Uncategorized – Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: December 18, 2025

Written & Storyboarded by: Anna Syvertsson, Maya Petersen, Rebecca Sugar & Charmaine Verhagen

Annnnd we’re finally winding down! Or revving up, in this case. Some housekeeping notes before we start, feel free to skip to the next paragraph if you want the meat: I’ll be reviewing the season finale on the day it comes out, take a loooong break from there, and then come back and review season two as a whole. For a couple of reasons – one, because my reviews this season have been about as messy as the season itself. I don’t think there’s really a concise throughline to most of them and they work more as a stream of consciousness. Not to say this format hasn’t worked for me. Honestly, if I wasn’t for the immediate momentum to get my thoughts out following each episode, I don’t know if I’d have a ton of motivation to revisit and review most of these in the future. But I’d like to have something meaningful to say about the season as a whole, and I think I’ll need a good amount of time to collect my thoughts and emotions and see where I ultimately land. Second, because this season has been kind of exhausting! There isn’t a ton of goodwill to be had at this point, even with people who ultimately like this season. I’ve seen plenty of people who like this season act with disdain towards anyone who does not and vice versa. And then there’s the whole subset of weird MAGA inspired discourse around the dynamics of the show that I don’t even wanna touch. It’s just a bummer to be around, so I think a good long break is warranted. I have no idea when Side Quests is coming out next year, but I’ll try to plan to have the season two review done before its release. As for Side Quests, I haven’t fully decided whether I’ll be doing episode-by-episode coverage, but given the nature of the series as a whole, it will probably be one review covering everything. But, for now, let’s get to the episode review.

After dealing with what was possibly the most frustrating episode of this entire spin-off series last week, it’s good to see the season redeem itself again with an episode that is pretty great. Honestly, I think this season has really benefited from the episodes that just have one solid setting throughout, intertwining each segment and character involved. This really worked for me in The Bird in the Clock, and also greatly benefits The Worm and the Orchard. Of course, these are two episodes that additionally really limit themselves on the inner workings of Fionna-World, so I think my biases are also clear. But is it any surprise to anyone that when this series focuses on fantastical elements, people are likely to be more engaged? Just a thought!

This one picks up where the last episode left off, with Huntress finally connecting to the Heart of the Forest through her own “inner mope.” HW’s been looking for answers outside of herself in order to return home when this episode makes it clear that the answers were within her the whole time. It’s cheesy, but also very Ozian, once again tying back into the fairytale woohoo of the season. And the episode doesn’t really hold on this fact too long for it to feel like some massive revelation, it’s quickly acknowledged and expanded upon further when Huntress ends up in the Undergrowth. Along with Fionna, who has fully entered sulk territory. Her absolute apathy towards everything is very funny and connects more to elements of her character that I actually enjoy. I like the Fionna that is just so consumed with her own self-worth that she drowns whenever she’s confronted with her own actions. I think you can’t really get there without having the events of last episode, which I still think were kind of ridiculously executed upon, but I’m a lot more positive about this portrayal than the previous. I don’t think Fionna’s actions ever really nuked her as a character in my eyes, it was more so just exceptionally frustrating to sit through in that singular instance.

Going deeper into the Undergrowth, Fionna is rescued by a mysterious stranger that turns out to be none other than Fern! It’s really neat to see how much the series has kept him in as a valuable player even after his passing in Come Along With Me. I get the feeling that the staff really likes this character, and I get it, I love Fern! I almost didn’t recognize Hayden Ezzy’s voice at first, who has clearly matured greatly since the series finale of Adventure Time. It’s really neat to see him work as a spirit guide to Fionna, seeing as how they’re both kind of cut from the same cloth. Both have had the experience of living in Finn’s shadow, trying desperately to be a beloved hero, but not knowing exactly how to get there and falling into their own sense of self-destructiveness. It was additionally cool to see the exploration of some of Finn’s repressed thoughts, including one that we’ve seen before in Escape From the Citadel, along with some new pain, like getting fully rejected by Huntress Wizard after asking her to move in with him. Ooof! I’m not gonna lie, I did tear up a bit when Fionna touches the massive pain ball that is presumably in reference to Jake’s death. I guess this confirms that Jake died on some kind of expedition and that it wasn’t due to old age. Additionally, it’s so utterly macabre that Finn is referred to as a “sad fruit medley” and that he has tons of repressed memories that he hasn’t yet dealt with. Of course, we know that this has always been apart of Finn’s conscious decision to “vault” thoughts that are just too painful or weird for him to fully acknowledge. It’s clear it’s only gotten worse with time, and I would once again love to see a future iteration of this franchise that has Finn start to deal with these painful experiences that he’s pushed down so far, eventually leading up to him acknowledging Jake’s death on a conscious level.

We get to finally see the Karmic Worm, who was introduced by voice in The Crocodile Who Bit a Log, and who we saw briefly as a background cameo in The Bird in the Clock, as we get to see what he was banished to do after breaking off from his brother. I really like the character, once again portrayed by Sean Rohani, who is just so sweet and likable. They give him a real weight in that he’s spent 1,000’s of years coming to terms with his previous failings and the grief that he’s brought his brother. The way this episode deals with karma as a concept is rather fascinating, having the Worm consume repressed trauma, process it, and then letting that trauma ripen until its ready to be processed on a conscious level. As the Worm indicates, those bits of trauma may cycle back into the Undergrowth time and time again, showing that the cycle of suffering throughout the multiverse is unlimited in its infinite approach to dealing with karmic truths time and time again. I’ve been super into the Buddhist perspective for a few years now, so having the series sort of play around with the concept of saṃsāra is really neat. As the Karmic Worm states:

Thoughts come here to transform. It’s amazing. And not just because of what changes; the changes reveal what stays the same… The truth. It might cycle through here a hundred times, take a hundred forms, but every one is another chance to know it, like you, and the forms you take.

It’s quite a beautiful sentiment that I don’t think has any real concrete answer. The concept of “truth” is so complex that I don’t think it’s exceptionally easy to come to conclusion of what one’s truth is. Obviously, Fionna has majorly struggled with finding this answer in herself after dealing with the often misleading sentiment of “following your heart.” I think the idea here is that, beyond just thoughts themselves, there is an inherent “youness” that always exists beyond thoughts, actions, and states of beings, and that every experience is just another way to find out what works for you and to connect it back to something that expands your worldview beyond making logical deductions. The song is additionally lovely, and had me shedding another tear. It’s another Rebecca Sugar song (more about her shortly) and I think it’s quite incredible how she can whip up these really meaningful songs that are simple, yet so incredibly complex. Like, it’s for sure super sappy, but at the same time I can’t help but watch my cynical heart melt when you have these lyrics that feel like life’s greatest truths are unraveling – the acknowledgement of the darkness and the light, the stagnant, yet always evolving nature of life, and the ability to accept and appreciate the beauty of it all. I really fell in love with this whole section.

Also, yeah, Rebecca Sugar is back on the storyboarding front! The relationship between Adventure Time, Rebecca Sugar, and her series Steven Universe is something that always fascinates me. So much so that I’m going to long ass detour in the middle of this episode review to talk about it. Adventure Time paved the way for the animation industry throughout the course of the 2010s in more ways than one, with Sugar playing a key part in what so many other animated shows have since tried to replicate. The exploration of emotions, intricate character dynamics, somewhat explicit LGBTQIA+ representation, and catchy songs to boot. Granted, Sugar can’t be credited solely for these contributions, but the episodes she’s worked on are so distinctively recognizable in both art and tone that her individual presence is irrefutable. Her own series, Steven Universe, very much followed in the footsteps of Adventure Time, starting out as a goofy, episodic cartoon that eventually evolved into a surprisingly intricate examination into a complex world and its characters. In a lot of ways, Adventure Time walked so Steven Universe could run. SU had all of the hallmarks that made people love AT in the first place, and exceeded upon them in many respects. While AT ended up being somewhat of a prisoner to the status quo in its middle seasons, SU was able to evolve its characters and story beats in a much more progressive way. Steven Universe quickly became more of the flagship show in the animation industry, both in art direction and focus. So heavily that it’s almost hard to ignore how Adventure Time was also influenced by it.

Adventure Time as a franchise has largely revolved around dedicated character arcs with a heavy emphasis on emotion in recent years. Because of the fluctuating nature of the original series, nobody really had a defined character arc outside of individual episodes or long running character themes, and emotion often took the backburner. Not to say that Adventure Time was devoid of emotional moments, but because of how bonkers the world is, the characters, in unison with ourselves, didn’t really know how to react to certain outcomes. You have an episode like BMO Noire where we explore BMO’s psyche, and you’re not really sure if what you’re watching is deeply evocative or entirely silly. You have You Forgot Your Floaties, which is less about the grief Magic Man feels for his lost wife and more about magic and its connection to madness. Even episodes that do inevitably expand upon the emotions of characters, like The Tower, are more of an exploration of how confusing it can be to try and rationalize what you feel in a meaningful way. This isn’t a diss at Steven Universe, by the way. I think it’s a pretty fantastic show that kind of paints an idealistic world where everyone does acknowledge their shortcomings and value truth and love above all. But the sensibilities of these franchises and how they deal with characters and emotions are often day-and-night: Adventure Time‘s characters are almost entirely repressed for a good amount of its run while Steven Universe‘s characters erupt with emotional introspection.

As much as I like ambiguity of how characters feel throughout most of the series, it was kind of cathartic to have something like Islands come around, where Finn finally deals with his curiosity about his heritage, or Elements, when Jake lets out his bottled up stress that comes with being a caregiver. That trend of having characters be more expressive regarding their baggage continued into the spin-off projects, with Distant Lands and Fionna and Cake mostly revolving around characters working through their emotions to the point where I’d argue there is very little ambiguity when it comes to how characters are feeling or what they’re experiencing at any given moment. Even stuff that I think is kind of nuanced in its approach, like Simon’s relationship with Betty, is basically all worked out via a therapeutic monologue he has with himself in GOLB’s realm. I say all of this not to deem one method of writing good or bad, but it is thoroughly interesting to me how much Rebecca’s presence and the impact of Steven Universe seem to have paved Adventure Time‘s future almost as much as its own past has. So it’s fitting that she returns here, to not only once again grace our ears with another banger song, but also to bring Cake’s ongoing internal struggles to a resolution. As much as I kind of dislike how this episode is solely going to be credited as a work of Sugar’s, since many talented artists worked on it and have not been recognized all season, I admit that I’m also kind of a hypocrite! I just spent the last three paragraphs talking about how much of an impact she’s had on this series, and really, it’s hard to ignore what a magical presence she brings to the table. I almost rolled my eyes at the idea of another Sugar song popping up about the beauty of all things – it’s just something that feels like it should be so hackneyed by now. But when it actually plays in the episode, I’m like putty in Rebecca’s hands. It’s hard to ignore what a visionary she is and how much she influenced, and is still influencing the series as a whole.

