think Cheers in general is a show that Simon has some sort of sick relationship with. We see him watching it at the beginning, but I don’t even think he likes it! It’s the one piece of media that reminds him of his own humanity but makes him feel equally isolated through his inability to actually achieve even the mundanity of going to a bar and connecting with others (which, more on that later). It doesn’t help that he’s essentially an alien in the eyes of Ooo residents. His day consists of explaining what ironing is like to former Islanders and getting roasted by a little girl about how he used to be really cool when he wasn’t himself. It was cool seeing the newly established Human City after the events of Come Along With Me, and even cooler recognizing their expressions as a staple of Graham Falk’s boarding! Falk returned to the series as a board artist after being absent from Distant Lands. It’s a little bit more difficult this time around to pick up on the style of individual artists, but the expressions of the humans, the monobrows, and the way everyone will occasionally stand at a very titled angle have him written all over it. It was good to see that element of familiarity while I continue to get to understand the newer writers and board artists better.

Speaking of newer board artists, Iggy Craig has also returned to the series after working on the first three Distant Lands specials! His boarding begins after Simon breaks down and closes up shop. Craig’s drawings of Simon are really spectacular, nailing all of his pent up disdain in really expressive ways; Simon rubbing his face in frustration, longingly staring at the statue of GOLB, and all of the wonderful close-ups of Simon’s discomfort in the bar are courtesy of Craig. Hopping into the bar scene, this whole section of the episode is really great. Part of the fun of the series being rated TV-14 is that they can have Simon be a straight-up alcoholic! But it’s not the escapist fantasy that the Cheers theme song promised – Simon’s not able to take a break from all of his worries at Dirt Beer Guy’s Tavern. Instead, he’s once again faced with a community of people he can’t relate to, constantly reminded by those around him of his troubled past, and left to get drunk off of poorly mixed cocktails. Of course, that’s not to say that everything facing Simon is purely antagonistic. Those around him aren’t trying to make him feel bad, but they really only know one side of him and I don’t really get the feeling that Simon really has a grasp on who he is outside of the fact that he used to be Ice King. And that he’s an antiquarian, but I don’t know how much of a use that position has in an area like Ooo. So the reminders from his past by the likes of Dirt Beer Guy aren’t exactly compassionate, but DBG’s at least trying to connect with Simon on some level that he thinks might make him feel important. Also, holy shit, adult Finn!!!!!!!!

I knew we were going to get a little bit of a glimpse into his ventures based on the Fionna and Cake trailers, but I assumed it would all be limited to multiverse stuff. I didn’t expect for him to just hop in and be featured in a majority of this episode, but honestly, I loved it. The glimpses we get from adult Finn’s life are almost exactly what I would expect his late 20s/early 30s to be like: still selfless and affable, still very repressed emotionally after losing Jake, and a bit of a himbo. His interactions with Simon hit on the same missteps that Dirt Beer Guy covered; Finn’s not trying to be malicious or make Simon feel bad, but wants him to lighten up a bit. It’s just not what Simon wants to hear. Of course, it also makes sense why Finn wouldn’t be able to relate to this issue either. Despite his humanity, he’s grown up surrounded by magic his entire life, so he’s not exactly the key person to necessarily relate to his problems either. I think of all Simon’s turmoil, the moment that hits the most for me is when he discusses dressing up like Ice King in order to cope. What started out as a silly gag in Obsidian is painted as a moment of true baggage for him. The way Simon looks at Finn when he mentions it, probably assuming that Finn would probably be horrified when he heard that, shows how deeply ashamed he is of it. Of course, this gets a bit too heavy for everyone involved, so Finn counteracts it the only way he knows how – by taking Simon on an adventure.

I did just mention that Finn was selfless and I think that dedicating his entire day to making Simon feel better is a clear indicator of that. But it’s also clear that this is something that would cheer Finn up, not necessarily Simon. In a lot of ways, I think Finn has become more similar to Jake in his adult life. Jake was never too savvy when it came to dealing with emotional turmoil and would usually resort to mostly surface-level modes of cheering Finn up, like taking him on a quest in Dungeon Train to help him deal with his break-up or providing him with a shit-ton of waffles in The Music Hole. It’s not because Jake is careless, he just only really knows what would personally make him feel better based on his own life experiences. Finn seems to be operating in the same way, with the added factor that he is likely carrying his own heavy baggage of moving through life without Jake, and has found his own ways to distract himself so he doesn’t spiral. Also, really sweet how he’s hanging out with TV in this episode after being seen traveling with Bronwyn in Obsidian. He’s a great uncle! Also nice to see that he still kicks ass and slays beasts as an adult. Come Along With Me left me a bit perplexed with how it left off Finn’s character, in that he kind of followed the Steven Universe route of pacifism that just didn’t necessarily seem fully true to the sensibilities of the character. In hindsight, it seems clear that this move was a life lesson for him that not all of his problems can be solved by fighting, but he’s still open to fucking shit up every now and then. I also love the added bonus of him quietly thanking the beast for its sacrifice. Man is totally picking up all of that woo-woo stuff from hanging out with Huntress Wizard and I love it. HW gets a few mentions in passing and I think it’s pretty apparent that the two still are romantically involved, or at the very least still very connected. I like to think that they have a relationship similar to Jake and Lady’s in the early days, where Finn and HW mostly live their own lives but are still very connected and understanding of each other’s boundaries. Also, they definitely have passionate forest sex in the brink of the night. This I’m certain of.

The quest with Simon goes about as well as one would expect it to go. Simon clearly isn’t into it and is generally mortified by the array of (very cool looking) beasts. That’s not to say that the trip is devoid of pleasures, as Simon and Finn have a very sweet moment by a campfire. I really love the little sentiments of Simon sharing some old outdoorsy stories with Finn, and (I’m going to be saying this a lot in these reviews) Tom Kenny does a terrific job at delivering these lines with a full sense of sincerity. It seems like Simon is actually starting to find connection through sharing these stories, but is once again bogged down when recounting Betty’s presence. This is probably where Finn could’ve been more supportive in letting Simon vent his frustrations, but again, he’s operating from a stance of survival from falling down an emotional rabbit hole. Of course, this backfires and their trip is cut short. It’s cool to see that, despite Finn’s adversity towards emotion, he does seem to embrace the wisdom he learned in his developmental stages. Namely, he blindfolds himself to find a way out of the forest, akin to The Hall of Egress! Really missing Tom Herpich having a vital role in the series, so this was as good a homage as ever. The two part ways (the way Finn flaps his hand as he’s talking offscreen kills me) as Finn exclaims, “I love fixing people!” What a sweet lil traumatized boy.

We get the return of Rebecca Sugar in song form, as “Part of the Madness” plays over Simon aimlessly walking through a disconnected landscape. I’m basic, but this is probably my favorite song from the season. It’s always really nice to have Sugar show up in any capacity and I just think there is something evergreen about her singing voice and the tunes she plays. There’s just something so relaxing yet somber in everything she produces, I truly think she can do no wrong when it comes to music. Looking forward to her upcoming solo album as well! And speaking of Sugar staples, we get an instance of Simon finally attempting to reach out and connect with Marceline, to no avail. She’s too preoccupied having fun with PB, in what is probably the worst timing ever. I think Simon talking to her is something that Marceline would totally be open to, but having her seem totally enmeshed with her own life wasn’t really motivation for him to open up any further. I’ve seen a lot of people annoyed at Marceline’s behavior in this instance, but I think it simply can just be chalked up to the relationship between a parent and their adult child. I think as a child you kind of just automatically assume that your parents are always doing fine because they don’t generally keep their struggles hidden, and it’s difficult for a parent to open up because they don’t want to weigh down someone that they’re supposed to be taking care of. I think it was all done as a way of playing out their dynamic as they continued to become reacquainted following Simon’s revival.

The way I really knew Adventure Time was back in full force was seeing the reveal that Evil Choose Goose is now being kept captive in Simon’s apartment. What is more AT than setting up a big cliffhanger for what’s to come only to unceremoniously reintroduce it in a very underwhelming way?? Of course, I don’t really mean that as a legitimate criticism. I don’t think I really wanted a series that featured Choose Goose as the main antagonist, so this was a fun little twist to wrap up that previous teaser. Also, I will never understand what the fucking obsession is with Choose Goose all of a sudden. Dude appeared like, 5 times total in the original series and currently he shows up every 10 minutes in every Adventure Time iteration now. It’s almost like they got rid of the snail but couldn’t cope with the idea of not having any reoccurring character show up in every episode. Speaking of the snail, that dude is dead now apparently! It felt like this was a final attempt from the crew to distance themselves from him after he re-appeared in Together Again. Though I guess that didn’t work too well either because he appears a few other times in Fionna and Cake. They just can’t get rid of the lil guy. The final scene with Simon attempting to make contact with GOLBetty is a great, tense conclusion. Come Along With Me definitely made me a bit more hungry for more content dedicated to GOLB, and jumping into that with a dark, ritualistic spell was enough to get me sucked back in. The episode wraps up with Cake exiting Simon’s mind and a brief transition into Prismo’s timeroom, showing that he’ll be more involved in what’s to come. I wonder what will happen, I say having seen every episode of this season already.

But in all seriousness, this was just what I needed to get me back into Adventure Time. Of course, I think a lot of that is incentivized by the great moments with adult Finn, but I also genuinely love all that we get from Simon too. The events of Come Along With Me left me a bit polarized, mainly because I felt like it was a bit of a copout to have Simon AND Ice King both have a happy ending. By that point in the series, I had appreciated what the show was doing with displaying Ice King as his own functioning, developed person, so it bummed me out that they gave Simon what seemed like the happier ending and just tacked on that, “oh yeah, Ice King is here and fine too I guess.” But Simon Petrikov, and the rest of the season, prove that this wasn’t necessarily a happy ending for Simon. The episode does a great job at painting just how miserable his life is and doesn’t just limit it to him missing Betty. I’m often reminded of those terrible Simon & Marcy comics from a few years ago that just dialed back on all of the sacrifices made in Come Along With Me and provided Simon with an almost unequivocal happy ending by rescuing Betty. Simon Petrikov throws those stories aside by showing very candidly how much Simon is struggling in his body, even beyond just his connection to Betty. But again, my clear bias towards adult Finn has probably bled through this entire review. We eating good with this stuff, AT fans!

