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 (Bad Timing/Billy’s Bucket List)

Why do episodes happen to characters who can’t carry them?

The episode starts with Princess Bubblegum showing a small crowd her new invention, which is a means of time travel. The time-travel machine is orb shaped and needs to be operated with special gloves. No one seems that impressed with the invention, since, as Jake points out, they’ve already seen Ice King achieve time travel with magic. As you can imagine, this doesn’t go over well with Bubblegum. LSP bursts in and demands that Bubblegum let her use the time machine to go back to a time when her ex-boyfriend Brad loved her.

So that happened. Oh, and the borders in the video are there throughout the whole episode.

LSP goes to the Candy Tavern, depressed about Brad, and she meets a Lumpy Space Person named Johnnie. Except he’s not very lumpy and he’s also nowhere near as snobby as other Lumpy Space People. He’s someone she knew back in high school (wait, how old is LSP supposed to be?), and she used to bully him and call him “Ugly Johnnie”. But she says she can’t call him that anymore, so I guess that means she finds him good-looking now. The two hit it off and Johnnie tells LSP about the business he runs and how he has a meeting with Bubblegum. He invites LSP back to his apartment that night where they continue to get along great, and then he has LSP sleep on the couch because it’s late and he doesn’t want her going out alone. The next day, Johnnie leaves for his meeting with Bubblegum, and when he returns he tells LSP that it went really well, and that he has another meeting with Bubblegum that nigh. This doesn’t please LSP, she starts to think that Bubblegum will steal Johnnie from her. She sets fire to part of the castle to distract Bubblegum, and while she’s gone LSP sends Johnnie back in time with the time machine so they can have a second chance, whatever that means. When Bubblegum comes back, she finds Johnnie has disappeared and the time machine sitting there.

We next see LSP in the empty tavern, calling for Johnnie, when Bubblegum appears.

• Princess Bubblegum: He’s not here.
• Lumpy Space Princess: [gasps] What? But I sent him back.
• Princess Bubblegum: The sphere would have had to log his molecules before you engaged the time travel function.
• Lumpy Space Princess: Well, then where is he?
• Princess Bubblegum: I don’t know.
• [Johnnie’s head begins materializing in the border around the screen.]
• Lumpy Space Princess: [crying] Then if he’s gone, can you send me back…?
• [Johnnie’s body materializes in the border.]
• Lumpy Space Princess: To before I met him so I won’t have to remember this heartache?!
• Princess Bubblegum: If that’s what you want.
• Lumpy Space Princess: Do it. Do it!
• [Princess Bubblegum places the sphere around Lumpy Space Princess and pushes buttons on her glove, sending Lumpy Space Princess’s molecules back to when she first entered the sphere. Meanwhile, in the border, Johnnie reunites his head and body.]
• Lumpy Space Princess: You witch! Give them to—huh, wha? What? Where are we?
• [Johnnie reaches out to Lumpy Space Princess.]
• Princess Bubblegum: You asked me to use this.
• Lumpy Space Princess: Don’t touch me! [floats away] You pretty skunk! You don’t know heartache with the whole Candy Kingdom in love with your bubblegum buns…! [floats out the window]
• [Johnnie bows his head, crestfallen, as the border fades to black.]
• Princess Bubblegum: [sighs] [sits down and pours herself a drink]

Well, that ending was more emotional than I was expecting.

LSP episodes generally aren’t a good idea, because as mentioned she’s the type of character who works best in small doses, or if she has other characters she can work off of. This one did at least have a few good things in it, though.

This episode ends up being surprisingly emotional. I think LSP’s sudden attraction initially had less to do with Johnnie himself and more to do with the fact that she met him when she was heartbroken. She kind of just clung to the first decent guy who would pay attention to her, and the fact that there’s some nostalgia between her and Johnnie (even if it’s not exactly positive) doesn’t hurt. Johnnie is nice, and he and LSP do seem to have a connection, but I don’t know if LSP’s feelings were really that deep. The thing about LSP is that she really seems to value herself based on what other people think of her. We’ve seen how she takes pride in being able to attract people, and she seems to take it badly when she can’t. That’s not healthy, and it definitely doesn’t make for healthy relationships. LSP ends up freaking out when Johnnie is in proximity to another woman, even though there’s really nothing to worry about, and as a result their relationship has a very unhappy ending. Jealousy isn’t cute and it doesn’t make for a good relationship, no matter what romance novels would like you to believe.

The border around everything in this episode has a purpose, as we find out at the end. It seems to represent a different dimension, and the people in the dimension can look out but if you’re on the outside of it you can’t look in. I’ll admit, the border irritated me, and even now that I know what it was for I still think it’s annoying. I mean, it’s clever, and it certainly makes the ending even sadder when you know that Johnnie was right there trying to get to LSP, but still annoying.

