Adventure Time Reviews: Season 4 (Hot to the Touch/Five Short Graybles)

This episode starts with the closing sequence of the last episode. So I guess we’re getting right to it. After Finn tells Jake he has a crush on Flame Princess, Jake informs Finn that Flame Princess is evil. Finn insists that he “peeped beyond her burning gaze” and that she isn’t evil, just passionate. He convinces Jake to help him look for her and they find her in the forest, touching flowers and setting them on fire. Finn thinks it’s cute, and to be honest it is pretty cute. Finn describes her as innocent, saying she’s like “the steam off a puppy’s nose, searching for ham in the snow. ” I’m not sure what that means but it causes Jake to burst out, “Guy drops one piece of ham in the snow and he never hears the end of it!” I think that’s my favorite Jake line so far. Anyway, Flame Princess then tries to dip her hand in water and hurts herself. Is this Flame Princess’ first time out of the Fire Kingdom? It would explain why she’s so curious about everything around her and why she apparently didn’t know water could hurt her. Finn goes to make sure Flame Princess is okay, and also explains to her that he likes her, when he notices the fire spreading dangerously close to him. He panics and tries to put it out, but then discovers that putting out the fires Flame Princess starts hurts her. Flame Princess thinks that Finn is trying to hurt her on purpose and that that’s why he’s following her, so she runs away. And Finn chases her. Which probably isn’t at all reassuring.

After chasing her for a bit, Flame Princess manages to ambush Finn and Jake in a field. Finn again tries to explain to Flame Princess how he feels but she still doesn’t believe him. Flame Princess threatens to turn the Goblin Kingdom into her own personal Fire Kingdom and leaves Finn and Jake in the burning field. Finn still likes her (goodness his taste is more messed up than mine) and so refuses to fight her, but Jake reminds him that saving an entire kingdom is more important than being with Flame Princess. They go back to the Tree Fort to attempt to make some fire-proof suits and guess who they find? Neptr! The little robot thing they built in Season 1! Apparently, they were playing hide and seek and completely forgot that Neptr was hiding, though Neptr doesn’t realize this and think he’s the champion of hide and seek for staying hidden for so long. God, that is both hilarious and sad. Anyway, Neptr helps them build their fire-proof suits and they all fly to the Goblin Kingdom, which is already ablaze.

Upon seeing them, Flame Princess tries to attack Finn and Jake, but fails due to their suits. Jake starts trying to put out some of the fires, injuring Flame Princess, and then Neptr tries to extinguish her with foam, but Finn stops him from hitting Flame Princess directly, instead putting out more of her fires. Flame Princess is infuriated and proclaims that this is the last time Finn will hurt her, then turns into her beast form. Finn starts to cry over his horrible luck when it comes to liking girls and this gets Flame Princess’ attention. She returns to her normal form and watches him for a bit, then stops her flames from destroying the city any more. Finn looks up and sees her watching, and Flame Princess starts to speak to him.

• Flame Princess: I understand now. You’re a water elemental.
• Finn: What?
• Flame Princess: You’re my opposite. You create water.
• Finn: What, cry? No, I j–
• Flame Princess: Yeah, you cry and cry all the time.
• Finn: N-No. I-I don’t usually do that.
• Flame Princess: That’s your power.
• Finn: No! N-N-N-NO-NO-NO! [waves his hands while blushing.]

HAHAHA sorry but I love this exchange and how it’s such a blow to Finn’s ego. Flame Princess goes on, though.

• Flame Princess: Finn, even if we like each other, we’re going to hurt each other.
• Finn: No, we don’t have to. I can take it… I… I mean, can’t we try?
• Flame Princess: You would defy nature for me?
• Finn: Uh… yeah, whatevs.

They try to hug but being in contact with Flame Princess burns Finn’s skin, which causes Finn to cry and the tears hurt Flame Princess, so they’re forced to push each other away. Flame Princess departs sadly. Jake asks Finn how the hug felt and Finn replies that it hurt. He doesn’t sound upset about the fact. Is Finn a masochist?

Okay, but really, this episode does set up an interesting and kind of tragic dilemma for Finn and Flame Princess’ relationship. They will literally always be hurting each other. The only way to avoid it would be to avoid any physical contact whatsoever, but that can put a lot of strain on a relationship. And I think we all know what teenagers hormones can be like, so that would make things even more difficult. The question now is what will they do about it? Will they be together but avoid touching each other at all? Will they have physical contact despite the pain it brings both of them?

I feel sorry for them, but especially for Finn, because the poor kid really does have the worst luck with romance. He says so himself, “Why can’t I just like a girl?” (I really liked this line and I think the credit for that goes to Finn’s very talented voice actor.) His first crush was on someone who’s too old for him, and his second crush is someone who will always hurt him and who he will always hurt in turn. Unfortunately we can’t control who we crush on, and it really sucks when the person you fall for is someone that you know it won’t work out with. Also, Finn still being young and being who he is, his views on romance are not entirely realistic. He had a tendency to idealize Bubblegum and seems to be doing the same with Flame Princess. I think that’s going to cause problems for him at some point.

As for Flame Princess herself, I’m really intrigued by her but not totally taken with her yet. Right now, she’s kind of just “Finn’s love interest”. While Bubblegum was Finn’s love interest too, she was and still is more than that as well. She’s also a ruler, a scientist, the one who gives Finn and Jake a lot of their bigger quests, and she has a life, history, and personality outside of being the object of Finn’s affection. Flame Princess isn’t there yet, but she’ll hopefully develop beyond that as we get to know her more, and this episode does hint at some interesting points regarding her past.

When we first meet Flame Princess, she’s in a lantern in the Fire Kingdom and only gets let out when “Finn” expresses an interest in her. Note that after running away from Finn in the Tree Fort, she doesn’t go back to the Fire Kingdom. She instead wanders around Ooo, touching things curiously. This gives the impression that she’s never been outside of the Fire Kingdom. Who knows how long she’s been trapped in that lantern? She didn’t even know that water would hurt her. Later, when she attacks the Goblin Kingdom, it’s to turn it into her own Fire Kingdom. She’s creating a whole new kingdom for herself rather than go back to the one she came from. Perhaps the reason she was so happy when “Finn” came to the Fire Kingdom to court her was because she saw it as an opportunity to leave what was essentially a prison. Even after things don’t work out with Finn, she would rather create her own kingdom (though she does so through destroying another) and have her own life away from her home. Now that’s something interesting.

Rating: 8.5/10

This episode begins with a character whose name is apparently Cuber telling the audience that the episode will contain five different stories about different characters, unrelated but all connected by one theme that we’re supposed to guess by the end. The first story shows BMO being left alone in the Tree Fort and talking to his/her/zer/itself in the mirror. The second story shows Finn and Jake trying to high-five each other in the most awesome way possible, taking running starts from farther and farther away, and then attempting to high-five while catapulting towards each other (Finn also mentions that he likes the pain of the high-fives… Finn is definitely a masochist). We go to the third story before we see the result, and this one involves Princess Bubblegum trying to make the most perfect sandwich to ever exist using science. I can’t help noticing that she only uses bread, cheese, tomato and lettuce for the sandwich. What kind of sandwich is that? Anyway, she gives the sandwich to Cinnamon Bun and he stuffs it in his belly without even tasting it, to Bubblegum’s dismay. And then regurgitates it all over her. Poor Bubblegum. The fourth story shows Ice King searching his castle for a bad smell. He sends one of his penguins away because he thinks its the cause of the smell, but then he discovers the smell is himself. So he has all of his penguins bathe him. The fifth story shows Lumpy Space Princess about to perform in a talent show.