We also get a ton of Huntress Wizard on the side, which mostly accumulates into a battle sequence between her and Witch Wizard. I don’t know if I really like that Witch Wizard ended up being the big bad of this season, even though I don’t think it really comes out of nowhere, given her role in The Crocodile Who Bit a Log. I think I just did admire the season up to this point for not having any kind of direct antagonist, with time and internal struggles playing the forefront. I don’t think it’s really a huge detractor, and I do like the way their back-and-forth bleeds back into the episode. Witch Wizard struggles to actually transform in a meaningful way (literally) because of how much she’s taken, and her own karma will not allow her evolve as a result. Huntress Wizard is able to reform because she’s connected with her own truth, in a way that I additionally don’t think has been particularly explicit throughout the season’s run. I was bitchy last episode about how little HW has been at the forefront of this season, and I think that stills stands, but I wanna go back to what I said in The Wolves Who Wandered and commend this team for not going the obvious route with exploring Huntress Wizard’s character. I think from the first episode we sort of know what she has to learn already – that she’s mostly closed off and she needs to find a way to connect more with the world around her. The season has mostly steered away from reinstating this, outside of it being a bit overtly alluded to in The Bird in the Clock. I think this episode kind of solidifies the idea that Huntress herself is not necessarily someone that needs to be fixed, nor is Fionna, for that matter. She’s had the opportunity to look over her circumstances over the course of the season and realize that her own form is malleable, and that her role in this world doesn’t have to be so static. Granted, change is only ever so slight. She’s not necessarily a different person from what we see in this episode. She helps the little plant boy recover and then promptly shoos him off before he gets attached. I think a lesser version of this episode would’ve expanded upon the relationship between these two as a clear point of Huntress’s growth, but I think it’s a cool addition into the “everything stays, but it still changes” motif that AT has carried out since the very beginning. Huntress Wizard isn’t some radically different being who is now open to everything life has to offer, but she’s seen the truth of herself and is able to adjust accordingly, for the good of her and everyone in her life. This revelation is additionally referenced in her response to Witch Wizard later in the episode: “You’ll learn to be somebody again.” Even in nothingness, there’s an opening to pave your way into somethingness.

Talked about it more in relation to the Worm, but Cake also has her season long arc wrap up with this episode. It’s once again a nice little revelation for her to recognize that she was essentially transforming for the purpose of others accepting her, and not moving in the direction towards self-acceptance. It’s sweet that she inevitably chooses to stay in a world where she feels welcomed and celebrated, just for a bit to figure things out. It reminds me a lot of Dungeon Train, where Finn learns a lesson, but isn’t exactly ready to give up the comfort he feels in his surroundings. I think it is a lot more understandable here that Cake would want to live here long-term, as it treats her less like a circus attraction and more like her own, special being, but I also think there is a purpose for her in Fionna-World as well. Now that it’s integrated with magical beings, Cake can be a voice for those that are treated differently by society, but it’s nice that she has her own moment of reprieve where she’s allowed to explore what being magical means for her within a mystical landscape.

Fionna’s arc moves forward as well, in a way where it’s hard to necessarily make a judgment on what she needs to do from here. I personally think after the last episode it would kind of be interesting to see her friends not forgiving her and her being left with a way to find her own self-worth that doesn’t depend on the validation of those around her, but I’m open to multiple ways of exploring this. I do still like Fionna, and I think she’s still likable despite all of the baggage this season has churned out for her. I’m not really sure how exactly this team is gonna pull it off, so I am intrigued to see if this heads in the direction of redemption or possibly doubles down on the difficulties of change that this season inherited. We get limited exposure to the citizens of Fionna-World, but it did get a bit of a snide laugh out of me how Gary’s repressed memory revolves around him struggling to be responsible with his family when we just saw Finn watch his brother fucking die. Again, being smug, I don’t think suffering necessarily should be weighed against each other, I just couldn’t help but laugh at it. I really like Hunter’s scene, primarily because I don’t think this world has had dialogue all season that ever felt like it emulated a real human conversation. But Hunter very bluntly stating that Fionna needs to “get her shit together” did ultimately hit me in a very real way. Especially with Fionna’s heavy realization that she’s caused Hunter pain in a way that she didn’t even know could be expressed by them. We also get maybe the most explicit revelation of Fionna’s abandonment as a child, which is about as much as I needed to see. With how much this season has gone to great lengths to just reprise character moments that we’ve already seen examined in the original series, this is a nice, small moment that hits because of everything Fionna’s gone through. It’s not just simply connecting it back to her counterpart, it’s using her counterpart’s experience to accurately build into everything she’s feared and grasped onto for so much of this season. Had this been done earlier in the series or even expanded upon in great lengths, I don’t necessarily think it would work with the same emotional weight that its tackled with here. Ellis’s dream also finally plays out, where we get to hear the Venusian citizen’s words: “go beyond the end of the peach.” One idea about what this could mean – Finn’s referred to as a “sad fruit medley,” with the thoughts themselves growing and ripening like fruits. I think the idea here is to go beyond the fruits, or thoughts, themselves to discover the truth. I think Fionna herself has gotten so wrapped up in what she thinks is her intuition, but it’s just her latching onto thoughts that she’s mistaken as wisdom. Thoughts themselves are meaningless unless given meaning, so simply watching them play out as is and doing your best to use your better judgment is ultimately what leads to that truth. We’ll see if this has further implications in the following episode.

We also get to see the revival of the Cosmic Owl, leading to yet another AT character that beat death. I think many will complain about how short-lived this development was, and how the franchise as a whole seemingly fails to stick to killing off its characters, but I kind of love how finite death as a concept is in the AT world. As the Karmic Worm says, “our kind are like ideas, hard to kill outright.” It’s really neat lore that deities essentially exist based on the belief and thoughts of others, very much in a way that connects to our real world views of gods. And in this sense, we see the thought of Cosmic Owl evolving in real time – he’s gone beyond his role and having had the experience of reconciliation with his brother, he’s ready to move beyond his designated place in the world and become something greater. It’s a really nice way to progress his character in ways that tie back to the episode itself.

We get a brief tangent from Ooo, which made me laugh out loud when the shotgun cocking sound effect plays as PB turns to her last option: calling Minerva. This kinda bothered me at first, because I thought, “oh, NOW you’re calling his mom?” But of course, someone brought up the idea that this is obviously because Minerva will probably advocate for uploading her sons consciousness to the mainframe, which I imagine is something that Finn’s posse, especially PB, are largely against. I’ll be interested to see how much this debate is explored in the following episode, because I think there’s so much you can do with it. With the ever-prevalent concept of AI slowly creeping in to take over the world as we know it, I think there’s a lot you can tackle with this concept that ties back into how we experience this in the real world. Not really sure if they have time to even deal with that, but I’m eager to see it nonetheless.

I really love this one. I feel like there’s so much magic to be had, and aside from The Bird in the Clock, it’s really the first episode all season that made me feel like a kid again. And one of the few that really made me feel anything! Again, it’s not my intention to diminish any contributions of the talented artists that have no doubt worked tirelessly on the rest of this season. Some of which I haven’t even mentioned – the backgrounds in this episode look beautiful, working off of what clearly look like Jesse Balmer’s visual development. I haven’t even properly credited the directors for each episode, this one being Ryan Shannon, which I’m possibly planning to adjust moving forward. But yeah, I can’t deny the chops that Sugar brings to this one. She can’t be solely held responsible, but her segments (lasting from about the 15:10 mark to the 20:50 mark, and I think 7:30 through 8:34?) really reminded me about just how endearing and special this world is. Coupled with a great song, good action, lush landscapes, surprising character cameos, and thematic elements that are just so irresistibly beautiful, this may just be the best episode of this season.

Please, please, please everyone check out The Elephant tomorrow night on adult swim, or next day on HBO Max! It’s an anthology special with Pendleton Ward, Rebecca Sugar, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Pat McHale at the helm, each working on a unique section that none of the others have seen. It’s such a unique experiment and the creative process is so fascinating. You can read more about it here, where McHale is interviewed in length about his experience.

Favorite line: “He basically shits therapy.”

Uncategorized

“The Insect That Sang” Review

December 11, 2025December 11, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: December 11, 2025

Written & Storyboarded by: Graham Falk, Iggy Craig, Jackie Files & Sonja von Marensdorff

Holy moly, we made it! The moment everyone’s been waiting for: the fundraiser!!! So much of this season has been designed around this one plot point that a lot people have pinned as a lackluster motivation, but I always kind of figured that it would play out as a red herring. It’s a very generic 90’s sitcom dilemma, which the season has alluded to time and time again, but here, we actually get to see the fundraiser play out in real time. It’s about underwhelming as you’d expect. I’ve also been fairly forgiving with the pacing this season, as I felt that the consistent complaints about nothing happening in Fionna-World were hyperbolic at best, with most of the action being carried across in meaningful, albeit less exciting character moments. Here, I feel like we speed-run through important character moments in both the Fionna-World segments and the cosmic bits, while still feeling like this episode is jam packed with fodder that doesn’t really add to the experience or story in any meaningful way.

Let’s jump around a bit and start with the cosmic stuff. It’s great to see Orbo again, as well as the other gods (y’all know my affinity for God Lard). Fionna and Huntress are judged by Orbo for their crime of killing the Cosmic Owl, which leads me to believe that the Citadel is indeed no longer functional after the events of Escape From the Citadel. Ratted out by, of course, Scarab. I really didn’t like Scarab as a main antagonist last season, but I enjoy the little inclusion of him as more of a secondary villain. He’s just such a hammy little stick in the mud that it’s hard not to get behind his obsessive tendencies towards law and order and his dramatic patterns of speech. Most of the trial itself is very funny, with some great lines from Fionna herself: “I’ve seen like, five episodes of Night Court,” “call my fake dad!” and “eyewitness accounts are wrong like, 70% of the time.” There’s a brief clip of Rumble Jaw that Scarab flips onto in the Time Room, which was the fake project that the AT team whipped up to disguise that Distant Lands was in the works. My boy Party God gets to join in the fun! There’s also a brief “Jesus” mention from Orbo, which we’ve seen in the Fionna-World segments, but never beyond that world. I’m probably the only one who cares about something like that, but the implication of there being a Jesus in this world is way too funny/intriguing to me. Brief aside, if you are also into that concept, check Jesse Moynihan’s recent pilot. It’s a completely bonkers exploration of a dystopian future, and if you love the more heady bits of Adventure Time, I think this will be right up your alley.

Anywho, back to the episode in question, as much as I am delighted to see more of the cosmos, there’s just as much that frustrates me with the trial itself. Fionna throwing Finn under the bus is probably her most controversial move to date (among others later in the episode) and I don’t really think it works for me. I’ll commend the team for really pushing their main character towards unhealthy levels of recklessness and I get that a lot of this episode is supposed to show her at her breaking point, but I think the execution is pretty wonky. One, because I don’t think she’s a good liar to begin with. She comes up with a handful of different fabrications that Orbo and the other gods aren’t really buying into and don’t make any sense, so I think it’s a bit gimmicky that they would even believe this at all given that she hasn’t told them the truth once and they decide to montage over the sequence where she actually explains how Finn killed Cosmic Owl. Second, I could understand this more if she panics in the moment and just blurts out that Finn did it right away, later apologizing to Huntress for her moment of weakness. You can kind of get a sense of her panic here, but I think it feels a lot more calculated. She comes up with it on the spot, really sells it, and then backs her decision up to Huntress Wizard later on. I don’t know, I’ve defended the season up to this point on making her kind of an asshole, but I think this is pushing it a bit much just for the sake of finally getting Finn involved in the action and paralleling Cosmic Owl’s previous actions with his brother. It didn’t feel like an earned moment of weakness for me personally, especially with everything she went through and experienced in The Bird in the Clock, and I think Huntress Wizard being so uncharacteristically nonchalant about it after they return to Fionna-World added to it feeling poorly executed. Speaking of which, I really didn’t like Prismo’s inclusion either. I thought it was kind of tasteless to have this sort of gag where he’s drunk and really depressed about his friend dying. With how well last season quietly handled Prismo’s grief, I thought it was a really lame move to play up his sadness in a pretty comical degree.