My little production tidbit is that, according to a tweet by Brian A. Miller, “Part of the Madness” was a homage to the former internal tagline used at CN Studios. Of course, this might just be speculative on his part, but it’s really sweet to think about. Sugar adds a bit of a personal touch to each of her songs, so it’s not a stretch to consider that the song revolves around her considering her life outside of CN. And, with CN Studios shutting down not too long ago, it’s especially bittersweet to entertain.

Favorite line: “Why isn’t it a phone?”

“Come Along With Me” Consensus

Before checking out this review, be sure you read the segmented analyses of each part of Come Along With Me.

• Part 1.
• Part 2.
• Part 3.
• Part 4.

It’s been a while, friends! Hope everyone had a terrific holiday season and a great start to their new year! Following the release of the final Come Along With Me individual review, I was definitely feeling burnt out and needed space from the series and this blog for a bit to rekindle my energy. My enthusiasm for discussing AT has happily renewed, and I’ll be wrapping up the first wave of this blog throughout the next few weeks with some bonus content. Since I’m just getting back into the swing of things, I don’t want to promise any form of heavily stressed deadlines, though this is the order of content you can expect for the next few weeks:

• Season 9 Review.
• The Best and Worst of Adventure Time Episodes.
• Top 10 Adventure Time Moments.
• Adventure Time Character Analysis.

I’ve batted around a few more ideas for bonus content before, and those ideas are still on the table, but I’d like to focus on the stuff I really want to tackle before possibly over-promising anything too elaborate.

A reminder that my giving campaign is still up and running! If you feel like you got one dollar’s worth of entertainment reading this blog in the past or present, or if you want to support the future of this blog, feel free to throw some cashola my way in you have the extra money!

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With that said, let’s take a look at Come Along With Me as a whole! Ever since the release of the finale, I’ve seen nothing but overwhelmingly positive responses about Come Along With Me. Review sites like The A.V. Club and IGN awarded the finale with an absolute perfect score, while several longtime fans and fans who jumped back on board to see how the series ended were pretty amazed. I was pretty much in the same boat, but as time has passed, and I’ve looked at the finale with clear eyes not clouded by hype of everything…

It’s a’ight.

I think there’s a lot to like about Come Along With Me. In many respects, it is a completely inoffensive, loving, and dedicated finale. This certainly isn’t a Game of Thrones situation where the finale is so bad that it hurts both rewatch value and the overall quality of the series, but it is a finale that I find somewhat underwhelming. On a thematic level, Come Along With Me succeeds in following the main mission statement of the series that “the fun will never end,” by portraying the optimistic viewpoint that life and existence still continue regardless of impending doom that so often afflicts humanity (and Ooo-manity, of course). But, when looking at it from a surface or story level, I think there’s still a good amount to be desired.

Let’s start with the good stuff. The expansion of the 1000+ world that was introduced in Graybles 1000+ is quite impressive. I was initially a bit miffed that this futuristic element was being crammed in, seeing as how the finale was already so jam-packed as is, but I think it really adds a lot to what the episode sets out to say. Shermy and Beth are quite likable, albeit not particularly remarkable. I think they fill the shoes of “two wide-eyed scamps set out to do good,” really nicely. BMO’s presence in the future is also similarly endearing. I think he’s really the only character from the main cast that I would actually like to see this far into the future. Every other character is tied to some form of baggage that would probably devolve them into a gritty, worn-out version of their old self, but BMO is just BMO. His stagnant personality is a perfect fit 1000+ years later. The general layout of the 1000+ world is pretty gnarly. It does a great job at setting itself apart from the past version of Ooo, while still retaining its likable nature. I’ve seen a lot of comments about future Ooo being depressing, though I can’t really can’t behind that. There’s a definitely a more muted color scheme, but its spirit still feels light and playful. And considering that there’s a giant heroic Sweet P. traveling the land, it also still retains its large sense of heroism. After all, the whole point of the finale, as well as BMO’s story, is that there really is no end to anything. Ooo is different from what it once was, and Finn and Jake are no longer roaming around, but their spirit and energy lives on in other brave souls and environments. Like I said, the thematic elements of the episode are quite strong.

Come Along With Me feels very dedicated in its fanservice. Some moments feel like a little bit of a stretch for me, (Shermy singing “On a Tropical Island” was a bit too on-the-nose for my liking) but I think it is quite enjoyable for that reason. BMO’s treasure trove of items from the show’s history is so wide that I’m sure there are some elements that haven’t even been discovered yet. There’s plenty of cool character callbacks, some of which return just for the sense of wrapping up their individual arcs, like Maja and APTWE. The ending montage, in particular, is chock full of characters from the show’s history, as well as important character moments. I’ll throw in the entire montage as one of the great elements of this finale, partly because I never get sick of hearing “Come Along With Me,” and because there’s a couple bits that even got me misty-eyed. BMO sending Moe’s memories into space was a perfect epilogue to Moe’s story that ended in The More You Moe, The Moe You Know, Prismo not being able to bring back Betty was a super clever way of turning the tables on Simon’s tale, and Magic Man coming to terms with Margles’ absence was undeniably sweet. I also really can’t think of a better note to leave Finn’s character on than his mother and the humans finally arriving in Ooo. I still hold close that it would’ve been cool to see Finn and Jake take on their parents’ old job as a way to fulfill their desires of adventuring in a more stable environment, but I think this was a solid way to leave off his story in a relatively ambiguous, yet hopeful, way.

The finale also does have moments that legitimately do grab me in terms of excitement. The third part of Come Along With Me is probably my favorite, mainly because it is this fun, fast-paced, action-packed battle that never really takes a second to breathe or think. This is kind of what I was expecting for most of the finale, and I’m glad it delivered on some level. It gives you an idea of how tense and real the stakes are, even if everything ends up okay, for the most part. I think there’s three moments in the finale that really echo that somewhat hopeless feeling: Jake realizing the destruction after he arises before battling GOLB’s beasts, BMO’s face being smashed up, and the animals watching on as GOLB sucks up everything. There’s a true sense of finality that I do think boosts Come Along With Me into feeling like this big, grand entry. The song “Time Adventure” assists with that, which is a song that I love, though not particularly in how it’s executed within that actual episode. The studio recording of “Time Adventure” is a tune that I genuinely love and one that truly does make me feel something, but the way it’s included in the episode feels a little hollow. I still like everyone joining together in harmony in an attempt to defeat GOLB, but I would’ve like it if we got to hear the song the way it was intended (i.e. with Jake singing the final line to Finn).

There’s also Marceline and Bubblegum’s scene, which explicitly shows that they are involved romantically. Thought this was a super nice treat for people who had been invested in their relationship for so long, and somewhat of a big step forward in LGBTQ+ representation within children’s media. Like I said prior, Steven Universe had beaten AT to the punch YEARS before they had pulled this off forreal, but I think it still feels impactful. Steven Universe always kind of had the excuse that the gems were “genderless” in order to fly by the censors. This is an instance where two female characters are quite clearly portrayed as sexual counterparts, and I don’t think there’s really explanation around it either way.

Now onto the bad/mediocre material. Surprisingly, I think Come Along With Me is really weak from a character standpoint. All of the main characters, in my opinion, are weighed down either by a story element, or the fact that there’s just too much going on at once, with the exception of BMO. Finn gets severely shafted in the third and fourth parts, being essentially a fly on the wall while all of this cool shit goes on around him, and his main character motivation in the first half is handled poorly. Bubblegum’s story of empathy has a pretty lousy payoff, considering that she really doesn’t end up changing the behavior that got her into such a circumstance to begin with. Jake’s presence is fun, but a bit too distracting in terms of tone at points, and he really isn’t given any kind of overarching role aside from being a bystander. Marceline is once again weighed down by her character only revolving around Bubblegum and Simon and not really getting a chance to do anything independently. As for Ice King, I think it works in everyone’s best interest (or at least a majority of the fan base) that he got the resolution that has been built up for so long, but I still have a couple qualms about how Simon’s return essentially means the end of Ice King, even if Gunter’s role attempts at subverting that.

A lot of these issues tie into the fact that there really is just too much going on in Come Along With Me, as to be expected with a series that’s been on this long and that has so many lingering mysteries. Even the elements that are given a good bit of attention, such as Fern’s redemption, feel all too rushed along for myself to truly get behind. Couple that with the fact that the story, or stories, themselves are not very strong.

The first half hour of the special is dedicated to the Great Gum War. This storyline had already felt kind of clunky throughout the course of season nine, but it really ends up going nowhere in its climax. While the dream sequence is interesting in some aspects, namely the scenes where PB and Gumbald experience life inside each other’s shoes, it feels wasted with the conclusion we get. I’m not even sure what the takeaway of Gumbald’s entire story was. It was originally supposed to tie in to PB’s overall insecurity of being a corrupt ruler, and it seemed like that’s where this episode wanted to take it, but it basically just ends up exactly where she started, trapping her family members in a barren vessel because she doesn’t want to deal with the real issue at hand. Except for Aunt Lolly, who apparently is super sympathetic towards PB for… some reason? Even though the last episode clearly showed that it was all a ruse? Her character is painted with little to no depth and it really shows. Not to mention that her role in the episode makes the entire first chunk of the finale moot, since Finn’s choice to Nightmare Juice PB and Gumbald had no effect on Aunt Lolly’s decision. Yet, the episode acts like Finn was the holy savior even after the fact when his choice only benefited Fern and not the overall war. I don’t get it, man. I could go on and on about how the way Gumbald’s betrayal at the end of Part 2 is written in a very sloppy way, but I think I could forgive the conclusion itself if we actually got something interesting from the war element. Since the development between Gumbald and PB ended up being scrapped, I would’ve at least liked to see some of the excitement that the past two episodes have so desperately built up to. I know its in typical AT fashion to subvert expectations, but c’mon, it’s the series finale. Go big with it! I wanna see Pete Sassafras murder someone.