Rating: 6.5/10

Finn is feeling down about the death of his hero, Billy, and he runs into Canyon, Billy’s ex-girlfriend. Canyon gives Finn Billy’s loincloth and instead of thinking it’s gross Finn thinks it’s awesome and is pleased to receive it. Okay then. Canyon and Finn decide to check out Billy’s hideout together and there they find Billy’s bucket list, which has two items that have not been crossed out yet. One of them is “Tell Finn that thing”, but neither of them is sure what that thing is. The other is “Take Canyon on one last ride”. Finn and Canyon go for a ride on Billy’s motorcycle together, therefore fulfilling at least one of the items on the list. Once Canyon leaves, though, Finn discovers another item that they hadn’t noticed before. This one says “Lie on my back in the ocean. Just float.” Ha, that’s right, Finn is terrified of the ocean. He wants to do it anyway, for Billy, but when he gets to the ocean he has a hard time bringing himself to do it. So Fear Feaster appears from out of his belly button. Wow, I forgot Fear Feaster was even a thing. This is a callback to the Season 1 episode Ocean of Fear, which is when we first find out about Finn’s phobia of the ocean, and Fear Feaster is the manifestation of Finn’s fear. That lives in his belly button. I don’t know. Fear Feaster starts taunting Finn, but Finn knocks himself out so that he’ll fall into the ocean without having to think about it. Um, never do that, kids. When Finn wakes up and realizes he’s floating in the ocean he starts to panic, which makes Fear Feaster come back. Finn kills him with the grass sword and with Fear Feaster gone, he no longer fears the ocean. Billy appears as a constellation in the sky.

• Billy: You finished my list. Now I can rest like a great hero. Thank you, Finn.
• Finn: You’re welcome. Canyon helped, too.
• Billy: Tell Canyon I watch her sleep. Man, love is weird, Finn.

I hope you didn’t do that when you were alive, Billy.

• Finn: I know. Is that the thing you wanted to tell me?
• Billy: No. Goodbye.
• [The constellation disappears.]
• Finn: Wait. Billy!
• [The constellation reappears as quickly as it disappeared.]
• Billy: What?
• Finn: What’s the thing you wanted to tell me?
• Billy: Oh, uh, you must go to the Citadel. That’s where your father is.
• Finn: Joshua’s not alive. Me and Jake buried him behind the—
• Billy: Not Joshua! Your other dad. Dad the Human.
• Finn: What?
• Billy: Your father, Finn. He’s alive.
• [The constellation disappears as Billy’s words echo in Finn’s head. The Crystal Citadel is shown floating somewhere in space, and Finn’s dad’s silhouette is seen trapped in a crystal.]

Oh snap.

Well, it’s nice to see Finn dealing with losing Billy, and I like that he’s able to bond with someone else who was close to Billy. I think it would be a big help to both of them, especially since Finn can’t really talk to Jake about it because Jake is apparently in complete denial.  Finn and Canyon actually had a nice relationship, I hope she’ll be in more episodes.

I also liked that they brought back Finn’s fear of the ocean and Fear Feaster, that was a cool throwback and it made me feel pretty nostalgic for the first season.

But who cares about any of that stuff. What about that cliffhanger? I bet that drove people crazy! It’s funny because this episode is pretty laidback, especially compared to other season finales for this show, but it still manages to hook you with the last minute or so.

So. Season 6 should be interesting.

Rating: 7.5/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (Lemonhope Parts 1&2)

I love the contrast between these title cards.

I’m just going to write this as one big review, because there’s not much of a point in reviewing them separately.

Part 1 starts off with Lemonhope having a dream in which he has wings and is flying through a dark landscape. There are several doors and he hears knocking behind one, but he can’t get it open. He has a lot of dreams similar to this throughout both episodes. He’s woken up by Princess Bubblegum for school, and she shows him this video:

Jesus. This is the most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen on this show. Which is saying something.

Lemonhope was obviously not paying attention, which disappoints Bubblegum because he’s supposed to save the Lemon People eventually. Lemonhope doesn’t want to though. He doesn’t see why he has to. He likes being free and he doesn’t want to go back to the Lemon Kingdom. You know, I kind of like that Lemonhope is like this? It’s just, it’s something I often think about when it comes to the “Chosen One” narratives similar to this. What if the Chosen One just doesn’t give a shit? What if they refuse to help? What if they don’t want the responsibility, and not just in a “I’m going to angst about it a lot but ultimately I will take it because selflessness” way, but in a way “I’m kind of an asshole and I literally just don’t care, deal with it yourselves” way? Plus, it’s sort of understandable that Lemonhope would be like this. He’s still being a little shit, but I mean, if you were freed from being a prisoner in a totalitarian dictatorship, would you be eager to go back for any reason? Also, Lemonhope is a Lemon Person, aren’t they all kind of selfish?

Still, someone has to save the Lemon Kingdom and for some reason is has to be Lemonhope. Bubblegum tries her best to convince him, but Lemonhope ends up running away. He stows away on a ship and he gets knocked out for a while, during which he has another weird dream. It’s about Lemongrab 2 falling off Lemonhope, who is for some reason a horse in this dream. He ignores Lemongrab 2’s pleas for help and steps on a piece of gum, which is Princess Bubblegum in his dream. While he attempts to get her off his hoof, she screams that he is “Unacceptable!”, and she sounds a lot like Lemongrab. When Lemonhope wakes up, the ship is in ruins and in a desert, and there’s nothing for him to eat or drink on board. He wanders the desert for a while and eventually passes out. This is where Part 1 ends.

Part 2 picks up right where we left off, with Lemonhope passed out in the desert. He’s found by a man who introduces himself as “Phlannel Boxingday”. It’s obviously Princess Bubblegum in disguise. I mean, it’s never confirmed exactly, but the pink skin kind of gives it away and there’s something Phlannel says later that very heavily implies it’s Bubblegum. Anyway, Lemonhope spends some time with Phlannel Boxingday and keeps having weird dreams about the Lemon Earldom. He decides to talk to Phlannel about it.