Onto the fundraiser itself, Cake takes the lead in putting everything together in Fionna’s absence, and I think she’s solidified herself as my favorite character in this series. Which honestly isn’t surprising, I’ve always felt that way about Cake in the original episodes. But beyond her ability to just be very funny, Cake probably has the best arc in this season as well. I continue to love the exploration of her character as she struggles with her identity and fawns over M-Cron in the process. I love the commitment of having her and a human character paired together, something that really has revved up the alt-right community online for some reason. There’s been a lot of people claiming that this pairing is disgusting because it’s between a human and a cat, but I dunno y’all, have you seen this show before? Finn symbolically fucked a crab in Breezy, having cross-species relationships is nothing new. I think it’s both hilarious and very sweet how much they’ve committed to this idea, and while I initially thought that the obvious set up for this couple is that Cake would come to the realization that it wouldn’t work out, I hope that doesn’t happen! I think their connection has been very convincingly sweet, and I’d be bummed if they don’t end up getting a happy ending.

We get to watch the acts of Boys Night, and boy, is it laaame. Besides that Marshmallow Kid once again killing it and Marc Maron squirrel delighting me with his presence, I did cringe a little bit at some of the set pieces. Namely Marshall’s song, which I thought was laughably bad. It goes without saying that most of the character drama hasn’t really worked for me up to this point outside of Fionna and Cake’s journey, so trying to play this off as a powerful moment for a character who has had a pretty hackneyed plight all season just flops completely. I know there’s people online that would literally die for this character, but I’m sorry, both Marshall and Gary are such weak links for me. It doesn’t help that we have another dynamic included that I’m less than invested in, being Simone and Marshall reuniting. I once again don’t really care about this connection and think it’s even less than intriguing that Simone is just a totally rational human being who can be communicated with at any point. I kinda figured that snaggle tooth we saw her with in The Cat Who Tipped the Box indicated that she was a bit gone mentally, similar to her other worldly counterpart. I hate to keep making comparisons between Ooo’s world and Fionna-World, because I don’t think that these characters need to be entirely like their counterparts. But when they take these alternate versions and really don’t give them any characteristics aside from being generic and nice, it just feels like I’m watching a washed down version of the original series to begin with.

It additionally doesn’t help that Fionna’s connection with Phelix finally comes to a breaking point where the two share a kiss directly in front of Fennel. Once again, I’ve come to the defense of this storyline throughout the season because it felt more like an internal struggle for Fionna and less like it would play out in the traditional teenage romance drama. But nah, here it is pretty much just the latter. It’s funny how much the season has been playing around with mocking sitcoms and trashy 90s shows while pretty much playing into those tropes and storylines without any degree of irony. We’ve gotten about a dozen dunks at Cheers, but is this really writing that feels above that territory at times? I also really can’t stand Phelix at this point, he’s such a nothing burger of a character. We barely see anything from his perspective so I cannot get any kind of indication of who he is supposed to be besides the fact that he’s kind of an airhead. This series seems so against villainizing any of the human characters in any degree, but in doing so, it makes nothing about Phelix feel consistent. I guess he’s emotionally immature? Or a fuckboy? But the show simultaneously wants you to like him and find him charming? It’s such a poor character journey, and I’ve purposefully kept my mouth shut about it in hopes that it wouldn’t boil over into such trashy fodder. But here we are. I will give kudos that I like the continued bit of trauma Fionna experiences when getting close to anyone as a result of her experience with the Winter King last season.

I don’t hate the idea of Fionna being at her breaking point either and destroying the Sweet Spot, but once again, I think it plays out a bit over the top. She’s borderline devious in how she destroys everything, I think it’s a lot harder to feel for her when her pain isn’t demonstrated in a particularly relatable light. I think, had she gone off and got drunk similar to The Lion of Embers, came back and tearfully destroyed the Sweet Spot, it probably would’ve paid off a lot more successfully. But when she’s this much of a loose canon it comes off a bit ridiculous, and I think it all happens much too quickly. Granted, you have a season entirely revolving around her failing mental state, I just don’t think this level of cartoonish exploding is necessarily earned or executed with the level of pathos that it should be.

And man, what the fuck is even going on with Huntress Wizard? She’s had like, maybe half an episode the entire season dedicated to her arc and has been meandering around all the while. I’ve argued that this is the inverse of last season, where Fionna and Cake are the main players while the third team member is becoming accustomed to their world, but I really don’t think the balance was this uneven last season. HW has occupied such a tertiary role that it’s almost comical hearing her say “I have to find the heart” at least three times every episode. I really feel like this season has lost the mark with her, and it feels all but too late at this point for her to have a successful resolution. I’ll eat my words if necessary, but so much of this season has failed to make her a compelling tritagonist to the point where I almost forgot to mention her at all in this write-up.

I’ve mostly been ragging on this one but I’ll give it the benefit that it’s quite funny. The Lemoncarbs trapping Phelix is great, as are their sick dance moves. Cake consistently provides for some great visual humor, with really great expressions to boot. Hana Abadeer’s quick exit at the beginning additionally got me good, which makes it even harder to root for her son when she’s such a darn fun villain to begin with. I liked seeing all the little Tamagotchi boys once again, proving that these trapped deities only really have future job security when it comes to, well, security. And, over in the brief Ooo bits, having a very somber death being executed with PB’s Ball Blam Burglerber was classic AT goodness, as was her random expression of German dialogue. But I don’t think the more humorous bits in this one are enough to make me feel less tired than I already do. I like a lot of the ideas this episode has on paper, but in motion, I just think it misses the mark. I’m not sure if it’s just the season weighing heavily on my shoulders, but this episode in particular just rubbed me the wrong way. I’m just getting so tired of this trite world and its generic characters and the gimmicky, forced way that drama comes about. There’s still two episodes left to really wow me, but after eight episodes of all three main stories failing to come together in a meaningful way for me, I’m left with one pitiful sentiment: I just do not care anymore.

On a brighter note, the guest sequence is very fun! Directed by Jonni Peppers, an indie animator I’ve been fond of for quite sometime. She made an entire feature length animated film on YouTube only using funds from her Patreon, which is a super impressive feat. You can check out her portfolio here, and I’d additionally recommend checking out her film Barber Westchester.

Favorite line: “Call my fake dad!”

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“The Wolves Who Wandered” Review

December 4, 2025December 4, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: December 4, 2025

Written & Storyboarded by: Maya Petersen, Anna Syvertsson, Hanna Nyström & Charmaine Verhagen

The second I finished this episode, I knew people were gonna hate it. And lo and behold, scanning over all corners of the internet, I haven’t seen many positive things to say about it. But I dunno y’all, I actually kinda liked this one? Granted, I can see why people are becoming increasingly more frustrated. It’s episode seven and we’re taken on a huge detour that mostly centers around the aspects of this season that people, including myself, have not particularly liked. When I saw the preview images for this episode and saw that is was mostly just going to be about Fionna and Fennel, a character we barely know and one that I didn’t particularly care about, I was preparing myself to be in the same boat with everyone. Maybe episode five was the point where I just kind of surrendered projecting my expectations onto the season and just let me accept it for what it is, but I thought this one was pretty decent.

This one is mostly Fionna’s story, with a smidge of HW thrown in. Fionna tries to rescue her ex-man after he’s gone missing for several hours with the help of Fennel, who finally gets a dedicated role. I like that Fionna has evolved from “girl loser” to just straight up being an asshole for a good chunk of this one. It never feels like the character herself is malicious, she’s just kind of a dreamer that prioritizes her own needs and struggles to exit on her worldview when it comes to considering the perspective of others. A lot of the episode is challenging that perspective while showing that parts of her beliefs are yet to be shaken. She grows closer to Fennel here, realizing that she’s not the villain that Fionna painted her out to be, and becomes a bit more aware that the people around her are not exactly as put together as she initially thought. Granted, she still fails to really recognize Marshall’s wants and needs throughout the episode, putting them mostly aside because, in her mind, all of what she’s doing has been for him. Though, as it’s becoming increasingly apparent, that’s not really the case. Fionna has pretty much prioritized her own needs throughout the course of the season, chasing after Phelix and becoming buddy-buddy with Hana Abadeer because she doesn’t want to fail. Most of her actions are a result of her trying to act heroic, but it’s feeding into her own egoic desires instead of coming from a place of truly listening to what her friends want and need. As much as people have criticized the Fionna-World segments for feeling aimless and often tedious, I do think this character arc has been pretty solidly executed all season.

A lot of Fionna’s personal development in this episode is connected to her working with Fennel, who honestly has quickly become one of my favorite of the Fionna-World residents. Granted, the bar isn’t super high, and Fennel doesn’t have that much of a character to play around with, but she is quite endearing. I once again like the inverse of Finn and Fern’s dynamic, with Fionna being the one that envies and resents Fennel, while Fennel herself is mostly none-the-wiser to her turmoil. I like their little back-and-forth dealing with magic eyes, as they run rampant in the city in pretty unproductive ways. I usually don’t really like when TV shows tackle tripping on drugs, because I think they often greatly exaggerate and misinterpret what the experience of being on something like shrooms is actually like. It’s usually presented as lots of flashing colors and visual hallucinations, instead of the absolute childlike bliss of a good trip or the terrifying, dissonant experience of watching your ego dissolve in a bad trip. Here, they at least have the excuse of connecting it back to real magic in this world, so it doesn’t have to fully allude to our real world understanding of psychedelic substances. Even so, there are elements of the “trip” that feel true to life, like Fionna and Fennel’s sloppy crying and glowing admiration of one and other as they return to Earth, coupled with our first glimpse at what magic Fennel looks like! It’s really sweet to finally have actualization of these characters’ dynamic in some sense, after their resolution was cut short in Come Along With Me.

It’s nice to see wizard eyes utilized as a concept in the series once more, which goes a bit beyond the usual gaggle of demons and creatures that we’re used to accompanying this realm. We also get a bit more of an added cosmic perspective, with a trip to Venus that occurs quite similarly to Mars’ ventures in the former series. I kind of like that it’s up for debate how much of this has actually occurred, though I like to believe that Venus is a concrete destination that maybe exists beyond the multiverse? It’s kind of curious how planets really work within this series – are there multiple versions of Venus, or just one that can be potentially accessed through all corners of the multiverse? Part of me kind of wrestles on what I think works better. On the one hand, I think it makes the world a lot more massive if you have multiple versions of planets and deities and gods that exist in multiple different spectrums, but it kind of also detracts from the presence of the King of Mars and Glob is there are alternative copies of them across multiple galaxies. I guess the Lich technically does exist in several different universes, so it probably is likely that these gods have their own doppelgangers. It seems like the show has kind of ignored exploring that concept too deeply, which I don’t necessarily blame them for. It seems complicated!