The GOLB twist provides for that surface level excitement I had been longing for, but I don’t think it’s especially strong either, which mostly has to do with GOLB as a character. The build up to GOLB’s presence was super mysterious and kind of suspenseful, but when he actually shows up, he’s kind of lame. He mainly just acts as a plot device for absolute destruction. The thing is, I’m not really sure how to make GOLB more interesting. I think it’d be silly if he had a speaking voice or some kind of evil plan, but I feel like another element should’ve been added to make him appear more intimidating. The animation shift to a more sketchy style during his demise was rad as hell, I wouldn’t mind if his entire appear called for some kind of animation shift. Or even just in shading – Come Along With Me is also plagued by really dull colors.

Simon’s story is wrapped up within the last chunk, and ehhh. I can’t really put blame on the staff for deciding that the only decision that made sense was curing Simon after years of build up, and to be fair, the way it’s executed isn’t bad by any means. I just think that Ice King’s character became way too elaborate for its own good to the point where I really didn’t want Simon to come back at all. Ice King is a character that has been shown to grow and develop on his own, so why should he get the shaft? I know that he technically still lives on through Gunter’s wish, but I dunno, it seems like a more complicated issue that was glossed over all too fast for the purpose of a quick conclusion. I do think Betty’s sacrifice was genuinely quite potent, and made for a nice role reversal in Simon and Betty’s never-ending saga.

Fern’s arc also gets a grand conclusion, which is bumpy, but still relatively satisfying. I think Part 2’s redemption story for Fern is way too obvious and unchallenged in how it handles his quick decision to cooperate with Finn, but I ultimately find his death to be quite poignant and a nice sentiment of Finn bidding farewell to his childhood and a part of himself.

Parts Ranked

1. Part 3 – Just a ton of fun, and the one chunk of the finale that actually had me super invested in everything going on.
2. Part 1 – A nice exploration of the 1000+ world, and a genuinely suspenseful build in to the faux war that never actually comes into fruition.
3. Part 4 – A little clunky and awkward in how it tries to quickly wrap everything up as fast a possible, but still provides for a nice ending.
4. Part 2 – The only part of the finale that I’d say is just straight up bad. Makes the entire storyline of the season feel partially wasted and it just isn’t all that interesting either.

Final Consensus

Come Along With Me is a safe, inoffensive finale, and that’s not necessarily a huge downfall. I think, in its core, it is a finale that had a lot of passion and love put into it. Like I said, there’s really nothing in here that could ruin the series for anyone or is even that deplorable, but I don’t really think that makes it especially good either. It still is very underwhelming in parts, and clearly comes from a staff that really had no idea how they were going to tie everything together. In my eyes, the series has already churned out some episodes that could make for great finales. Faults aside, The Comet did feel like a culmination of everything that Finn had learned up to that point, and a nice conclusion of himself finally finding peace. Islands also wrapped up a lot of long-standing questions, and offered fans an essential answer to who Finn truly is. Not necessarily saying that these episodes should have been finales – I think it would probably drive people insane if The Comet was the series finale. But those are both examples of episodes that set out to tell interesting stories first without the pressure of having every lingering detail figured out. Come Along With Me feels like a hodgepodge of ideas that want to offer ultimate satisfaction, but never really just focus on being entertaining first. Overall, I think it does get a pass for trying its damnedest to make everyone as satisfied as they possibly can be. But for me personally, it’s far from one of AT‘s strongest entries.

“Come Along With Me” (Part 4) Review

Original Airdate: September 3, 2018

Written & Storyboarded by: Sam Alden & Graham Falk

Before we start, I want to let y’all know that there will be another giving campaign for this blog as I’m wrapping up the first wave of reviews. Some good reasons (I think) to give are:

• Supporting future reviews for Distant Lands buy helping me acquire a subscription to HBO Max, complete with high qual screengrabs.
• Supporting for reviews in the past.

I always feel super guilty asking for money from you guys – it’s not like I need it to put food on the table or anything. But this gig is, and has been, a lot of work, and I’ve never really figured out a good way to monetize it despite the decent traffic it brings in. Considering that there is still work to do, with more content on the way, it does feel more like a juggling act in my work and personal life which is already super jam-packed. If y’all are feeling generous and that you got $1’s worth of entertainment or enjoyment from this blog in the past, feel free to support me using the link below (the goal is listed as $1, though I mostly just put that as a placeholder because I didn’t have a specific goal in mind). This is in no way determining the future of the blog, I still plan on reviewing Distant Lands regardless. If you don’t donate, it doesn’t make you any less of a fan of the series or this site. If you feel as if there’s anything deceitful about me asking for donations, or if you just don’t feel like the blog itself is worth any monetary value, there is no pressure on you either. This is simply for anyone out there that is interested in supporting the past and future of Adventure Time Reviewed, and to help assist in motivating me forward.

SUPPORT ADVENTURE TIME REVIEWED

I’m partially filled with a warm bittersweet sensation as I tackle my final episode review. I say partial, because it turns out we have waaay more content coming along with Distant Lands, so there’s no use in really getting wishy-washy here. I’ll probably save these warm feelings for my reviews of Distant Lands, only to hold off once again because there will probably be a billion more reboots and revivals in the future. I’m gonna be 80-years-old trying to achieve closure for this series that obviously is never going to die. But still, it took a long way to get here and it’s surreal that I’ve finally gotten to the end of the original run. The final act of Come Along With Me has a lot to jumble, essentially trying to wrap up nearly every loose end up to this point, and from the finale alone. These last 11 minutes feel super rushed, and I really didn’t expect any less. With all of the mysteries that Adventure Time has held onto overtime, it didn’t seem realistic in the slightest that everything would be pulled off in the most satisfying way. But still, even with that in mind, there’s plenty of sweet moments that help this final chunk to land.

During Adventure Time‘s finale panel at 2018’s San Diego Comic Con, John DiMaggio shed more than just a couple of tears at the idea of the show’s conclusion. That being said, you can really tell how much passion he’s putting into his performance as Jake. That beginning scene where Jake laments the destruction of his sanctuary is both super saddening and humorous in just how over-the-top it is. I mentioned this in my last review, but the idea of the Tree Fort being destroyed in general is immensely depressing. That’s not to say that its demise was necessarily a bad choice – I think it works as a unique tie-in with the theme that this episode revolves around, that being that some things end, but they also don’t really. I could’ve been cliche and said “everything stays, but it still changes,” but I held myself back. While the Tree Fort is no longer standing, the memories and what it represents (family) are still very much in tact. Or, at least, somewhat. That initial shot of BMO’s face is probably as sad as this finale gets; obviously we know the little guy isn’t going to die or anything, but his simple silence, as he stares down sadly at his caretaker, speaks so much louder than words. Adventure Time has always tried to emphasize the importance of silence as opposed to outward emotions, and I think this is a really great example of how well it can work. No tears, no outbursts, just the sad acceptance of what is already done. It’s amazing what AT manages to do with two dots and a line when it comes to reading visual emotions.

And even through all of that sadness, BMO manages to comfort Jake for all that he’s done to protect the members of his household. I’ll admit, I was a bit taken back when BMO ended up being the one singing “Time Adventure.” When Rebecca Sugar debuted the song months before the finale’s release, I assumed it would feature Finn and Jake singing it to each other, or some variation. It initially felt a little too silly for my liking, especially given that the scene essentially shows everyone in Ooo accepting that they’re probably going to die. But I’ve warmed up to the idea, and “Time Adventure” has become one of my favorite songs in the series. I will say that the officially released soundtrack version is waaay better than what we got in the actual episode. I cannot begin to express how bummed I am that Jake’s ending solo got cut out. It’s so beautifully chilling and touching that I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to put Simon and Betty banter over top of it. Still, I think both versions have their perks. The soundtrack version really feels like the harmony it was made out to be, where each character involved (Flame Princess, Magic Man, Slime Princess) can clearly be heard vocalizing. On the other hand, the episode’s version actually really emphasizes on Pendleton Ward’s voice, which I thought was super sweet. I do wonder – did other members of the staff join in? Can Muto’s voice be heard somewhere in this collaboration? I have no clue, but I thought it was nice that Pen had such a strong role in singing his creation off.

Another strong moment from this section of the finale comes from Simon and Finn’s brief exchange as they anticipate decimation in the pits of GOLB. Simon’s delivery of, “no one gets to choose how it happens,” is genuinely impactful, especially so coming from him. Honestly, Simon’s been through so much at this point that I’m sure he just wants to die and get it over with – hell, that’s exactly what he wanted to do in Betty. I’m slightly more disappointed with Finn’s role, because again, I really feel like he’s a bystander to everything that’s going on around him. His line, “I always thought I’d go out saving someone,” just made me wonder, “why isn’t Finn saving someone right this second? Why was he written to be such a spec on the wall while everyone is included in all of this cool shit going on around them?” I’ve seen the argument that, since Finn has saved everyone countless times, this is an opportunity for everyone to save him, buuuut I don’t really buy into that. One, because it just doesn’t feel like it was written to be played out in such a way – the episode seems convinced that Finn effectively put a stop to the Great Gum War when that’s not really what happened at all. Second, there’s a way of carrying out the “now it’s our turn to save you,” story without making the hero ineffective or sidelined. I overall think that pairing Finn with Betty and Simon was a poor decision. He doesn’t really add anything to their dynamic, and is easily overshadowed by their arc.