I want that song on my iPod. When the talent show starts, the first act is five girls and they sing the same song LSP was going to sing. How dare they do this to LSP?! The song doesn’t even make sense coming from them because they don’t have lumps! LSP is next up and she isn’t sure what to do, and in anger she ends up throwing a basketball at someone in the crowd. The ball bounces off of them and into the basket, which impresses the crowd. LSP repeats this a few times and is about to be announced the winner of the talent show, but Finn and Jake suddenly complete their high five over the stage, so they get declared the winners instead, which upsets LSP. Forget them, LSP, you’re still flawless.

After this, we’re back with Cuber, who asks the audience if they’ve guessed the theme. I didn’t. Did anyone? I’m genuinely curious, let me know if you did or if you know anyone who did. Cuber tells us that the theme was the five senses. BMO was sight, Finn and Jake were touch, Bubblegum was taste, Ice King was smell, and LSP was sound. I would never have guessed that.

I always like it when shows do stuff like this, just some short stories involving some of the characters that may or may not have something to connect them but never truly intersect. Basically, we’re just seeing what their days are like. I’ve always been a character person, and as much as I like big adventures and drama and goofy scenarios, sometimes I just like to watch characters I like breathe and be themselves and just… exist. It’s nice sometimes.

Adventure Time is usually bombastic and wild and weird, but it’s shown that it can have some great quiet, subtle moments too, as well as good character moments. An episode like this in Adventure Time is especially interesting to me because I don’t often think about what the characters do in their spare time, but of course they must have spare time occasionally. You’d think that something like this would be a weird rebound after how dramatic Hot to the Touch was, but I think it worked surprisingly well, perhaps because Finn and Jake, who played big roles in the previous episode, played small roles in this one, so their very different mood in this one wasn’t as noticeable.

So, yeah, not a lot to say about this one, but I thought it was a nice episode.

Rating: 7.5/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 3 Overview

Well, this season was certainly interesting. And I’m now officially an Adventure Time fan.

I enjoyed this season more than the last two, as people have noticed. I mean, not that I disliked the first two at all, but this season resonated with me more and it made me really want to watch more. If I hadn’t promised myself I wouldn’t skip ahead in episodes, Season 3 would have been the point where I broke down and binge-watched the show in two days. It’s just that this season was the one that started giving me more of what I wanted. It’s the one that started telling me more about the characters who aren’t Finn and Jake, and it’s the one that started to tell more interesting stories, some of them being darker or more mature. I’m saying “started to” because it’s totally there yet, but it’s on its way.

Let’s just jump right into talking about the characters, since they were the most interesting thing about this season. Most of Finn’s development this season concerned his love life. His crush on Bubblegum was pushed to the forefront but never got anywhere, because it couldn’t actually go anywhere. Bubblegum is too old for him, and while she seemed to find his crush on her cute in early episodes, he’s getting too old for her to still think of it that way. Now it’s just uncomfortable for her, so she has to try to push him away. And now Finn has a new love interest in Flame Princess. She’s evil and destructive and unpredictable, but she’s also Finn’s age. As for Jake, we get a few hints that he has some history as a criminal, but aside from that there isn’t much that’s new to say about him.

Obviously, learning Ice King’s origin is the main thing this season has going for it. I’ll probably always remember Season 3 as “The Season Where Ice King Becomes Super Tragic” or something like that. I don’t think we’ve seen Ice King since learning his backstory, have we? I have a feeling seeing him again will be uncomfortable, not just for me but possibly for Finn and Jake too. I mean, I still think that having a sad backstory in no way absolves Ice King of any of the bad things he’s done or will do, but having a better understanding of who Ice King is and why he became that way does make things a bit awkward for our heroes, doesn’t it? Or at least it should make things awkward for Finn. I’m excited to see what happens with Ice King from here.

I’ve always had positive things to say about Princess Bubblegum and I still do. I think she might be my favorite character, actually. I know that she gets a lot of hate from fans for being a “sociopathic bitch”, but I have to say, giving Bubblegum crap for being a sociopath on a show that contains Ice King, Marceline, and Flame Princess is hypocritical if you ask me. Because seriously, Bubblegum is the only one I ever see/hear getting crap for this. People are always willing to excuse Ice King and Marceline because they’re “complex” and “tragic” but people never seem to want to extend the same courtesy to Bubblegum, she just gets written off as a bitch. And I think Bubblegum is complex! She’s sort of like a pink Hermione. Smart and generally kind, but fiercely protective of people she cares about (i.e. her kingdom) and if you get in her way or piss her off, she’s merciless. Plus, there’s the fact that most of the reasons people have given me for why they think Bubblegum is so awful sound like bullshit to me, but I could write a whole other post about that. In fact, I just might do that one of these days. Granted, I still have a lot of episodes to see. For all I know, Bubblegum does become a total asshole, but you know what? I think that would just make me like her more, because I’ve always had a love for female characters with a mean streak. Bring on Bubblegum the Bitch, I want to see more of that. (And now I have that Marina and the Diamonds song “Bubblegum Bitch” stuck in my head… we should make that Bubblegum’s theme song.)

In other news, I think I’m developing a crush on Marceline. I don’t understand how a cartoon character with noodle-limbs and dot eyes can be so hot, but Marceline makes it work. It… it’s not just me, right? (I was also sort of attracted to Prince Gumball in Fionna and Cake… again, it’s not just me, right?) I think it’s just Marceline’s attitude and character that makes her attractive to me. The odd thing about Marceline is that we’ve probably gotten more pieces of backstory on her than any other main character, yet I feel likes she’s the one I know the least. There’s a lot to cover when she’s been alive for a thousand years. I think it works, though. Marceline is sort of the enigmatic wildcard of the show. On the surface, we know what she’s like – mischievous, tough, skewed morality – but there’s still a lot of surprises in her personality. Well, there’s a lot of surprises for me, anyway. And there are still surprises for the characters, too. Every now and then Marceline shows some vulnerability and sentimentality, but then she goes right back to hissing and intimidating people, so no one knows what to make of it. Plus, even now that Finn and Jake are friends with her, they’re still sort of afraid of her. After all, she’s still a vampire and she’s still… Marceline. She’s not a bad person, but she’s exactly a good person either. She’s not even that nice, most of the time. No one is totally sure about her yet and… that’s kind of cool. And hot.