Venus is a great time though. Love the designs, the color palette, and the city-like landscape that mirrors Fionna-World, equipped with several odd-looking landmarks. Also, a banger of a song! Rebecca Sugar was credited for the tune we heard previously in The Butterfly and the River, but nothing in the outro that I saw references who worked on this one. It sounds like a Sugar song at the very least, and it’s probably my favorite song from the season thus far, which isn’t saying much. Song sequences have been used pretty sparingly up to this point. Tuning into Roman mythology, the planet is based primarily on the goddess Venus, with her sensibilities being the basis for the entire ecosystem. It’s even run by Venus de Milo (referred to as Embolina in the credit), the statue, who is now equipped with mods. Granted, that part of me wondering if this is truly a real place is somewhat squandered by the fact that Phelix is apparently trapped here while actually playing a set down on Earth, but he seems like more of a manifested idea rather than an actual, living being here. I think it’s quite likely that Venus does work in mystics as well, with Phelix being a representation of love and lust instead of embodying his Fionna-Worldly counterpart. The battle sequence with the heart warrior is decent fun, once again with a pretty stellar Amanda Jones score complementing the scene. Tying back into Fionna and Fennel’s connection, I really love how much Fennel’s admiration of Fionna immediately kickstarts her transformation, while Fionna only provides half-hearted forms of praise until she digs deeper and recognizes the truth behind her resentment. Along with the funny gag of Fionna’s love for swords actually paying off, whereas Fennel’s did not.

HW’s segment is small but effective, having her search for Fionna, Fennel, and Phelix in an effort to continue to pinpoint the heart of this world, as she recruits Hunter. As much shit as this one is already getting for not progressing the plot, it is quietly moving things forward, just not in such a grand way. Huntress Wizard has been shown to reject opening up to others as a way to maintain her mystique, but we see her development in not only accepting help from others, but directly asking for it. I think a lot of this is in part due to the fact that HW is practically an alien in this world and is somewhat forced to develop these skills in order to survive, which is kind of a neat little tie-in to what makes this world human. Huntress Wizard comes from a mystical world where she can survive off of her own skills and magic as a means to get what she needs, but she’s completely out of practice here. Nothing that she has is helping her get any closer to what she needs, so she really has no choice but to depend on others to help see her plight through. It is somewhat of a fish out of water story in that regard, but I do once again appreciate all of the little bits of her character growth that are sprinkled in subtly. I do think she’s kind of gotten the short end of the stick compared to all we went through with Simon last season, but I will say there may be a bit more nuance to what we’re watching here? Simon’s story was great but it was admittedly heavy-handed. We had an episode like The Star that was pretty much devoted to reinstating in a million different ways how much Simon needed Marceline and vice versa. We really haven’t gotten a dedicated exploration of Huntress Wizard’s journey, which is kind of a qualm I have on some degree, but having HW intertwined with Fionna and Cake’s story this season, while last season had the duo more involved in Simon’s story is a nice reversal, albeit one that I’m not fully enamored by. I also actually have kind of grown on Hunter a bit! I’m probably not gonna go back and change all the times I referred to them as “him” throughout the past two seasons, so please accept my retroactive apology for misgendering you, Hunter. It’s cool once again to have a character backstory that actively distances itself from the original counterpart’s. HW can be seen as quite arrogant and untrusting, though I wouldn’t refer to her as particularly angry. So giving Hunter anger issues, alluding to a side we’ve really never seen from them, was a really nice character touch. It’s additionally cool to see expansion from a character that has kind of outgrown their counterpart? Like, we watch Gary and Marshall planting the seeds for their relationship last season, while we watch the inverse of Finn and Fern’s connection throughout this season. Hunter has had their own character journey and identified aspects of their life that they wanted to improve, while HW has really not been forced to have that level of introspection until now. It’s a neat touch that once again adds a little bit more depth to this world that can bounce back and forth between feeling expansive and completely hollow.

Other shtuff: Cake is, as usual, delightful and provides for some of the episode’s funniest moments. I especially like her one response to Fionna about dreams that is clearly just an outtake from Roz Ryan that they chose to use in the episode itself. Her obsession with M-Cron continues to be quite funny and sweet, and I especially got a kick out of his little horse-like leg shake after being envisioned as his magical counterpart. We do get to see more magical versions of these characters, as well as a return of the timeline expanding trees, which makes me ultimately wonder if we are going to see some kind of reverse in the matrix of this world, returning everyone into their magical counterparts. The return of “what the Björk” was a welcomed surprise. Ellis P’s little opening that appears to be a sign of more mystics to come was fun, with Pendleton Ward continuing to boast the most comedically obnoxious inflections for this character. We also get some moments with Gary and Marshall, which are fiiine. I like how this bakes into Fionna’s central story (no pun intended), but I still don’t really care about Marshall’s story or his connection to Simone. I’m being a bit snide here, but I think the connection they’ve built up with Simone is a little unbelievable. Aside from my feelings of this relationship already retreading the emotional beats from Marceline and Simon’s connection, I think it’s kind of laughable how it’s played up that Hana Abadeer is a villain for interfering with Marshall and Simone’s relationship when he is a child interacting with a adult. Like yeah, within the context of this story, Hana is horrible. But I dunno, I’d probably be fuckin’ pissed if I saw my child hugging a random stranger in the park too! This season has really tried to nail down the fundamental human nature of the world, but I think this is kind of an outlandish situation that they’re trying to convince us is endearing only because we know this relationship from the original series. I just don’t think it really works for several reasons, but I guess I’ll be prepared to eat my words when Rebecca Sugar eventually shows up and writes a song with them that will make everyone cry.

As is, this one is pretty alright! I understand everyone’s criticisms and complaints with it, but like last week, I had a decent bit of fun watching the otherworldly elements play out in relation to the Fionna-World dynamics, so I don’t think it was a complete loss. It was also refreshing to not have an obligated visit to Ooo in this episode and just let the main dynamics play out as is. It’s been brought up again and again, so I’ll once again reinstate that I don’t really think the pacing is that egregious in relation to the Fionna-World segments. I think development has been kind of carefully sprinkled across each episode in favor of exploring the characters in Fionna-World a bit more methodically and building on why we should care about these characters. Does it always work? Definitely not, but I think the people who claim that “nothing has happened” are being a bit hyperbolic. Do I wish that there was more action and comedy packed into each episode? For sure, but I do think there’s a bit more of a calculated approach to the Fionna-World segments than people give them credit for. I see the vision more and more with each episode, and even if it’s a direction I’m still a little wary on, I can at least start to say that I understand what this season is looking to accomplish and why it’s doing what it’s doing.

Not an artist shoutout this week, but if you guys are into the AT comics, you should definitely check out this video by NICKtendo. As someone who has selective experience with them, it was neat to get an all-encompassing look at the various series and arcs they tackled, so even if you haven’t read and you just like the series, I would definitely recommend checking this out!

Favorite line: “One thing that’s not open to interpretation is dreams.”

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“The Bird in the Clock” Review

November 27, 2025November 28, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: November 27, 2025

Written & Storyboarded by: Jackie Files, Iggy Craig, Jacob Winkler & Graham Falk

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

I always love AT‘s dream episodes, as they usually allow for some of the most freeform opportunities to explore trippy visuals and hidden symbolism. It’s something that’s been crucial to the series since its very early days, with the Cosmic Owl’s presence being reinstated time and time again. It’s only fitting that the conclusion to this character’s role in the series is given a proper send-off, in yet another really fun excursion.

Before we get into the main story, there’s another guest-directed opening, spearheaded once again by Graham Falk. It really bummed me out that last episode broke up the momentum with the special sequences, so I’m glad to see they’re back once again. So far, I think Falk’s sections are my absolute favorite of the bunch. I love his malleable, cartoony style that somehow additionally meshes so well with the cosmic side of the series. I would’ve never expected Cosmic Owl to have a dedicated backstory, yet here we are. The story of the brothers and their cosmic crimes is fun, with some clear inspiration points in mind. Twins are commonplace in mythology, along with trickery going hand-in-hand, with the Maya Hero Twins feeling like a potential point. I also get big Adam and Eve vibes with the etheric pizza being a stand-in for the forbidden fruit, and the brothers simultaneously being cast out as a result (wouldn’t be the first biblical reference this season). Of course, this is done in the most Adventure Time-y way possible, mixing very comic novelties with genuine mythos. Also, so glad to see my boy God Lard back once again. It’s like the team read all of my complaints about the season so far and retroactively put him in the episode, just to shut me up a little. Really nice to hear Sean Rohani back again as well, narrating the entirety of the opening. It’s so sweet how they found a way to incorporate both Rohani and Nanjiani in meaningful ways, never feeling like Rohani really had to compromise too heavily as a result. We also have the return of the Citadel Guardians after a loooong absence from the series, and it seems like there’s even more to come with them in the future. Oh, we are so back!

Let’s get to the stuff I really like: the dream section. There’s a few different ways to tackle this, so I’ll jump on Fionna’s stuff first. It’s really cool how much Fionna’s fears range from average human psyche biz to absolute dimensional horror. We get a brief interlude into Marshall Lee and (possibly?) DJ Flame’s dreamscapes and they’re entirely connected to pretty standard neuroses and fantasies that come with being human. Fionna is both tied to her fear of being loser as well as the trauma she’s experienced throughout the multiverse. This season has been really smart at making this a quiet backdrop for her character; I’ve always liked how much repression is a common theme in the series. So many of these characters don’t deal with their trauma on a conscious level, and that’s kind of the basis of the original series in general. Everyone is carelessly trying to figure out how to act and survive in the aftermath of a world-altering shift that is rarely ever dealt with head-on. So, to have Fionna have these subconscious glimpses into her guilt and fear, without necessarily pathologizing it, is very cleverly executed.

Cake’s little tangent with her fear of being “wrong” is similarly well-executed, and it doesn’t treat itself too seriously. It reminds me a lot of Jake’s explored fears in Come Along With Me, where it doesn’t attempt to make them too complex, but there is something potent to be said about what was explored. Here, it’s very similar, where we’re treated to a warped sitcom setting in which Cake meets her babies. It was so cool to finally get some inclusion of the pups – or in this case, kittens – in this world, and it did not disappoint. Really sad to see how Cake is somewhat ashamed of them, as they very much remind her of the parts of herself that she’s less than comfortable with. Cake’s plight is really unique, because on the one hand, she asked for this! But in typical AT fashion, the happy endings that we’re often treated to aren’t so clear cut. There’s still consequences to be dealt with even amidst a character receiving what they wanted, and it continues to be engaging to watch her try to find comfort in her own skin despite her wishes being granted. It was hilarious to see Ms. Cupcake show up unceremoniously to schmooze M-Cron – a fear that apparently exists in all corners of the multiverse. If I had one petty complaint, I wish we didn’t get the quick flash of magical Ms. Cupcake’s design. Feel like it was included just as a way to identify her fully, but like, seasoned AT viewers already know who this is! Sullied the joke just a slight bit for me.

As we explore deeper into the Finn-Mind, we’re treated to the return of Farmworld Finn. It’s great that they found a way to incorporate him once again without having to utilize multiverse hopping, though I’m somewhat certain this isn’t the last we’ve seen of him. We deal with elements that the previous season left open, like the loss of Jay and Little Destiny, who we see at the beginning of the episode looking very… normal! I’m still not entirely convinced the cameo last episode was supposed to be Fionna-World versions of them? Like, I could still totally see the possibility that a board artist included a rough sketch of them in, and it was an oversight on the part of the overseas studio to translate them model-specific. But at this point, if I was this team, I would just roll with the punches and say it is a Fionna-World version of them. Increase the number of questions about how this world works and never answer ’em! One of my gripes with the way last season ended is I thought Jay and Little D leaving their home to join Fionna-World felt a bit selfish and drastic, and it was kind of written off as a happy ending. Here, I still don’t think they’re really dealing with the implications of this? Farmworld Finn is, at the very least, happy that his son is alive and well, but it’s kind of brushed over pretty fast in service of exploring other ideas and topics. I don’t think the season has the capacity at this point to wrap up Jay and Little Destiny’s arcs in a successful way, so I’m not really gonna be persecute the team too much for not fleshing it out further. I moreso blame Cheers (the finale of last season – I totally get that it’s confusing I refer to the episode and the TV series the same exact way) for including such a large curveball in the first place. Regardless, I love FarmWorld Finn, so having him in any capacity is great. Jeremy Shada once again does a great job of carrying out his more baritone inflections without them feeling silly, and having FF dedicate himself to helping his otherworldly counterpart is quite sweet, given their history.