I personally do think that Simon and Betty’s arc is wrapped up in a pretty satisfying way, as well as tragic. I like how Betty’s codependence never really dissolved, and it’s ultimately what ended up consuming her in her very last moments. Even when trying to move past her ultimate hidden desires, they resurface when she realizes that sacrificing herself is the only way for Simon to truly be free. It’s probably the least happy ending that occurs during this finale, but one that feels fittingly somber. As time went on, Simon and Betty’s relationship was being portrayed as more and more unhealthy from both parties, and I think the end result being that, no matter how much they love each other, they’ll never be able to be happy together, leading to the culmination of the general unhappiness that has consumed them for so long. A quick “fuck you” to the Simon & Marcy comic series for effectively undoing every sacrifice that occurred in this finale by giving Simon and Betty a totally normal, happy ending. This is much more potent.

Pretty much every Cartoon Network finale in the past 5 years or so allows for like, 20 seconds of an animation boost of some sort. Regular Show and Steven Universe recruited the likes of James Baxter for a brief segment of animation; it’s a shame he couldn’t come back once more to assist with AT‘s finale, but we do get a cool, sketchy sequence ala Take On Me when GOLB unhinges. I always love these big “fabric of the universe disintegrating” moments in animation, and this one does not disappoint. Though, I am so unnecessarily bothered by the fact that the crew neglected to pitch-shift Shelby’s voice. Come on, guys! This could have been a great final appearance of the little guy if one of his key features wasn’t removed entirely. Now it’s just super distracting.

I dunno what the general consensus is on the GOLBetty design, but I think it’s pretty rad. Steve Wolfhard did the initial concept design, and while aspects of his take on the deity remained, the overall anatomy shifted and I think it looks way better as is. Props to Tom Kenny for obviously being one of the most versatile voice actors out there, as Simon’s disbelief at the sight of Betty feels so real and raw. Then we get to Gunther, who effectively brings Ice King back through the power of the crown. I dunno, man. I guess I’m fine with this? There’s the somewhat uncanny aspect of it all; this transformation was written in such a way that makes it seem like Ice King is back and nobody should worry about it… but like, is it really Ice King? The goofy, stilted dialogue that Gunther utters once he shifts feels like a pet’s perspective of their human owner, but everyone reacts like it’s okay and they shouldn’t think twice about it. It’s tough because I like the idea of Simon being saved by Betty, only for her to end up in a mind prison for all of eternity, but I really don’t like how easily Ice King gets the shaft in the process. This was clearly a timing issue, as there was only five minutes left in the finale by this point in time and the crew probably just decided it was something that could be handled quickly in the quirky manner. But I’ll reiterate once more, the Ice King-Simon story had gotten way too complex and intricate for it to ever have a fully satisfying conclusion. Personally, I think I would have been more happy with the idea that Ice King remains, while Simon is gone forever. I think more people would have been upset with this concept, and it would have been another example of Adventure Time being afraid to shatter the status quo, but man, I can’t help but feel Ice King got did something dirty. I like him so much more than that nerd, Simon. It’s disappointing that, no matter how much effort Ice King put into his own personal growth, it essentially didn’t matter because he’s reduced to a facsimile of his former self.

One character death certainly isn’t taken for granted, however. Fern’s withering away is not only a poignant farewell for his character, but a nice way to tie-in to Finn saying goodbye to his childhood and a part of him in the process. The idea that he plants it where the Tree Fort once stood represents the idea that a piece of him will always be there, and the growing tree emphasizes the legacy that Finn has built and left behind in the process. Farewell, Fern! Truly one of my favorite secondary characters and probably my favorite aspect of these last two seasons. It’s just a shame that your redemption arc couldn’t have been much stronger than it was.

My gripes with the overuse of Finn’s girlish scream in later seasons aside, I do find the joke that he’s outgrown as his voice has deepened to be quite funny. I’d enjoy the sight gag of Finn being taller to be more enjoyable, had their been some consistency with his character model throughout the episode. I don’t really mind its inconsistency during the course of the series, but it feels just a bit too cheap only being included for this one moment.

I like the notion that BMO’s story to Shermy and Beth was kind of an allusion to the crew telling the tale of the “end of Ooo” to AT‘s audience. I think many people were expecting this finale to be the end of all things, essentially. Hell, I think you could even argue that half of the fanbase was expecting Jake to be dead by the end of this episode. But that’s really not the story that the staff wanted to tell, and I don’t think that’s the story I necessarily wanted to see either. Don’t get me wrong, I find a good chunk of the finale to be somewhat underwhelming. However, I do appreciate the staff’s commitment to the idea that these characters don’t really have an “end” in mind. Just as Adventure Time has had plenty of moments throughout its run that have signified closure for its characters, such as Mortal Recoil or The Comet, there have also been plenty of new challenges and moments of growth since those instances that have further elaborated on the sinuous nature of our heroes. Even though Finn and Jake are dead by the time BMO is narrating this story, their spirit still lives on in the hearts of Shermy and Beth. Heroes die, but others arise. Even in Sweet P.’s case, an eternity of evil can become an eternity of righteousness. I keep writing myself into a corner that forces me to say “everything stays, but it still changes.” But it does! Adventure Time‘s central theme carries all the way into its final moments, hitting on the specific note that the opening theme reminds us each and every episode: the fun will never end. Even when we’re rotting in the ground!

Another great way to tie that theme together is bringing back Music Hole, a character who has lived through countless centuries, and has watched countless endings and beginnings at that. Even sweeter is the inclusion of Ashley Erikkson as Music Hole, who has very quietly been with the series through the very beginning. She sings the titular song we had all been waiting for, and it makes for a really nice epilogue.

The montage aims at either wrapping up specific character arcs or just works as a way of showing what their lives held for them in the future. Discussing this speedy wrap-up in cohesive paragraphs seems somewhat impossible, so for your consider, I’m going to go ahead and bullet point each clip in chronological order:

• The snail can be seen for the final time on the growing Fern tree. I’m not especially invested in this Easter egg, but I think it would have been more fitting if the snail appeared in the final scene with Shermy and Beth, waving goodbye. It’s a sweet and suitable idea that would possess the deepest lore of the snail’s immortal nature.
• Jake and Lady flying together was nice, but it’s a bit of a shame that Lady’s “closure” is just that she kept dating Jake. Lady’s always been somewhat of the black sheep of the main characters that really doesn’t have a particular arc outside of her relationship with Jake, but I still think the staff could’ve came up with something a bit stronger. Hell, it could even be related to her connection to Jake. Have those lovebirds get married! (Every time I suggest this, some guy on the subreddit yells at me.) Even seeing Lady and Jake snuggling up in the Crystal Dimension would’ve been a nicer sentiment.
• LSP becoming LSQ was super sweet. Even through all of her vanity, it feels genuinely rewarding to see her have a moment of triumph and receive actual respect from the other princesses of Ooo. Even Breakfast Princess, for crying out loud! I guess this is solid proof that the hierarchy of princesses only applies to Ooo, as queen seems to obviously be the highest position of royalty in Lumpy Space.
• Haha, Ice Gunther marrying Turtle Princess was too bizarre to resist. It is funny that all Ice King had to do to claim a bride was find someone in Ooo as lonely as he is, as Turtle P is the perfect fill-in for that role. Also nice was the addition of a small, reconstructed King of Ooo in the background of their wedding. They actually managed to make the coniving shyster look adorable.
• It was sweet to see that the reconstructed Rattleballs is finally able to hang out with other Candy Kingdom personnel in public. Though, his cameo in Jake the Brick ended up being an entire waste. I always thought that Rattleballs rebuilding his bros meant we were in store for a huge army of RBs to help seize the day in the finale. Unfortunately, it amounted to nothing. Seeing a war-starved and depressed Colonel Candy Corn was quite amusing.
• Possibly the most obscure and easy to miss cameos during the montage is Carroll, who is back to her liquid form and content at that! I really just assumed this was a new model for a Water Nymph that the staff decided to draw up upon initial viewing. Such a thoughtful and nice addition, even including her interest of drawing elves that was mentioned in Winter Light.
• T.V. moving into Margaret and Joshua’s old office feels a bit cheap to me. Before the series got canned, artist George Mager was commissioned to storyboard for a noir themed episode featuring T.V. in an investigative role. This was scrapped before it was finished, but it would have added a little bit more context to this moment that seems unwarranted to anyone not in-the-know. T.V.’s last appearance in Lady Rainicorn of the Crystal Dimension had him acting as selfishly as possible, and now he gets this gnarly character development out of no where? It would have been more revealing than necessary, but Finn and Jake running their parents’ old office would have been much, much more fitting than what we got.
• Sweet P.’s graduation was nice. It would have been cool too if other known child characters were featured in the ceremony as well, such as the Pup Gang or the Marshmallow Kids.
• Bubblegum and Lolly serenading Neddy is nice, I suppose. So, did Lolly ever bring up the fact that she tried to essentially kill her niece one day prior? We just gonna go ahead ignore that fact? Alright.
• One of my favorite clips in the montage is Prismo’s inability to bring Betty back, only possessing the ability to whip up the waste basket that was previously seen in You Forgot Your Floaties. I like that Come Along With Me takes the time to show that not everyone receives an inherently happy ending. Despite Simon regaining consciousness, he still loses out on the one person he cares about most, continuing the codependence of their relationship by Simon dedicating his life to bringing her back.
• Jermaine painting a new, more simplistic mural for Lemongrab was sweet, but the icing on the cake is actually see Lemongrab with a genuine smile on his face. The neurotic lemon-man has finally achieved his moment of peace.
• I became pretty misty-eyed at BMO sending Moe’s memories into space, per his request in The More You Moe, The Moe You Know. That episode in particular is one of my very favorites and has a special place in my heart, so seeing BMO fulfill his loving creator’s final wish was just splendid.
• Flame Princess and NEPTR rapping together is just sad to me. Like, this is what Flame Princess’s character amounted to? That she’s good at rapping? Not anything relating to her elemental nature being inherently chaotic and learning to become a positive force to those around her despite it all? What would have been a fine solo NEPTR moment is weighed down by the fact that Flame Princess’s “conclusion” is inherently meaningless. What a lame climax for a character who started off with such intrigue.
• Cyber Tiffany 2.0! I get the feeling that the staff was super bummed out that they never got to follow up with the Dr. Gross arc. I do wonder if this will somehow factor into the Distant Lands specials, considering that it is one of the major loose ends that never really was followed up on.
• The fully grown up Jiggler is probably the funniest cameo of all. It’s the kind of absurdist return that I’d want to see from such a rarely seen character.
• The Jiggler’s scene is followed by the equally absurd return of the Crabbit from Something Big. It’s cute (Donny is also seen in the audience) but it doesn’t really grab me and feels like a stretch for cameos that felt absolutely necessary in the sequence. It’s like, did anyone really care about the Crabbit enough for him to get his own dedicated moment in the show’s final montage? I’m harping too much on a small moment, but when you consider that other major players, such as Shelby, Cinnamon Bun, Hunson, and Flame King don’t even get a designated appearance in this montage, it feels a bit like wasted space.
• It was super cool to see Kara and Frieda again, with a Lemonhope cameo smushed in between. Again, similar to what I said about Simon, it’s kind of interesting to see that Lemonhope seems completely lost in life in this one small appearance. His initial appearance kind of set out to prove that he really had no idea what he was doing, and his sad expression here shows that he probably still doesn’t have a clue. Poor little Lemonhope.
• The Candy citizens clinking their glasses just frustrates me. Again, it’s kind of unfortunate that Chicle isn’t even permitted a second chance, even though his demise was Gumbald’s fault and not his own. Even Gumbald staying in Punchy’s body feels super offensive. It would have been a way nicer sentiment if Gumbald had reverted back to himself by the end of it, showing that PB did learn a lesson in empathy along the way. Something as simple as Gumbald waking up alone by Butterscotch lake, discovering a fishing pole in front of him, and choosing to solemnly relax instead of scheme while PB is seen confident in her decision from afar. Or Gumbald being locked up and PB choosing to stand by outside his cell in an attempt to connect. Anything that doesn’t paint PB out to be somewhat heartless.
• Tree Trunks is still bangin’ aliens. Niiice.
• Magic Man’s mission to save Margles never really ends up coming into play in Come Along With Me, and the montage sweetly shows that he’s accepted her passing on, but will always hold memories of her dearly. I especially love that this scene occurs at the verse, “I’ll be here for you always.”
• The shot of the princesses (and Marceline) in their fashionable wardrobes is actually a reference to a the cover of Adventure Time #51 by Mia Schwartz, whose art you can check out here! Though it wasn’t included on the original cover, I think Flame Princess’s getup is my favorite. Her bangs are too cute.
• Huntress Wizard meditating is whatever, I suppose. It’s a shame that her character only truly started developing this season, only for her inclusion to be cut short. It really wouldn’t have made sense if she had a bigger role in this finale – there was already so much going on.
• I do like the next scene a lot, mainly because it shows that, even if Simon is back in the picture, Marcy and PB still chose to actively hangout with him and continue being his friend. It’s super sweet. Though young Pepbut is cute, I DON’T GET WHY PB LEFT HIM LIKE THIS. WHAT THE HELL, MAN? I guess the implication with both Peppermint Butler and Gumbald is that there was no cure, but like, that hasn’t been implied until up to this point. PB’s reasoning for not bringing Gumbald and friends back in Seventeen was that, “[they] were happier this way,” not that there was no known cure. I’m gonna go ahead and call bullshit in terms of continuity.
• Perhaps the sweetest sentiment of all is the closing scene, in which a now homeless Finn and Jake are greeted by the final arrival of the humans from Founders Island. The staff actively wanted to avoid “wrapping up” Finn and Jake’s characters by showing where they ended up in the far future, so instead they offer a bit of a glimmer of hope among big changes occurring in their lives. It’s a really nice note to end on for our heroes, even if the next chapter is right around the corner.

Adventure Time as a series ends exactly how it began – with two heroes standing triumphantly at the forefront, showing that even 1,000 years in the future, some things never change. The Ooo that we knew is no longer intact, but the spirit and the foundation of what it was continue on regardless.

SUPPORT ADVENTURE TIME REVIEWED

So that’s it, everyone! All 284 episodes of Adventure Time reviewed! I won’t waste my time getting sentimental here – there’s a couple more weeks of stuff I want to get out, and then the eventual release of Distant Lands, presumably around mid-summer. Here’s a quick glimpse at what’s coming the next few weeks:

• Come Along With Me consensus.
• Season Nine review.
• The Best and Worst Episodes of Adventure Time.
• Adventure Time Character Analysis.
• Series Overview and (Kind of) Final Words.
• Top 10 Adventure Time Moments.

There will likely be more to come from there before Distant Lands, but I do want to focus on these six above, as they’re the ones I’ve been most excited to tackle/chat about. As I mentioned above, if you’re feeling generous, feel free to send a dollar bill my way. Otherwise, stay tuned for more AT content!

Favorite line: “I wrote this for my son, Jake!”

“Gumbaldia” Review

Original Airdate: March 18, 2018

Written & Storyboarded by: Sam Alden & Graham Falk

After multiple viewings, I still grapple with my feelings towards Gumbaldia. As the penultimate episode to the series, it certainly builds up for what’s to come in its climax. Though, that’s exactly the issue. More obvious in retrospect than during a first viewing, Gumbaldia was clearly executed as an opportunity for the staff to have much, much more material down the line. I opine that, had the show continued from this point on, we would have certainly moved into a miniseries revolving around the Gum War and the reunion of various villains throughout Ooo. It seems like that was the obvious next move from this episode, but the sudden cancellation of the series kind of pushed the staff into a corner. They still followed up with the Gum War, but the “Candy Kingdom Haters” were sidelined almost entirely, for the respectable reason that, with all other loose ends that needed to be tied up, there just wasn’t room for them. That being said, judging Gumbaldia for what it is, rather than what it was intended to be is a difficult experience. I think a lot of the set pieces in this episode are fine, and the eerie atmosphere that encompasses its entirety really adds to the harshness of its themes, but ultimately, Gumbaldia… doesn’t really need to exist.

I know that’s a cryptic and almost slanderous statement. In reality, there are plenty of Adventure Time episodes that could be pointed out and described as “inconsequential.” But, with Gumbaldia, it’s clear that its purpose is to develop story elements that carry through into the next episode. In this episode, Finn laments about the inevitability of war and embarks on a last ditch effort to resolve the tensions between two parties. In the next episode, Come Along With Me, he ends up following the same exact path, only (somewhat) succeeding the second time around. Gumbald is revealed to be paranoid in this episode, dealing with the same issues of inferiority that PB suffers from. This concept is explored in much more detail in the following episode, in a way that successfully paints a picture of Gumbald’s struggles, while this episode merely plays around with the idea of such anxiety until Gumbald decides to follow through with his plans anyway. Aunt Lolly is revealed to have a possible softer side, but again, that’s retconned by the end of the episode, and only further elaborated on in Come Along With Me.

I feel as though Gumbaldia consists of a lot of half-baked ideas that end up just being repeated in the following episode (for better or worse), and while that’s not really the episode’s fault, it does feel as if it’s entirely disposable upon revisiting. One could view this as an “establishing” piece, tossing around ideas that generally get fleshed out more in subsequent entries, but when it feels as though you still get the gist of everything even without it, it’s difficult to really discover the underlying purpose of it all. The only real points of heavy development are the initiation of the Gum War (which, again, could have just as easily been established without a definitive bit of exposition) and Peppermint Butler being reverted by dum-dum juice – though I’m not really certain that counts as development.  I’d throw in Aunt Lolly too, but honestly, her character growth is so perplexing that I feel as though her role in the following episode would be equally as confusing regardless.

I’ve talked about this before, but this isn’t really a criticism I enjoy dishing out. I think the idea of something “not needing to exist” is such a facile jab that it’s almost quibbling. But, I think it’s important to discuss because Gumbaldia is clearly a product of its time. This was an episode produced when the staff had the mindset of continuing the series and each established storyline. The sudden closure of production put the staff in a place where they had to think most logically about what would be the most fitting conclusion to the series – not to Gumbaldia. Thus, this truly does feel like a collection of set pieces that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. The ideas presented are either scrapped entirely or redistributed, making almost everything feel insignificant.

So, that large tangent aside, what do I think about the episode without the finale in mind? Well, I think it’s decent. Like I mentioned, I think it builds up the eerie atmosphere in a pretty successful way. I try to stay as far away from political discussions on this blog for two central reasons:

1. My own naivety when it comes to world affairs. (I am a cartoon analyst after all… what did you expect?)
2. The lack of necessity it brings to particular points.

Regardless, I do think this episode is interesting, given the time period it was released during. It was a period of time where the concept of war and international conflict was particularly stressful, and almost unavoidable. Gumbaldia came along right after that anxiety seemed to have peaked in the States, but it is intriguing to look back on Finn’s almost hopeless feelings of being trapped in a war that he doesn’t want to be apart of as sort of a display of empathy. Of course, this is clearly an episode that can be used to describe a variety of different conflicts and current affairs, and to elaborate on all of them would just be breaking my two golden rules. Especially that first one. Again, cartoon reviewer, guys. Ya can’t teach an old dog new tricks.