As for minor characters, Lumpy Space Princess is as hilarious and flawless as ever. I’m starting to really love Peppermint Butler too, he’s funny and adorable every moment that he’s on screen. Lemongrab has actually sort of grown on me. Sort of. I like Lady Rainicorn, but I find it weird that we hardly know her. She’s Bubblegum’s friend and Jake’s girlfriend, yet we know next to nothing about her. It’s odd. She’s in need of some development. I can’t say much about Flame Princess yet since she was just introduced, but I liked her in Incendium and I think her character could be really interesting.

This season is really the point of no return. If I wasn’t in love with the show in Seasons 1 and 2, I definitely am now. In fact, I’m a little pissed at myself for not having watched this show sooner. And for deciding to do this stupid review project so that I can’t just skip ahead and binge-watch. I mean, technically I could, but that would dishonest or whatever. Bleh.

The only issue I have with this season overall is the inconsistent tone of it. It’s a weird mix between the silly tone of early seasons and the more mature tones that other seasons supposedly have. They’ve proven that they can somehow mix these tones surprisingly well, but sometimes going from one episode to the next gave me mood whiplash. It’s just jarring to go from something like the end of Holly Jolly Secrets Part 2 to something like Marceline’s Closet. I don’t think they have to get rid of the silly tone completely, I think the show would lose some of its charm that way, but I think they need to find a balance between the two. I’m sure they can do it, they already have done it with some episodes, they just need to do that consistently. Does this make sense?

Anyway, I did still like this season a lot. Let’s see what Season 4 brings (good God, am I already on Season 4?! This is going by so fast).

Season Rating: 7.6

Best Episode: Fionna and Cake

Worst Episode: Still

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 3 (Dad’s Dungeon/Incendium)

Finn and Jake receive a Holo-message from their dad, an old one that was recorded when they were babies. Their father tells them about a dungeon he built for them, at the end of which is a sword made from demon blood. Their father then tells Finn to cover his ears, which Finn does, and then Jake is told that the dungeon is mostly for Finn, because their father thinks Finn cries and whines too much and needs to toughen up. Um, dude? Finn was a baby when you made this dungeon. Babies tend to cry and whine. I’m already disliking their father. Anyway, Jake is just as confused by this because he knows how brave Finn is, but he goes along with him to the dungeon. Once there, they encounter a Hot Dog Monster and a Hamburger Monster, both of which are quickly defeated. They find another recorded message from their dad just for Jake, who tells Jake to call Finn a baby. They then come across two paths, one blocked by a hideous monster and one decorated with flowers. Finn and Jake decide to take the Flower Path. God, don’t these guys know anything? The nicer the path looks the more likely it is to be dangerous!

While going down the Flower Path, which also has beautiful Fruit Witches floating around, Jake tells Finn that their father thinks he’s a baby. Finn is hurt that their father would say something like that about him and loses his enthusiasm for the adventure. The Fruit Witches try to get Finn to eat an apple and he almost does, but Jake knocks the apple out of his hands. One of the Fruit Witches eats it and it causes her to turn into an apple. The other Fruit Witches suddenly turn less beautiful and begin to eat the cursed Witch. Finn and Jake run for it – or rather, Jake runs and has to dag Finn along because Finn is so bummed out.

When they reach the final passage, Jake tries to explain to Finn what’s really happening and reassure Finn that he’s not a baby, but Finn is still upset. They watch the last tape from their dad, which tells them that he’s trying to fit a monster into the pit he dug. The tape ends with said monster grabbing their dad from behind and pulling him into the last chamber. Finn and Jake run in and find the demon blood sword, as well as more tapes from their father. The monster appears and starts to fight Finn, who is still too down to concentrate on the fight. Jake plays the tapes, in which their dad says how much he loves Finn and how proud of him he is. I still think their dad is a jerk, but what he says is sweet. Finn’s confidence is restored, and he grabs the sword and defeats the monster. Finn and Jake then leave the dungeon, Finn still holding the sword.

Let’s talk about Jake’s dad for a minute, whose name is apparently Joshua. I guess I can sort of understand his side, in a way. Finn is the only known human in Ooo, so there wouldn’t be a way for Joshua to know what human babies are like. Puppies can walk and run and play and be mostly self-sufficient after a few weeks or months at the most. Humans take years to mature to that point. So I can kind of see how baby Finn would look like a massive wimp to a dog, and why Joshua would want him to toughen up. He still didn’t have to be such an ass about it, though.

When Joshua gets pulled into the chamber by the monster, is that how he died? I’m going to assume that’s how he died.

Anyway, this episode has pretty much everything you would want from an Adventure Time episode. It’s funny, exciting, it has good character moments and the designs are great. The Fruit Witches especially looked amazing, both in their pretty forms and in their monstrous forms. The lighting in the Fruit Witches’ path looked lovely and the whole scene had a wonderfully creepy atmosphere. Overall, a very good episode.

Rating: 8/10

This title card is both funny and sad.

The episode opens with Princess Bubblegum showing Finn and Jake her liquid pyrotechnics, fireworks that rain colorful liquid when they explode. Jake rests his head in Bubblegum’s lap (as a side note, I love it when dogs do this to me IT’S SO CUTE), and Finn attempts to do so as well. However, Bubblegum becomes uncomfortable and pushes Finn away, telling him not to be weird (yeah it’s really not as cute when humans do it). Later, Finn is curled up in a corner in the Tree Fort, crying over a picture of Bubblegum and that wad of her hair that he apparently still has. Jake and BMO try to cheer him up, but nothing seems to work. Jake has the idea of finding another love interest for Finn, one who’s closer to his age than Bubblegum. He tells BMO to look after Finn and goes out to find a new princess for Finn. Does it need to be a princess? There must be girls in Ooo who aren’t royalty. Anyway, Jake comes across Flambo, a being from the Fire Kingdom, and asks him if he knows any princesses Finn’s age. Flambo says that he does know a hot princess who’s close to Finn’s age.

Literally, a “hot” princess.

Flambo brings Jake to the awesomely designed Fire Kingdom (and casts a Flame Shield on him so that it’s safer for him to go in) to meet Flame King and his daughter Flame Princess, who does in fact have a very pretty design and is for some reason kept in a lantern. Jake tells Flame King that “Prince” Finn sent him as an envoy. Flame King says that Finn needs to prove himself worthy of his daughter, so Jake starts trying to impress Flame King with gifts. When this fails, Jake stretches part of his body to look like Finn, and then tries to use “Finn” to impress Flame King. This goes over more successfully, and Flame King says that Finn can date his evil, destructive daughter. Well, that explains why she was in a lantern. Jake didn’t know that Flame Princess was evil and is horrified, but Flame Princess tells “Finn” how happy she is to meet him. She seems sweet, until the chattering of the Flame People annoys her, and she shoots fire at them and turns them into flambits. I like this girl already. Jake has “Finn” tell Flame Princess that he’s no longer interested in her, which enrages her. Jake flees back to the Tree Fort and tries to warn Finn about what he’s done. Flame Princess appears in a monstrous form and starts to set fire to the Tree Fort. Finn is roused from his depression when the fire destroys his pictures of Bubblegum. He sees the monstrous Flame Princess accidentally ignite Bubblegum’s fireworks and angrily tells her not to touch Bubblegum’s stuff. The liquid from the fireworks douses Flame Princess, returning her to her usual form and causing her to pass out. Finn is surprised to see that the monster was a girl and brings her into the Tree Fort. Hey Finn, just a reminder, THIS GIRL NEARLY BURNED DOWN YOUR HOUSE. Now is not the time to be chivalrous. When Flame Princess wakes up, and demands to know why Finn doesn’t like her. Finn tells her that he does like her, which just enrages Flame Princess further. She slaps Finn and tells him not to mess with her again, then leaves the Tree Fort. The episode ends with Finn telling Jake that he thinks he has a crush.