• Lemonhope: [sighs] I’m free now, Phlannel, to do all whatevs I ever wanted, but all I think about is my old life. What does it mean?
• Phlannel Boxingday: Well, it’s true you are free—free to help the Lemon People or leave them be—but a debt unpaid is not easily forgotten. So you are a prisoner still in deinem kopf(in your head).
• Lemonhope: Huh. That’s what Mistress always said, and I didn’t even listen.
• Phlannel Boxingday: Ah, Lemonhope, you’re a doer, not a listener. You learn with your heart and hands, not your head. So… what will you do, Lemonhope?
• Lemonhope: I’ll… I’ll go back, and I’ll help my people, and maybe I’ll feel better.

So, Lemonhope goes back to the Earldom, and of course it’s raining and storming and dramatic. After scaling the wall of the castle, Lemonhope is confronted by Lemongrab himself.

Well. That was a thing. Is it ever explained why Lemongrab hates the harp so much?

Later, Bubblegum sews up Lemongrab again, using pieces of the original and his brother. She says that he’ll need some time to recover, but will soon be back to his lonely self, his only stable relationship model (her words, not mine). She also tells Lemonhope that she’s set up a room for him in the Lemon Earldom and asks him if he would mind overseeing the Earldom for the time being. Lemonhope says no, to her surprise. He came back only so he could stop thinking about them all the time, he doesn’t want to stick around. He says he’ll be back when he’s tired of being free. Bubblegum is disappointed, as she really thought he was going to stay and she even wrote a song about it. Omg Bubblegum you’re such a dork I love you. Finn convinces her to sing the song and she does, the episode ending like this.

God, I love that ending. It’s so haunting, seeing Finn and Jake’s tree overgrown, a futuristic-looking Candy Kingdom that looks abandoned and destroyed, a seemingly untouched Lemon Earldom that is now eerily silent, Lemonhope returning to the Earldom after a long life of freedom for his final resting place while Bubblegum’s voice sings softly about his life.

So ends the Lemongrab arc, and I think it might be my favorite arc in the series so far? I like how in his first appearance Lemongrab seemed annoying but relatively unthreatening. The more we see him, though, the more we realize that Lemongrab really is dangerous, but also pitiful. He’s too selfish and narcissistic to be around anyone, let alone ruling an Earldom. He doesn’t want to be alone, but being alone is also his only stable relationship model. I think Bubblegum does care about Lemongrab. He was her creation just like the Candy People and she thinks of all of them as her children, so I think it’s safe to say she thinks of Lemongrab the same way, despite… everything about him. Plus, she obviously feels some responsibility for the way he turned out and all of the suffering it’s caused him and other people. There’s not a whole lot she can do, though. He ended up being a tyrannical ruler, and he only got worse and worse every time we saw him. He even turned on his brother, who was supposed to be the one person he could relate to and get along with. What do you do with someone like Lemongrab? What can you do?

As for Lemonhope, well, I think he was just so relieved to be free that he didn’t want to risk going back to the Lemon Earldom. He seemed pretty terrified of Lemongrab and can you blame him? I think he needed time to come to terms with his responsibility and how everyone was counting on him. I like that he didn’t stay after saving the Earldom. He came to help them and he did, and he never wanted to stick around so why should he? He comes back once he’s had enough of freedom, which is a long time later, because he’s tired and probably dying soon and he wants to be home, even though I’m not entirely sure whether the Lemon Earldom was ever home to him.

Rating for Part 1: 7.5/10

Ratinf for Part 2: 8.5/10

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 (Blade of Grass/Rattleballs)

Whoever came up with the title for this episode gets a high five.

Well, since Finn’s demon blood sword is broken he now needs a new one. How many different swords has Finn had throughout the show? He buys his new sword from a mysterious figure who gives him a grass sword. Finn loves the sword, since it slices with perfect precision. In fact, when Tree Trunks sees him use the sword, she says it’s “demonically perfect” and declares the sword cursed, but Finn and Jake laugh her off. Later that night, they start to get a little creeped out by it, though. Finn has a nightmare about the sword turning him into grass and when he wakes up the sword has wrapped itself around his arm. He tears it off and dumps it in a river, and he thinks that’s going to be the end of it. Oh Finn, don’t you know anything? It’s not going to be that easy to get rid of a cursed object.

The next morning, the sword is back. See? I told you. Jake wraps the sword up so it won’t be able to attach itself to Finn and the two head out to try and return it. However, the person they bought it from doesn’t seem to be there anymore, and somehow the sword keeps attaching itself to Finn. They find out from Choose Goose (haven’t seen him in a while, he’s still a weirdo) where the original owner of the sword lives and they go to confront him. It turns out to be a grass wizard, and he tells Finn that the cursed sword will be part of him forever. Finn decides that he’s okay with this, and accepting the sword makes him able to control it.

I like stories about curses, and especially cursed objects that have a mind of their own and attach themselves (in any sense) to people. Obvious comparisons for things like this would be the ring from Lord of the Rings or the Horcruxes from Harry Potter, but unlike those objects, the grass sword doesn’t seem particularly malicious. Ever notice that it never actually hurts anyone that Finn fights (aside from monsters)?Well, okay, it did get pretty aggressive about wrapping itself around Finn at first, but it calmed down once Finn decided he was okay with the sword. I like the idea that accepting that the sword is part of him now makes it easier for him to control it, and fighting it just made it worse.