On the subject of controversy, I think there is a lot of debate on whether Finn is portrayed in a light that’s true to his character or not. After all, this is a character that has stated that he “kills things all the time.” I suppose for a lot of people, this approach to pacifism has never been a part of Finn’s character; I’ll admit, it does seem much more like a development more suited for Steven Universe than Finn Mertens. But, regardless of this, I think the decision to have Finn choose a more peaceful route over his naturally inclined instinct to punch and kick everything that opposes him is something I do respect.

My main takeaway of Finn’s realization isn’t that he decided that fighting is wrong, but that some problems simply cannot be solved by violence. I don’t even personally think this is an entirely accurate belief; I’m against violence for the most part, but I do acknowledge that there are certain situations where brute force is a necessary option to consider when reason and logic prove ineffective. I’m not so sure that Finn is even written to be entirely in the right from the episode’s perspective – after all, his chances at making peace do fail by the end of it. There’s even that brief exchange at the beginning that kind of plays off Finn’s desires for peace as innocent and not fully realized. Despite being particularly unclear of the complexities of foreign conflict, I do think he is perhaps being the most logical out of both parties involved. I mean, it’s tough to say, because the subject at hand is pretty complex and probably more difficult to dissect than it appears to be from a surface level. But as Gumbaldia presents, both PB and Gumbald are coming from standpoints of paranoia fueled defensiveness. PB fears that Gumbald’s superior technology will destroy everything that she’s ever worked with, and Gumbald fears being micromanaged and essentially left lobotomized once more. Finn is operating from the perspective of what’s best for everyone (with probably a slight bit of selfishness when it comes to not wanting to be involved in warfare) instead of internalizing a quick and potentially fatal solution that may forever dismantle Ooo as they know it.

Finn’s desire to make peace instead of solving issues with violence may stem from his previous encounter with Fern that permanently scarred the lad. After practically killing his alternate self, Finn was left with the idea that things didn’t have to end this way and that the two of them truly could have come to terms with their issues if Fern simply complied with talking it out. Finn tries the same approach this time as well, though to no avail. Fern is still unwilling to be reasoned with, believing that he’s apart of the same superiority complex that PB and Gumbald are competing for. Though, the episode does brilliantly explain in a visual sense that there is one thing Fern doesn’t have – a loving brother to back him up no matter what. Fern may feel the superiority of being physically enhanced through Gumbald’s experiments, though he still lacks the support system that truly helps for him to feel whole.

Once we get into the Gumbald stuff, the episode begins to feel a bit convoluted. I’m still not sure I really understand Aunt Lolly’s role. At the start of her appearance, it kind of seems like you’re supposed to sympathize with her because, unlike her hammy counterparts, she does understand the weight of her surroundings and connects with Finn for those reasons. Aunt Lolly did have the potential to make a comeback, because Gumbald was the one who ended up betraying her, not PB. But her development is made super confusing, because apparently her empathizing with Finn was an elaborate scheme the entire time. But then the following episode decides to continue with her development regardless, as if the ending of Gumbaldia never happened. So, I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to get from her character. Gumbald’s scheming is equally as confusing – instead of just pretending to understand where Finn is coming from, he puts his own self in danger on the chance that Finn and Jake would absolutely come to his rescue in time. Um, isn’t this a bit insane? It’s somewhat convincing as a viewer to watch these events unfold, only for expectations to be subverted later on, but in-universe it’s a really, really stupid plan.

The scenes to follow are all executed decently: the dinner scene in which Finn and Jake recall the events of Jake Suit was moderately fun, albeit that Gumbald’s investment in their lives never feels very convincing. Pepbut being dum-dummed upon their trip home was a huge bummer for me, especially considering my affinity for the character. I’m also not really sure why they decided to keep his character in this state, but I’ll lament more on that in our next discussion. The closing bits are unarguably bleak, with Finn’s plans for peace failing entirely, and the inevitability of war being at hand. Though I’m disappointed in their lack of a follow-up, it was cool to see all of these classic villains once more as kind of an initial feeling of suspense that shit really was about to go down. Of course, the staff didn’t really follow through with that suspense, but again, I’m not sure I can blame them for excluding elements that would make an already cluttered finale even more jam-packed.

So, with all of that said, Gumbaldia is still an episode that perplexes me when it comes to having a definitive opinion. There’s a lot of stuff that works in the moment, but doesn’t really work when you view the whole picture. And if I’m judging it strictly standalone from the rest of the series, I’m not really sure if it fully succeeds in what it’s trying to accomplish either. It’s an episode that really banks itself on its eerie atmosphere, but if you take the time to even think about if its story elements make sense, such as Aunt Lolly and Gumbald’s plans, it sort of falls apart. It’s filled to the brim with lots of ridiculous conveniences that aren’t especially believable in any sense. I still don’t really think it’s a bad episode, as Finn’s role carries Gumbaldia through pretty successfully. But still, I think Gumbaldia is undoubtedly a product of its time. It was clearly created to be a precursor for one story, and ended up being the precursor for an entirely different tale. I think there were definite hints here and there throughout the ninth season that the AT may not have had a huge heads up before the show’s cancellation, but looking back, Gumbaldia is definitive proof that adjustments were made last minute. Not even just in the sense of the old-school AT villains making their triumphant return, but all developments regarding the Gumbald family that failed to be fleshed out entirely in the way that they so desperately needed to be. In a perfect world, Gumbaldia could have been a fine setup to a whole batch of new episodes down the line. But, as is, it’s an example of the true and few amount of time that the AT crew had left.

Being this far in the series is somewhat of a surreal feeling. I started this blog three years ago, joking to myself that I’d be on my death bed finishing up my review of the series finale. It’s odd to know that this journey is nearly complete, and I want to once again take a sappy moment to thank all you lovely people for supporting this blog, even as its gotten more inconsistent in its releases. Even if I’m not directly responding to everything I am sent on this blog, Reddit, and elsewhere, I cannot begin to express the joy I get from reading all of your interesting takes on individual episodes. It’s certainly bittersweet to begin entering the “wrap-up” phase, but I can ensure you all that there will be plenty of content to hold you over for the next few months. I do plan on shifting my attention onto bigger projects into the next year that have nothing to do with Adventure Time, but for now, I look forward to sharing a lot of my final hot takes on the series as a whole.

Instead of jumping into the finale next week, I’ll be taking on Diamonds & Lemons first, just because it would feel anti-climatic to finish off this episode review series with a Minecraft homage. In two weeks, I’ll be starting with the Come Along With Me reviews. My pals on the Reddit advised that it would be interesting to tackle this episode by separating it into parts and then analyzing it as a whole, similar to what I typically do with the miniseries. How I’ll execute this, I’m still unsure. I’ll probably release the first two parts in the same day, and the remaining two parts the following week. It honestly all depends on how much I have to say and  how much time I have in my schedule. Regardless, you can expect my opinions on the finale quite shortly, and thank you all once again for your continued support!

Favorite line: “You thought you had beaten me? Me?! Cool sword.”

“Marcy & Hunson” Review

Original Airdate: December 17, 2017

Written & Storyboarded by: Graham Falk & Adam Muto

Alrighty guys, let me take a quick moment to break down all of the Hunson Abadeer centric episodes for you consideration:

• It Came From the Nightosphere – Hunson Abadeer’s introduction. Marceline resents him for being a shitty guy, but comes to terms with him by the end of it when he shows that he does care.
• Daddy’s Little Monster – Hunson controls Marceline to be more in his image, but Marceline breaks free and continues to resent him. She comes to terms with him by the end of it, however, when he shows that he does care.
• Marcy & Hunson – Hunson returns to Ooo to visit a less-than-excited Marceline, who still resents him. However, she comes to terms with him by the end of it when he shows that he does care.

… Does… does any of this sound familiar? I get the whole point of Hunson’s character is essentially that he is a shitty person who’s trying to maintain a relationship with his morally conscious daughter, but I’m kind of just amazed at the fact that, on his third episode, after years and years of being absent, nothing new was done with his character. And this isn’t a knock at the past entries that focused on Hunson’s neglect – It Came From the Nightosphere is a largely groundbreaking entry that introduced a lot of the modern day storytelling that made Adventure Time such a success and Daddy’s Little Monster was a successful follow-up to Hunson’s battle between being intrinsically evil and just a half-decent dad. Marcy & Hunson is a reiteration of both of these stories without adding anything new, and in fact, removing a lot of what made Hunson unique in the first place.

I do like the opening of this episode, primarily due to Peppermint Butler’s sweet inclusion. Though I find it somewhat odd – I guess I always pictured Peppermint Butler and Hunson as tight friends, but it’s treated as if PepBut more or less is just an acquaintance somehow. I’m not really sure I get a strong understanding of their connection either way. I always enjoy how fully committed and controlled Peppermint Butler is in terms of his experimenting with the dark arts. His fascination and involvement with anything less kosher almost never impedes on his ultimate good-natured self and loyalty. I’m not even lying when I say that the show has really built him up to be one of the most complex they’ve ever churned out. I know he’s primarily a side character, but I really love how arguably one of the darkest characters in the series is also one of the most genuine and caring towards our main cast. In this opening scene, we’re also introduced to Finn’s newest sword, the Nightmare Sword, which never really gets a chance to shine as the series draws closer to an ending. We also get to see Finn so shocked with Hunson Abadeer’s return, that he regenerates his right arm for a quick second! I guess being shocking and growing back an arm is potentially better than being horny and growing back an arm.