You know, I would make fun of Finn for having a crush on a girl who tried to kill him not five seconds before, but considering my track record I’m really in no place to judge.

Okay, so, I already know that Finn and Flame Princess end up getting together. What I didn’t know is that Flame Princess is evil, and what I still don’t know is how Finn’s transition from Bubblegum to Flame Princess will work out, since he probably hasn’t just stopped crushing on Bubblegum, that would take some time to get over, wouldn’t it? God, I hope this doesn’t turn into a love triangle. I mean it wouldn’t be a love triangle per se because Bubblegum is clear about the fact that she has no romantic interest in Finn and we already know that they can’t work because of the age difference, but you know what I mean.

Flame Princess is intriguing. It’s nice to have a new interesting character being brought into the show, especially a female one. There isn’t too much to say about Flame Princess at the moment, but I’m definitely excited to find out more.

The episode itself is a bit slow up until the end, but it does have some good lines and good designs, and it sets up something interesting for the next season, which is a good thing for a season finale to do. I can’t wait to see how things play out from here.

Rating: 8/10

No review, I’m bragging about my weekend instead

Sorry guys, no review today. I didn’t have much time to write this weekend because I spent most of Friday and Saturday either doing homework or touching up my costume for Montreal Comic Con, and then most of Sunday I was, well, at Montreal Comic Con.

And take a look at my awesome Karen cosplay.

Not the best picture since you can’t see the screen very well, but you get the idea. I was really proud of how it turned out, and extremely pleased that so many people recognized which character I was, I was a little worried that no one would get it. I got a lot of compliments on the costume and on the originality of my idea, and a lot of people stopped me so they could take pictures of it, which at Comic Con is like the highest honor one can get. So yeah, it was a lot of fun, and I’m still high on my ego trip.

The best part of the day, though, was when I got to try out Mortal Kombat X. I know I’ve mentioned that game a lot lately, but in case I haven’t made it clear enough, I’m a really, really huge Mortal Kombat fangirl and I honestly can’t remember the last time I was this excited for anything, so getting to play MKX even just for a few minutes felt amazing. I was so excited I actually felt faint, and I kept fangirling in line and everyone stared at me but I don’t care because I GOT TO PLAY MORTAL KOMBAT X.

I also spent more than a hundred and fifty dollars on merchandise, including three Eeveelution plushies and a bunch of Spiderman and Deadpool related stuff, because I’m also a huge Marvel fangirl, especially when it comes to those two. I spent sixty dollars on a Spiderman hoodie that’s several sizes too big for me but I don’t regret it because it’s the softest, coziest thing I’ve ever put on my body.

I’m really bad at controlling my buying impulses at Comic Con.

So, that was my weekend, and it was amazing.

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 3 (Another Way/Ghost Princess)

The episode begins with Finn and Jake being treated by Clown Nurses because of their broken toes. Jake hired them and he loves them, but Finn hates them. He thinks they’re creepy and he doesn’t like the way they baby him. I agree with Finn. Since Jake refuses to get rid of them and the Clown Nurses refuse to leave him alone, Finn looks through the Enchiridion (hey, he still has it!) for another way to heal their broken toes. From the book he discovers that there is a cyclops whose tears can heal any injury. Finn wants to find the cyclops but the Clown Nurses tell him that their way of healing is the only way. Angered by this, Finn insists on doing things his way and leaves the Tree Fort, determined to find the cyclops.

After that… man, when Finn flips out, he really flips out. He runs into the reduntantly named Forest of Trees to find the cyclops and comes to a fork in the road and a tree stump with a sign over its head. The tree stump tells Finn that he needs to choose between the left path that will make all of his hair fall out forever or the right path that will make him smell horrible forever. Finn isn’t happy about being forced to choose and again insists on doing it “his way”. His way involves kicking the sign off the stump’s head and running through the thorn bushes between the two roads. Next, he comes to a river. A small bush tells him that there’s no way to cross it because the current is too fast, the water is acidic, the bridge is a trap, and there are electric eels in it. Finn still wants to do things his way, so he grabs the bush and runs through the river, swatting the water away with the bush. He doesn’t even make it halfway across before having to stop. The now destroyed bush tells him to go back, but Finn refuses, instead simply swimming across the river. Finn is afraid of the ocean but not of acidic rivers filled with electric eels. Kay then. Finn then meets a hairy little… thing named Pan with watermelons in a broken wagon. Finn uses one of the watermelon’s juices to rinse the acidic water off of himself. Pan asks Finn to help with him fix his wagon, one of his wheels got stuck in a tree and he needs Finn to get it down for him so he can bring the watermelons to his wife down the path. Finn, apparently having gone way overboard with doing things his way, smashes the wagon so that the watermelons tumble down the path and crush Pan’s wife, injuring her. Pan is distraught and Finn realizes that he’s gone way too far. He tries apologize to Pan, but understandably Pan isn’t feeling very forgiving. Pan tells Finn to go away, and Finn does, now feeling guilty.

He finds the cyclops – or to be more accurate, the cyclops finds him – but Finn is no longer interested in getting the cyclops’ tears. He just wants to go home, but the cyclops doesn’t believe him and attacks him. Finn punches the cyclops in the eye, causing it to start crying, then removes its head from its body and – wait what?! How does Finn just remove the head from the body like it’s nothing? And how is the head still living? And why am I still bothering to question this show’s logic? Anyway, Finn takes the head and runs back to the Tree Fort with it, using the cyclops’ tears to heal the people he hurt along the way. When he gets home he has the Clown Nurses look after the cyclop’s head and then asks Jake if he wants to be healed. Jake says no, he’d rather keep being pampered, and Finn accepts that everyone has their own way, to Jake’ surprise.

I think this entire episode can be summed up with this picture:

It’s sort of funny that in my last review I was saying how much I like it when Finn’s jerky side comes out, and here we have the episode where he’s at his jerkiest (so far). Finn is just awful in this episode. As I’ve mentioned, I’m totally fine with characters acting like jerks as long as it’s in character and written in a way that makes it clear that we’re supposed to think they’re jerks. Another Way takes things pretty far, but I don’t think it goes too far, and it’s good to push your boundaries, right?

As for Finn himself, he’s both in character and out of character in this episode. Wait, let me explain. Finn losing control of his temper and acting in violent and impulsive ways? That’s definitely in character, Finn has shown these flaws before, thought never quite to this extent. Finn hurting innocent people and thinking of no one but himself? That’s out of character. However, the episode knows it’s out of character. Finn isn’t acting like himself, he’s lost control of himself and is behaving terribly. Eventually he snaps back to reality, realizes that he was way out of line, and makes up for it. Works for me.

