Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 Overview

This overview isn’t going to be as detailed as I would have liked it to be. I had a really hard time writing this thing, for a couple of reasons. The beginning of this week was filled with exams, which means my time was mostly occupied by studying, and then the day my exams ended was the same day Mortal Kombat X came out, and I bought it immediately after my exam and my time lately has been mostly occupied with playing it (it’s amazing, by the way). Writing the Season 5 overview hasn’t really been on my mind very much, and even when I tried to set aside time to sit down and write it, I had a really hard time coming up with much to say because honestly I don’t remember a whole lot from this season. So, sorry if this overview seems rushed and ends up not being very good.

Hey, so, wasn’t this season supposed to have a lot of dramatic episodes? Because I don’t remember there being that many. Yeah, there were some, but people always made it sound like the majority of Season 5 was dramatic and serious and it didn’t feel that way to me? Do I just have a different definition of “dramatic and serious” than most people? I’m not necessarily saying this as a criticism nor as a good point, it’s just something I noted.

I guess there were a lot of weird and experimental episodes in this season, though. This show is pretty weird and experimental to begin with, but it did seem like they were pushing what they could do a lot more this season. Not just when it comes to drama but with their comedy and story-telling and even their animation sometimes, like in A Glitch is a Glitch. Sometimes being more experimental paid off, sometimes it didn’t, but hey, at least they were trying. We also got to learn some more about the Mushroom War and the beginnings of Ooo, which was interesting.

So, Finn was a raging ball of hormones for most of this season. Realistic for his age? Yes. Fun to watch? Eh… depends on the episode and who you’re asking. People often like characters and stories that are more “realistic”, but only in certain ways or to a certain extent. Like, it would be more realistic if in a book taking place in medieval times there was more mention of how bad everyone smells and how disgusting their teeth are, but you wouldn’t actually want to read that, would you? It’s better that those details are left out. Just like, for most people, it’s better to not have to see a character’s hormonal teenager phase. Personally, I don’t mind seeing Finn go through it, but I do understand how it would irritate people.

Another thing I’ve noticed about Finn in this season is that he seems less heroic than he used to. Part of that may just be the surprising lack of adventure episodes this season, but it feels like Finn has been becoming more selfish lately, and more apathetic about being a hero. I guess this is sort of the point, though. Finn was distracted for a while by his relationship with Flame Princess, and he may also have been trying to distance himself from his heroic duties after Billy’s death (by the way, I thought Billy’s death was going to have a way bigger impact on this season). Toward the end of the season Finn and other characters actually start acknowledging that Finn hasn’t been doing much adventuring lately.

As for everyone else, I don’t have a lot to say about them individually. They’re all more or less the same as they were in other seasons, I don’t feel like they’ve really changed much. Jake became a dad this season, but it was one episode and then his kids are all grown up. As usual most of my favorite episodes in this season are the ones where Princess Bubblegum plays a big role and her presence makes everything better. Her “dark side” is starting to come through a little more, but that only makes me love her more. I enjoyed learning more about Ice King and Marceline’s past together, but neither character has changed much in general. Marceline doesn’t appear much in this season, just like she doesn’t appear much in other seasons, and that’s a shame because she’s a great character. I also liked that we got to know Flame Princess a little more in this season. I’m really starting to love her. I enjoyed the Lemongrab episodes, I liked the darker turn they took, and I wonder what’s going to happen with him next. Assuming he’ll be coming back, that is.

All right, wrapping this up because I’m out of stuff to say. Even though I haven’t actually said that much. I think I can kind of see why this season is so polarizing. It does have a lot of good episodes, but it doesn’t leave much of an impression overall. Or at least, it didn’t for me. The good episodes are really good, but there’s also a lot of mediocrity. Also, this season is way too long.

Again, sorry this is so short and kind of crappy, but I have surprisingly little to say about this season as a whole.

Season Rating: 7.1/10

Best Episode: Sky Witch and The Vault

Worst Episode: The Box Prince

Now, about what happens next. I won’t be reviewing Season 6 of Adventure Time right away. Even with the cliffhanger. Besides, all I said was I wouldn’t be reviewing it right away, not that I wouldn’t watch it right away. I have decided on what show I’m going to review next, though. I won’t tell you what it is right now, but I’m sure everyone can guess. You’ll find out which show I’m reviewing on April 27th, when I’ll make a quick introductory post, and then reviews will officially begin again on the first of May.

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (The Red Throne/Betty)

The episode begins with Flame Princess listening to the problems of the Fire citizens and helping them. She seems to be doing pretty well as a ruler. Suddenly, she’s visited by Don John the Flame Lord (I really wanted to fit an Avatar reference in here but couldn’t) who tells her she isn’t evil enough to be ruling the Fire Kingdom. When she tries to fight him, she finds that her powers have been drastically weakened. It turns out that her handmaiden, Ursula, has been poisoning her. Well, what did you expect, Flame Princess? Her name is Ursula. Ursula is the name of the sea witch in The Little Mermaid. It’s the name of Phoebe’s mean twin sister in Friends. Don’t trust anyone named Ursula. Anyway, this was all apparently Flame King’s plan. He wants his throne back and he also wants to give Flame Princess to Don to marry. Luckily, Cinnamon Bun shows up on a Fire Wolf and helps Flame Princess escape.

The two start thinking of people they can call for help. They consider Princess Bubblegum but decide against it. Flame Princess doesn’t trust her and Cinnamon Bun describes her as “devious”. Hm. I’ve noticed that Cinnamon Bun is one of the very few Candy Kingdom citizens who doesn’t seem to like Bubblegum very much. Flame Princess decides that Finn would be her best bet, so they head to the Tree Fort. Finn takes this the wrong way. Despite the fact that Flame Princess tells him that she doesn’t want to get back together, he still thinks he has a shot.

When they get to the Fire Kingdom, Finn charges through the door and challenges the guards, but Flame Princess doesn’t want him to fight them because they’ve been entranced. She and Finn are captured and only Cinnamon Bun manages to escape. While in the dungeon, they’re visited by Don the Flame Lord.

• Finn: Trust me. It’ll be fine.
• Flame Lord: For soon you shall be mine. [chuckles] If you’ve forgotten, I’m reminding you now.
• Flame Princess: Never!
• Finn: Yeah! It’s because you secretly still have feelings for me.
• Flame Princess: No!
• Finn: [sadly] Hmm.
• Flame Princess: [to Flame Lord] I can never marry you, because I don’t even know you, much less like you, and forcing me to marry you is gross.
• [Flame Lord squints and walks away. Flame King is looking out over his kingdom and jumping joyfully.]
• Flame King: Whoo! Whoo! Man, I love staring out over things. Whoo! [jumps] It’s so good to be king.
• Flame Lord: You said she’d do whatever you told her.
• Flame King: Umm, okay…
• Flame Lord: But she refuses to marry me. She’s her own woman, you liar!

Damn that Flame Princess, thinking she gets to decide if/who she marries. Next thing you know she’ll be demanding the right to vote, too. While Don and Flame King are fighting, Cinnamon bun breaks Flame Princess and Finn out of the dungeon. As they try to escape, they’re attacked by the hypnotized citizens. One of them shoots fire at Cinnamon Bun, and this has a strange effect on him. The Fire citizens suddenly come back to themselves and, when told who brainwashed them, turn on the Flame King and Don. Flame King tries to get them angry at Flame Princess again by pointing out what a softie she is and how she’s unfit to rule because of this, but…

• Cinnamon Bun: You’re wrong. Flame Princess may not be the most ruthless of all despots, but she is strong where it really counts—in her heart. And that is good.
• [A Flame Person sheds a tear and wipes it away.]
• Cinnamon Bun: I have learned so much watching this beautiful woman work, and with her example, I have become a better man. I will be by her side as her champion and knight every step of the way because… I love her.
• Flame Princess: Thank you.
• [They hold hands.]
• Flame Person: Aw, how sweet!
• [Cinnamon Bun walks her up to her throne, and she takes her seat. The Flame People cheer.]
• Flame King: [growls loudly]
• Finn: Jeez. Did I just get shown up by Cinnamon Bun?

Haha, yeah, you did Finn. That’s a new low.

I like this episode mainly for Flame Princess and the Fire Kingdom, because I really do love the Fire Kingdom and I also love Flame Princess. Getting to see how she is as a ruler was nice, especially because she actually seems really good at it. It looks like it’s good for her too, like it’s helping her keep control of herself more.

Other than that… man, it really doesn’t say good things for Finn when Cinnamon Bun looks better by comparison. Finn obviously isn’t over Flame Princess yet, and that’s making him act out. It’s like what happened in Too Old, he’s not taking the situation seriously as he normally would because he’s too focused on trying to impress the girl he likes. As a result, he ends up looking like a donkus.

I think I’ve figured out why I’m bothered by Finn taking so long to get over Flame Princess. It’s not that he shouldn’t be taking a while, or that it couldn’t be interesting to see, it’s that he doesn’t seem to be making any progress. Every time Flame Princess comes up, we see Finn dealing with things in the exact same way. He’s either trying to distract himself or he’s thinking he still has a shot with her and trying too hard. I mean, I get it, Finn is emotionally immature and he’s always been both melodramatic and clueless when it comes to romance. I actually used to find it endearing, but I think they’re pushing it now.

Rating: 6.5/10

Betty???? Like, Simon’s fiance Betty?? That Betty????

Okay, so, some wizards are meeting with Bella Noche, a being of pure anti-magic from another dimension. Ice King shows up but he doesn’t really understand what the meeting is about. While the other wizards are distracted by Ice King, Bella Noche steals their magic. This causes Ice King to turn back into Simon. For a moment Simon wonder if he’s just gone so insane that he’s imagining being normal again, but then discovers that he actually is normal again. Suddenly he’s confronted by Ash, Marceline’s shitbag of an ex-boyfriend, but Simon knocks him out and steals his magic carpet so he can get back to the Ice Kingdom quickly. I’m not sure why that was added but I’m not going to object to seeing Ash get punched in the face.

At the Ice Kingdom, Simon goes through his old possessions and finds a book on mystic rituals that he and Betty had written together. Inside the book he finds a picture of a young Marceline. He calls her and tells her how he’s become normal again, and asks her to come to the Ice Kingdom right away. Marceline is understandably surprised by this (she faints at first) but she heads over to the Kingdom with Finn and Jake. Marceline and Simon are happy to see each other again, though Marceline points out that without the crown’s magic keeping him alive, he will likely die soon. With what little time he has left, Simon wants to create a time portal so he can apologize to Betty for driving her away, and he needs Marceline’s teddy, Hambo. Aw, didn’t she just get that thing back?

So, Betty is now in Ooo, and Simon is dying. Wonderful. After finding out that the crown is what kept him alive all this time and it’s magic has been taken by Bella Noche, Betty decides that she’s going to go confront Bella Noche so that Simon can be saved. She takes Simon with her on the magic carpet, and no matter how many time Simon tries to explain that he would rather die than go back to being Ice King (oh my heart), Betty insists that it will only be temporary and that the crown will at least buy her some time to find a way of keeping Simon alive without it (OH MY HEART). So if there’s one thing we can learn about Betty from this episode, it’s that she’s incredibly determined. Maybe to a fault. Once they find Bella Noche, Betty knocks him out and the magic is restored to the wizards. Death, who has been following Simon and waiting for him to die, tells him, “You lose, Simon. Sorry, man.”

Simon becomes Ice King again, and he doesn’t remember much of what happened. He remembers a woman saving him, but he seems to think she died. Then we see Betty, watching Ice King sadly from outside before flying away on the magic carpet.