Of all of Finn’s swords, I think the grass sword is my favorite one yet. For one thing, I like that fact that it stays wrapped around his arm most of the time, and he can summon it whenever he needs it. Usually his sword is just stuck in his backpack, or it comes out of nowhere. At least now we can see where it’s coming from, and it also looks far more convenient.

I also like the demonically perfect precision of it. Who knew grass could be so bad ass? (Actually, I knew. Grass is my favorite Pokemon type and people always laugh at me for it. But I knew Grass was awesome. I knew it. Hey, speaking of Pokemon, there’s actually a Grass-type move called Leaf Blade, and it’s a good move too. This had a point but I lost it.)

Anyway, good episode, Finn’s new sword is cool, not much else to say.

Rating: 7.5/10

Finn feels like he’s been slacking on his duty of protecting/helping Princess Bubblegum, and to make up for it he becomes way too over-zealous. He ends up annoying Bubblegum and exhausting himself, so Bubblegum tells him to give himself a break. He wanders around for a bit and ends up in a junkyard where he starts playing around with his new sword. While doing so, he almost gets crushed by a falling car, but he’s rescued by a hooded swordsman. It turns out to be some kind of gumball machine, but it looks different from the Gumball Guardians, who introduces himself as Rattleballs. Rattleballs tells Finn that he has a “warrior’s spirit” but his swordsmanship is terrible. Finn wants Rattleballs to train him and after Finn helps him unlodge a gumball that was stuck in his throat, he agrees.

I was a bit confused by Rattleballs’ criticisms at first, because I was under the impression that Finn was a good fighter, but then I realized two things:

1. Finn probably does need some practice with his new sword, which is really different from any other he’s used before.
2. Finn probably has never had any formal training, so he may be decent but he probably would look amateurish to an expert like Rattleballs.

After training Finn (which involves a lot of egg-throwing for some reason… if you can dodge an egg you can dodge a sword?), Rattleballs tells him how he got to be in the junkyard. Centuries earlier, during the Candy Kingdom’s humble beginnings, Bubblegum had created an elite group of gumball robots (did they come before or after the Gumball Guardians?) to replace the incompetent Banana Guards. The robots were great at their job, but they were also ruthless and had an insatiable love for violence. They became too dangerous to have around, so Bubblegum had to destroy them. Rattleballs was the only one able to overcome his programming and realize what was happening, and he managed to escape. He’s lived in the junkyard ever since. That’s… actually really tragic. A race of robots who were programmed for to be ruthless, but ended up being too dangerous for anyone’s good and so had to be destroyed. And it’s done so quickly, with none of them realizing what’s going on. This and the episode about Shoko make me really curious about the beginnings of the Candy Kingdom.

Rattleballs asks Finn not to tell Bubblegum he’s still alive, but Finn does so anyway because he’s vowed to serve her. Bubblegum goes to the junkyad with some Banana Guards to destroy Rattleballs and Rattleballs defeats her Banana Guards easily, though he doesn’t kill them. He then tells Bubblegum: “I no longer crave mindless violence. I have found peace in meditation, gardening, egg throwing. I also hope time has made you less bloodthirsty, princess, but do with me as you will. In my heart I still serve you, 100%.”

He hopes time has made Bubblegum less bloodthirsty. I’ll just let that speak for itself.

Later, Bubblegum tells the Banana Guards that Rattleballs has been destroyed. It’s then revealed that Rattleballs is still alive, Bubblegum only pretended he had been destroyed so that she wouldn’t have to go back on an order. Wait, what? Why would that matter? Has she really never gone back on an order before or something? She tells Rattleballs that he can continue serving the Kingdom in the shadows, and he replies, “Thank you, Princess. That’s marginally better than hiding in a dump.” Ha, I like that line. Bubblegum knights him and he leaves with a smile.

That ending almost got me. I thought for a second that Bubblegum might have killed Rattleballs. I mean, would you put it past her?

I still don’t get why it would be such a big deal for her to go back on an order, but I do like that Rattleballs basically becomes the Candy Kingdom’s Batman. He’ll probably do a better job of protecting the Kingdom than the Banana Guards.

I like Rattleballs a lot. I like how he’s sort of ninja-like, which is funny because he’s a gumball machine and you’d think he’d be really clunky. Not to mention all of that rattling should probably be a hindrance. Seriously, though, Rattleballs is cool, and I like that he’s basically Finn’s wise ninja-like mentor. I also love his backstory. I love the tragedy of it (it sound bad when you put it like that, doesn’t it?), and I love the morality questions it raises. Rattleballs and his race are robots, not Candy people, but how much intelligence and humanity did they actually have? When Bubblegum took them to be destroyed, she didn’t tell what was going on, and she didn’t let them see what was happening to their companions. They all just followed her orders to not look, and only Rattleballs was able to break that order. If the other robots had known, what would have happened? Sucks for Rattleballs, he has to see all of his companions destroyed and then go out and live in a junkyard. And even then, he’s still loyal to Bubblegum in the end. So just how much has he managed to overcome his programming, and how mindless were the other robots?

Rating: 8.5/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (James/Root Beer Guy)

This episode opens with Finn and Jake attending a funeral in the Candy Kingdom. Apparently it’s an important one, because Princess Bubblegum herself holds the ceremony and it looks as though most of the Kingdom is attending. We get a flashback to a week earlier, when Finn, Jake, Bubblegum, and her assistant James are going into a pit in the Desert of Wonder. Bubblegum wants to collect samples to see if the area can be colonized.