We get the most Finn content we’ve had all season, and man, is it great to see my boy back in action. I will admit, it slightly bums me out how surface level we’ve seen him throughout the entirety of this spin-off. With so many other characters taking the forefront, and Finn taking the back seat, the series hasn’t really allowed him the same level of introspection that other characters have been dedicated to. We mostly get boneheaded Finn, who has thrown himself into danger at the chagrin of his beloved and aimlessly has adventure-brain even in the midst of being comatose. But don’t get me wrong, I love this sweet, dumb boy. His segments definitely made for the most fun parts of the episode and it did harken back to some of his goofier moments in the original series. The repetition of “who are you?” had me laughing out loud, as well as the insistence that Fionna is his “girl-Jake.” So it’s really not a loss, I don’t think this is out-of-character for Finn and I’m just happy to see him in any capacity. I just know that boy is hurting a lot and I long for some kind of exploration of how he’s dealing with what he’s going through. But now’s not the time unfortunately, and I can only hope we get more of his perspective in future seasons and projects. I did additionally love how he’s sporting his bro’s sword after it’s been absent from the show for a whopping 14 years! It was additionally brutal to watch him die over and over again, but there was a bit of a dark glee I found in just how relentlessly it was executed. Namely the clock woodsman that axes him to bits. Woof! This season has been doing a great job of playing into the suspense of his situation. We know he’s not gonna die because we see him in Together Again, but – oh, they made him rapidly age in the previous episode. But maybe he only looks like he’s old and – oh, they literally show his Together Again design in the dream sequence. Again, I doubt we’re going to see Finn die by the end of this, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t buy into the stakes more and more as time goes on.

The dreamscape itself is great, with some really excellent backgrounds and characters that all nod to time running out. Really great designs, including the elevated clock bears, and the sheer amount of clocks and numbers that arise in the background. Also, notable is the amount of dates and times that felt very meta to me? Could be reading into this too much, but the February 10 date on the calendar and the 12:03 timestamp are connected to two individual episode airdates: The Red Throne and All the Little People, respectively. Considering how much Fionna has been headstrong in trying to win back DJ Flame and willing to manipulate her surroundings to do so, I would not be surprised if these were intentional connections that reference back to her main arc. There’s a few blink-and-you’ll-miss details, like FarmWorld Finn’s face morphing into his Ooo counterpart at points (which feels like it could be an animation error? Who knows!) Cuber’s little commentary excerpt was hilarious – I like to imagine that he’s still out there in the distant future just watching over everything and having a ball. A great little Phil cameo in the box Huntress Wizard was searching in, feels like forever since we’ve seen him as well! Along with some classic backwards talking ala Twin Peaks and backdropped by the auditorium we previously saw in Orb.

Oh yeah, and we FINALLY get to see Fionna and Finn interact with each other! This would definitely be a bit more special if it wasn’t teased to death in the initial promos and trailers, but it’s still pretty great. Despite what I said about Finn being boneheaded, I do like how he’s the one that kind of serves as a guru to Fionna. Of course, his methodology is simple and easily misconstrued as we see later, but Finn is a pretty simple guy with a noble heart. He’s someone that so seamlessly follows his values in a way that makes it look easy, something that Fionna struggles to accomplish in her own life. Granted, it hasn’t proven to be a perfect method for him. His desire for thrills and adventure is ultimately what led him into such a predicament, something that also ends up corrupting Fionna by the end, but it’s his intrinsic goodness and trust in the world around him that is so admirable. Even if his message does get bungled by the episode’s end, I do think his words are true for him, no matter how simple they are.

Huntress Wizard also plays a supporting role in this episode, with a lot of the big developments happening literally at her hands. The craziest thing that’s happened all season is the murder of the Cosmic Owl, which I have to imagine will have big cosmic consequences by season’s end. The return of these otherworldly elements is great because I think you could argue cosmos is a large part of Fionna and Cake‘s DNA as well. So much of the first season was exploring the Time Room and the other entities and deities surrounding it, so having it be a consistent part of the series is great and definitely one of the aspects I’m most interested in seeing more of. Back to HW, I like her role in the episode, even if I feel like her presence this season is less than fleshed out efficiently. We lost some time with her throughout episodes three and four, and last episode was much more of a fun expedition as opposed to a character journey. Here, it’s very much the same, except her relationship with Finn is sort of tacked on by the end of it. We’ve gotten some glimpses of Huntress Wizard’s solitude throughout the season, but her arc has kind of taken the backburner. Last season, I really liked how each episode in the multiverse explored part of Simon’s character that maybe he wasn’t even totally well aware of through fun and creative ways. Here, I don’t think Huntress Wizard’s journey thus far has really pertained to her individual arc of learning to trust others and be more open about her feelings, so it feel somewhat overt for Fionna to blurt out HW’s resistance to being open to Finn as a way of trying to shoehorn in the lessons she has to learn. Season one had Fionna carefully realize Simon’s dilemma over the course of several episodes, and it made sense by the end of Jerry why she would conceal the crown from him. Here, I don’t really think it’s earned that Fionna recognizes HW’s resistance to showing affection, because it doesn’t feel like these characters have worked off of each other enough. I dunno, at the very least I found it to be unsubtle, and would’ve preferred Fionna simply noticing HW’s reaction to Finn rather than vocally addressing it.

We also have a little taste of both Ooo and Fionna-World on the side. I’m really glad the whole Hana Abadeer drama isn’t played up as much as I was expecting last episode. I really pictured everyone being pissy at Fionna, which would last several episodes, but everyone just kind of accepts it here. Almost a bit too uncharacteristically? Like, I sort of feel like Marshall should be pissed at Fionna for involving his mom in his life when he clearly has no desire to do so. I guess he is kind of a pushover, but given how much he can’t stand Hana, I felt like there maybe should’ve been a bit more resistance, though I’m not really complaining. I really like HW and Hunter’s meeting and how HW kinda just wrecks him for no reason. It’s a big deal that is treated so casually by HW herself, and I continue to enjoy how bluntly standoffish she is. We get more DJ Flame tension, everyone’s favorite part of this season! In all fairness, it’s kept brief and done pretty well as an execution of the ever-so confusing “follow your heart” advice (more fairytale woo-hoo!) It’s funny to see how negatively people react to watching her chase after Flame, because it does remind me so much of how pissed at Finn everyone was during the course of season five. I don’t mind this exploration of Fionna, because I think it ultimately does tie back into her chasing after her own fantasy world. She clearly admires Finn’s heroism but is somewhat misled by it, equating it more to the success and presentation rather than the acts themselves. She wants to be this world’s champion and just doesn’t realize that she’s chasing after an idea rather than identifying ways she can make simple, positive changes around her.

The Ooo bits are fun this week, even if I feel they are once again slightly undercooked. We have Marceline be tempted by her vision of the VK to bite Finn, which is a return of the lingering concept introduced in The Dark Cloud. I think this happens waaaay too fast and I really wish it had some introduction earlier in the season. I really like the idea of Marceline being so worried about her friend and tempted by the VK’s impulses as a means of saving his life, I just don’t think it’s executed well in such a short amount of time and seemingly without any kind of internal struggle. I’ve been complaining about how little Marceline has had to do despite being an active presence all season, and I wish this plot point had a bit more leverage to be explored. You’d think instead of having her float around aimlessly and say things like, “hey Bubblegum, remember when I ate you out last night?” they would even include just a small reference to this earlier on. But I can’t complain too much because, what the fuck, Old Lady Princess is back? And she’s voiced by her original voice actress, Kerry Kenney-Silver? What is up with this season and the random nods to season one?? I’m not complaining though, that was probably the biggest delight, and for all of the characters that have gotten recast this season, it’s so funny that she has the same one after only portraying her once 15 years ago. I like Bubblegum getting progressively more neurotic as time passes by, to the point where she’s prioritizing the public’s perception rather than immediately focusing on a cure. And who can blame her, they’ve pretty much tried everything under the sun to no avail. It continues to be both really funny and quite poignant how this team is trying everything to help their friend. Once again, I really felt Walch’s delivery of “I hate seeing him this way.” The icing on the cake has to be BMO showing up at the end, drawing on Finn’s face in a bit of careless whimsy. It’s fitting that the episode this season that has felt the most like Adventure Time for me ends with the most Adventure Time style ending.

So yeah, this was a blast. I don’t think it necessarily forgives the sins of this season’s earlier episodes, as Huntress Wizard’s saga still feels slightly underdeveloped, the Ooo segments feel like they’re just sloppily running through solutions with little payoff, and the Fionna-World bits still fail to really grab me. But at the very least, I had fun with this episode, something I haven’t really felt for most of the season. It’s a high stakes battle against time that is also quite funny, and has plenty of little details to explore that don’t just limit themselves to cute Easter eggs. I was always kind of interested in where the season was heading out of pure fascination with how committed they were to telling a non-magic story, but now that we have magic back in the mix, the cat is kind of out of the bag. I do feel like it reads as a bit unconfident how this show is with mainly focusing on the slice-of-life elements of Fionna-World, but I’m not complaining. It’s Adventure Time! This is exactly the kind of stuff I signed up for, and even if there’s a bit of lingering sloppiness, I’m happy that I at least found that spark I’ve been looking for all season long.

This week’s artist shoutout is Jackie Files, who has worked on several episodes the past few seasons. In a time where promo art is all but dead with the series, Files has been whipping up little previews for each episode she’s worked on, and they’re really great. They remind me a lot of the style Steve Wolfhard used to use in his promos. Files also makes really neat ceramics, one of which was used for Fionna and Cake‘s art show at Gallery Nucleus. You can check out her portfolio, including promo art and boards she’s worked on, here!

Favorite line: “He’s risen.”

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“The Cat Who Tipped the Box” Review

November 13, 2025November 17, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: November 13, 2025

Written & Storyboarded by: Jackie Files, Jacob Winkler, Graham Falk & Iggy Craig

Another week, another Fionna and Cake, another opportunity to bitch and moan for a little bit! It’s been interesting to see the wildly differing viewpoints about this season so far from all sides of the spectrum. I’ve seen plenty of people really get into the shipping elements and dynamics of characters, some who have complained about the pacing and the frustration of the weekly release schedule, as well as some very blatantly misogynistic takes about how Adventure Time went from a story about a boy and his dog to a woman in her 30’s having period cramps. It’s probably the most divided I’ve seen the fandom since the Muto seasons started, and as I’ve made obvious in the past few weeks, I can kind of see why. Part of me wonders how much of this is because of the altered release schedule, but I think even in the early days of watching the original series and being more drawn to the episodes that would be lore heavy, I would still have an appreciation for any episodes that did focus more on being laidback and less heady. Granted, that was at a time where we basically assumed AT had an unlimited number of episodes, where now we’re limited to 10 every few years. So if an episode doesn’t hit, it’s much more noticeable this time around. Yet, I’m still inclined to believe that it does go beyond just taking a while to get going and the actual execution of tackling the more grounded elements.