Okay. So. Betty.

Reaction gifs aside, I wish this episode had been a two-parter, because there’s so much going on here that would have been great to explore more. It still resonated with me enough, but a lot of it did feel too rushed.

Like, Simon and Marceline’s reunion, for one thing. Having Marceline faint at the sound of his voice was both funny and kind of sad, I thought that worked well, but when they actually reunite, shouldn’t it have been more dramatic? I mean, after she gives Hambo to Simon, Marceline is ignored for the rest of the episode. I know that the episode was meant to be more about Betty than Marceline, but still. Or how about Finn reacting to the fact that he’s not the only human in Ooo anymore? Nothing? Really?

Ice King turning back into Simon while still in Ooo felt like it should have been a much bigger deal, and it could have been if we’d had longer than eleven minutes. Betty coming to Ooo also could have been more dramatic than it was. She barely reacted to the time portal message before deciding that she’s going to jump through it. She doesn’t react at all to any of the weird things in Ooo. She doesn’t react to being in the same room as a vampire, she doesn’t react to Death following her fiance, she defeats a monster she knows nothing about. I guess she would have some experience with magic, since she coauthored a book on mystic rituals, but would she really be so quick to adjust to life in Ooo?

I think the episode works well enough on its own, but man, it would have been so much better as a two-parter. There’s good, emotional stuff in here, the feels were felt, as my reaction gifs suggest, I just wish there had been more time.

Rating: 7.5/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (Play Date/The Pit)

The episode begins with Finn and Jake coming home to the Tree Fort. Presumably they’ve been adventuring and they come home with treasure.

• Jake: [laughs] Loot, bro!
• Finn: Gear dumped, bro! [They run upstairs.] How about this room, bro?
• Jake: [looks around] Looks like a brolicious room to relax in and play video games… bro.
• [They run over to the couch and sit down.]
• Finn: Home, sweet home, bro.

Is this how straight boys talk to each other?

Ice King is still living with them, and Finn and Jake are sick of having him around. Finn still feels bad about destroying his house though, so he doesn’t want to just kick him out. They decide to come up with some other way of getting Ice King out of the Tree Fort. They invite Abracadaniel over, in the hopes that he’ll befriend Ice King and motivate him to leave. Ice King is resentful toward Abracadaniel at first, but soon warms up to him when Abracadaniel praises Ice King’s magic. After a surprisingly cute montage showing them as friends, it’s night and the two have gotten Finn and Jake to let Abracadaniel sleep over.

Ice King shows Abracadaniel the treasure room, where they start playing around with Finn’s demon blood sword and they accidentally summon the demon, Kee-Oth. Man, I hate accidental demon summonings. Finn and Jake come to see what’s going on and Kee-Oth mistakes Jake for Joshua, Finn and Jake’s dad. Kee-Oth threatens to destroy Abracadaniel and Ice King if he doesn’t get his blood back. Finn breaks his sword and Kee-Oth gets his blood back, but Kee-Oth then grabs Jake and brings him back to his dimension. Ice King and Abracadaniel then leave (the Ice Kingdom has been fixed for weeks) and Finn is left alone, sad and confused.

This episode mostly seems to serve as a set-up for the next episode, so there’s not a lot to say about it. It also serves as a way of getting Ice King out of the Tree Fort, which was probably unnecessary to do because I don’t think anyone would have questioned it if he was suddenly back at the Ice Kingdom. Actually, I kind of thought he went back in Earth & Water when they fought those snow-a-constrictors. Every time we saw him at the Tree Fort after that I thought, “Oh, he’s still there?”

What I do like about this episode is the friendship between Ice King and Abracadaniel. It’s so cute, and they really do act like kids on a play date. Also, I think this is the first time someone actually wanted to be friends with Ice King. Everyone else puts up with him if they have to but it’s clear that they don’t really consider him a friend even though Ice King considers them friends. Or they’re penguins. The exception would be Marceline but, you know, there’s a lot of painful history there. Abracadaniel just seems to think Ice King is cool (pun not intended), and he wants to be friends as much as Ice King does. I’m not sure whether we’ll ever hear about this friendship again, but it might be nice for Ice King to have a real, non-painful, not-one-sided, not-with-a-penguin friendship.

Rating: 6/10

Kee-Oth wants revenge on “Joshua” by making him suffer. Jake is put in a pit and told that he’ll never see his loved ones again. Everything he needs for survival is in the pit with him, but it’s booby-trapped, which is unnecessary and cruel. Kee-Oth then takes Jake’s blood, which only mildly bothers him, to Kee-Oth’s disappointment. Meanwhile, Finn has called Lady Rainicorn over for help, and she brings over a videotape that is apparently supposed to have clues to get Jake back. So, they look at the tapes and…

JAKE. CHILDREN WATCH THIS SHOW

Back in the pit, Kee-Oth discovers that Jake isn’t Joshua and is angered, so he throws someone else in the pit with Jake, another dog named Samantha. I mean, she’s supposedly a dog. She doesn’t really look like one. Anyway, Kee-Oth says that only one of them can survive and they need to fight.

• Samantha: Hi. I’m Samantha.
• Jake: I’m Jay T.—the Dog. I’m Jake.
• Kee-Oth: Only one can survive my pit! This bozo tried stealing my blood too! So youse better duke it out, and see who gets to live!
• Samantha: But I haven’t seen a man-dog in years! And now the universe has dropped one into my arms!
• Jake: Whoa, lady, no way. This boy’s got.
• Samantha: But fate has brought us together! The stars have paired you with a goddess.
• Jake: I like the way you talk, but you are crazy.
• Kee-Oth: Kill or be killed, you two!
• Samantha: Yes, if I’m so crazy, then let’s fight!
• Jake: [whispering] No, girl, we can bounce outta here. My friend Finn will save us any second now.
• Samantha: I don’t wait for rescue. I conquer till I am conquered. By love… or by the hand of an adversary.
• Jake: Well, I guess we’re gonna have to fight then.

Ha, I had a feeling Jake was Jay T. Doggzone. They start to fight and Samantha quickly overpowers Jake due to his weakened state. Back at the Tree Fort, Finn and Lady have found the part of the tape that shows how Joshua got Kee-Oth’s blood, and they decide to go to the cavern in the video to get to the Broke Dimension, where Kee-Oth is from. Once there, they find Jake and Samantha still fighting in the pit. Finn pulls out a sword to fight Kee-Oth, who believes the sword is made of demon’s blood and tries to absorb it. Finn reveals that the sword was a decoy made of grape juice blessed by Shelby. The holy grape juice causes Kee-Oth to explode and Jake gets his blood back. Jake helps Samantha out of the pit since he now has the strength to do so and they return to the Tree Fort.

This was… not what I was expecting. I was expecting a more drama-heavy episode and it was mostly comedy. Jake isn’t very concerned about his predicament and even Finn and Lady’s portions were silly and joke-heavy.

Well, as far as comedy, this episode is all right. Kee-Oth had some good lines and I really liked Samantha for some reason. She takes herself so seriously, it’s kind of funny to me. Finn and Lady were pretty funny too. I like how Finn clearly can’t understand anything that Lady is saying, but he’s trying his best to go with it. So yeah, I didn’t find it to be one of the funnier episodes but it was funny enough, I guess.

Joshua is a weird character. He’s an ass, but there’s also something sort of likable about him. How did he manage to chain a demon up in his kitchen? And why would he want to do that anyway? Like, what was the point? He’s so nonchalant about the whole thing too. It’s kind of bad ass, but still, what a weirdo.

Rating: 7/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (We Fixed a Truck/Apple Wedding)

This episode is exactly what it sounds like. It’s about fixing a truck.

Finn and Jake have found an old truck that doesn’t work, and they want to fix it but don’t know how. They call Banana Man, the one voiced by Weird Al and whose rocket and house were destroyed by Finn and Jake, because he apparently knows how to fix a truck. So they fix it, and Banana Man thinks that Finn and Jake will be his best friends forever but I’m willing to bet that doesn’t happen. They take the truck for a ride through the Candy Kingdom and see Princess Bubblegum being chased by a mob a Candy citizens who think she’s been replaced by a lizard monster. It turns out they’re right, as “Bubblegum” turns into a giant lizard and starts terrorizing the kingdom. The real Bubblegum comes out of a sewer while Finn, Jake and Banana Man defeat the monster, but the truck is destroyed in the process. They drove the truck toward the monster, using Banana Man’s peel to make the car spin faster because apparently it runs on Mario Kart logic, and then jumped out before the truck crashed into the monster. So the monster is defeated, the truck is destroyed, and Banana Man is arrested for being naked out in public.

Soooo… do you like trucks?

Okay, but seriously, this actually isn’t so bad for an episode that’s basically about nothing. There’s no narrative, really, it’s just them fixing a truck and random things happen, but it’s kind of fun? I probably wouldn’t watch it again but it was at least entertaining enough to make it worth watching once.

I know nothing about cars. If someone asks me what kind of car I would like, I’ll awkwardly say “a red one” and I won’t be able to say much more than that. Also I’m terrified of driving. So I can’t say whether or not what they’re doing/saying in this episode is accurate. Does anyone know if it is?

Rating: 6.5/10

This episode is about Tree Trunks and Mr. Pig getting married, and the weird things that threaten their wedding ceremony. One of them is Princess Bubblegum, who Tree Trunks says has “hijacked” the wedding, having planned most of it. Bubblegum expects to be conducting the ceremony itself, but Tree Trunks tells her that the King of Ooo will be doing this instead. I didn’t know there was a king of Ooo. Bubblegum is furious and calls him a fraud, then goes to investigate and find proof of her claim. Meanwhile, BMO is unfortunately stuck listening to the complaints of Wyatt, one of Tree Trunks’ bitter ex-husbands.

• Wyatt: Hey, did you know I used to be married to Tree Trunks?
• BMO: No!
• Wyatt: Heh, yeah… it’s just me and TT. We had some wild times back in the day. Did you know I once taught her to play tennis?
• BMO: No…
• Wyatt: Yep, tennis! I took her to one of those… uh… paddles… or whatever, you know!
• BMO: No.
• Wyatt: Yeah, she left me. She said I was stifling her spirit… I mean hehe… You know, what? Not enough tennis for ya?

Well, how can a lady resist a man who played tennis with her one time, amirite?

Also, Finn needs to stop LSP from coming to the wedding at all costs. It’s not specified why. LSP, you would be invited to my wedding for sure. Possibly as my bride.

As the ceremony starts, Bubblegum is snooping around in the King of Ooo’s blimp, and Finn encounters LSP.

• [Finn hears some rustling from the bushes and gets up.]
• Finn: Lumpy Space Princess? Is that you?
• Lumpy Space Princess: Let me go to this party…
• [A crow flies out, frightening Finn.]
• Finn: It’s not your party, LSP. [tries to find Lumpy Space Princess.]
• Lumpy Space Princess: Poor Finn. Don’t you know? [flies up from an old well. The wind blows the picnic mat off Lumpy Space Princess, revealing her in a wedding dress. After all, no wedding’s complete without wedding crashers…] Every party is my party.

Omg I freaking love LSP.

Honestly every single LSP line in this episode is gold and I would quote all of them but that would be annoying. Anyway, Bubblegum apparently does find some dirt on the King of Ooo in his blimp, and she crashes the ceremony. Quite literally, actually. She crashes the blimp into where the ceremony is held and basically ruins it. She reveals the King’s outdated marriage license and places him under arrest, only to find out that he has a renewed one right there with him. He asks her if she’s been looking through his stuff, and she nervously says this:

This might be my favorite Bubblegum line, honestly.