During the mission, Bubblegum discovers some of those radioactive goo monsters from Simon and Marcy residing in the pit, and the group is forced to take cover in their ship. Bubblegum asks Finn if he has any idea and he suggests they radio for help. Unfortunately, the radio is broken. James says he can fix it, but Finn and Jake are reluctant to trust him. James is… goofy. Bubblegum insists that he’s resourceful and that they can trust him, though. A few minutes later James claims to have fixed the radio, but when they try it the radio is suddenly wrecked again. Finn and Jake accuse James of being a saboteur and Bubblegum sticks up for him again. Finn comes up with another idea to send up a flare, and once more it looks like James has sabotaged them when the flare is missing.

Finn comes up with one more idea, which is to allow the monsters to catch and devour him, so that the other three will escape. Bubblegum knocks him out with a wrench. She does the same thing to Jake. Well then. Finn kind of lapses in and out of consciousness for a bit and sees a couple of things that he can’t make sense of. He sees James hand over a piece of himself to Bubblegum, he sees himself and Jake being dragged away from the scene by Bubblegum, and he sees James being overtaken and devoured by the monsters. Later, when they’ve made it to safety, Bubblegum explains to Finn what happened.

• Finn: [wakes up] Aah! James, look out! Ohh. PB! What’s going on?
• Princess Bubblegum: Finn, I need to explain something really heavy. I was the one who sabotaged all your escape plans. I calculated the chance of success for every possible escape plan, and none of them were going to work. You said it yourself: there was only one way out. Someone was going to have to eat the big one to save the others. James did something really noble to save us.
• Finn: But I wanted to do it. Why didn’t you let me?
• Princess Bubblegum: There’s a reason. With this sample of James, I can clone a new one. He’s candy, but you’re not. I can’t clone another you.
• Finn: Whoa.
• Princess Bubblegum: I made the best choice available.

Back in the present, Bubblegum talks about James’ sacrifice, and then present the James clone. She gives the clone a medal for bravery while Finn wonders whether or not this is right. The episode with a scene where the original James, who is now a zombie, rises from the pit with the other goo monsters. So I guess we’ll be seeing zombie!James at some point.

I don’t get why Bubblegum had to go out of her way to sabotage Finn’s plans. If she knew they wouldn’t work, why didn’t she just tell him that right away? Why the extra effort?

I like that the differences in Finn and Bubblegum’s morality are starting to come out more. Of course Finn would be the one who volunteers to sacrifice himself for others. Finn has always been the sort of person who would make himself miserable trying to make sure everyone else is happy, of course he wouldn’t hesitate to die if it meant everyone else could live. It’s clear that he’s upset that he didn’t get to do it, and instead someone else had to die for him. Bubblegum knows that there’s no good option here, just a least terrible one. If anyone had to sacrificed, James makes the most sense. Bubblegum can create a new one, but she can’t create a new Finn. Although that raises the question of whether or not cloning James is right. Obviously it is to Bubblegum, but Finn isn’t so sure. I’m kind of with Finn on this.

The unfortunate thing about this episode is that the interesting stuff happens in the last couple of minutes. The rest of it is just okay. Still, I do really like those last few minutes.

Rating: 7/10

So. Root Beer Guy. He’s an aspiring writer with a crappy job. He works at a call center as a telemarketer. I actually used to work at a call center, though it wasn’t telemarketing. People called us to complain, we didn’t call them. It’s the most emotionally draining job ever. Anyway, he apparently writes at night, while his wife is asleep.

• [Root Beer Guy closes his book and places it to the side and switches off the night light. He gets off the bed and takes out a typewriter. He then brings the typewriter to the kitchen]
• Root Beer Guy: I knew there was trouble. I could smell it on the hot evening breeze. Fortunately for me, trouble is my favorite thing because I’m Joe Milkshake. I kicked down the door with one swift, decisive motion… No… With one swift and decisive motion, I kicked down the door… No… The door was kicked down by me swiftly with not many motions, but a whole lot of decisiveness was used by me that was apparent to everybody… oh.

Every writer has been here at some point.

While putting the cat out that night, Root Beer Guy sees something odd. It looks like Finn and Jake are kidnapping Princess Bubblegum. When he tries to tell his wife, she tells him it was probably a dream. The res of the episode follows Root Beer Guy as he tries to get someone to care about the fact that Bubblegum was kidnapped, but no one will listen. He tries confronting Finn and Jake himself but they threaten him to keep quiet. Eventually RBG finds out that Finn and Jake are going to Lake Butterscotch, presumably to dispose of Bubblegum’s body. He calls the Banana Guards and they rush over, catching Finn and Jake in the act. Bubblegum then reveals that this was a trick to test the competence of the Banana Guards, and she’s surprised to find out the RBG was the one who solved everything. She makes him head of the Banana Guards, and he becomes much happier. He also apparently gives up on writing, probably because “Joe Milkshake” was an obvious self-insert reflecting who RBG wishes he was, and now that he’s actually happy with his life he doesn’t need Joe Milkshake anymore.

What I liked about this episode was Root Beer Guy’s writing, and how it’s… not good. At all. It just reminds me so much of a lot of the earlier stuff I wrote, like when I was around 10-13. You know, obvious self-inserts, wish-fulfillment, prose that tries too hard. RBG is kind of endearing to me because he’s so passionate about it yet amateurish, like a lot of new writers (even thought he’s not exactly new, he’s been working on his novel for ten years).