In the aforementioned interview, Muto states:

It’s fun seeing these soft, round, cartoony characters dealing with real adult problems… That juxtaposition is part of what makes it work.

A departure from the initial series for sure, and not necessarily a wholly unwelcomed one, but the main problem I have with that statement is that I’m not really clearly seeing the juxtaposition. Most of these characters are not explicitly cartoony. Some scenes that really started to unravel the specific issue I’ve been having with this world involved Phelix and Fionna’s relationship, entirely complemented by somewhat generic relationship banter. I’ve batted this idea around a few times as of recent, but the dialogue in these episodes is feeling particularly uninspired. I think the entire series is kind of in this stalemate where they want to deal with real world issues and treat them with a level of dramatic integrity (i.e. the phone call with Hunter) but not treat it so heavily that it feels too detached from the source material. While I agree that Adventure Time doesn’t need to devolve into Euphoria levels of character drama, I think the dedication to having more of a focus on characters with grounded goals and feelings is missing one key element: fun. I don’t feel like I’m having fun watching some of these characters and relationships play out, which was never really something that factored into the original series.

AT could handle the mundane in really imaginative ways; Root Beer Guy is a story about a candy person dissatisfied with his day-to-day life, played out as an old melodrama that never takes the plight of the main character too seriously. Characters that have unmeasurable power, like Kee-Oth, are basically just regular dudes that need to do yoga to manage their stress like anyone else. A demon from the Nightosphere has anxiety about his IBS acting up on camping trips. The juxtaposition was always that these weird, crazy characters have innately human attributes to them, and that’s what made them particularly quirky. Here, we have human characters that, well, act predominantly human. I wish there was more of an emphasis on these characters being odd, because outside of Fionna and Cake themselves, they just feel kind of lifeless as is. Gary and Marshall have somewhat devolved from their captivating exploration last season to just sort of being a cutesy couple stripped of their individually contrasting personalities. Hunter’s whole character has a level of self-seriousness that makes him feel like a real bore whenever he’s on screen. And Phelix is probably the worst offender thus far – I think his role in Fionna’s life adds layers to how she continues to chase after things that aren’t necessarily good for her, but Lord is he bland. I think you could make the argument that the grounded elements themselves are the issue, but I’m not really convinced its the world itself. Honestly, one show I keep getting reminded of when watching Fionna and Cake is Bee and Puppycat, which was coincidentally created by Natasha Allegri, who developed the concept of Fionna and Cake way back in 2011. Bee and Puppycat‘s world operates in a way that’s really similar to Fionna and Cake – it’s a pretty normal scape with the focus being a girl in her 20’s (sort of) dealing with adult issues, along with her magical cat and a sprinkle of otherworldly elements incorporated. What makes Bee and Puppycat so great, to me, is that nobody actually talks or interacts like a real human. The dialogue is so awkward and clunky that it does almost feel more like a spiritual successor to Adventure Time than Fionna and Cake does on some level. It’s proof to me that I think you can do grounded and still make it quite fun, but I find that anytime there is an extended amount of focus on the human characters, it is so particularly lacking in the zest that AT is so known for that it almost feels like a different franchise entirely.

I feel bad taking a section every week to talk about what isn’t working for me with this season thus far, but it feels additionally dishonest if I only go into this forcing myself to praise the good elements and not talk about the parts that I find severely lacking. As I’ve been seeing more and more lately, I don’t think I’m alone in that camp either. Granted, there is that hyperbolic attitude I mentioned in the first paragraph that really doesn’t gel with me either. Do I think season two has effectively ruined the legacy of the franchise for me? Not at all, I just don’t find it particularly engaging. I think most of the people who are saying this really haven’t been fans or even viewers of the series for years, because there are key elements that are working for me. Once again, the special opening sequence looks gorgeous. The lush woodland backgrounds look so rich, complemented by designs that I immediately recognized as works from Tom Herpich. It’s quite a sad and morbid exploration of HW’s early years as well, having to bury her foster parents and being forced to travel on her own as a result. The trope of “dead parents” is obviously done to death at this point in animated fiction, but since we’re drawing specifically from fairy tales as a reference point for this season, I think it’s all-the-more fitting. HW is finally moving more into the spotlight after a while of stagnating in her current state, and I’m excited to see her play more of a vital role in this season. Her changes in design were really fun to see, especially with how Fionna reacts to her more petite transformations.

This one is mostly about Fionna again, and while I have issues with mostly everything else in these segments, I do quite like Fionna herself. I think she has been very charming throughout most of the season, once again aided so thoroughly by how Madeleine Martin portrays her. I think the dialogue Fionna is given probably suffers from the same issues that other characters have, but Martin has such a unique, bubbly voice that it’s hard not to be enamored by her performance. Once again, I like watching her kind of struggle to be heroic because of her own flaws and desires taking the forefront. Her being kind of a bitch to Fennel was quite funny, as I once again enjoy the elements of her that make her a bit more of a selfish character. Another show that I think does the “struggling in your 20’s” genre quite well is Girls, which seems to somewhat play into the blueprint for this series. Fionna and Cake‘s not as extreme as Girls, nor do I think it should be, but anytime they really play more into the “girl loser” bits of Fionna’s personality instead of focusing on the sort of washed out niceness of nearly every other character in this world, it reminds me of what makes that show so great. It’s what helps Fionna to feel a bit more complex than the rest of her posse, and I almost wish they would push it a bit further to be honest! But seeing as she’s practically homeless now, I’d say we’re not that far off.

As much as I have doubled down on the human elements being banal, I was kind of surprised to see how surreal the Cake parts ended up being. So, in this world, sitcoms are comprised of miniature people whose sole purpose seems to be to perform for a live studio audience. I still have no idea why they insist on hammering in Cheers week after week, but it’s kind of hilarious that it’s escalated to this level of outlandishness. It’s nice to see that there are levels of absurdity in this world that don’t make it so explicitly ruralized, and it’s something that everyone just seems to accept with full sincerity. Granted, I think the whole twist is kind of dumb, but it’s at the very least AT levels of dumb, and I can get behind that. Cake continues to be my favorite of this bunch, and once again I am enjoying the exploration of her trying to find her own place in this world. It’s kind of sad honestly that she’s been downgraded to just a form of entertainment for the townspeople around her – it makes the scene with the little girl in the first episode feel so much more impactful. But can you blame them? Cake transforming into a huge scorpion was rad as fuck, we’re all part of the problem.

The Ooo segments are bite-sized in this episode, but as usual, are quite good. It’s such a massive bummer to see the Enchiridion destroyed again for a wish that doesn’t even come into fruition. Prismo’s kind of a dick here for not supporting Finn after the boy risked his life for him years prior, all to hide it from his roommate who nobody even likes in the cosmic world! I do like how he has his own little musical motif whenever he shows up now; it first popped up in Prismo the Wishmaster when he introduces himself, and played in the previous episode when we first see him. Also, glad to see his pickles are getting praised by interdimensional podcasters,.

Simon’s portion with the Ice Thing is probably my favorite section of this episode – last season ended without any kind of meaningful interaction between the two, which appears intentional now. Simon isn’t quite ready to confront his demons and probably hasn’t visited Ice Thing in quite sometime. Honestly, it seems like nobody has, which is quite sad. Come Along With Me seemed to imply there was an effort on Marceline’s part to stay in contact with him, and it might be happening behind the scenes still, but I also kind of imagine that they just kind of stopped seeing him over the years as she got closer to Simon. He seems crazier than ever, so it’s not a total shock that it may prove to be bewildering to spend an extended amount of time with him. I’m glad that he at least has Turtle Princess, but it did bum me out how this is clearly not the Ice King that we knew and loved. It was nice to see Simon have maybe a slight bit of fondness or sympathy for him, similar to his connection to Candy Queen last season. I’m excited to see what exactly will come from using the Demonic Wishing Eye, after it’s been utilized in such a minimal format over the course of the series. Does this means Simon’s gonna lose a piece of his soul? Dude can’t win. Once again, Hynden Walch kills it in the booth, with PB delivering an entirely warranted demand for Huntress Wizard to comply as Finn withers away. They’ve really been doing a great job with showing her at wit’s end, once again resorting to using magic to try to save her friend. It’s been a little disappointing up to this point how Marceline is just kind of there to float around and make poor, quippy relationship jokes from time to time. I don’t really think it would make sense to leave her out entirely, but to just have her there and not really contribute a ton is a bit of a drag.

Some other stuff I liked in this one: backgrounds look great! The human world certainly has its monotonous elements, but having a large variety of vibrant, beautiful backgrounds helps to break up some of the uniformity of the cityscapes. A few cameos I noticed were Lizard Princess as “Liz,” the director of Cheers, Breakfast Princess’s human counterpart in the mark, as well as the bear from Billy’s song, Hambo, and a sea lard appearing as toys in the carnival. We get teased to Ice Queen’s role in this season, which I’m looking forward to see unfold. It seems like they may not even know each other? The only board identifiers I noticed this time around were the man in the record store, another clear touch of Graham Falk posing. Adam Muto did also note in the article linked above that because of the current pipeline to produce an episode of F&C, board artist touches are far less noticeable this time around, which is a shame. But yeah, that’s mostly it. I’m still not sold by this season and it does get more difficult week-by-week to not be able to break through the sense of disinterest that I’m feeling. With the midway point happening next week, I can only assume that HW is going to have a more consistent role from this episode on, which may spark a new light for me. But I am also noticing that I’ve been saying that literally every week since we’ve started, and while I want to have a degree of patience for what’s ahead, I think it is safe to say for me personally that this season did not start in a particularly strong way. Loved Huntress Wizard’s opening, the Ooo stuff has consistently sucked me in, and while I like Fionna and Cake, their segments have weighed down this season heavily for me. I’m still eager to see where this is all heading and what lies ahead. But in some regards, I think it’s fair now to let some feelings of disappointment be expressed.

Udo Jung, who has been with the series since Distant Lands, spearheaded the special section for this week’s episode. It’s nice to see him get such an opportunity to direct his own segment, as his background work throughout the past few years has been beautiful and make me really want an Art of Fionna and Cake book to come out at some point! You can check out Jung’s portfolio here.

Favorite line: “She’s like, if a shrub was a person.”

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“The Lion of Embers” Review

November 6, 2025December 5, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: November 6, 2025

Written & Storyboarded by: Charmaine Verhagen, Maya Petersen, Kris Mukai & Hanna K. Nyström

Shipping has always been kind of an intrinsic element of the F&C world. The first three episodes featuring Fionna and Cake were mainly designed around showcasing the most prominent pairings in the series and letting them run rampant. So to see that the series is still very much interested in playing around with these pairings, while combining them with the dissection of fairytale tropes, is quite a fitting pair. Even if I still have some qualms about the presentation itself.

Let’s tackle the Fionna and Cake stuff first. I’m slightly more optimistic about some character work within Fionna-World this week, even if the story beats still are not doing it for me. I just still can’t really get behind the more grounded elements of this world no matter how hard I try, and think that’s just going to be kind of a constant every time we spend an extended bit of time in this realm. So rather than continue to emphasize my qualms with the direction of the series, I’m gonna focus more on what is working up to this point. I actually like how much of a loser Fionna is! I was worried that, with her arc somewhat completed in the previous season, all of the parts that made her unique in the past would kind of be watered down. There’s been glimpses of her struggling to change in the first two episodes, and while this direction has kind of been teased for a while, I had worried she was maybe a little too conscientious. It’s hard to pull off the notion of a character being selfish when she’s constantly thinking about the others around her, but she’s pretty self-destructive here. She self medicates by binge drinking, throws herself onto Hunter, and is actively resentful of somebody who she doesn’t even know.