Tree Trunks stands up to Bubblegum, which results in all of them being sent to jail. Tree Trunks and Mr. Pig decide to simply have their ceremony in the cell, though the King refuses to do it. He tells Tree Trunks, “You can perform your own dang ceremony,” before escaping the cell. They realize that the King (whether intentionally or not) has given Tree Trunks permission to conduct the ceremony herself, and she does. Bubblegum, who is watching everything on a monitor, is so touched by this that she orders the guards to set everyone free. We end the episode with this:

• Tree Trunks: Looks like we got the whole place to ourselves… if you know what I’m saying.
• Mr Pig: Wait, d-don’t you think there might be cameras down here?
• Tree Trunks: I hope so…

Tree Trunks is so kinky.

All right, so, I actually enjoyed this episode, but I think it’s one of the not-so-popular ones? I’m not entirely sure because I don’t spend a ton of time in the AT fandom aside from looking at Bubbline fan art since I’m still trying in vain to avoid spoilers as much as possible. But I think I’ve heard/seen people express dislike for this one fairly often? Or at least, I’ve seen/heard a lot of dislike for Bubblegum in this episode. Which, um…

Yeah, let’s talk about Bubblegum for a minute.

I may have a tendency to get really defensive of Bubblegum, partly because she’s my favorite and partly because I’m always particularly defensive of female characters that I like. I won’t go into why that is right now, but let’s just say after being in fandoms for so many years I have good reason to be. Still, as much I love Bubblegum and as much as I always want to defend her, I do understand that she’s not a character everyone is going to like. I don’t think a character that’s universally liked even exists, for one thing, and I can see how Bubblegum in particular may be difficult to like for some people.

To be completely honest, though, Apple Wedding was the first episode where I thought, “Wow, Bubblegum is kind of an asshole.” It’s kind of funny, because it’s not like this is the first episode where she’s done something morally questionable or mean or anything like that. It’s just, in all of those other episodes I found it much easier to understand where she was coming from and sympathize. Even in Wizard Only, Fools. I always understood her and what her goal was (which was usually about the greater good), and while that doesn’t mean what she was doing was any less mean/wrong, I never thought “she’s an asshole”, you know what I mean?

This episode, though? Yeah, she’s being an ass here. She’s still my favorite, but what is up with her in this episode? As I’ve said I generally don’t have a problem with characters acting like jerks if it’s in character, and in fact it’s usually when I think they’re the most interesting, but I don’t really get why Bubblegum is acting this way here? I get that she dislikes the King of Ooo for being a fraud, whatever that means, and he does say some suspicious things during the ceremony. So that’s one thing, I guess. But why does she care so much about doing Tree Trunks’ ceremony? From what TT said early in the episode, Bubblegum basically took control over the wedding plans and TT didn’t seem happy about that. Does Bubblegum just like controlling things and being in charge? And why arrest everyone at the wedding? Is it because she doesn’t like being proven wrong and went overboard? It’s hard to say what I think of Bubblegum in this episode because I’m not sure what her deal is exactly.

Anyway, aside from all of that, I really liked this episode. I actually think it’s of the funnier episodes of this show. There are a lot of great lines and character moments that had me laughing (again, every LSP moment was gold), and it was just really well-written comedy.

Rating: 8.5/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (Too Old/Earth & Water)

The episode begins with Finn and Princess Bubblegum going to a dinner at Castle Lemongrab. Jake isn’t around because Finn told him that Bubblegum doesn’t like him, which is clearly a lie to keep Jake out of the way so Finn can hang out with Bubblegum alone. Sigh. We all know where this going. They enter the castle and the Lemon citizens are a little different from when we last saw them. They seem more intelligent, at least, and they’re all wearing collars that we later find out are shock collars. Then the two Lemongrabs make an appearance and… oh my.

Well, Lemongrab 2 isn’t dead. But he is partially eaten. And original Lemongrab has gained weight, it’s implied that this is because he keeps eating citizens as well as most of the food available, which I guess would also explain why Lemongrab 2 looks malnourished.

Of course Bubblegum notices the difference in the two Lemongrabs and is concerned about it, but Finn is mostly interested in getting closer to Bubblegum. During dinner, there’s a scene where Lemongrab takes food from a Lemon citizen and Lemongrab 2 gives some of his own to the citizen, which sparks an argument between the two Lemongrabs about whether or not this is acceptable. Basically they just shriek “Unacceptable!” and “Acceptable!” back and forth. But hey, Lemongrab 2 is actually sharing his food and going against Lemongrab’s rules! That’s interesting, he definitely wasn’t always that nice. Maybe being half eaten himself has given him a change of heart. Anyway, while the Lemongrabs are fighting, Bubblegum wanders off and tries to figure out what’s been going on around here.

The Lemon Castle seems to be falling apart, and in one of the rooms Bubblegum comes across a Lemon Child playing a harp and singing a sad song. His name is Lemonhope, and Bubblegum is impressed by his musical talents and touched by his song. She wants to take him to the Candy Kingdom, where he’ll have a chance at a brighter future than he would in the Lemon Kingdom, but they’re discovered by Lemongrab, who smashes his harp and insists on him staying here… and then Lemongrab throws Lemonhope in the dungeon because of course he does. Bubblegum wants to break Lemonhope out and Finn suggests that they prank Lemongrab, just like they did in the very first Lemongrab episode, Too Young. Bubblegum agrees to the plan, and it gets them both thrown in the dungeon with Lemonhope. Oddly, Bubblegum isn’t bothered by this outcome at all. She takes a flute from Finn’s backpack and gives it to Lemonhope to play. Turns out Finn’s failed plan was a part of Bubblegum’s plan, so she could give the flute to Lemonhope and his playing would attract the Lemongrabs, who will open the doors to smash the flute and allow them all to escape.

The Lemongrabs do arrive and Lemongrab 2 opens the door to the dungeon, and this enrages the first Lemongrab. He screams at Lemongrab 2 for having become “soft” and then he eats the rest of him while Finn, Bubblegum and Lemonhope escape. Unfortunately once they get outside the castle, they realize that the gates are locked.

• Princess Bubblegum: Oh, no! We’re locked in. Finn, give me your phone, I’m calling Jake!
• Finn: What? No! Let’s, um… we could do another prank! I brought some of your super-spicy hot sauce! Ah, so spice!
• Princess Bubblegum: Finn, this is serious!
• Finn: But, my other plan worked.
• Princess Bubblegum: Finn, your other plan failed, which was part of my plan, which worked.
• Finn: Your plan? But I thought we were having fun together.
• Princess Bubblegum: Finn, I have citizens who need me. I can’t always treat everything like a little boy game.
• Finn: Oh. Yeah, no, that’s cool.

Oh, Finn.

Then Lemonhope points out that “something scary is happening”. He means Lemongrab appearing on his balcony and yelling after them.

• Lemongrab: How dare you? How dare you? After all I’ve done for you?! You try to steal my Lemonhope away?! You’re too old, princess. Too old for pranks. Too old! [smashes part of balcony] I’ve tried imprisoning! I’ve tried reconditioning! You leave me no choice. Lemon Children! [pressing button on remote control and shocking the Lemon Children] Go forth! Go forth now!

Have you tried not being so weird, Lemongrab?

Finn says he’ll hold the Lemon Children off, as a last effort to impress the princess. Bubblegum simply pulls him out of the fight as she’s climbing the gate and puts him out of reach. That’s when he asks her, “Wait, so do you not like any games, or just little boy games?” That’s really not what’s important right now, Finn. Suddenly Lemongrab 2 emerges from Lemongrab’s mouth briefly, just long enough to say this:

• Lemongrab 2: Lemon brothers! Stop! Stop and listen! [presses button sequence on remote that breaks the Lemon Children’s shock collars off] It has cost me much, but I have learned that lemon need not squeeze lemon to survive. Lemonhope, go forth, grow strong, and return for us!

He’s eaten again after this, while the Lemon children help Finn, Bubblegum and Lemonhope over the gate. Okay, so I guess now Lemongrab 2 is dead. At least he died a hero. Sort of. R.I.P, Lemongrab 2. Again.

As they walk back to the Candy Kingdom, Bubblegum tells Lemonhope about the Candy Kingdom and Finn trails slightly behind them, looking pensive. He calls Jake and tells him that he finally gets that Bubblegum is too old for him, and that there’s too much of an age gap for them to have much in common. He also says older people are “less fun inside” which makes me think he sort of misunderstood what Bubblegum was actually trying to tell him, but hey, at least he can finally move on from Bubblegum completely, I don’t think he had really done that even while he was dating Flame Princess.

I have to be honest, I’ve heard/seen a lot of of people say that Finn is really terrible in this episode and really, I don’t think he’s that bad? I was expecting so much worse than this. Finn is stupid in this episode, yes, and he’s definitely not focusing on what’s important, but in the end he’s not doing anything really detrimental. He’s just being stupid.

Maybe what bothers people is the fact that in this episode he goes back to crushing on Bubblegum when that was supposed to have ended a while ago. I can see how that would annoy people but I’m more forgiving of it.

The thing is, I think Bubblegum is always going to be a bit special to Finn. She was his first crush (presumably) and he liked her for a long time, so I think he’s always going to have some affection for her. Even when he was dating Flame Princess, while he wasn’t openly crushing on Bubblegum anymore he did show signs of having some romantic feelings for her. Now that he and Flame Princess are broken up, it makes sense that he would briefly try to make things happen with Bubblegum again as a rebound. People do all kinds of weird things when they’re upset about a breakup, this really isn’t that much of a stretch.

I think now Finn finally gets that he and Bubblegum aren’t going to be a thing any time soon, even if I’m not sure he totally understands Bubblegum’s reasoning. If we get another Finn-loves-Bubblegum episode after this one, then I’ll probably be annoyed.

As for the other stuff going on in this episode, Lemongrab continues to get more and more disturbing, and the Lemon Kingdom has become a dictatorship. I find it interesting that Lemongrab 2 actually started to be decent. The Lemongrabs are supposed to be exactly alike, but one got worse while the other got better.

And I know that there are two episodes called Lemonhope in this season, so I guess we’ll see the fate of the Lemon Kingdom soon.

Rating: 7.5/10

Finn’s depression after his breakup with Flame Princess continues in this episode, and we also find out that Ice King is staying in the Tree Fort since his Castle has been destroyed. I actually hadn’t thought about that. Ice King has also temporarily given his crown to Gunter while the penguins rebuild. That sounds like a horrible idea, but okay. While Finn is moping Jake and Ice King talk about how tough breakups are and Ice King brings up the fact that he and Jake actually used to be married. I like how their accidental marriage is the first thing Ice King thinks of as an example of a bad breakup.

The scene switches to Flame Princess, who is sitting in the middle of a forest and feeling depressed and frustrated about the breakup. Particularly, she’s frustrated with the fact that she doesn’t feel like she can trust anyone. Everyone in the Fire Kingdom is “all deceitful and Shakespeare” and she feels like she’s been betrayed by the one person she thought she could trust. She realizes that she’s being watched by Princess Bubblegum, who claims that she’s not spying on Flame Princess, just observing her for research. That’s still kind of spying. Anyway, Bubblegum tells Flame Princess that she’s a threat because her emotions are directly linked to her combustion levels, but Bubblegum may be able to isolate and suppress her more “volatile traits”.  Flame Princess takes this to mean that Bubblegum can cut off her emotions so she won’t feel so terrible anymore, and she agrees to do whatever it takes.