Aside from that… eh? Episodes focusing on minor or one-off characters are hard to pull off, and this one just didn’t work for me. RBG is likable enough and I can relate to him in some ways, but he’s not really interesting enough to keep my attention. I got bored.

Rating: 4.5/10

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 (Box Prince/Red Starved)

Do you like cats? ‘Cause that’s one thing this episode has plenty of. Cats doing cat things.

Finn finds a cat with a box over its head and the cat leads him to a kingdom full of cats with boxes on their heads. The cats can’t talk, but Finn thinks that the cat he found is trying to tell him that he’s the true ruler of the kingdom and his throne has been usurped by an imposter. Meanwhile, Jake has something stuck between his teeth. Finn eventually realizes that this cat kingdom probably isn’t even a kingdom and Jake gets the thing out of his teeth. This episode is super exciting, let me tell you.

Soooo… do you like cats?

That’s the only way I can really see someone enjoying this episode. It’s basically just eleven minutes of cats doing cutesy stuff, so if that sounds good to you then this episode is for you, I guess. I’m not much of a cat fan so… yeah.

I’m sorry, this is such a short review. Is it even a review? Probably not, but I’m sorry, I just don’t know what to say about this one.

Rating: 2/10

In this episode, Finn, Jake and Marceline are in an underground sand city to get a special spoon for Princess Bubblegum. Jake accidentally causes an avalanche and seals their only exit, and they’re unable to contact Bubblegum for help. Even worse, Marceline’s supply of red has run out, and if she can’t find anything red to drink she’ll go savage and drink Finn and Jake instead. Finn says that he’ll look around for something red that Marceline can drink while Jake stays with her.

While Finn is looking, Marceline’s thirst is slowly making her more unhinged and more monstrous, which frightens Jake. After exploring the sand city for a while (and finding some pretty interesting stuff) Finn eventually finds what he thinks is a ruby, but when he brings it back to Jake and Marceline, he’s told that it’s actually an emerald and that he’s colorblind. Hm. I wonder what color Finn thinks the dress is. At this point, Marceline is ready to attack both of them, but Bubblegum suddenly appears. Before Finn and Jake can warn her, Bubblegum is attacked by Marceline, who quickly drains the pink from her hair and face. Bubblegum is fine, she just looks a little deflated. So I guess Marceline did get to drink the red from Bubblegum’s pretty pink face. Oh man, this is just making me ship them even more. Finn gives Bubblegum the spoon they were supposed to get for her and when she puts it on her nose, she returns to normal.

Okay, at least this one is more fun. Marceline going rabid from red starvation is both funny and slightly creepy. I like it when Marceline gets to be intimidating and act like a vampire. Jake’s reactions are pretty funny too. I like how when Finn comes back with the “ruby”, Jake is in the process of trying to cook Marceline himself because hey, she was going to eat him so why shouldn’t he eat her first? But to Finn the whole thing just looks so messed up. I also love this conversation when Jake points out it’s an emarald:

• Jake: That’s an emerald, dude.
• Finn: You too now?! Emeralds are green, boyee.
• Jake: This thing is green.
• Finn: Why is everybody messin’ with me? It’s like a dark gray-ish red. Mostly gray. Sometimes red things are gray!
• Jake: You’re a little colorblind… and there’s nothin’ to be ashamed of!
• [The “ruby” is now green.]
• Finn: Oh… whoops.

Finn, are you sure it’s grey-ish red and not light-ish red? (You get points if you know what I’m referencing. The points are worthless but still.) Anyway, I love how defensive Finn sounds when he says “Sometimes red things are grey!” (I’m Canadian so I spell it with an E, yo.) Dude, Finn, you’re totally colorblind. As funny as I think this whole scene is, I can actually sympathize with Finn a little bit because I’m slightly colorblind myself. I’ve never mistaken an emerald for a ruby (at least I don’t think I have?), but I have mistaken blue for green and vice versa, and I’ve mistaken red hair for blonde hair. So I kind of know how embarrassing that kind of thing can be.

Overall I enjoyed this one. Even though not a lot is happening it still manages to be entertaining and funny.

Rating: 7.5/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (Love Games/Dungeon Train)

Finn is looking for a distraction from his recent breakup and wants to get back to adventuring and saving people. It seems like he’ll have the perfect opportunity when Slime Princess arrives asking for his help, but it turns out what she needs is for Finn to marry her. Finn isn’t into the idea, since he’s decided that he doesn’t want to date anyone for a while and is staying away from romance. Slime Princess assures him that the marriage would be in name only, she just needs to get married because her “much hotter” sister Blargetha has married and will inherit the kingdom unless Slime Princess does the same. I like how Slime Princess’ sister has an actual name but Slime Princess is still just… Slime Princess. Blargetha is evil, so she can’t be allowed to rule the Slime Kingdom. Finn therefore agrees to the marriage plan, and off they go to the Slime Kingdom.

While Slime Princess is introducing Finn as her new husband to the Slime Kingdom, Blargetha arrives with her husband, Guillermo. She challenges Slime Princess to the “Trials of Glarb”, which are a series of love games. Not like the Lady Gaga song, these ones are meant to test how much a couple loves each other. It’s declared by Slime Princess’ and Blargetha’s father, the Elder Plops, that whichever couple wins the Trials of Glarb will be made ruler of the Slime Kingdom. Slime Princess and Finn win the first trial (Finn was using Flame Princess as inspiration) but lose the second one (Finn wasn’t able to use Flame Princess as inspiration, I guess) and there’s one final trial the next day. The final trial is a kiss, and whichever couple has the best and most convincing kiss wins. Finn is uncomfortable with this and decides that instead of kissing Slime Princess the next day, he’s just going to beat up Guillermo until he agrees to leave the kingdom. Which is fine by Slime Princess.