This episode is kind of a return to the Season 1 formula, even more so than the previous two episodes, since it’s really just about Finn going on a weird adventure and coming across weird things along the way, not much happens but at the same time it feels like a lot happened. It’s kind of nice going back to this, though I’m guessing this is going to be one of the last “Season 1 formula” episodes that we see. I liked it, it could get a tad annoying, but it was funny and I liked seeing them push the limits of just how jerky they can make their characters.

Rating: 7/10

We open with Finn and Jake roasting hot dogs over a campfire in the woods, when suddenly along comes Ghost Princess to haunt them. Finn politely asks Ghost Princess to stop, and she tells them that she’s doomed to haunt the mortal world until she discovers how she was killed, and then her soul will ascend to the Dead World. Unfortunately, as a ghost GP has no memory of her mortal life and therefore has no idea how she died.

Does this happen to everyone who dies in Ooo? First they come back as a ghost and can’t go anywhere else until they find out how they died, but can’t remember anything about their life which would make finding out all but impossible?! Because that sounds like the worst afterlife ever. Or is it only certain people that come back as ghosts? Or does it depend on how you died? Or am I trying way too hard to bring logic to a place where there was never meant to be any?

Moving on.

So, Finn and Jake offer to help GP and start by visiting her grave for some clues, but all her gravestone says is “Female”. After interrogating the ghost in the grave next to GP, they meet Clarence, another ghost who resides in the Cemetery. GP and Clarence hit it off right away, GP saying that she feels as though she knows Clarence already. GP and Clarence decide to go to a concert together while Finn and Jake search the neighboring cemetery, which according to Clarence is where bad ghosts hang out. Finn and Jake dig up the grave of “Some Donkus” and find half of a broken dagger in it, but the ghost doesn’t seem to be around. Eventually they meet up with GP and Clarence again, and GP tells them that she no longer wants to go to the Dead World and is happy to stay a ghost with Clarence in Ooo. Finn and Jake leave the graveyard, and Jake reveals that he looted a bunch of the graves, including Some Donkus’. Jake and Bender may have more than a voice actor in common. One of the items Jake stole was the broken dagger, on which something is engraved. All that remains on that piece is “rence”, and Finn connects it with “Clarence”. To be sure, he digs up GP’s grave and finds the other piece of the dagger, which reads “Cla”. This leaves no doubt that Clarence was GP’s murderer, so Finn and Jake find Clarence and GP to confront them about it.

Once told that Clarence was her murderer, GP suddenly remembers that she was once Warrior Princess, and that she and Clarence were lovers even though their kingdoms were at war. Clarence killed her in battle and immediately regretted it. Still a better love story than Twilight. (Actually, it sounds much better, I would totally read a book about Warrior Princess and Clarence.) Having remembered her death, GP forgives Clarence and starts to ascend to the Dead World, but Clarence can’t go with her because he still doesn’t know how he died. In frustration, Clarence says that “his life is like a fart”, and Jake recognizes the saying and realizes that he saw Clarence die. Apparently Clarence became extremely depressed after Warrior Princess’ death and did nothing but eat Softy Cheese (which as far as I can tell is like Cheese Whiz which is disgusting and if you like it you’re disgusting). He exploded after eating too much of it. I think it was suicide but who knows? It would be pretty dark if it was. As dark as death by Softy Cheese can be, anyway. So with Clarence’s death figured out, both he and GP are able to go to the Dead World together.

So, does anyone else think Warrior Princess and Clarence’s backstory sounds kind of epic? We only get the end of it, but we can gather that they were from warring kingdoms, fell in love but then went to war anyway, and then we see one of them killing the other and regretting it for the remainder of their life. Honestly that sounds like an awesome story and I would have loved to have seen how it all started.

While it was predictable that Clarence was the murderer, I definitely didn’t predict the way that it happened, let alone how Clarence himself died, so the episode did still manage to surprise me a bit. The “mystery” isn’t really the point anyway. I liked the blend of comedy and drama this episode had, and I liked GP and Clarence, though I guess we won’t be seeing them again. Good episode overall, not much more to say about it.

Rating: 7.5/10

 

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 3 (Marceline’s Closet/Paper Pete)

Finn and Jake are heading over to Marceline’s house to play music with her. When they get there, they find a note on her door telling them that she’s out and will be back soon. The note also tells them not go inside her house, written in capital letters. And in blood. Kay then. While waiting for her to get back, Finn and Jake decide to play “Cloud Hunt”, which is basically like Hide and Seek. Finn counts while Jake hides in Marceline’s house despite the note and Finn’s warnings. When Finn realizes that Jake is in the house, he tries to get Jake out, and when Jake doesn’t come out Finn goes inside himself to force Jake out. I would have just left him there and let him get in trouble when Marceline got home. Anyway, Marceline comes home while Finn and Jake are still inside, so they hide in her closet.

The rest of the episode is basically about Finn and Jake trying to sneak out of her closet without her noticing and this really sounds like a metaphor for something else. Their attempts become even more desperate when they realize that Marceline, having given up on waiting for Finn and Jake, decides to record some extremely personal songs that no one else is supposed to hear. I just thought of something. Is Marceline being both a vampire and a rock musician a reference to Lestat? Because that would make me really happy if it was. Anyway, they try to smash through the wall of her closet but are chased back in by a spider. I’m extremely arachnophobic so I totally relate to Finn and Jake here, and this spider has apparently decided it doesn’t like Finn and Jake. It keeps screwing things up for them just because it can. I knew spiders were evil. First the spider breaks one of Marceline’s lamps and she almost discovers Finn and Jake when she goes into the closet to retrieve her broom. Then, when Marceline goes to sleep (funny how she doesn’t sleep during the day, that would make a lot more sense), the spider bites Jake while he and Finn are sneaking out. Marceline ends up waking up and catching them (that wasn’t the spider’s fault, that was Finn and Jake’s fault), and they apologize and explain the situation to her. Marceline tells them that they’re forgiven and that she hides in their house all the time.

Given the title and set up of this episode I expected another heavy revelation, but I guess they wouldn’t want to have two in a row. It’s probably for the best since I’m still recovering from Holly Jolly Secrets. Instead, this episode is entirely focused on the comedy, and a lot of it is funny. I especially liked Jake’s entirely silent reaction to being bitten by the spider.

I have a feeling Marceline knew all along that Finn and Jake were in the closet. She probably would have been able to smell them in the closet when she tried sniffing around for them, and a lot of the things she did to make them paranoid seemed very deliberate. Of course that’s the joke, that her actions seem so deliberate but she has no idea, but knowing Marceline it’s not a stretch to think she’d do this just to prank Finn and Jake. The fact that she tried to record a personal song with them in the closet sort of contradicts this theory, but the small part of the song we heard didn’t reveal much, so it may still have been part of a prank. I don’t know, I think it would be funny if she knew all along and was just trolling them.

