“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?”