It turns out, though, that Guillermo isn’t even alive. He’s just a blob of slime with fake eyes that Blargetha made and pretended was real. Gasp! Actually, this was obvious from the moment Guillermo came out.

• Slime Princess: Blargetha, why would you make a fake husband? You’re so hot.
• Blargetha: You don’t know how hard it is to be this hot. Women don’t want to talk to you, because they’re intimidated, and guys don’t want to talk to you, because they’re too scared. You’re alone in the hottest, most sexiest prison. So I stuck some olives in a glob of gelatin and called it my lover.

“So I stuck some olives in a glob of gelatin and called it my lover” is how I’m going to end every single of of my stories from now. Anyway, Blargetha is disqualified and Slime Princess is made ruler of the kingdom without having to marry.

This is the first episode where Slime Princess plays a major role, isn’t it? Usually she’s just a background character, often as one of the princesses that Ice King kidnaps which means she just gets to look scared/disturbed. This is the first episode where she got to, you know, do something. Turns out I like Slime Princess. At least, she’s pretty enjoyable in this episode.

There’s not much going on in terms of plot in Love Games, aside from Finn still trying to move on from Flame Princess and deciding not to date for a while, I guess. It’s a fun episode, though. Episodes that focus on background characters can be iffy, sometimes they work well and sometimes they fall flat, but this one worked well for me personally. The jokes are funny, Slime Princess is likable (and her voice is really nice to listen to) and the Slime Kingdom has an interesting look that’s partway between disgusting and cool. It’s not amazing or anything, but it’s enjoyable overall.

Rating: 7.5/10

In this episode, Finn… is still looking for a distraction from Flame Princess. Okay. He and Jake find a train that goes in circles and they decide to check it out. Inside the train, each car has different monsters for them to fight. They go through a bunch of the cars and eventually Jake becomes exhausted, but Finn never seems to tire of the train. Even when they seem to be fighting monsters they’ve already fought, he just can’t get enough of it. Jake thinks this is unhealthy and keeps trying to get Finn to take a break, but Finn keeps refusing. In one of the cars, Jake finds an orb that shows the future, and in it he sees Finn as an old man, still fighting in the train car. Jake is disturbed. Finn doesn’t care. Jake tries a few different tactics to get Finn to leave the train, but they’re all unsuccessful until Finn looks into the orb himself and sees Jake alongside his older self, exhausted but staying by Finn’s side anyway. It’s only then that Finn decides to leave the train with Jake.

Well, Finn-getting-over-Flame-Princess episodes are getting old fast. I mean, okay, I’m not being entirely fair since there’s only one episode that has addressed their breakup directly (Earth & Water) and the others have been more indirect, in that it’s mentioned briefly that Finn is distracting himself from her but it’s easy to forget that’s what the episodes are about. Still, it is getting old.

When a couple breaks up in a show, you know that there’s going to be an episode post-breakup that deals with the character’s feelings about said breakup. The thing is, though, it’s usually just one episode to address it and that’s it. Unless it was a) a really long, serious relationship that would obviously take a while to get over, b) a really bad relationship/bad ending to a relationship that would obviously take a while to get over, or c) some awful on-again-off-again thing and OMG DON’T GET ME STARTED ON HOW MUCH I HATE IT WHEN SHOWS DO THIS.

And yeah, this makes sense for Finn. He can be emotional and dramatic and tends to blow things out of proportion but he also doesn’t like to deal with personal issues directly, so him taking a while to get over Flame Princess is perfectly in character. Whether or not it makes sense isn’t really the point, though. The point is, I’m just getting kind of tired of it.

Okay, all of that being said, this episode isn’t bad and I didn’t dislike it. Actually, I think the train is kind of an interesting idea, and it’s a good metaphor for what Finn is going through. The train is literally going in circles, there’s no end to it and enemies are always reappearing, which means Finn can distract himself here for as long as he wants. Yet there’s no real meaning to the train, it’s just… a distraction. It becomes so easy for Finn to lose himself in it instead of confronting his actual problem, and it’s only when he finally realizes how this affects the people around him that he wises up.

But just… no more Finn-getting-over-Flame-Princess episodes? Please?

Rating: 6.5/10

Adventure Time Reviews: Season 5 (Time Sandwich/The Vault)

Jake makes a sandwich. The most perfect sandwich to ever exist. It’s so perfect it literally glows. Unfortunately for him, Magic Man appears and steals the sandwich before Jake can take a bite of it. Magic Man says Jake can have the sandwich back if he solves a riddle:

When your face shows 7:20,

When green leaves turn brown,

The only way forward is down.

Then, you’ll see, the wetter, the better.

That last line? That’s what she said.