Following Gumbald’s big reveal back in Seventeen, this episode features a major role for Chicle. Chicle is probably the least “important” of the Bubblegum family, but he is probably the most entertaining, sporting some decent one-liners here and there. Though, I ultimately don’t really think his presence is particularly necessary in this episode. The events that go down probably could have still occurred even without his inclusion. And even then, he kind of just stirs the pot instead of actually seeming like a threat. Sure, he encourages the ghosts to go after Marceline and Hunson, but were they actually going to straight up kill them? Doubtful. Then he throws a peanut at Peppermint Butler, which has way more of an effect on Pepbut than it logically should. Overall though, Chicle’s goofiness tops the overly hammy repertoire of Gumbald and the perplexing nature of Aunt Lolly.

I think it says something about the quality of Marcy & Hunson when Hunson is kind of the worst part of it. I’d even argue that his character is relatively butchered in this entry. What made Hunson so great in It Came From the Nightosphere and, to a lesser extent, Daddy’s Little Monster is that he was genuinely intimidating. He was animated humorously and had his campier moments, but he could and would snap in an instance into a cold-blooded demon. Here, he’s just a big fuckin’ goofball that likes to get up in Marceline’s business and blatantly disregards her own well-being. The whole bit where he decides he’s going to sleep in Marceline’s bed and that she can take the air mattress is a total Martin move. This entire episode feels like Graham Falk and Adam Muto want to be writing for Martin, but are writing for Hunson instead. In his first three featured episodes, and even in the Adventure Time Encyclopaedia, you get the idea that Hunson is this really dignified and classy dude, and that there’s a reason he’s head honcho in the Nightosphere. Marcy & Hunson throws all of that out the window and just chooses the easier option of making him as pathetic as possible.

But hey, if you didn’t come for the connection between Hunson and Marceline, that’s okay, because there’s a shit-ton of Bubbline moments to hold you over!!! Marceline wearing Bubblegum’s sweater from Stakes?? Finn not knowing how to answer Hunson’s question about whether Marceline is in a relationship?? Marceline singing a song called Slow Dance With You with Hyden Walch providing the background vocals?? OH MAN, THIS IS WHAT WE CAME FOR, FOLKS!

In actuality, these moments are fine and I don’t want to sound pessimistic about a relationship that clearly means a lot to a mass of people who watch Adventure Time. BUT, it really does bum me out how Bubbline has practically become the only draw for Marceline’s character at this point. From Stakes onward, there isn’t a single episode focusing on Marceline that doesn’t somehow shoehorn in her relationship with Bubblegum for the sake of fanservice. And I’m not saying that these moments are necessarily poorly done, but Marcy just feels so hollow and reliant on other characters that I feel like I barely know who she is anymore. She used to be this really cool, fun character, but now she feels like a puppet being used solely for the purpose of giving fans what they want. Which is fine, but not when those moments completely overshadow everything else in the episode. I mean, does anyone actually talk about the connection between Marceline and her father in Marcy & Hunson? No! The only time I ever hear people discussing this episode is regarding Slow Dance With You which, I’m gonna be honest, is not very good. Of course, this all comes down to personal taste, but I think people are way more into the implication and meaning behind the tune than they are the actual rhythm and performance.

Probably gonna get a lot of flack for that rant, and if I’m being honest, the attention these Bubbline moments received is likely just because there’s very little of substance in Marcy & Hunson to begin with. Going back to my original point, this episode concludes with the same way literally every Hunson episode has – that Hunson is a shitty dude, but he cares about his daughter. I know the staff had probably no clue that the show was going to be canned before this episode, but you would think after so many years, with so much time having passed that they would consider taking a different direction with this character that probably would never appear again anyway.

Is there anything good about Marcy & Hunson? A few moments come to mind, mainly when it comes to humor. The flashback sequence featuring Hunson’s introduction to Marceline got a big laugh out of me, and both Jake and Chicle have their fair share of funny lines. The return of the Spirit Waves stage from Ghost Princess is a welcomed treat, and I dig the spooky atmosphere overall. But, Marcy & Hunson is mostly a flop. It’s sad, because I think the pieces are all there that would make for a great episode. Hunson wanting to be a good father, but struggling with his intrinsic desire to unleash evil, is something that the series never tackled head on, and could make for both a funny a intriguing entry. However, we’re left with a relatively lazy alternative that doesn’t offer anything new or interesting in one of AT‘s longest running story arcs.

Favorite line: “I have a nice laugh.”

“Always BMO Closing” Review

Usually not a fan of referential AT titles to begin with, but this one feels especially lazy to me.

Original Airdate: September 17, 2017

Written & Storyboarded by: Kent Osborne & Graham Falk

I’ve mentioned this plenty of times on the blog, but Season Nine’s quality is certainly divisive among the fandom. I’ve seen a lot of people defend it for being more serialized and focused on an ongoing story than the previous seasons have been. There’s really no denying this fact: Adventure Time is way more committed to a story arc in its ninth season than it ever has been before. Though, I can’t really say if that’s a good thing or not. Consistent “plot” centric episodes are something that fans have been wanting from the series as early as Season Four, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t in that same boat as well. But, as time went on, I really got less focused on wanting a consistent storyline from Adventure Time and just simply wanted to focus on its individual attempts at storytelling, in addition to whether they succeeded or not. After all, a good amount of my favorite episodes are “filler”; Time Sandwich, Little Brother, The Eyes, Jake the Brick – all excellent examples of storytelling at its finest, along with great scripts. The reason I bring this up is because I feel as if an ongoing story somewhat squanders Adventure Time‘s ability to tell really great individual tales. Always BMO Closing starts out as a silly BMO and Ice King adventure, but ends up devolving into an opportunity to continue Uncle Gumbald’s arc. It’s usually kind of cool when Adventure Time‘s “filler” episodes end up being surprisingly important, but this is one example that just kind of feels like the staff didn’t have enough confidence in the original premise to fully flesh it and let it stand alone. And to be fair, they were kind of right. It’s a middling entry that isn’t really remembered for its wacky premise, but instead for the brief instances Gumbald does have a role, without actually furthering the story a ton. Feels like a bit of a cheater entry, with that in mind.

BMO and Ice King’s story just isn’t that fun. Outside of the seemingly ridiculous (yet sweet) premise, there isn’t a ton that’s done with this idea that makes for a humorous episode. I know I mentioned how sweet Ice King and BMO’s connection was in President Porpoise is Missing!, but it doesn’t quite offer a ton of substance here. Ice King is usually great when working off of characters that are his opposite, such as Finn, Jake, or Princess Bubblegum, but the childlike nature of both BMO and Ice King doesn’t really allow for him to have many funny moments when BMO is almost always on board with his antics. Granted, there are subtle moments of IK’s growth that I do get behind; I love that Ice King knows that selling Finn’s baby teeth is clearly a breach of privacy, which is amazing when you realize who we’re talking about. I similarly like how Finn and Jake are much more open to the idea of Ice King casually hanging out with BMO, especially Jake! This is probably the most definitive moment in the series where Jake finally accepts Ice King for who he is, and it’s great. On BMO’s side of things, I don’t really think he provides for many funny moments. Aside from his general lack of knowledge when it comes to how people actually talk (“can you believe this weather?” “how are your children?”) his adventures aren’t nearly as funny as they would seem on paper. I think the comedy just kind of falls flat – they approach Tree Trunks with a very bullshit offer and she happily acquiesces nonetheless. It obviously plays into Tree Trunks’ character, but the conflict within this story is so nonexistent that there aren’t many comedic opportunities to come from it.

Once we get to the Uncle Gumbald stuff, I’ll admit, it’s not half bad. Gumbald’s absolute hamminess as a villain is usually what bumps his character down a notch, but I think he’s kind of well-portrayed here. His foreboding nature is played off really well, especially his introduction where he just silently prepares to smash BMO’s head in with an axe. Fred Melamed also does a great job at carrying out some of the more hushed aspects of Gumbald’s dialogue, though I do feel like his motivations of harming Finn before Princess Bubblegum are… odd to say the least. Finn being built up as the sole savior of PB is something that really doesn’t hold a lot of weight anymore in the series. Maybe if this aspect was executed in Season Two, I would understand it more, but PB kind of has her shit together when it comes to her own protection at this point. In fact, this element doesn’t really play ANY part when this story culminates. Gumbald still plans to destroy the Candy Kingdom even with Finn in the picture. Also, I still have a bit of a problem with BMO selling Finn’s baby teeth. I don’t think it’s an action that’s out of character for BMO, but the episode plays it off way too sadly in how Finn reacts to everything that it just makes me feel sorry for Finn and mad at BMO. It’s kind of similar to another BMO episode, BMO Lost. Jake pops Bubble, which was totally not intended to be mean on Jake’s part, but the way BMO reacts just makes me super pissed at Jake. It’s all about how said emotions are executed. If Finn was just weirded out by BMO snooping into his personal belongings, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. But because Finn’s response is so damned somber, I can’t help but be a little miffed.

In general, Finn and Jake have some pretty solid individual moments, per usual: their warming up to Ice King, the way they encourage BMO’s imagination, Jake’s sympathy for Finn after he discovers his lost baby teeth, and their brief moments having breakfast together at the beginning. Though, the breakfast scene was slightly distracting because it reminded me of the similar, and much funnier, library scene from The Real You. The baby Finn teeth creatures provide for humorous absurdity at first, but when it gets down to it, the entire scene is kind of just awkward. The teeth show up, hurt Finn, and then are destroyed a minute later after BMO pulls out hammers from his trench coat that were never even referenced earlier on. As I mentioned, this is a pretty weak conflict that’s carried out by a seemingly even weaker conclusion. Aside from Gumbald’s chalice that later becomes important, I feel as though this episode didn’t actually further much in the story, making Gumbald’s appearance feel shoehorned at the end of the day.