They go back to the Candy Kingdom and Flame Princess is strapped to a machine that Bubblegum says will help them understand her. Before they can begin the experiment, Bubblegum gets a phone call from Jake, who says that they need her help in the Ice Kingdom. Apparently Gunter has created a race of strangling snow snakes or “snow-a-constrictors”. Bubblegum leaves Cinnamon Bun in charge after giving him some very specific and simple instructions, then she leaves for the Ice Kingdom. Cinnamon Bun immediately goes against Bubblegum’s instructions and releases Flame Princess, inviting her over to his house. Why would Bubblegum leave Cinnamon Bun in charge? In what way does that sounds like a good idea? Doesn’t she have anyone smarter to help her with the experiment?

At his house, Flame Princess learns that Bubblegum was the one responsible for Flame Princess being locked up all those years, and then it’s flashback time!

• [Title card: 15 YEARS AGO. Scene cuts to the Fire Kingdom.]
• Messenger: The word! The word!
• Flame King: What’s the word?
• Messenger: The word is your newborn baby will have greater powers than you’ll ever dream of.
• Flame King: Uh… have my baby sent into the wilderness of the outside world to perish.
• Messenger: Okay!

This sounds like the beginning of Oedipus.

Continuing the flashback, we see baby Flame Princess being left in the woods and accidentally setting them on fire. She’s found by Bubblegum, who immediately tries to return her to her father.

• Princess Bubblegum: Flame King?
• Flame King: What do you want, princess of the Gum World?
• Princess Bubblegum: I found your lost daughter.
• Flame King: I-I don’t remember losing anything.
• Princess Bubblegum: Pssh.
• Flame King: Okay, you got me. I had her sent to wander in the woods. I was in fear of being usurped. Come on.
• Princess Bubblegum: That’s your problem, but you can’t just let her run around the woods. She’s too dangerous. Find some way to contain her power, or I will.
• Flame King: Pssh, fine.
• [Scene cuts to baby Flame Princess in the lantern.]

The flashback ends there and I’m a bit confused, because it looks like Bubblegum wasn’t technically responsible for Flame Princess being trapped in the lantern. All Bubblegum did was bring her back to Flame King, who then put her in the lantern. Was it Bubblegum’s idea or not? She does tell him to contain Flame Princess’ power or she will, but did she actually tell him to put his daughter in the lantern?

Well, anyway, Flame Princess is angry that yet another person she thought was helping her turned out to have a secret. She wonders if she should just go back to where she belongs. Meanwhile, the snow-a-constrictors have been taken care of and Bubblegum and Finn are going to check on Flame Princess. They discover that she’s missing and from a note on Cinnamon Bun’s door they find out that she’s gone back to the Fire Kingdom. They go there themselves and after getting past the Flame Guards (who are hilarious), they discover that there’s a new ruler in the Fire Kingdom. It’s Flame Princess, and Flame King is now trapped in the lantern himself. Apparently she and Cinnamon Bun overthrew her dad together, and Flame Princess’ new policy in the Flame Kingdom is that everyone must be totally honest, no secrets whatsoever. Finn apologizes to Flame Princess and asks if they can get back together, but Flame Princess doesn’t want that. However, she does say that she’s forgiven Finn, and he’s welcome in the Fire Kingdom as her friend any time as long as he’s always honest with her from now on.

I like Flame Princess episodes, and episodes about the Fire Kingdom in general. Flame Princess’ character is so interesting and so is the Fire Kingdom.

I’m starting to dislike Cinnamon Bun’s character, but I do like Flame Princess’ arc in this episode. I like seeing her deal with the fact that she’s been lied to most of her life and was never really allowed to do anything because she was perceived as a threat. I don’t like that they kind of let Bubblegum’s plotline drop, though. Flame Princess finds out about her part in her imprisonment but she doesn’t even interact with Bubblegum after that. Bubblegum’s experiment isn’t even mentioned, and Flame Princess was so eager to try it before. I hope there’s another episode that addresses this later.

I hope this isn’t the last time we’ll see Flame Princess and the Fire Kingdom. It would be great to see what they do with Flame Princess now that she’s ruling the place, and the Fire Kingdom is just so enjoyable.

Rating: 7.5/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (Sky Witch/Frost & Fire)

A post on a Wednesday? Yes! I’m on a break this week so I wanted to try and get an extra post or two in.

A quick heads-up first. I’m getting closer to the end of Season 5 and since Season 6 is not completed yet and probably won’t be by the time I’m done Season 5, I’ll most likely begin a new review project after Season 5. And things are going to be a little bit different, let me explain how.

For one thing, I want to start reviewing books as well as TV shows, so what I’ll probably do is alternate between posting a book review and a show review. How I’m going to work that out I haven’t quite figured out yet. So if you have any suggestions for shows and books you want to see me review, let me know. I have ideas of my own and I won’t guarantee that I’ll review everything that’s suggested to me, but I will take it into consideration at the very least.

Now, the thing about TV show reviews in particular is that I need to make sure whatever I’m reviewing is not only something that interests me but something that would be interesting to write/read about. Plus, my usual format of reviewing something episode-by-episode won’t work well with every single show. That’s why I’ve decided that some shows I review may have to be done differently. Episode-by-episode will still be the standard, but I might review some shows season-by-season. Or, I may just review a couple of requested episodes from a show and only those episodes, or I may just write a post about a certain plotline or character from a show, or about the show as a whole. Basically, there will be a lot more freedom. When you suggest a show, you can also suggest what you think would be the best way to review it or what in particular you want to know my thoughts on, and I’ll try to find some way to make it work.

I also may start making more “miscellaneous” posts, just to give myself a break now and then from straight-up reviews. I might make a post that’s just talking about my favorite genres or my favorite characters, or a post that discusses some random aspect of fandom. These posts won’t happen often and they probably won’t even be scheduled (though I may give a heads-up when one is coming up), they’ll just be written and posted as I feel like it. You can also suggest topics for these posts.

So, those are my plans for my next “phase” of reviewing, let me know what you think and what you would like to see from me, and some time soon I’ll make a post going over everything in more detail and also letting you all know what shows and books are on my to-review list.

Now, on to the review!

This episode begins with Bubblegum waking up, and she’s wearing the T-shirt Marceline had given her. She smells the shirt, like practically inhales it, and then puts on a sweater from her closet. There’s a picture of her and Marceline in her closet with their arms around each other. Oh my God, the Bubbline in this scene is overwhelming. Bubblegum so has it bad for Marceline.

It really does.

Anyway, Marceline actually shows up later and says she wants to hang out with Bubblegum, but Bubblegum doesn’t buy that, so Marceline confesses that she actually needs help finding Maja the Sky Witch. So the two head out, and they come to a barrier of vines and bushes. Marceline tries to force her way through and is unsuccessful, but Bubblegum discovers that if you lean on the barrier and let yourself relax, you can just pass through. On the other side of the barrier is a creepy-looking forest where they can sense strong witchcraft. They come across Maja’s Crabbit, which is some kind of hyrbid between a crow and a rabbit and it can also shape-shift. Or something. Its name is Familiar. Familiar flies away and as it does a feather falls to the ground. It transforms into Hambo, Marceline’s beloved stuffed toy, and it starts talking to her.

• Hambo: Marceline! It’s me!
• Marceline: Hambo!
• Hambo: Yeah, girl. What took you so long? I thought you gave up on me.
• Princess Bubblegum: Your teddy bear?
• Marceline: I’m sorry, man! [starts walking towards Hambo]
• Princess Bubblegum: [holding her back] Yo, wait a sec!
• Marceline: [turns to Princess Bubblegum] WHAT?!
• Princess Bubblegum: Marcy, how old are you? It’s a trick, right? Come on!
• Hambo: Help me out, dum-dum! [fake crying] Boo-hoo. Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo
• Marceline: [taking Princess Bubblegum’s hand off of her] Get off! [starts running toward Hambo] Buddy!
• Princess Bubblegum: [tackling Marceline] NO!
• Marceline: [on the ground] [grunts] BONNIE!
• [Princess Bubblegum throws the googoomamameter at Hambo, causing Hambo to disappear and wooden pikes to thrust upward through the ground where Hambo was.]
• Marceline: You killed him?
• Princess Bubblegum: Don’t be dense! Hambo can’t even talk! Snap out of it, girl.
• Marceline: He’s been with a witch this whole time. Maybe he can talk now.
• Princess Bubblegum: That’s seriously what this is about? Rescuing your old teddy bear?
• Marceline: Yeah. Sorry I didn’t tell you. You might not have come otherwise.
• Princess Bubblegum: Um, yeah. Raggedy Princess can make you a new Hambo in, like, three seconds… or Raggedy Princess can be your new Hambo. She’d do it, too. That girl’s got, like, zero self-respect. [chuckles] That’s mean—don’t tell her I said that.

I know it’s mean, but that comment about Raggedy Princess makes me laugh. I think it’s just the randomness of it and the delivery, and then the quick backtracking when she realizes how mean it was.

Marceline basically threatens to beat Bubblegum up after this and Bubblegum relents. Marceline notices the broken branches left behind by the Crabbit and flies after him, leaving Bubblegum running after her desperately. She finds a pond that is actually a portal to Maja’s house, and begins searching through the rooms to find Hambo. Marceline has also reached the house and is fighting Familiar. Bubblegums finds a receipt that says Maja bought Hambo from Marceline’s ex-boyfriend, Ash (remember him?). Maja appears and Bubblegum tries to convince her to give Hambo back, but when Maja refuses Bubblegum must persuade her some other way.

By this time Marceline has defeated Familiar, and Bubblegum has come out with Hambo. Marceline asks how she got Hambo back and Bubblegum is vague with her answer. We later find out that Bubblegum traded the shirt Marceline had given her for Hambo. Maja wanted Hambo because she needed an item with sentimental value for a spell, and Bubblegum’s shirt apparently has even greater sentimental value. Aaaaawww, Bubblegum!

Okay, so I’m a huge Bubbline shipper, which means I was going to love this episode no matter what. I am totally here for bi/pansexual candy princesses and bi/pansexual vampires. (And yes Bubblegum and Marceline are most likely either bi or pan since they have shown attraction to male characters as well as to each other.)

Anyway, even putting aside my love for the Bubbline ship, this is just a really good episode. Bubblegum and Marceline’s interactions are great and I’m happy to see that their relationship has improved somewhat since What Was Missing. There’s still some awkwardness, but they get along better and they work well together. The episode is a lot of fun and really creative. It’s also really sweet. One of the things I like most about it is what it does with the idea of sentiment, and how the character who at first seemed to be mocking it ends up being very sentimental herself.

Marceline is a very emotionally-driven character. She’d like everyone to think she’s untouched by everything and she’ll do her best to hide any strong emotions she may have, but… she’s not very good at it. Almost every episode she’s been in has been an emotionally-charged one that doesn’t further plot so much as it does character development, and nearly everything Marceline does and every decision she makes is based on emotion. She had a harder time getting through the vine barrier than Bubblegum because she couldn’t make herself calm and emotionless. She nearly put herself in danger because she fell for the Crabbit’s trick with the talking Hambo, which played on her insecurities and feeling of attachment to Hambo.

Bubblegum, on the other hand, is one of few characters on the show that isn’t driven by emotions. That’s not to say that she doesn’t have any, obviously she does, but she tends to keep those emotions under very tight control. Bubblegum’s decisions and actions are based more on reason. She does what she thinks is the smartest and best decision in the long run, not what she think is necessarily right or even what would make her happy. She’s not impulsive and hot-blooded like Marceline or Finn or… almost every other character on the show. She’s logical and usually calm, which can make her seem cold when she’s surrounded by all these super emotional characters, but she’s not really. She’s just very good at controlling and compartmentalizing and, let’s be honest, repressing those emotions (which is unhealthy but we’ll get more into that some other day). Still, Bubblegum’s shirt supposedly had even more sentimental value than Hambo did, according to what Maja said. So clearly Bubblegum is more emotional and more sentimental than she lets on, it’s just not what drives the character.