Magic Man then jumps out the window and creates a bubble around himself in mid air. Everything in the bubble moves in slow-motion, and it’s presumed that Magic Man will take a bite of the sandwich when he hits the ground. Finn and Jake can’t enter the bubble because it will only make them move in slow-motion themselves, so they try to find some other way to get the sandwich back. They call on some of their friends, like BMO, Princess Bubblegum, and Marceline, but none of them are able to come up with anything that works. Eventually Jake loses hope completely and cries over the loss of his perfect sandwich, but it’s then discovered that Jake can move in the bubble at normal speed as long as he stays sad. That was the answer to Magic Man’s riddle, Jake has to be as sad as possible (7:20 looks like a frown on a clock… how do they come up with this stuff?). So Jake gets the sandwich back and that’s the end of it.

So, Magic Man being in this episode is a plus for me, because I love that weirdo.

I’m really bad at riddles, by the way. Like really bad. If I had been in Bilbo Baggins’ place, I definitely would have lost that riddle contest to Gollum and he would have eaten me. So I knew I wasn’t going to figure out the riddle anyway, but even so whose idea was it to compare a clock showing 7:20 to a sad face? Who looks at a clock at 7:20 and thinks it looks like a sad face? The other lines in the riddle are pretty standard, green leaves turning brown to represent depression, the only way forward is down as in “feeling down”, it’s better when it’s wetter as in tears. It’s all pretty obvious in hindsight, but that 7:20 line is so out there, did anyone know what it meant before the reveal?

It’s a creative riddle, at least, and the slow-motion time bubble was also a fun and creative idea. The whole episode is just fun, and there’s not much else to it besides that.

Rating: 7.5/10

This episode begins with Finn having a nightmare where he’s being grabbed by a ghostly green woman. He’s woken by Jake, who is unhappy that Finn has been having these recurring nightmare for a while now. He wants Finn to deal with whatever emotions or memories are causing them. In other words, he wants Finn to go into his mental vault, where all of his repressed memories are stored. Jake is even less happy to learn that Finn is apparently fully conscious of repressing things he doesn’t want to deal with, and that he refuses to go into the vault. So, Jake needs to trick Finn into hypnosis, and we find out that the ghostly woman is actually one of Finn’s past lives.

The woman’s name is Shoko, and she’s a one-armed thief who steals things for other people in exchange for money. So she’s kind of like a mercenary, I guess. One person wants her to steal an amulet, and threatens to kill her if she doesn’t get it. She goes to what looks like the Candy Kingdom, though it’s still being built. Shoko knocks herself out and is “rescued” by the owner of the amulet. Princess Bubblegum. Shoko is taken inside the Candy Kingdom and treated, and she and Bubblegum start to form a friendship. Later, Bubblegum shows Shoko her greatest creations, the Gumball Guardians. After activating them with the amulet, Bubblegum gives Shoko a present. The present turns out to be a mechanical arm. Shoko tears up upon receiving the present and runs to her room. That night, Shoko is unsure of whether she wants to go through with stealing the amulet, but then she remembers her client’s threat. She steals the amulet, waking Bubblegum and the Gumball Guardians, and makes a break for it. Unfortunately, she ends up falling in a river of radioactive waste. Bubblegum orders the Gumball Guardians to rescue her, but when one of them reaches into the river its arm is burned off. We later find out that Shoko got out of the river, now in a monstrous form, and died shortly after, still holding the amulet.

Meanwhile, having seen the memory, Finn calls Bubblegum and asks her to come over. When she arrives, he reveals Shoko’s body under the floorboards, and the amulet is still there. He returns it to Bubblegum, having realized that Shoko was haunting him in the hopes that he would return the amulet. And we end the episode with this exchange:

• Princess Bubblegum: Whoa, what?! My amulet?! Wait a second… [gasps] Is that…?
• Finn: It’s me, Shoko! And PB, you’re like a bazillion years old. You’re not freaking nineteen! What the heck?!
• [Princess Bubblegum gives a small, half-hearted laugh.]
• Finn: Weirdo.

Dermatologists hate her! Local princess is like a bazillion years old, looks nineteen!

Bubblegum actually being hundreds of years old isn’t a surprise to me, partly because it was spoiled for me and partly because, well, it’s kind of obvious. There are way too many flashbacks that supposedly take place years ago but still show Bubblegum looking the way she does now. It was clear that she was either older than she let on or aged in a different way. Actually, that second one has been confirmed for a while, hasn’t it? We know that the age Bubblegum’s looks depends on her biomass, when we saw her go from an eighteen year old to a thirteen year old and then back to eighteen. But I wonder if that has any effect on her mental or emotional maturity.

Anyway, I really loved this episode. I love stories about reincarnation and past lives, Shoko is really interesting to me and her relationship with Bubblegum is the perfect mix between tragic and adorable (which means I have a new ship… whoops). What’s not to love?

The best thing about this episode is Bubblegum and Shoko’s relationship, it feels so genuine and sweet even in the short amount of time they have. I liked the scene where Shoko is telling Bubblegum about how her parents sold her arm, hence why it’s missing, and Bubblegum is horrified because “Parents should protect their children!” And Shoko just looks sort of sad and confused, like she wasn’t even aware that what her parents did to her was wrong until Bubblegum said so. It seems like Shoko’s never really had someone who was nice to her until she met Bubblegum, which makes having to betray Bubblegum complicated and painful. I can’t help wondering what would have happened if Shoko had decided to take up Bubblegum’s offer and stay in the Candy Kingdom. Maybe she could have been protected from her clients and lived a much longer and happier life. I also liked that when Shoko fell into the river, Bubblegum wanted to rescue her but didn’t seem to care that much about her amulet. She just wanted to save Shoko and was saddened that she couldn’t, even after what Shoko did.

Rating: 10/10