So, yeah, not too much to say about this episode. Coming right after Holly Jolly Secrets, it feels lackluster, but it is funny, and it’s probably a good idea to have a slow and simple episode after dropping such a drama bomb on us in the last episode. I mean, I would be happy with more drama bombs, but I guess the show needs to take things more slowly.

Rating: 7.5/10

The episode begins with Finn and Jake in the library, hauling a huge, heavy book onto a table. The book is the Rainicornicopia, which is all about the Rainicorn’s culture and history. Jake wants to read it so that if he and Lady have children some day he’ll be able to share their culture. That’s actually sweet of Jake. Anyway, Finn isn’t interested in reading the Rainicornicopia and Jake is stubbornly ignoring him, so Finn starts looking through the library himself. He finds some books that are damaged and moldy, and he wants to find out how they got that way. That’s when he meets the Pagelings, little creatures made of paper that resemble origami-style humanoids or animals. They come from out of the books themselves.

Okay, I really like the Pagelings and here’s a list of reasons why:

1. The Pagelings are apparently the blank sheets of paper in the beginning and end of every book. That’s a really clever idea.
2. They protect books. One thing you should know about me: I am freakishly protective of my books. Like, seriously. So much as bend the corner of one of the pages of my books, and I’ll flip out. So the idea of little creatures who make it their job to protect books from being damaged really appeals to me.
3. They’re super cute.
4. Something about really tiny things taking themselves so seriously really amuses me.

Anyway, the Pagelings’ leader, Paper Pete, tells Finn that they only reveal themselves to those who show concern for their plight, like Finn did. The Pagelings are at war with mold creature aptly named Moldos, who destroy books. Finn tries to show the Pagelings to Jake, but the Pagelings are obscured from view by some falling books, and Jake goes back to reading the Rainicornicopia. Finn makes another attempt, this time bringing the Pagelings right to Jake, but Jake thinks Finn is making things up for attention and refuses to look up from his book. Eventually Finn gives up and leaves with the Pagelings. During their absence, a group of Moldos began eating away at some of the books. The Pagelings charge at them, though Finn quickly ends the battle when he blows the Moldos away by yawning. While Paper Pete praises Finn, he mentions that Moldos have a bite that sting, which gives Finn an idea. They trick the Moldos into thinking Finn is on their side, then take a bunch of them to Jake. Finn wants the Moldos to bite Jake so that he’ll be forced to acknowledge their existence. The plan works, but the Moldos then get a taste for Jake’s flesh and keep biting him, causing him more pain than Finn was counting on. Yeah, I usually think you’re pretty smart, Finn, but this was a dumb plan. As Finn tries to get the Moldos off Jake, one gets on him and starts biting his shirt, calling it the tastiest thing ever. Finn decides to offer his shirt to the Moldos as a peace offering, so long as the Moldos stop eating the books. With the war between the Pagelings and the Moldos settled, Finn and Jake leave the library, Jake having given up on researching Rainicorns. Couldn’t he just ask Lady more about her culture?

I have a feeling I would have liked this episode more if it had been in Season 1. I really like the Pagelings, I think they’re a super cute and clever idea, and I like the quieter tone and setting of the library. Plus, there are some good jokes. Like Marceline’s Closet, it’s a perfectly good episode, but it feels lackluster after seeing so much from the show.

One thing I did find noteworthy about the episode is that Finn’s kind of a jerk in this one. It’s sort of like Wizard Battle, he’s doing something good but for selfish reasons. To be fair, he did seem to genuinely want to help the Pagelings, but as the episode went on he became more concerned with proving to Jake that he wasn’t lying, even going so far as to hurt Jake. Again like Wizard Battle, I don’t mind this, because Finn is in character here and the episode doesn’t really show him in a positive light. I find it interesting, because we always see how brave and noble Finn is, but he’s still very immature and flawed and this episode proves it. I hope we see more of this.

Also, is anyone else interested in reading the Rainicornicopia? Because I totally was.

Rating: 7/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 3 (Holly Jolly Secrets Parts 1 and 2)

I figured there wasn’t any point in separating these episodes because they follow each other so closely they might as well be one episode. I mean, Part 2 literally picks up exactly where Part 1 left off.

The episodes are about Finn and Jake finding some secret tapes that Ice King buried a long time ago, and they decide to watch the tapes because they think they’ll reveal Ice King’s evil secrets. It was easy to guess where this episode was going. I knew that this must be the episode where we finally learn Ice King’s backstory, or at least a piece of it, and since everyone always tells me how tragic and amazing Ice King’s backstory is and how it’s going to totally blow my mind… yeah, I was pretty excited when I realized that this had to be the episode. Anyway, Finn and Jake take the tapes back to their Tree Fort and watch them, but not before they put up fliers all over Ooo saying that they’re going to be watching secret tapes. Finn and Jake are morons.

One of these fliers gets back to Ice King, and he wants to come over and watch the secret tapes with Finn and Jake, but they won’t let him in. Then he realizes that the secret tapes they’re watching are his secret tapes. Furious, he breaks into their Tree Fort with an army of snow men and tries to stop them from watching the final tape. The other tapes Finn and Jake watched were just bits from Ice King’s video diary, all about Ice King’s weird habits and loneliness, nothing really that surprising or new. It’s the usual mix of silly and pathetic and creepy that you can expect from Ice King.

But then there’s the last tape.

The one Ice King so desperately doesn’t want them to watch.

The one he begs them not to watch.

All of that silly stuff before and then BAM PUNCH RIGHT TO YOUR FEELS. And then silly lines from Jake and Ice King, BUT THE PUNCH TO YOUR FEELS IS STILL PAINFUL.

This explains so much about Ice King and gives everything he does a much darker meaning. When he calls Betty his princess and cries for her to come back and love him again, it made me realize why Ice King has such an obsession with princesses. He’s trying to find Betty – his princess. He’s trying to make sure his princess can’t leave him again, whether or not she even is “his” princess. Does he even remember Betty exactly, or does he just remember calling someone he loved “princess”, hence why he’s obsessed with anyone who has that title? And does he have a preference for Bubblegum because she reminds him of Betty somehow? God, this is all so twisted and so sad.

And it also tells us a bit more about the visions Ice King apparently gets. He mentioned in Mortal Recoil that his “Wizard Eyes” can be both a blessing and a curse, and I guess now we can see why it was a curse. The crown gave him immortality and ice powers, but in exchange for his sanity and, well, everything else he had. Simon was trapped in a mind that he knew was falling apart and there was nothing he could do to stop it.  And it made him do or say something he can’t even remember, but it made him lose Betty. Did he hurt her? Did he say something to scare her?

Even Ice King’s line about his glasses is kind of horrifying when you think about it. Ice King is so far gone that he doesn’t even realize what he lost anymore, all he takes away from the tapes is embarrassment about how he used to wear glasses. I know, I know, the glasses comment was a joke to defuse the tension (it’s a bit annoying, actually, but I suppose I understand why they would do so in a kid’s cartoon), but it still tells us that Ice King doesn’t really understand the meaning behind what he just watched, which is messed up because it happened to him.