So yeah, great episode, and I hope there are more Bubblegum and Marceline episodes coming. I also hope we see Maja again, or that we’ll at least find out why she needed an item with sentimental value.

Rating: 10/10

Finn and Flame Princess are hanging out outside the Tree Fort when Ice King flies by and teases Flame Princess. This makes her angry and she beats up Ice King for it, to Finn’ amazement. That night Finn has a dream that Flame Princess is shooting flame at him and burning him while a disembodied voice whispers something Finn can’t understand. Finn thinks that Flame Princess burning him feels good and he enjoys the dream. Okay, so this is obviously supposed to represent a wet dream. Flame Princess is literally shooting fire at his crotch and Finn is enjoying it. You can’t get much more obvious than that. Finn wants to have the dream again and he’s sure the reason he had it was Flame Princess’ fight with Ice King, so he goads them into another fight.

Flame Princess and Ice King have a second fight, though this time Ice King didn’t say anything mean to Flame Princess. Finn just convinced her that he was making fun of her. Finn’s dream that night has Ice King shooting ice beams at him instead, and this time the Cosmic Owl is there laughing at him. Finn realizes that it was the Cosmic Owl’s voice that he was hearing in his last dream, and he must make himself have the dream again to figure out what it all means. He sends a letter to Ice King that reads:

Dear Ice King,

You smell like stink. You’re unpleasant, you’re not funny, you’re old, and no princess will ever marry you ever, simple Simon

Sincerely Love,

Flame Princess

P.S. Let us fight.

 

He also writes one to Flame Princess that reads:

Dear Flame Princess,

You’re just the worst. Your hair is bad, your feet smell like face cheeks, your stupid candles smell heinous and you can’t even kiss Finn without totes freakin’ out!

Let’s meet up and fight, dummy.

Sincerely,

Ice King

 

He delivers the letters to them and the two get all riled up to fight each other. Flame Princess and Ice King fight once again, but this time the fight goes on longer and is much more violent. After a while Finn realizes the mistake he’s made and tries to stop it, but the heat from Flame Princess’ fire causes him to pass out. He has another dream, one where Flame Princess is burning him again, but this time Finn transforms into a deformed baby-like creature. Flame Princess is disgusted and walks away while the Cosmic Owl whispers to Finn. This time Finn can understand what he’s saying: “You blew it.”

Finn wakes up and finds that Flame Princess has destroyed the Ice King’s castle. He rescues Ice King and Gunter from the rubble and tries to escape with them before the still-enraged Flame Princess can see. Flame Princess mistakenly attacks Finn while he’s escaping and then apologizes upon realizing what she’s done. However, Finn says that he’s the one who should be apologizing.

• Finn: No, princess. I’m the one who’s sorry. [drops Ice King] Ice King hasn’t been picking fights with you, it’s…it’s been me all along.
• Ice King: [annoyed] What?
• Flame Princess: So, you wrote that letter?
• Finn: Yes, but look, it’s just like, I had this dream and it was because of that fight you had. It was weird, but I also liked it. But it was important because the Cosmic Owl was [Flame Princess decides Finn’s words have no meaning, and all she hears is wah for every syllable for a couple of seconds.] So I had to get you to beat up Ice King-
• Flame Princess: Shh. I should have known. That letter said things in it that only you would know. Personal things, Finn. And you used them against me. I thought you were the one person I could- I need some time alone.
• Finn: Princess!
• [Flame Princess walks away.]
• Finn: But, I said I was sorry.
• [Gunter rips out of Finn’s shirt and falls into the water.]
• Ice King: You blew it, man.

You know you’ve really messed things up with a girl when even Ice King thinks you’ve messed things up with a girl.

I guess Flame Princess and Finn are broken up. I mean, Flame Princess didn’t actually say “I’m breaking up with you” but it’s clear that this is what we were supposed to get from that conversation. The funny thing is that Finn’s first dream was supposed to be warning him about this, but if he’d never had that first dream this would never have happened. It was because he wanted to have the dreams again and figure them out that he goaded Flame Princess into fighting Ice King, and that’s how he “blew it”. The dream became a self-fulfilling prophecy. If he hadn’t had it to begin with, everything probably would have been fine.

But let’s talk about Finn for a second. A running theme in this season seems to be “Finn is actually kind of a dick”. I’m guessing a lot of that has to do with puberty and hormones and yeah, I remember what it’s like to be Finn’s age and it’s not a time of my life that I like thinking about. Everyone is a dick at fourteen and everyone is later embarrassed by their fourteen year old self. If there are any fourteen year olds reading this, I’m not saying that you’re all 100% terrible, but trust me, there’s going to be a lot of stuff you did/said/thought at fourteen that in a few years will really embarrass you. Anyway, point is that I actually don’t take too much issue with Finn in this season because it is realistic, but that also doesn’t mean I’m going to give him a free pass.

What Finn does in this episode is not cool. Deliberately goading two people into violence for personal gain is bad enough, but Finn also uses Flame Princess’ insecurities against her. He makes her think that she’s being made fun of, and he knows she’ll believe him because she’s rather naive and very volatile. I’m guessing what really upset her in Finn’s letter was the part where he mentioned that she can’t kiss him without “totes freaking out”. We’ve already seen that Flame Princess is scared of her lack of self-control and of her supposed inherent evil. The fact that she can’t even be physically intimate with the boy she likes without literally overheating and burning a hole through the earth is probably not something she’s happy about. So yeah, using that against her was not something Finn should have done, and saying sorry doesn’t really fix that. (By the way, I like that Finn saying sorry wasn’t treated like an immediate fix for everything. I feel like a lot of people are under the impression that if you apologize to someone they are obligated to forgive you, but while apologizing is definitely the right thing to do it’s important to remember that it doesn’t mean they have to stop being mad at you.)

I wonder what this means for Finn and Flame Princess now. Their relationship surprisingly had very little effect on the show, it wasn’t as much of a game-changer as I thought it would be. Flame Princess isn’t even in that many episodes. So, how is the breakup going to effect Finn? And will we still see Flame Princess at all? I hope we do, and maybe now that she and Finn have broken up we’ll get to see her as more than just “Finn’s troubled girlfriend”. They were setting up some interesting stories and conflicts with Flame Princess and it would be a shame to see all of that go to waste.

Rating: 8/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (Candy Streets/Wizards Only, Fool)

Lumpy Space Princess has been robbed! She tells Finn, Jake and Princess Bubblegum so while the three of them are hanging out together in the Candy Kingdom. Unfortunately they can’t understand much more than that because LSP is just kind of crying and babbling incoherently about how a thief stole something very important from her. Bubblegum injects LSP with something that’s supposed to calm her down but accidentally gives her too much, so that LSP goes unconscious. Finn tries to ask who robbed her, but all LSP can manage before going out is “Pete Sa-“. Finn and Jake take it upon themselves to find the culprit and search LSP for clues. They find a key to a hotel room, with the number 303 on it. They decide to check there first.

They get to the hotel room and check it out. The room is trashed, but they find many clues in it. Finn discovers what he thinks is blood on the floor and, since LSP’s injuries were “100% emotional”, he thinks it must be Pete’s blood. He tells BMO analyze it. Across the street is a drugstore, and Finn figures that the thief must have gone there to buy bandages after being injured. So they go to the drug store and talk to the clerk there.

• [The scene changes inside the drug store where Ann is talking to a customer.]
• Ann: And if the oozing persists, just come back [leans over] [in a slightly hushed tone] and I’ll give you something a little stronger.
• Finn: [Finn comes up from under the counter, pushing the customer out of the way.] I’m Finn. This is my partner, Jake. [Finn pulls up Jake who is in the form of a police badge.]
• Jake: Hello, citizen. Had anyone in here looking to buy some mini adhesive bandages today?
• Ann: A lot of people come through my store, gentlemen. You can’t seriously think I’d be able to remember any one particular customer among the countless others I see on a daily basis, now, can you?
• Finn: I guess not. Fair dues. C’mon, Jake.
• Ann: Wait! Now that you mention it, there was this one guy in here earlier. Real suspicious type. Had a nosebleed. Said it was the first one he’d had in years. Used to get them all the time as a kid, he said. Can never remember if he was supposed to pinch his nose and hold his head back, or pinch his nose and hold his head forward. Maybe it was a case of being boxed on the nose too many times. Made the blood vessels in his lower septum weak and vulnerable to hemorrhaging. Anyway, his mammy always said it was because he couldn’t keep all those picky little fingers out of his dirty little nose holes. He didn’t buy it though. He always thought it had-
• Finn: Ma’am, can you give us a name?
• Ann: Mmm, nope. No wait, yes I can. Pete Sassafras.
• [Finn and Jake look at each other with surprised looks. A transparent LSP flies across the screen from earlier saying, “Pete…sa…sass…as…”]
• Finn: Did you catch which way he was going?
• Ann: Of course! He said he was catching a train at 11:27, Candy Kingdom Station, Platform 5. Heh. Sorry, I wish I could remember more.

I’m sorry about quoting for so long, but I just thought this conversation was really funny. Oh no, I don’t remember anything about my customers. Except every single word they say to me and every personal detail about their lives that they decided to tell me.

Anyway, Finn and Jake finally catch the suspicious-looking Pete Sassafras and throw him in jail, though he protests that he did nothing wrong. Finn and Jake ask him a few questions about the theft, but Pete says he doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Still, they’re convinced that Pete was the culprit, so they leave him in jail while they go get donuts to celebrate.

While they congratulate each other over donuts, BMO shows up with the results of the blood analysis. It wasn’t blood, it turns out. It was tomato sauce. Finn realizes that LSP wasn’t trying to say “Pete Sassafras”, she was trying to say “Pete Sassy’s”, which is the name of a pizza parlor. They head over there and ask for a delivery man named Pete, but he is apparently out on a delivery. Finn calls Bubblegum to make sure LSP is safe and he finds out that LSP has apparently gone back to the hotel. Finn and Jake rush over there and freak out when they see the delivery car outside the hotel. In LSP’s hotel room, they find her on top of Pete the delivery guy while he struggles to get free. It turns out what Pete stole… was LSP’s heart. Pete says he was just delivering pizzas and now LSP won’t let him leave. Finn and Jake help him get free and tell him to go. Poor Pete doesn’t even get a tip. That sucks. Always tip delivery people, okay? Always. Same goes for waiters and strippers (especially strippers, in fact, since they don’t get an hourly wage) and any type of work where tipping is an option. Don’t be the sort of person who doesn’t tip. I hate people who don’t tip.

Okay, to get back on topic, this episode is pretty enjoyable.

I really liked Jake’s shape-shifting in this episode. It was used pretty creatively and I like it when Jake gets really out-there with his power. They also got some decent jokes out of it. I particularly liked that sort of mean prank Jake pulled with Pete Sassafras in jail, where Jake shape-shifted into a lawyer.

Honestly, I don’t have a lot to say about this one. It’s entertaining enough, and I did like a lot of the jokes, but it also fades from memory pretty quickly.

By the way, did they ever let Pete Sassafras out of jail?