Breaking through the idyllic 90’s sitcom backdrop, Fionna’s struggle to actually find stability in her life is quite well done. I remember everyone kind of wincing at the fact when Muto revealed that these characters were somewhere in their late 20s, because the expectation has always been that once you get to that point in your life, you should pretty much have it figured out. Fionna’s role has consistently proven that there’s no amount of guaranteed reprieve for the work that you’ve put in and the suffering you’ve endured, which is a sad truth that she’d rather bury underneath the desire for any type of connection at all. Once again, Madeleine Martin breathes a lot of life into this character, really selling the emotional scenes where she’s at her absolute lowest. It’s additionally sad to see that she seemingly is still traumatized from her experience with the Winter King. There’s a brief flash of his face when she tries to kiss Hunter, and it’s not really explored in much more detail than that. Just a glimpse of how much it’s still lingering in her subconscious, something the season has not shied away from. Also, fans have been speculating that Hunter is trans. There’s a shot of him taking his shirt off, with a scar shown around his chest area. Could just be a wound, but very cool inclusion to see if not, and once again very subtle. It’s nice that this series has been continuing to advocate for the LGTBQIA+ community amidst a world that has grown increasingly oppressive. (UPDATE: The night after this episode aired, Hunter’s voice actor confirmed that the scars are indeed from top surgery)

It’s additionally neat to see how Fionna’s “soul connection” with Phelix is crushed in a way that both connects it back to her Ooo counterpart and also somewhat shatters it. Finn and FP have a bit of a tumultuous relationship back in the original series and it’s no exception here, with Fionna mistaking her connection with Phelix as some sort of prophetic love bond, instead of a stepping stone for moving on to something more healthy. Finn and Fionna both yearn for their former partner and don’t see the potential red flags that come with pursuing something that they probably should’ve left in the past, but the dynamics have changed a bit where the emotional maturity seems much more of a fault on DJ Flame’s side rather than Fionna. I mean, he invited his ex to his concert only to make out with his current girlfriend on stage, with Fennel finally debuting by name (and finally getting a win! Nice flip flop of Finn’s connection to Fern). It’s referenced back in Ooo when Flame Princess mentions that she herself has a new relationship, showing that this is a romance that just simply wasn’t meant to last in all corners of the multiverse. Was gonna wait to talk about her in the Ooo segments, but holy shit, it’s Flame Princess! So wonderful to see her again after years of being absent, even if it ends up just being a notion of debunking true love’s kiss. I think the series has been pretty smart in showing that, even with connections that span across universes, there are subtle dynamics that set them apart. While I’m convinced that Fionna and Phelix’s relationship was purely a mismatch of contrasting wants and needs, Flame Princess shares a poignant moment and acknowledges that she did love Finn. I feel like it would be a bit of a disservice to show this relationship only as a missed opportunity, but the episode very cleverly sprinkles in this impactful moment to remind us that what we were watching for so many years wasn’t entirely surface level.

Granted, I do feel somewhat like it continues to be a disservice to Flame Princess how much her role has been squandered throughout the years. DJ Flame seems pretty one-dimensional, and I’m not sure I really see them trying to do anything to flesh him out further. Of course, I could be wrong, but with so many different characters to explore I somewhat doubt he’ll really get any true time to shine. Not that I really want to see him take on a bigger role, I don’t really like the character that much. But with so many iterations of Ooo’s citizens getting their own loving portrayal in Fionna-World, it seems kind of sad to see FP’s role demoted so egregiously to further add tension in Fionna’s life. And as much as I liked FP’s sweet new fire suit, to have her show up so many years only to reinstate her relationship with Finn is somewhat of a bummer, despite how much I liked the scene itself. It just is kind of sad to me how much promise this character started out with, only to be overshadowed by nearly every other major cast member in the series and even ones who began more in the background, like Huntress Wizard. Poor FP.

Additionally, I actually quite like Cake’s whole arc that the season has been playing with! I enjoy how much Cake has additionally filled Finn’s shoes this season; Finn’s role in the original series was always that he was the only one of his kind contrasted by a world of colorfully odd characters that he struggled to truly relate to. With Cake, she’s the odd one out now, trying desperately to connect to a normal world and not knowing how to. I mentioned in the previous season that I didn’t really think Cake needed to have an arc and that I’d be fine if she was really just there for comic relief, but I think this is a legitimately interesting way to explore the addition to magic in this world. Namely because I’m really not sure how this works. Is it going to be normal for a human man to be dating a magic cat? What are the ethics of this? With all of the ways that this season has ruthlessly been demolishing fairytale tropes, I would not be surprised if this ended in heartbreak for her, but genuinely this is one of the parts of the season where I’m not certain exactly what it’s trying to say or where it’s going. Like last season, I kinda get the gist with where they’re heading with Fionna’s character, and what lessons she has to learn to feel more comfortable in her skin. With Cake, it’s kind of a mystery, and it’s neat “will they, won’t they” that comes with a plethora of different predicaments.

Some other bits I liked in this section: Gary’s little gushing over Marshall singing was funny, as was Ellis P.’s fairly useless attempt at helping the team. I continue to enjoy the special title sequences that play around with different styles, this one feeling sort of like a Little Golden Book story. I initially just saw the transition into Fionna-World as a comparison point for the more fantastical things that were happening prior, but I’m pretty sure this is portraying the exact moment when Simon was zapped of his magic mind. It’s cool how these characters have backstories and whole lives that kind of just happened despite the fact that they just suddenly incarnated into the bodies of late teenagers. Also, Cake origin story! I love how it all started with a sandwich – once again, these characters can only be so strong outside of their universal traits.

Over in Ooo, we’re treated to a return of all the princesses we’ve come to know, including newer entries like See-Through Princess and a deepcut like Cotton Candy Princess. It did my heart good to see so many classics back again, with several getting their own moments grandeur. Wildberry Princess reminding us that she’s bent on carnage and taking out a Banana Guard, Hot Dog Princess trying to get freaky with it, Breakfast Princess still being prissy, and even LSP being up to her usual antics. Although there is a human stand-in for her that we check in with regularly, I truly missed LSP (or LSQ now?)! I also like how tertiary characters like Embryo Princess, Emerald Princess, and Engagement Ring Princess get their moment in the limelight by reminding us of their connection to the Enchiridion’s power. Granted, I would be shocked if they got anything to do outside of a line or two, but having background entities that have been in the series for so long actually have a role in plot development is quite nice. Simon, PB, and Marcy all continue to provide enjoyment in these sections. Simon’s pretty much the only voice of reason among this gaggle of insane princesses who are either just trying to get it on with someone on their deathbed or have no idea what to do. I think this could’ve easily dumbed down Peebs a little too much, but she’s grappled with magic in the past at the expense of her own scientific pride. I’m sure she doesn’t really buy into the idea that “true love’s kiss” is really what is going to help Finn, but her desperation and lack of understanding about the mystical world are quite clear, once again sold perfectly by Hynden Walch’s performance. It’s a bit of a bummer that John DiMaggio isn’t around, even for his smaller parts of a Banana Guard and Muscle Princess. I would guess that they asked him to come back in some capacity, and I wonder if he turned it down either because of a busy schedule or out of a lack of interest in being delegated to bit parts.

Baked into the C-plot is some cosmic junk, bringing a glitchy Prismo, Scarab, and Cosmic Owl back to the forefront. Kumail Nanjiani is once again back as Prismo, which is delightful to see. Again, while I thought Sean Rohani did a fine job last season, it just feels so right to have Nanjiani back in the driver’s seat. I like the little portions in the Time Room, along with the vague explanation of how the mystical world works. It’ll be interesting to see if the Sean Rohani character last episode ends up being some new cosmic being that exists beyond the multiverse; loving the idea of expanding this world even bigger than it already is. I couldn’t get into Scrabby much last season, but I do like his dynamic with Prismo, and it’s nice to see that now that he’s not the primary antagonist of the series, he’s allowed to soak up goofier moments and feel less tryhard. Cosmic Owl is next to suffer a fated recast, though this makes sense with the death of his original voice actor, M. Emmet Walsh. The new voice actor is fine, though I find Walsh’s inflections to be way funnier. I like the lingering tension built around whose croak dream he would be apart of, even if I was nearly certain that it wouldn’t be Finn or Huntress Wizard. To have it be Big D was fun twist, with the implication that we’re gonna be seeing some changes in the exploration of FarmWorld this season. I really didn’t expect Peanut to get any kind of bigger role after last season, so watching him be propped up as a new antagonist is certainly fun. The dream sequence itself is mostly straightforward; I was gonna note how there is also a wolf in this dream as there was previously in The Hare and the Sprout, though this instance appears to be a lot more literal than metaphorical.

And then there’s Huntress Wizard, who is pretty insignificant in the overall story because of her current state. Save for a separate dream sequence that once again incorporates Dream Warrior, once again seemingly confirming that he is the same person as Spirit Warrior. Similar to his role in Who Would Win, he offers cryptic advice ala The Man from Another Place from Twin Peaks (along with more Cheers references that I continue to groan at). I imagine HW will be exploring this advice more as the season continues on, but I couldn’t help but feel these ambiguous offerings also pertained to Fionna’s journey. “Follow the beet to the roots,” i.e. Fionna followed the “beat” of both her heart and DJ Flame’s set pieces to discover the root of her problems, namely her desire for instant gratification. Additionally, “a broken tool seeks the flame,” speaks to Fionna’s inherent sense of brokenness and her desire for a spark to keep her going. This is probably all a stretch, but as I’ve said before, it’s always fun to play around with the different theories and meanings you can derive from each mystery.

One brief aside about this episode: there was a lot of discourse about the frame of PB and Marceline on the balcony when the trailer for this season dropped. A lot of people pointed out how close their eyes were drawn together and used it as a statement to how much the show’s individual style has been butchered over time. While I think there’s an argument to be made for the show’s art design evolving from the beginning of the series to now, the instance that people pointed out is literally just how Kris Mukai draws the characters. The pupils being so close together bleeds through her entire section of the episode (from the 3:20 mark to about the 8:50 mark), but they don’t really look like that in any other portion. So there, everyone can stop complaining about this now! Let’s protect the individual contributions of board artists bleeding through instead of it feeling like one homogenized visual experience. (EDIT: THINK these were actually instances of Hanna K’s style, as opposed to Mukai. Still!)

This one is alright, I think a lot of it does depend on how much you enjoy the Fionna-World stuff, and at the risk of beating a dead horse, I am not super into it. But I think it would be to the detriment of this blog if I didn’t at least try to engage with what these segments are trying to accomplish, and as is, I think they’re doing a decent job at it. There’s plenty I do like in this, it just so happens that the direction of these episodes so far has not particularly been my cup of tea. It just wouldn’t be fair to the talented staff who do continue to put a lot into each episode if I was to dismiss it entirely. As is, I continue to be drawn more into the parts of the show that engrossed me to begin with, while feeling more distant to the human elements. But biases aside, I have to give credit where credit is due to the parts that are succeeding and managing to catch my attention as the season progresses.