A lot of people say that learning this about Ice King is what made him their favorite character. I’m still not sure, but I can definitely see why this episode made Ice King so popular. He’s always been one of the more interesting characters and now he’s even more so.

A lot of people also say that this episode made them completely sympathetic and forgiving toward Ice King, and I’ve even seen some people say that they started to hate Finn and Jake after this. That… that I don’t agree with. For one thing, I don’t think I could ever hate Finn or Jake, especially not Finn. For another thing, I’ve never understood the habits fans have (and this goes for any fandom) of thinking that having a sad backstory means a character should never be held accountable for whatever bad things they might do, because they’re not really bad, just misunderstood and tragic.

Um, bullshit.

Let’s take Severus Snape as an example. Yeah, it’s sad that he has an unrequited love for Lily Evans, but I don’t see why that means I’m supposed to forgive him for being a cruel, bitter and deeply unpleasant person, as well as treating Harry like crap – and all of his friends by association – because Harry dared to have a father that Snape didn’t like. You know, because Harry was totally in control of who’s sperm he came from. Plus, Snape lost Lily because he was a racist who was unapologetic about practicing the Dark Arts and didn’t make it a secret that he basically planned on becoming the wizard equivalent of a Nazi. Oh, I do feel sorry for Snape to some extent, but not so much because he lost Lily, more because he never got over it and let his bitterness and regret consume him. I certainly think he’s a fascinating character, but I don’t like how fans seem to think of him as such an innocent woobie. He’s really not deserving of that much sympathy, and the fact that he was helping the good guys all along doesn’t erase the fact that he was an awful person. Even J.K. Rowling agrees with me!

Sorry, old fandom beef, but you see the point I’m trying to make? I feel similarly about Ice King. I understand him a lot more now and I definitely feel sorry for him, but I don’t think that means he should be automatically forgiven for everything, nor that Finn and Jake should be vilified for not cutting him more slack (I think they already cut him a lot of slack). Ice King is still incredibly selfish and self-centered, has no understanding of how to socialize in a way that isn’t invasive and creepy, has no understanding of consent, and kidnaps princesses regularly. He is, as the Cosmic Owl told him, a sociopath. Yeah, he has a reason for being the way he is and I know it’s not really his fault he turned out that way, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay.

Also, Ice King’s love of kidnapping princesses is usually played for laughs, but did anyone else find that one tape where he’s asking a caged Wildberry Princess questions really unsettling? She’s obviously frightened and he just doesn’t care one bit. That is creepy.

At the end of the episode, Finn gives Ice King the tapes back, though Ice King suddenly doesn’t remember that they used to be his. Finn knows that he’s stumbled onto something really personal and tragic and scary that he really had no business seeing to begin with, and he decides that after all of Ice King’s suffering, the least he could do for him is let him protect his secret from anyone else. And then they basically re-invent Christmas in Ooo. It’s a sweet ending, but I’m wondering how this revelation will impact Finn and Jake’s relationship with Ice King. I have a feeling Finn would be more affected than Jake. Finn is generally more idealistic and more likely to feel sympathy, and he was the one who gave Ice King the tapes at the end of this episode. Jake seemed like he was uncomfortable with the information more than anything, and he’s much more of a pragmatist than Finn and less caring when it comes to other people. It’ll be interesting to see how things play out from here.

What everyone said was true, this episode really is the point of no return.

Oh by the way, this is a Christmas special. Merry Christmas, let’s stomp on your heart.

Rating for Part 1: 7/10

Rating for Part 2: 9/10 (I would give it a higher rating just for Ice King’s origin, but I can’t really justify giving the episode too high of a score for something that only took up two minutes of the episode. Just know that Ice King’s origin story on its own would get like 37210293/10 or something.)

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 3 (Thank You/The New Frontier)

The episode begins with a Snow Golem waking up and… basically going through his usual morning routine. He gets up, he bathes, he eats, he realizes he’s out of food and goes shopping. Oh, while he’s out shopping, he passes Finn and Jake, who are fighting Ice King. Or trying to, at any rate, since Ice King has encased himself in supposedly invincible ice armor. The Snow Golem ignores this and continues his shopping, when he runs into a pack of Fire Wolves. Oh God, a combination of two of my favorite things, wolves and fire! I love them already. Of course, the Snow Golem gets points as well just for being made of snow, which I also love. But the Fire Wolves are cuter. So yeah, consider me Team Fire Wolf. What was I talking about? Right, so, the Fire Wolves and the Snow Golem fight, and we don’t really get to see what happened because the fight is hidden by steam, but when it clears it seems as though the Fire Wolves fled. He finds a small Fire Wolf pup and – and – OH BE STILL MY HEART

THIS THING IS SO CUTE WHERE IS MY FIRE WOLF PUPPY I WANT ONE I DON’T EVEN CARE IF IT WILL PROBABLY BURN DOWN MY HOUSE HOW CAN I SAY NO TO THIS FACE

HOW

Anyway.

It appears the Fire Wolf pup has been separated from its pack, and it keeps trying to follow the Snow Golem home. (They pass Finn, Jake and Ice King again. Finn and Jake aren’t making much progress.) At first, the Snow Golem won’t let the Fire Wolf pup into his home, but then he hears it whimpering and when he looks outside its being attacked by vultures. Poor puppy! So the Snow Golem lets the puppy inside his home. For the next few minutes, the episode is mostly about the Snow Golem trying to take care of the pup until tomorrow, when he can make the journey to the pup’s home. This includes a hilarious (though sadistic) scene where the Snow Golem allows the pup to drink milk from a cow’s udder, which is excruciatingly painful for the cow, and an adorable scene where the Snow Golem entertains the pup with finger puppets.

The next day, the Snow Golem takes the Fire Wolf pup back to its fiery mountain home, once again passing Finn, Jake and Ice King (apparently Ice King’s invincible armor isn’t that invincible). The Golem starts to melt in the heat of the pup’s home, but he continues on until he finds the pup’s pack. The pup runs back to its family happily, and the Golem leaves, almost entirely melted but satisfied that he has reunited the pup with its family. As the Golem returns home, he runs into the Fire Wolf pack again. At first he fears being attacked again, but the pup comes running up to him and licks him, which causes him to melt even more but also makes him happy. Finn and Jake notice what’s happening and are surprised to see a Snow Golem and a Fire Wolf playing and laughing together, because they had thought that the two hated each other.  Ice King (now freed from the armor) says they could learn something from this. Finn thinks about this for a moment, then kisses Ice King on the cheek, and Ice King whispers “Thank you.”

This is a weird episode.

It’s the first episode where both Finn and Jake play a small role (well, I guess technically the first would be Fionna and Cake, but I don’t think that entirely counts because it basically was Finn and Jake, just gender-swapped). This is interesting, but the characters we focus on instead are ones that we’ve never met before and are unlikely to see again, and couldn’t this time have been better spent on established characters who have yet to receive that much development? Like… all of the established characters that aren’t Finn and Jake? I know I sound like a broken record, but I just find all of the other characters so interesting and I’m way past being patient to learn more about them.