Rating: 6/10

This episode begins with Starchie in the hospital with a cold, while Bubblegum tries to give him a cure. Starchie refuses to be cured by anything other than magic, since it’s apparently the only cure he will trust. Bubblegum is exasperated and explains that magic is really just science “presented like mystical hoodoo”. Starchie and Nurse Pound Cake are both offended by Bubblegum making fun of magic, so she agrees to get Starchie a magical cure from the Wizard City. She asks Finn and Jake to meet her outside the walls of the Wizard City, but they must all be wearing disguises.

Later, Finn and Jake are waiting by the wall, which just looks like the side of a cliff. Then Bubblegum shows up.

• Princess Bubblegum: Guys, hold up! I got the password from the Ice King. Apparently, the barrier only responds to the voice of real wizards. [Princess Bubblegum brings out a tape recorder and plays it.]
• Ice King: [on tape recorder:] No way! I’m no rat! I am bound by the sacred trust of esoteric knowledge!
• Princess Bubblegum: Say the password, Ice King!
• Ice King: You think I’ll just hand you the keys to the city? I’d rather die.
• Princess Bubblegum: Say the password.
• Ice King: Ow! My pinky! [Princess bubblegum smiles nervously and shrugs] Ow. [sniffles] Thank you. [Finn blushes in embarrassment and Jake facepalms and shakes his head in disapproval] You know, no one has touched me in months. Could you touch me again?
• Princess Bubblegum: Password! Now!!’
• Ice King: Ow! Ohh! Ohh! “Wizards Rule!” THE PASSWORD IS WIZARDS RULE!” AAH–
• [Princess Bubblegum stops the tape.]

Jesus, Bubblegum, your twisted side is showing again. I find it interesting that Finn and Jake seem to disapprove of her methods, or at the very least they feel uncomfortable about it.

Anyway, at the sound of Ice King’s recorded voice, the walls open to let them through. Finn is amazed, but Bubblegum scoffs that it’s just “a vocal registry rigged to a vibration modulator. The wall’s still there. It’s just the density’s all wobbled.” Well, that still sounds pretty amazing, whether you want to call it magic or science. On their way to a shop to buy a cold spell, they see someone being arrested for pretending to be a wizard. This makes them nervous, so they hurry into a shop and order the spell they need. Bubblegum doesn’t want to buy it without any information, though, so she starts questioning the clerk.

• Princess Bubblegum: How’s it work?
• Ron James: [with aggression] It works by magic. It’s a spell.
• Jake: Dude…
• Princess Bubblegum: What? I’m curious. So, what’s in it?
• Ron James: It’s my secret brew, dawg.
• Princess Bubblegum: So you want to sell me a product with no information?
• Ron James: [scowling at Princess Bubblegum] It’s a cold spell.
• Princess Bubblegum: Made from what?
• Ron James: MAGIC.
• Princess Bubblegum: What’s the magic made out of, ding-dong?
• Ron James: Y’all is fakes!

The alarm is sounded and Finn, Jake and Bubblegum are forced to run from the police (Bubblegum also steals the cold spell). They come to a dead end and they meet Abracadaniel. Yeah, he was the wizard from the episode Wizard Battle,the one who really didn’t want to kiss Bubblegum but then changed his mind after winning and Finn knocked him out for it because jealousy issues. Hey, come to think of it, if Bubblegum hates magic so much why did she agree to have her kiss be the prize for winning? Wouldn’t she want nothing to do with a wizard battle? I suppose it’s just a continuity error, but it seems like a really weird one, because if they’re including Abracadaniel in this episode then you’d think they would remember that, in his first episode, Bubblegum seemed fine with magic. Whatever, we’re off-topic now, back to the episode I’m supposed to be reviewing.

Finn, Jake and Bubblegum basically force Abracadaniel to help them escape, but they all end up being caught anyway. Bubblegum demands a parley with the Grand Master Wizard, and the scene changes to the Master’s palace. He tells Bubblegum that since she has always been a friend to the wizard community (haha, really?), he’ll allow her to leave as long as she says “Wizards rule.” She refuses because, “All magic is science! You just don’t know what you’re doing, so you call it magic! And, well.., it’s.. ridiculous.” So they all get sent to wizard prison, including Abracadaniel. Poor guy. He didn’t even do anything.

In prison, Abracadaniel is understandably pissed at Bubblegum, so he challenges her to an “honorable prison stabbing to the death”. Bubblegum has long since reached her breaking point with wizards, so she agrees readily. While they’re fighting, Finn and Jake are trying to figure out a way out of this. They still have the cold spell with them, and when they examine the bottle more closely they notice icy vapor coming from it.  Bubblegum has won her fight with Abracadaniel but refuses to kill him despite the rules. Finn throws her the cold spell and tells her to open it, as it’s really just a spell that releases cold air and snow, not a spell to cure a cold. Bubblegum opens it and is amazed at what it does, but she still seems reluctant to show any appreciation for magic. She, Finn and Jake escape the prison quickly and return to the Candy Kingdom, where Bubblegum just gives Starchie a scientific cure.

Bubblegum episodes are the best episodes. Actually, this is one of those episodes I wish was longer, because I really liked the conflict here. Plus, I feel like we haven’t been getting a lot of Bubblegum so far in this season.

I compare Bubblegum to Hermione Granger a lot, and I’m sure people are tired of it at this point, but it is really striking how similar they are. I’m not the only one who sees it, right?

If you’ve read the Harry Potter books (or at least seen the Prisoner of Azkaban movie), you know that Hermione considers Divination a worthless branch of magic, at least up until Book 5 and even then she’s not exactly fond of it. Hermione’s belief that Divination is unreliable and ridiculous may seem sort of, well, ridiculous. She lives in a world of magic but she’s drawing the line at fortune-telling? Her disdain for it makes sense to me, though. For one thing, Hermione may live in a world of magic, but she doesn’t live in a world of limitless possibilities. Magic can do a lot of thing, yes, but it does have limits, and Hermione understands these limits because she’s done her research. There are some things magic simply can’t do. Divination is a branch of magic that’s known for being rather unreliable, and it’s also not something that you can learn easily through research. It requires a more open mind and if you don’t have the ability naturally, there’s not a lot you can do. Hermione doesn’t do well with subjects like this. She’s very by-the-books and logical, not so much free-spirited and open-minded, so it’s no wonder she wasn’t good at and didn’t like Divination.

Just like Hermione and Divination, the idea of Bubblegum not believing in magic seems a bit ridiculous, because Ooo is such a strange place. There are all kinds of weird things that exist in this world, but Bubblegum can’t accept magic? Well, like Hermione, Bubblegum is very logical and straightforward. She loves science because it makes sense to her, there’s a method to it, it’s something that she can explain and understand. Magic is this thing that isn’t explained, it just exists. Bubblegum can’t understand that. She needs an explanation for how it would work and no one will give it to her, but when she comes up with a scientific explanation no one will listen.

All magic is science, she says, but because they don’t understand it they call it magic. That’s a really interesting idea to me. It’s kind of a funny and slightly sad image, a bunch of people doing amazing things they don’t know how to explain and calling it magic. Another image that’s kind of funny and slightly sad is a bunch of people seeing something extraordinary and rejecting it because it doesn’t fit into their narrow view of the world. So which one is actually happening here? Is it a bit of both? Can science and magic coexist?

Bubblegum’s steadfast belief in science is admirable, but her pride and stubbornness also caused a lot of problems. It would have been easy for her to just say “Wizards rule” and leave safely, but she wouldn’t. In a way that’s bad ass, but but she was also responsible for what happened to three other people who didn’t necessarily agree with her. Should she have swallowed her pride and said “Wizards rule” even if she didn’t mean it? It’s like Annabeth and the sphinx in Percy Jackson (sorry about comparing Bubblegum to another character from a YA book). Annabeth refused to take the sphinx’s quiz because the questions were too easy and she felt it was an insult to her intelligence. That was a bad ass move on her part, but it also meant she and her friends got attacked by a sphinx. (See, interesting conflicts like this are why I love pride as a character trait, because it can be both great and awful, and sometimes both.)

Bubblegum relies on facts and logic and that’s a good thing, but so are faith and open-mindedness. It’s best to be somewhere in the middle. Don’t believe in things blindly, but be open to different possibilities.

Rating: 10/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (One Last Job/Another Five More Short Graybles)

You know how Jake apparently used to be a criminal? Well, we find out a bit more about that in this episode. Jake receives a video from some unknown source, and it shows his daughter, Jake Jr., being held hostage somewhere. A mysterious figure in the video tells Jake that they know about his criminal past, and that he needs to get his old gang back together to steal something from the Candy Kingdom. What he needs to steal is something called the Baker’s Shard, the purest form of sugar.

So, Jake gathers up his old gang, all of whom still seem to be criminals. There’s Gareth, that creepy-looking one with the huge head and a face that sort of reminds me of Ricardio. He has the ability to hypnotize people. Next there are the Flying Lettuce Brothers, those two green ones. These guys are my favorite of Jake’s gang. They have the ability to perfectly imitate anyone’s voice after hearing a short sample of it. It’s pretty awesome. Last is Tiffany, the blond one, and he apparently doesn’t have any powers. He’s just very opinionated and has the voice of a four year-old. Anyway, when the group is together Jake lets them know what they’re going after and they think it’s impossible, but they agree to help him once they find out about Jake Jr.’s situation.

They head to the Candy Kingdom and put their plan into action. Gareth and the Flying Lettuce Brothers enter the control room. Gareth hypnotizes the two Banana Guards that are there and puts them to sleep, and then the FLB get on the intercom. Mimicking the Banana captain’s voice, they order the other Guards to go into the courtyard and scream as loud as they can. This way they won’t hear the explosion that Tiffany and Jake are setting off in the vault where the Shard is held. Once the vault is open, Tiffany, who knows the place well, tells Jake how to get to the Baker’s Shard. The vault is full of traps, but Jake makes it past all of them and reaches the Shard. He then hears the voice of Jake Jr.’s kidnapper inside the vault, telling Jake to throw the Shard to them. Jake does, but it’s then revealed that the voice was coming from the FLB. Jake’s old gang tricked him. The gang runs away, and Tiffany pulls the alarm so that Jake will be caught.

Jake chases after them, demanding to know where Jake Jr. is. He catches up to their van and discovers that Jake Jr. is the one driving it. That can’t be safe, she doesn’t have eyes. Jake wants to know why she tricked him, and she says that she had heard stories from Lady about Jake’s criminal past, and she wanted to impress him. Jake tells her that he’s realized his past crimes were wrong, and that he no longer does them. Jake Jr. apologizes and Jake forgives her, and the two walk off together while I wonder what happened to the gang and to the Baker’s Shard.

Well, this is an episode that I would just place in the “okay” category. It’s kind of too bad because I love the idea of meeting Jake’s old gang and of this show doing a heist episode, but I don’t know, it just felt really… blah.

I think there could have been a lot more creativity, in the heist itself and particularly with the gang. I found them and their designs really lackluster. Gareth at least had a cool power even if it’s not one that’s super original, but I just don’t like his design. The Flying Lettuce Brothers also had a great power and one that’s a bit more unique, and as I’ve said they were my favorite part of the episode. Even so, I wish their design had been more interesting. I wish they had all been more interesting, not just in design but in personality as well.

As for the heist itself, for something that they all thought would be impossible, they pulled it off really easily and with a very simplistic plan. I mean, I know the Banana Guards aren’t exactly known for being competent, but they made it sound like getting the Baker’s Shard was going to be a much bigger deal than it was.

There’s nothing bad about the episode per se, I just felt disappointed with it. I think it could have been more, but it seemed lazy. I did discover that Jake Jr. is voiced by Kristen Schaal, the same woman who voice Louise from Bob’s Burgers, though. So that’s a thing.