Always BMO Closing is considerably weak. It doesn’t have enough confidence in its A plot that it chooses to focus more on overarching story elements that don’t really even amount to anything. Thus, both stories end up suffering as a result. This episode has its fair share of redeeming qualities, namely Ice King’s development, Gumbald’s portrayal, the cool exploration of his ziggurat, and some of Graham Falk’s drawings are particularly funny. There’s also some neat bits of foreshadowing, like Crunchy’s “Missing” poster outside of Tree Trunks house, or the missing bombs within the field that Finn and Fern explored (which, again, doesn’t really amount to anything). Regardless, Always BMO Closing is an experiment that never feels like it knows what it wants to be. Though, as the next episode will show, some entries can be entirely bad even when they know what they want to be. Woof.

Favorite line: “Until tomorrow.” “Yeah, you’re not doing this tomorrow.”

“Abstract” Review

Original Airdate: July 17, 2017

Written & Storyboarded by: Graham Falk & Laura Knetzger

From a cast of emotionally-fueled characters, Jake is certainly an outsider on Adventure Time. We’ve seen him time and time again ignore significant changes in his life and as he attempts to treat drastic shifts as if they are easily manageable and barely noticeable. This has always been a consistent trait of Jake’s character, even in the earlier seasons and more comedic centered episodes. Trouble in Lumpy Space features Jake largely downplaying a potentially crucial life change, while Chips & Ice Cream has him ignoring a physical change almost completely. On the surface, it looks like Jake is accepting change exceptionally well, though it’s clearly more so the denial that any change has occurred to begin with. Abstract exaggerates said denial to extreme lengths in the best way possible. As we witnessed recently in Cloudy, Jake struggles to be open about his fears and inner conflict, and Abstract takes it a bit further by showing his resistance to any form of transition around him, good or bad. It isn’t necessarily change itself that Jake fears, however. Over the course of the show, we’ve seen Jake go through several transitions, namely becoming a father. He’s always found comfort in the fact that those around him, including his brother and loved ones, have looked at him as the same person he was before. Now, with changes noticeably happening around him, Jake is terrified that such changes may result in a total change of his character, and his life.

Jake’s denial of such changes really shine through in the first few minutes, and it’s really interesting to see how each character acts in response to his new form. BMO is a child at heart, and is understandably the least accepting to such changes. We’ve already seen in The More You Moe, the Moe You Know that BMO perceives change as something Earth shattering, rather than a natural part of life, so it’s no wonder that he’s so opposed to such jarring shift. Finn is a bit more open to the new alien-like Jake, though not by much. He struggles to even look his brother in the face and bats around the topic rather tackling it head on, which is similarly understandable. Jake gets defensive after Finn only brings up the obvious, thus Finn tries to be as supportive as he possibly can, while still being the slightest bit freaked out by his brother’s transformation.

On the even more supportive side, I love how kind and caring Lady is toward her S.O. She never passes judgment against him and shoots the dirtiest of looks towards Dirt Beer Guy (in his final appearance) for invalidating her boyfriend. It just goes to show how sweet she really is, having Jake’s back no matter what he looks like or does, as long as he is content with himself. This is practically one of Lady’s only standout roles in season eight, and I’m glad we do get an opportunity to revisit the kind-natured character every so often. I also love the subtlety in her moments with Jake… as she says she loves Jake, he responds with, “I love me too!” referencing his desire to stay the same forever.

Things quickly go astray when Jake begins experiencing strange shared dreams with Jermaine, which aren’t as prophetic or metaphorical as most AT dream sequences go, but are just as bizarre. Something that is immediately noticeable within this episode is that the backgrounds standout more than usual, and that is a result of former AT artist ghostshrimp returning to the team! Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had some great background artists following his departure, but I don’t think anyone has quite matched ghostshrimp’s legacy since. The amount of detail he puts into every single aspect of the screen is incredible; when I think of AT backgrounds in general, I think of soaking in every individual piece that I can analyze for further implications. Ghostshrimp gets this better than anyone, and really puts his all into making scenery look as bizarre and unique as possible. And what better way to do that than with an episode entitled Abstract?

The episode title, of course, also connects to a more literal meaning. Jake perceives Jermaine’s painting of abstract portraits as out of character and concludes that something must be wrong with him, which quite clearly connects to Jake’s mindset that if he chooses to change, it may lead to dire consequences for himself. Finn helping out Jake is sweet and brings up an adorably childish side of his character, in which he draws out his weird dreams using crayons. I’d love to see what he whipped up based on his dream experiences in Frost & Fire. It’s also funny to note that Finn continues to avoid making eye contact with Jake during this experience, likely because it’s frankly strange to view his brother, of whom he’s known since birth, as a five-eyed, blue, alien-like creature. The crayon therapy proves to be ineffective for Jake, as he acknowledges that changing isn’t in Jermaine’s “nature.” This similarly applies to Jake’s thought process about his own being; in Cloudy, Jake mentions that being the responsible caregiver means that he isn’t supposed to talk about his stress and anxieties to Finn. Thus, he also believes that Jermaine isn’t supposed to express himself through abstract art because it doesn’t represent the Jermaine that he once knew. Jake also dismisses the abstract art that he draws himself, calling it out as “just squiggles.” Abstract art later becomes a metaphor for personal change, to which the previous moment adds to, as Jake views change as something insignificant.

Though, through his soul-searching, Jake does decide to set out to find Jermaine (equipped with his blue pack! With all of the disappearing props throughout AT‘s eight years on air, I’m glad that Jake’s trademark backpack has still remained a consistent element). During his travels, he runs into James, a character of whom I’m not very fond of, but I was still happy to see. He even gets a few laughs out of me this time around – I typically never found James’ “WHA?” catchphrase to be particularly funny, but there’s something about him using it a third time around that gets a kick out of me. I can’t really explain why, humor’s just weird like that. I will say that I think the middle section of the episode is a bit weak. A lot of it feels like it’s just plodding until Jake finally reaches Jermaine. I didn’t find the wall of water that funny, nor did I with Bryce, whose interactions with Jake felt particularly purposeless. It’s even more distracting that Bryce’s voice actor, Jon Wurster, also portrays the wall of water, who appears directly before Bryce. Wurster’s voice really isn’t that difficult to identify.

It’s very nice to see Jermaine again, who seems noticeably happier. I dug the stick-in-the-mud Jermaine we saw in his debut episode, but seeing him much more relaxed and compassionate towards Jake is just as rewarding. Though he is compassionate, he doesn’t bullshit, and he’s probably the only one to be so straightforward to Jake thus far. He says it like it is – Jake has changed and despite his denial and ignorance to it, he can’t remain stagnant. His personal changes come from several different factors: 1. He’s more open and honest about his emotions, as Cloudy proved. 2. He’s getting older and wiser, and even more mature as a result, but also retains his sense of fun and loving nature despite everything. With all of these changes at hand, Jake does worry that he’ll no longer be able to be the fun-loving guy that he once was, but Jermaine reassures him that he can still remain the same person while changing regardless. Jermaine’s interactions with his bro are irresistibly sweet, especially with lines like, “He [Joshua] told me to be supportive, but I would’ve done that anyway.” Jermaine painted a picture of a jealous person who resented his brother for all that he doesn’t have, but Abstract proves how much Jermaine truly loves his brother despite their differences.

In an effort to understand his brother’s artwork, Jake examines Jermaine’s paintings in a trippy, peaceful sequence.

“The shapes are always changing. Changing is their normal state, like us. Even if we’re not changing on the outside, we’re changing on the inside constantly. There’s some stuff about me that I’ve been ignoring for a long time. I’m afraid of that stuff. But it’s part of who I am. As long as I know the shape of my soul, I’ll be all right.”

Change is a core theme of Adventure Time, and this is yet another beautiful sentiment. It’s a reminder that, whether you like it or not, change will happen and is ALWAYS happening. Despite all of it, however, one’s soul and values do not change. Learning to trust one’s self is much more vital than trusting the finite structure of the ever-changing world, and Jake recognizes that. His ability to acknowledge that, whatever changes do happen, he’ll still be the same Jake that he recognizes to be good. This is another one of those Adventure Time moments that is pretty divisive among the fanbase. This is an example of AT kind of batting around the status quo to ensure that everything remains familiar. I’ve mentioned before that I was mixed with Finn’s arm coming back in Breezy; on the one hand (no pun intended), it was an incredibly dumb decision to return his arm to normal only episodes after he had lost it, while on the other hand, it still really worked with the theme that the episode set to accomplish, and I feel the same here. Jake’s appearance changes only after he discovers that his entire soul doesn’t have to change even if he does, which visually leaves us with the yellow stretchy dog that we’ve come to love. I’ll even say that I don’t think it was a dumb decision to bring back yellow Jake at all – the shapeshifter design is a bit… wonky. It’s fine for what they set out to accomplish within this episode, but I don’t really think I’d want Jake to look like this for the rest of the series. I think when fans complain about this type of situation, it helps to wonder if they truly want the change in the first place, or if they just don’t want any type of change to be retconned. The latter’s understandable, but I really do question the former. Jake returns home and finally recognizes that he’s returned to normal, knowing that he’s changed, but is still the same on the inside. Everything stays, mothafuckas!

Abstract is a pretty solid entry. It has it weaker and more controversial moments, but at its core, it’s a solid developmental episode for both Jake and Jermaine. After so much mystery and ambiguity about Jake’s character, season eight has really done a great job of showing us subtle glimpses into Jake’s psyche. It isn’t much, but then again, Jake’s baggage isn’t really his strong point to begin with. He’s a fun, comical, and loving character, and as Abstract has shown, its a title he chooses to defend and represent above everything.

Also, fun fact: all of the abstract paintings in the episode were created by Laura Knetzger, who co-boarded this episode. This is Knetzger’s last episode working on the show. Thanks for the fun, Laura!

Favorite line: “Funny, though, I can kind of taste the toast’s emotions or something.”