But it is a cute episode, and I suppose it has a nice moral about setting aside differences and learning to accept each other. Except, you know, you’re not obligated to accept jerks, so I’m not sure how this would apply to Finn and Jake and their relationship with Ice King. Should I even bother trying to understand that relationship anymore? I did like this exchange, though:

• Ice King: You don’t understand! If you were me, you would do things I would do!
• Finn: Yeah, and if you were us, you’d kick your fat butt!
• Ice King: I … yeah, I would…

So I guess the moral works better for the Fire Wolves and the Snow Golem, since there doesn’t seem to any reason for them to hate each other aside from the fact that one represents fire and the other represent ice, which are opposites so that means they must be against each other.

Okay, these guys have a reason even if it was a misunderstanding. But they lose points for not being wolves.

Anyway, the relationship between the Fire Wolf pup and the Snow Golem is adorable, and I found it really touching that the Snow Golem was willing to go to such extreme lengths to get the pup home. It is an adorable episode, and it’s atmospheric and well-executed, which is why I wish I liked it more than I did. Not that I didn’t like it, I did like it, it’s just that I really can’t see myself ever wanting to rewatch this one, and, well, I kind of got bored with it? I think it was the lack of dialogue throughout most of it that made it hard for me to get into. I like dialogue, and unless you’re doing something really creative and weird and artistic and trippy, I need dialogue to stay interested. This episode just didn’t have that for me, and cuteness and atmosphere (or at least, the kind of atmosphere that this episode delivers) can only get me so far.

Rating: 7/10

Jake has a “Croak Dream” in which he runs out of air in space and sees the Cosmic Owl, which I guess means he died. The dream also involved a rocket ship and a Banana Man. He wakes up and tells Finn about his dream excitedly. I don’t know why he’s so happy. Apparently Croak Dreams are serious business and having one means you’re going to die soon. Finn is understandably upset about Jake’s dream, but Jake seems to think there’s no fighting destiny. At least he’s taking his impending death well. Actually, it is kind of admirable in a way. He’s accepted his death and he isn’t going to mope about something he doesn’t think he can change anyway. Hey, as long he’s happy.

Finn is the one who isn’t happy. He wants to do whatever he can to prevent Jake from dying. So, when a Banana Man shows up outside their house, Finn makes sure Jake is hidden, and when the Banana Man leaves Finn insists on following him despite Jake protests. And then this exchange happens:

• Finn: We’ll see about that, come on! [They go outside and follow the Banana Man and see the sun is rising in front of them.] Wait, just let him walk a few more steps.
• Jake: Why?
• Finn: ‘Cause that idiot’s about to walk right into the sun and burn up. And we’ll be done with him.
• Jake: No man, he’s walking into his house! [Banana Man walks towards his house].
• Finn: Oh, what?! He built his house on the sun?! This guy’s insane!
• Jake: Finn, did you eat your breakfast?
• Finn: No, why?
• Jake: Because you forgot how the sun works. The sun is actually far away, it’s not just sitting on the horizon. [Puts his arm around Finn.]
• Finn: Oh. Right on. Lets chase after him!

He forgot how the sun works. Oh, Finn.

When they get to Banana Man’s house, Finn tries to fire a flaming arrow at the Banana Man. As a warning shot, of course. Unfortunately, the arrow keeps bouncing off the Banana Man’s helmet. When they go to retrieve the arrow on their second attempt, they see the rocket ship in Banana Man’s yard. Remembering that Jake’s Croak Dream involved both the Banana Man and a rocket ship, Finn decides to launch the ship without Jake or the Banana Man inside it, but Jake climbs up before Finn can stop him, saying that Finn can’t stop destiny. Finn tries to convince him not to, but Jake tells Finn that he needs to let him go. It’s actually surprisingly emotional. The rocket ship turns out to not have enough fuel to launch and ends up crashing into the ground again. It creates a giant hole in the ground that both Jake and the Banana Man fall into, and Finn dives in after them. They fall into a pool of water and it seems as though Jake’s dream in recreated, the only difference being that Finn is there this time, so the dream can’t come true. Jake pulls himself and Finn out of the water and explains that because Finn was there, he couldn’t die. So Finn decides that the only logical course of action is to stay by Jake’s side forever.

I have a feeling that this isn’t the last we’ll hear about Jake’s Croak Dream. Then again, I’ve noticed that a lot of the things that I think are going to become important later end up not being important and the things I think aren’t important end up being foreshadowing for something, so what do I know?

This episode has a few concepts that I really like. First is the dream. I’ve always been really interested in dream psychology, but Jake’s Croak Dream was apparently very straightforward. The situation in his dream was exactly like the one he found himself in later, with the exception of Finn’s presence. Croak Dreams themselves are interesting to me, though, because the fact that Finn and Jake have a name for them and that Finn was so terrified that Jake had one tells me that Croak Dream aren’t uncommon in Ooo. It’s a superstition, like how the Grim in the Harry Potter universe is supposed to be a death omen too. Though Hermione theorized that the Grim doesn’t mean anything, that people who see it just get so scared that they end up dying of fright. Maybe Croak Dreams are similar. Maybe people who have Croak Dreams become so convinced that they’re going to die that they end up bringing themselves to their death, thinking that it’s just fate and there’s nothing they can do about it.

Which brings us to concept of fate and prophecy. I love stories that center around these things, because I find it interesting to think about whether or not fate and prophecy even mean anything. If a prophecy never comes true, what purpose does it have? And if it does come true, was it really fate, or did everyone make it happen themselves? This is again touched on in Harry Potter. If Voldemort had never heard the prophecy about himself and Harry/possibly Neville, he would never have gone to try to kill Harry, which is the action that sealed the prophecy anyway. If he’d gone after Neville instead, Neville would have been the “Chosen One”, not Harry, or maybe Neville wouldn’t have survived  and there wouldn’t be a Chosen One at all. The same line of thinking can be applied to Finn and Jake. It was by trying so hard to stop Jake’s dream scenario from happening that Finn accidentally recreated Jake’s dream scenario. If he hadn’t tried anything, they never would have found the rocket. If they’d opened the door for the Banana Man and let him borrow some sugar (which is apparently all he wanted when he came to visit them), they probably would never have seen him again afterwards. If Jake had never told Finn about his Croak Dream to begin with, none of this would have happened. Jake keeps telling Finn that he can’t cheat fate, but maybe Finn was sealing their fate.

It’s touching that Finn would try so desperately to save his friend, and it’s also very typical of Finn to think that he could save Jake to begin with. But like Jake was trying to tell him, maybe it would have been better to just let things happen however they were going to happen. It’s difficult to know when to do something and when to do nothing, especially for someone like Finn because I don’t think he the concept of doing nothing has ever even crossed his mind, but obviously doing something only made things worse in this case.

I wish that the episode had explored these concepts more, but hopefully the Croak Dreams will make a comeback later and we’ll get to learn more about them. As it is, this episode is pretty entertaining and it did get me thinking. The humor was very hit-and-miss (the Banana Man really got on my nerves), but overall I thought it was a good episode.

Rating: 7/10