(As a side note that doesn’t really have to do with this episode, I’ve always wondered about the timeline concerning Jake’s “bad boy” past. Finn and Jake grew up together, right? So, was there just a period of a couple of years where Finn and Jake weren’t in contact, or was Finn just completely unaware that Jake was part of a gang of criminals?)

Rating: 4.5/10

More Graybles! This one is slightly different, since the theme is not told to us in the actual episode, but it appears to be about the stages of grief. Also, rather than going smoothly from one Grayble to another, they kind of just… keep interrupting each other. There’s one about Finn and Jake making a time machine for Jake Jr., who is nervous about the future. There’s another one about Princess Bubblegum forcing Cinnamon Bun to sleep without a nightlight so he can get over his fear of the dark. He gets hysterical with his nightlight taken away and destroys his own residence as well as multiple others trying to find “soft light”. Then there’s a Grayble with Ice King and the penguins voting on what they should watch on TV. There’s a really weird Grayble about the Lemongrabs where they’re playing with a doll and I guess they disagree on what that doll should be doing. They accidentally break the doll, which causes the original Lemongrab to scream, “ONLY ONE!” And then he eats Lemongrab 2. R.I.P, Lemongrab 2. I guess. I don’t even know what I just saw. The last Grayble is about Mr. Fox, alone is his house and seemingly depressed. Something weird happens, where Mr. Fox is able to see his sub-conscious and it draws him a treasure map, but it’s interrupted by Cinnamon Bun bursting through. We then go back to the first Grayble to see the conclusion of it. Jake Jr. is disinterested in the time machine, and BMO’s alarm is going off because of an intruder. It turns out to be Cinnamon Bun, and Jake Jr. gives him a new nightlight, so he leaves happily. And the time machine doesn’t actually work. The theme of each Grayble? Finn, Jake and Jr. are acceptance, Cinnamon Bun is denial, Ice King is bargaining, the Lemongrabs are anger, and Mr. Fox is depression. So the stages are in reverse order.

All right, another one these Graybles episodes. I’m starting to get a little tired of them, actually. Or at least, I’m starting to get tired of reviewing them. I’ve already said what I think about episodes like this, and there’s never a lot to say about each new one.

I guess I can talk a bit about each individual story. I really liked the overall theme of these Graybles, but I didn’t actually care for the stories themselves that much. Cinnamon Bun was incredibly annoying in this episode. Finn and Jake’s story didn’t do a whole lot for me, though I did enjoy Jake’s creative shape-shifting. Ice King’s story was pretty cute. And Lemongrab’s. Oh my God, Lemongrab’s.

When did Lemongrab become one of my favorite characters?! I hated him when he first showed up and now he cracks me up. I mean, I don’t think I’d want him in every episode but still, my feelings about this weirdo have done a complete one-eighty and I still don’t know how it happened.

Rating: 5/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (The Suitor/The Party’s Over, Isle de Señorita)

This episode begins with Peppermint Butler performing dark magic on Cinnamon Bun, to use him as a vessel for the demon he’s summoning. I’m… not surprised by this at all, actually. A Gumball Guardian shows up and tells Peppermint Butler that he needs to get Bubblegum to pick a suitor. She’s been spending way too much time in her lab lately and she needs to socialize. Bubblegum’s suitors are all lined up in her castle and apparently they’ve been waiting a long time, because they’re all, as Peppermint Butler so nicely put it, old bags. He sends them all away, except for one young-looking suitor named Braco. He decides to let Braco take a shot at courting Bubblegum.

They enter her lab and, as expected, the princess is not at all interested in being courted.

• Peppermint Butler: This is Braco.
• Braco: [Sweating] Son of Loghan, who was begat by Hobus.
• Princess Bubblegum: [Writing notes] Okay, yeah?
• Braco: I want to take you… on a date.
• Princess Bubblegum: [Shocked] Thank you, Braco. That’s very sweet, but no.
• Peppermint Butler: Princess this lab reeks like brown mist; it’s unhealthy. You’ve got to get outside and do some research on boys [Points to Braco].
• Princess Bubblegum: That is way out of line, Peps, and you guys are donking up my research! [Begins knocking stuff off her table] Hello! Donk, donk!

I like that Bubblegum says straight-up that this is out of line. I mean, yeah, Bubblegum probably is over-working herself and she probably should give herself a break. However, whether or not taking a break should involve “research on boys” is entirely up to her. Bubblegum doesn’t want to date, research or no research, and that’s her choice. I’m glad that she stands up for herself here.

Then this happens:

• Braco: Princess, I love you! I-I love you so much it hurts. [PB stands and goes near him] The pain it—Huh?.
• Princess Bubblegum: [Points some kind of laser pointer on Braco’s eye] Hmmm, what you’re feeling is called “infatuation.” The pain is the product of you overvaluing a projected, imaginary relationship with me.

That sounds like what Bo Burnham once said about his fans that think they’re in love with him, as if making that intelligent observation was supposed to make us not think we’re in love with him. Seriously, though, this exchange is something I’m going to come back to later.

Anyway, Braco insists that his feelings for Bubblegum are totally real and she agrees to go on a date with him, but only for research purposes. While on their date, Bubblegum is scanning Braco with some sort of device. He gives her a rose and the device responds. Bubblegum tells Braco she has what she needs “for now” and then goes back to her lab, to Braco’s disappointment. He does take some comfort in the fact that she said “for now”, however, as he thinks that means she’ll go out with him again another day. The next day, he tries his grandfather’s art of “peacocking”, appearing before Bubblegum in an obnoxious suit and hat. Of course, it doesn’t work.

Later, we see Bubblegum in her lab again, as Peppermint Butler lets Finn and Jake in. Bubblegum had wanted to see them because she wants them to get her a Soul Stone, which she needs for something she’s working on. Finn and Jake agree to go but on their way out they’re intercepted by Braco (Finn reacts strangely to Braco being a suitor of Bubblegum’s… is he jealous?). Braco wants them to let him get the Soul Stone, because he thinks Bubblegum will love him if he brings it to her. Finn tells him, “That road you’re on leads to nowhere,” but he also doesn’t stop Braco from going.

Braco does manage to get the Soul Stone, but during the quest he gets badly burned and barely escapes from some monsters. Still, he’s pleased with himself for getting it, and when he goes to see Bubblegum…

• Braco: [Covers PB’s eyes] Guess who.
• Princess Bubblegum: [sighs] Braco. Ehhh, what happened to you?
• Braco: Oh, look, can it be? [Pretends to grab the soul stone from PB’s hair] It’s a Soul Stone!
• Princess Bubblegum: Oh, yeah, sorry, but I don’t need that anymore. I just finished programming a proper simulation of a soul. In fact, this is much easier to manipulate than a real one.

Ouch! Don’t get me wrong, I’m on Bubblegum’s side for this episode and most episodes and Braco really shouldn’t have gotten the Soul Stone himself. Finn and Jake are more suited to the task and Braco shouldn’t have assumed that this would win Bubblegum over. Still, this is pretty cold.

So now Braco is getting hysterical, and he’s brought back to Peppermint Butler by a Gumball Guardian. Braco desperately wants Bubblegum to love him, so Peppermint Butler offers to help with Shadow Demon magic. To be set free, the demon must turn Braco into a “love magnet”, but it instead turns him into a hideous monster (apparently Peppermint Butler is into it, though). Braco once again goes to see Bubblegum in her lab, where she is activating her latest invention: P-Bot, a robot that looks exactly like her but actually has interest in dating. When Braco shows up and asks Bubblegum if she loves him now, she says that she does, but not in the way he wants. She loves Braco the same way she loves all of her Candy citizens, and not in a way that’s romantic. However, she knows how much Braco has been suffering over his infatuation with her, so she built P-Bot for him. Braco is satisfied and leaves with P-Bot. Peppermint Butler shows up and asks where Braco went, so Bubblegum explains that she made Braco a robot wife. Peppermint Butler slaps her and says she should have given Braco to him. New OTP: Braco/Peppermint Butler.

The theme of this episode is pretty much laid out when Bubblegum tells Braco that what he’s feeling is infatuation, not love.

Infatuation can be a really powerful thing, but it’s important to remember that it’s not exactly real. It’s usually not about who that person actually is, but rather about what we think that person is. We build up an idea of this person in our mind and of what we think a relationship with that person would be like, and then we project it onto the person, but the truth is we don’t know them. Think about celebrity crushes you’ve had, or crushes on fictional characters, or even crushes on people you’ve met but never really spoke to. Often what we feel for them will seem a lot bigger than it actually is, but when we think about it, what do we really know about them?

Braco is a perfect example of what happens when someone can’t tell the difference between infatuation and love. He acts like a donkus. He insists that he’s in love with Bubblegum but he doesn’t know anything about her. He tries again and again to impress her despite the fact that she shows absolutely no interest and is in fact clearly exasperated with him. And everything he does try is stupid.

Like when he goes to get the Soul Stone? That was stupid. There’s a reason Bubblegum asked Finn and Jake to go. It’s because they’re bad ass adventurers who do dangerous shit like this all the time. They’re good at it. Getting the Soul Stone would have been nothing for them. Not the case with Braco. He has no idea what he’s doing and he could have been killed, it’s a miracle that he wasn’t. I mean, yeah, I guess it was brave of him to go in the first place, but there’s a very fine line between bravery and foolishness. Even Finn knew that what Braco was trying to do wouldn’t work.

Most importantly, though, is that Braco’s affections are not returned. Bubblegum doesn’t feel the same way. There seems to be this belief that if someone doesn’t like you back, all you need to do is try harder, and eventually they’ll change their mind. This is a pretty dangerous belief to perpetuate, because really, if someone doesn’t like you back, there’s nothing to be done about it. It sucks, but chasing them isn’t going to help, if anything it will just scare them away or lead to resentment. If they’re not interested, well, end of story.

Braco isn’t a malicious character, he’s just clueless. He doesn’t know any better. That can still be just as dangerous, both to himself and to the person he’s chasing, though. He’s giving himself false hope and tearing himself apart over Bubblegum, and he’s also not being fair to her. He’s not thinking about what she wants and respecting her wishes, he’s treating her like a prize to be won. Again, there’s no malice in the character like with Ricardio in Lady & Peebles, nor is he as creepy as Ice King, but Braco’s motivations are not really any different from either of them. He’s treating Bubblegum more like a trophy than a person.

And in the end, Braco gets what he wants. He gets a version of Bubblegum that doesn’t really exist, one that’s happy to be what’s essentially a doll. Braco gets to have his idealized relationship with Bubblegum, and Bubblegum doesn’t have to be in a relationship that she didn’t want. It’s a bit of a creepy conclusion, but I kind of get what Bubblegum was trying to do. She couldn’t and wouldn’t be what Braco wanted, but he wasn’t going to be happy without it. At least this way she can end his suffering.

Infatuation is not inherently a bad thing, but it can become dangerous if someone doesn’t know how to tell the difference between it and an actual crush. Falling for an idea isn’t the same thing as falling for a person, but as long as you can differentiate between the two, it should be harmless.

Rating: 8.5/10

This one begins in Princess Bubblegum’s bedroom, as Ice King comes out from his hiding place and who knows how long he’s been there. I’m going to go through this opening scene slowly because wow.

• Ice King: Oh, boy [struggles a bit, stands up and stares at the still sleeping princess.] Oh, you’re so pretty when you sleep, let’s go back to Ice King’s house, [rips duck tape piece and places it over her mouth, but she awakes.] Hi, baby….

… I really think this fandom underestimates what a creep Ice King is.

• Princess Bubblegum: [Muffled scream as she hits him with a pillow and rips the tape from her mouth.] Ice King, what are you doing in my bedroom?!
• Ice King: Baby, I was trying to surprise you by moving you to my place while you sleep, then have you wake up to breakfast in bed, but now you’ve ruined the surprise, way to go.

what

• Princess Bubblegum: Do you think I like being kidnapped?! Is that what you think I want?!

Four for you, Bubblegum! You go, Bubblegum!

• Ice King: Okay, here we go, you’re the victim right? You know what, since day one I’ve been doing everything to make this relationship work and for what?!

Yes, Ice King, she is the victim. You were going to kidnap her. She is absolutely the victim here. And what relationship? You two don’t have a relationship. She has never wanted one with you.

• Princess Bubblegum: Banana Guards! [Two of them enter the room]
• Ice King: Babe, come on, we promised we wouldn’t make our problems public [The guard approach the Ice King.]

No you didn’t.

• Princess Bubblegum: [Exasperated] Take him out. [They drag him away, as Ice King protests.]
• Ice King: No, baby! What are you doing?! [Still being dragged, he whines] Baby bear! [Pulling loose from the guards, he runs back to the princess’ side on bended knee.] This is just so crazy, if you can honestly look into your heart and tell me you want me to leave, I’ll go!
• Princess Bubblegum: [Serious] Okay, leave.

Okay I laughed at this.

• Ice King: [Taken aback] Uh-what? D-did you look in your heart, like all around it?
• Princess Bubblegum: [Sternly] Yes.
• Ice King: I see. Then obviously you have got some heavy emotions stirring in you and you have said some very rash things. [Standing up he walks backwards towards the awaiting guards.] Guards! Take me away! [Lifting up both arms he falls sideways in the arms of the guards and do as requested.]

Can we just all agree that Ice King is creepy as hell? I know he’s really interesting and tragic and a lot of people like him for that, and I like him for that too, he’s one of my favorite characters on this show. But even so, I stand by my conviction that Ice King is a total fucking creep. It’s not just that he has no understanding of boundaries or consent, it’s that he can not see himself as in the wrong for any of these things. He’s either unable or unwilling, and I don’t know which is worse. He believes that he has a relationship with Bubblegum, he believes that she wants everything he does to her, he believes that when she reacts negatively it’s a problem with her and not with him, he believes that he’s the one who’s being treated unfairly, he believes that he’s the victim. Like Ice King as much as you want but can we also acknowledge how creepy and terrible this behavior is? (By the way, none of this is a criticism toward the writing or the writers, as this seems to be intentional on their part.)

I did laugh at that exchange between Finn and Ice King when they run into each other as Ice King’s leaving, though. I like how Finn is immediately ready to warn him away but Ice King interrupts him with, “I’m leaving!”

Ice King returns to his castle and wonders if he said the right thing with Bubblegum, he says he “can never tell with that girl”. That’s… I don’t… whatever. He decides that he needs to get away for a while, so he flies away from the Ice Kingdom and ends up on an island. He soon discovers that the island itself is alive. And it’s a woman.

Ice King and Isla de Señorita, as I suppose we’ll be calling her, start spending time with each other and they hit it off. Mostly, they bond by talking about their crappy relationships. Isla de Señorita is dating Party God, and he’s not a very good boyfriend. He spends most of his time partying (as his name suggests) and neglects his girlfriend, and he gets jealous and possessive if she spends time with other guys. Ice King tells Isla de Señorita about his imagined relationship with Bubblegum and how emotionally repressed she is. The part about Bubblegum being emotionally repressed? That’s true. But, you know, she’s not Ice King’s girlfriend. Anyway, Ice King convinces her to break up with Party God because he’s no good for her, and he’s actually completely right. Isla de Señorita agrees that she should break up with him but falters when it’s time to do so. Ice King then decides that he’s going to break up with Party God for her, and he flies after him.

When he catches up to Party God and tells him about how he’s been spending a lot of time with Isla de Señorita. Before he can continue, Party God becomes furious with the fact that Ice King has been with his girlfriend, despite Ice King explaining that it was all platonic. Party God attacks Ice King and the two fight for a while. Party God is much more powerful, since he’s a god and all, but Ice King eventually manages to outsmart him and… does he kill him? I mean at first I figured Ice King just knocked him out but considering how the rest of the episode goes I’m pretty sure Party God is actually dead. R.I.P?

Ice King, when he realizes Party God is dead “unconscious”, uses his body as a puppet to encourage Isla de Señorita to break up with her boyfriend. She does, and says that she wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of her friend Ice King. He doesn’t seem to like being called her friend, and he mentions that he plans on breaking up with his girlfriend as well, but Isla de Señorita doesn’t really react. So, Ice King leaves and throws Party God’s body into space (lol), and then he “breaks up” with Bubblegum.

• [Back at the Candy Kingdom, Princess Bubblegum is in her science room. The Ice King burst through the window shattering the glass.]
• Princess Bubblegum: Fun cakes! [She stands up]
• Ice King: I’ve come to a decision, you ready to hear it? I’m breaking up with ya! You party too much, you never want to spend time with me and you only care about having fun and other people’s stereos! I’m just a big island you can come and go from as you please!

… Wrong relationship, Ice King. At least this was a relationship that actually existed, even if he got the people involved wrong, so… it’s a start?

• Princess Bubblegum: BANANA GUARDS!!
• Ice King: Banana Guard yourself, Princess!! [Flies away.] Ah, we’ll work it out.

Probably not.

What’s interesting to me about this episode is that the relationship advice that Ice King give Isla de Señorita is actually good advice. She’s in a bad relationship and she needs to get out of it, she can’t let Party God intimidate her and she needs to stop making excuses for him. Ice King understands that, but he’s so awful when it comes to his own relationships… or lack there of… you know what I mean.

Part of it may have been that Ice King wasn’t actually wearing his crown for most of the episode. At this point Ice King’s mind has been way too warped and will never go back to what it once was completely, but maybe removing the crown can still clear his head a little. Or maybe he’s just better at helping people with their problems than he is at dealing with his own. Self-awareness isn’t Ice King’s strong suit, so if the problem actually involves him in any way he’s no good. But if it’s something where he’s a complete outsider? Then he can be of use.

What I also like is that I don’t think Ice King’s advice to Isla de Señorita was just a way of getting her for himself. At least, I don’t think that’s what it was at first. I think he genuinely wanted to help her in the beginning, because he knew she was unhappy and in a bad place, but then he actually ended up falling for her (as he does with almost every woman). I think he still helped her mainly for selfless reasons, even though it was clear that in the end he was disappointed that he wasn’t getting more out of it.

Rating: 6.5/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (BMO Lost/Princess Potluck)

In this episode, BMO gets lost. It happens when xe’s snatched up by an eagle and taken back to its nest, and when xe manages to escape the nest xe realizes that xe’s miles from the Tree Fort. BMO meets a Bubble who is also lost and BMO suggests they go to the Tree Fort together, so that afterwards Finn and Jake can help Bubble find its way home. That’s basically the episode. BMO and Bubble head to the Tree Fort, there’s a part where they find a baby and take it with them but then the baby’s mother find it again, then they reach the Tree Fort. Bubble proposes to BMO and BMO accepts, but then Jake shows up and pops Bubble. When BMO starts to cry, Finn and Jake think xe’s joking and laugh. That’s… kind of messed up? Then BMO hears Bubble’s voice, and Bubble says that it has simply become air, so it’s all around BMO all the time no matter where xe goes. That sounds creepy to me but it makes BMO happy. And that’s pretty much it.

Well. That was a thing.

I really like BMO, xe’s adorable, but episodes about BMO just don’t do anything for me. I guess because I don’t feel like BMO has enough of a character, or the one xe does have isn’t one that can carry an episode. BMO is like Lumpy Space Princess, best in small doses or as part of a group of characters we already know.

There wasn’t a whole lot that I enjoyed about the episode, but there wasn’t anything I hated either. I just don’t have a lot to say about it. Not a whole lot happens, the ending is… something. I can’t decide if it’s more sad or funny, but either way it was the most memorable part of the episode for me. Um…

Yeah, I don’t know what to tell ya, BMO is cute, but that’s not enough to make an episode for me. I’m sorry this review is so short and I haven’t really said much, but all I can say about this one is… that was a thing.

Rating: 5/10

The episode begins with Finn and Jake heading over to Princess Bubblegum’s potluck (Jake is wearing makeup, which I love – Jake gives no fucks about gender roles and it’s glorious… though Finn was right to say he looks like a target). For some reason Bubblegum’s potluck is nearby the Ice Kingdom, and Finn and Jake seem to be the only people there who aren’t princesses. Meanwhile, Ice King is in his castle, doing weird stuff because he’s Ice King. When he realizes that Bubblegum is throwing some kind of party that he wasn’t invited to, he’s upset and decides he’ll do whatever he can to ruin it. Bubblegum thinks she’s going to throw a party and not invite him?! He, like, invented her, you know what I mean?

Anyway, the first thing he does is catch a bunch of rabbits and cats. He ties lemons to the cats and feeds lasagna to the rabbits. I don’t get it. Then he releases the cats into the party, saying that the “sour pusses” will ruin the party. Sour pusses… because they’re cats… and they have lemons tied to them… I get it now. That doesn’t work, because the cats don’t actually do anything except walk around looking cute, and the party was missing lemons to put in drinks anyway. So then Ice King tries to release his “party poopers”, which are the rabbits. They’re party poopers because.. you know. That doesn’t work either because, well, the rabbits did what they were supposed to before Ice King had a chance to let them go. Let’s give Ice King some credit, though, this was pretty creative. Stupid, but creative.

The next thing he tries is to dress Gunter up like a princess and send him to the party undercover, where he can throw punch on the guests and ruin everything. There’s a bit where Ice King thinks Gunter looks attractive as a princess and fantasizes about marrying her, so Gunter has to pull out a taser in defense. So I guess if we need a reminder that Ice King is a creep, there’s that. Gunter goes to the party and he doesn’t throw punch on anyone. Instead he dances with the princesses. Ice King falls to the floor and cries. Maybe they should call him Drama King, amirite? (I’m sorry I know that was terrible.)

Then Ice King tries calling the Banana Guards with a noise complaint. The Banana Guards hang up on him. So Ice King tries throwing his own party to make the princesses jealous but they don’t even notice him. Finally, Ice King decides to just attack the party and hurl ice bolts at the guests. The princesses take refuge while Finn fights Ice King. Once Ice King is held down, they question why he’s attacking the party. He says it’s because he wasn’t invited, but Bubblegum tells him she did invite him (???? why would she do that?), she sent his invite in the mail, which Ice King didn’t check. So the party resumes, this time with Ice King.

This one I enjoyed more than BMO Lost. It sort of feels more like something that would be in Season 1, somehow. It’s really energized and weird and it feels like so much happens yet when you look back on it, not much actually happened. And, of course, it’s primarily driven by comedy.

Ice King’s comedy is usually this weird mix between funny and uncomfortable so I end up kind of laughing but also kind of squirming (which seems to be the intention but sometimes it’s hard to tell), like that joke with Gunter pulling out the taser on him. That was funny, but it’s also a bit uncomfortable. Other jokes in the episode were kind of hit or miss. Some just fell flat, some were funny at first but suffered from being dragged out a bit too long (the joke with Ice King calling the Banana Guards). Still, for the most part I did enjoy the comedy in this episode. It’s not a hilarious episode, but it was funny enough for me, and either way I really enjoyed watching it.

Rating: 7.5/10