This week’s artist shoutout is Elle Michalka, who designed the special opening for this episode. Michalka has worked as an art director for several of AT‘s sister shows, including Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, and The Midnight Gospel, as well as Pendleton Ward’s recent pilot Mystery Cuddlers. Michalka’s visual design is gorgeous, and it was a great call to utilize her for the style the intro was going for. Michalka’s designed several other pieces that pay homage to Little Golden Book, like Steven Universe‘s The Tale of Steven and the storybook sequence for the movie. You can check out her portfolio here.

Favorite line: “Don’t use the pointy part. Use the lemniscate end.”

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Adventure Time: Righteous Jukebox

September 11, 2025September 11, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

Hello friends! Somethin’ a little different this time around, I’ve been editing videos more frequently as a side hobby and decided to whip up a fun side project using AT‘s music. The purpose of the video was to convert it into a VHS tape, but I figured I’d upload it to YouTube as well.

Give it a watch and jam out to some good tunes! If it’s popular enough, I’ll do a second volume down the line.

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Artist Spotlight – Graham Falk

July 16, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

Graham Falk is an interesting case – he originally joined the series for some guest board work during season five for Shh! and Root Beer Guy. In most instances, guest board artists will work on a few episodes before moving onto other projects, or simply as a one-time opportunity, like Kris Mukai and KC Green. However, Falk continued to work on the series sporadically throughout season 6 and 7, until he became a fulltime regular for season 8 and eventually even boarded the very final scene for the original series finale. There’s a lot of unique attributes to Falk’s role in the series, first being that unlike a good majority of the staff, he’s a seasoned veteran in the animation world. While most artists have a few previous gigs under their belts, Falk’s career in animation dates back as early as 1980, working as a layout artist and character designer, among several other roles for many successful animated shows. Falk even had his very own series, Untalkative Bunny, which ran for three seasons. Falk’s cartoonish style and love for classical animation can easily be seen in his work, which translates into his time on Adventure Time.

Art Style

Falk is somewhat of an enigma when it comes to locating his artwork. He doesn’t seem to have an online presence or portfolio, which tracks since he’s had such a longstanding career even before the presence of the internet. If it’s not evident enough by these screenshots, Falk’s main inspiration point in both art and storytelling is that of silent cartoons from the 1920’s and very early 1930’s, most evident in his series Untalkative Bunny and his design work for Over the Garden Wall. Dumb, silly expressions, stretched facial features, oval eyes, tilted line-of-action, dramatically big mouth emotes, and monobrows are all hallmarks of Falk’s touch. A lot of those same idiosyncrasies can be found on Summer Camp Island. For as unique as Falk’s touch is, some of his episodes for both Summer Camp Island and Adventure Time can look pretty standard and difficult to decipher, until one expression comes along that can easily be pointed out as a Falk drawing.

Finn & Friends

This one was difficult because there’s Falk hallmarks that are found across every character, and then there’s just the way that Falk draws Finn specifically – I tried to settle for a combination of both. Something very common in Falk’s posing is the 70ish degree angle that characters will stand at, as seen in images one through four. Expressions will additionally be slightly crooked, with boomerang-esque shapes, shown in Finn’s expression in image three. Expressions will also be quite large, specifically in the mouth. Falk Finn’s will be seen with huge, teethless smile, or big frown-y scowls, seen in images four and five. More standard shots of Finn from Falk actually hearken back to his earlier model sheet look, a departure from the more modernized look that most storyboards artist had adopted by the final season, which can be seen in image six. And, while most artists at the time were competing for who could draw the largest eyes on Finn, Falk’s eyes are maybe some of the smallest. Falk also likes drawing Finn in sideview perhaps more than any other artist, as seen in images three, seven, eight, and nine.

A lot of Falk’s touches for Finn also impact Jake: dramatically angled posing, wackier-than-usual expressions, a focus on sideview shots. Jake also suffers a similar fate as Finn, with Falk’s style being somewhat conformed in the final season and less of his touch being evident, as seen with the model sheet-esque Jake in the ninth image. I love how Falk draws Jake’s eyes, with the whites taking center stage and the black mildly outlining them. Falk Jakes also occasionally have mouths that don’t connect all the way to his jowls, as indicated in the first and second images.

A handful of Falk specialties. Monobrows, extreme angled posing, big frowns and smiles, eyes with thick, black outlines, and sharper-than-usual edges on mouths.

Promo Art

Some of the few pieces of AT promo art that Falk has whipped up, including a paper plate canvas for Sad Face.

Concept Art

Miscellaneous concept work from Falk of designs he whipped up for the hardware store owner in Root Beer Guy and the visual scope of Abstract.

Title Cards

A few original title cards that Falk designed, along with a large chunk of concept sketches that didn’t make the cut.

Storyboards

A collection of silly Falk boards.

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Artist Spotlight – Sam Alden

April 16, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

A late bloomer during the OG series, but one that became just as recognizable as the longtime alum, Sam Alden joined the series starting with The Mountain and later became a series regular beginning midway through season 7. Alden was often paired with Jesse Moynihan in his early days, before taking on a similar role as his counterpart, being paired with many different partners throughout the rest of the show’s run. Pretty much anywhere he landed, Alden delighted with standout boarding efforts and some of the better Finn-centric entries in AT‘s last run.

Art Style

With a main focus in pencil art, Alden’s portfolio consists mainly of his short-form comics and intimate, portrait-esque illustrations. It’s a natural fit that Alden was paired with Jesse, as Alden’s love for vivid colors is easily apparent in his work. Experimentation with color can be readily seen in the examples above, with harsh contrasting elements, two-tone schemes, and washed out, dreamy backdrops.

Finn & Friends

The biggest dead giveaway that Alden had his hands in an AT episode is the quotation eyes, which Finn is frequently seen sporting, as seen in images four, five, seven, and eight. I just said on my last post that Moynihan takes the cake for the biggest, roundest pupils on Finn, though I may have spoke too soon. Alden will often draw Finn with massive pupils, a face that takes up most of his head area, very large ear nubs on his hat, and some big, eye bag accents. Also, Alden’s Finn has a generally lengthier body than other iterations, sporting longer arms and legs. Honestly, it’s fitting that Alden wrote the Come Along With Me gag where PB acknowledges how tall he’s gotten.

Jake isn’t a character that Alden has had a ton of time with, as he’s predominantly absent from a good chunk of the artist’s portfolio: The Mountain, High Strangeness, Happy Warrior, Whispers, The Wild Hunt, and Blenanas. So, it’s a bit difficult to point out his Jake, but he still boasts some unique touches. Something consistent with other characters Alden draws (including Finn) is the focus on a character’s bottom teeth with no visible top teeth. There’s also some idiosyncrasies he shares with his board partner, Jesse Moynihan, such as the eye shape and the black sections peaking out on both sides of the white.

Some other characters/shots where Alden’s influence is apparent. Quotation eyes, absolutely massive pupils, and some bottom teeth love.

Promo Art

Alden has created some of the most beautiful promo art the series has seen. Probably the most consistent in format, as each promo feels like it is part of a whole series.

Concept Art

Alden has worked behind-the-scenes to develop a bunch of different elements that made their way into the series, such as the Mountain of Matthew, Bandit Princess, the electric boar, Ice Finn’s domain, and some early looks at Finn’s parents.

Title Cards

With the exception of the Islands and Elements miniseries, Alden has designed the title card for every episode he’s worked on (excluded are The Wild Hunt and Blenanas, which did not have rough versions available).

Some title card roughs from Alden.

Storyboards

Select Alden boards. The unavoidable quotation eyes and a glance at Normal Man‘s fast-paced mountain sequence.

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Artist Spotlight – Jesse Moynihan

April 7, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

It’s Jmoyns time! I’ve gushed about Jesse plenty on this blog; aside from Tom Herpich, he’s probably my favorite board artist in the series. So much of his own personal tastes and style bleed into those boards in a way that’s really inspiring to me. He’s come a long way throughout the series, starting out with some really wonky drawings that didn’t translate super well into the final animation to becoming one of the most rounded and consistent artists, both art and tone wise.

Art Style

Moynihan’s artwork, done primarily with all physical materials combines psychedelic colors, geometric shapes, and fantastical characters wearing wrestling gear. He started off focusing on making comics, which mainly consisted of his series Forming, before getting recruited by Pen Ward to work on AT. Jesse typically tackles both the spiritual and psychological through his own work, which transferred over into most of his AT outings from season four onward. More than any other storyboard artist in the series, Jesse has poured a large chunk of his life into his writing. Each artist has their own personal voice and quirks, but I don’t think anyone quite reached the same level of vulnerability that Jesse did. The show almost became a diary for him at certain points, as he dealt with his own questions about finding inner peace in The Mountain or had a raw unraveling when struggling to cope after a tumultuous break up with his former girlfriend, whom he also called “Margles.” A lot of his stuff has been pointed to as an example of the show’s growing pretentiousness, though I think his relationship with the series is probably the best example of its strengths. Using the show, its characters, its world and its rules to create something personal and unique with each individual outing.

Manly

Manly, a short made by Jesse and his brother for Cartoon Hangover, additionally exhibits the hallmarks mentioned above. It’s also a good chance to see more consistencies in his drawings that cross over into AT, namely the eye shapes, forced perspective, and a contrasting blend between simple designs and complex anatomy. Unrelated to Manly, but Justin Moynihan, Jesse’s brother, has contributed a bit to the main series musically, including Lost in the Darkness, Love in the Darkness, and the Booboo Sousa song. Jesse has also contributed to the show song-wise, including Real Power, Yeah Girl, It Stinks, and Braco Don’t Go.

Midnight Gospel

Moynihan served as art director for Pendleton Ward’s other series, The Midnight Gospel. A lot can be taken away from the background art in terms of how it matches the sensibilities detailed above. It’s a perfect mix between Ward’s simple charm and the psychedelia of Duncan Trussell.

Finn & Friends

Moynihan Finn’s have some BIG round pupils. Maybe some of the biggest Finn pupes in the series (Not counting Lucyola Langi, because she obviously takes the cake). When they’re not massive and circular, a classic Moynihanism is the slanted, oval eyes that appear on a lot of different characters, notable in images one, four, and five. Moynihan Finns also most commonly emote with raised eyebrows, seen in images six, seven, and eight. His Finn usually has more teeth displayed than the average Finn, as seen in images five and eight. While eye highlights are something common throughout the series and with every artist, Moynihan’s eye highlights are usually much smaller and more muted, as seen in the first and last image. And perhaps one of the biggest dead giveaways for a Moynihan Finn is the more defined shoulders, noted in images two, three, and seven. In fact, Moynihan is perhaps the artist that most frequently draws Finn without his backpack. Examples include Hitman, Who Would Win, Breezy, Is That You?, Astral Plane, and Checkmate.

Moynihan Jakes usually possess the same simplistic, raised eyebrows that his Finn’s have, as seen in images one, three, five, and eight. Perhaps most distinctive are eyes Moynihan draws for Jake, which will slant in the same sideways motion as Finn’s, with the whites receding into the black, as noted in images five, seven, and nine. In fact, the black in Jake’s eyes often swallows up the white pupils, making them much smaller than most board artists – seen in most images but primarily in one, four, six, and eight. Jake’s eye sockets will additionally often bulge off the side of his head, noted in the first two images. And, in typical Moynihan fashion, Jake’s shoulders are much more prominent. Seen in images one, three and four. A Moynihan Jake ear will often curl off the side of his head, but often not as dramatically as a Muto or Nyström ear.

Some other Moynihan character shots. Lots of slanted eyes, forced perspective, big pupils, extra teeth , defined shoulders, and the occasional sassy arms-on-hips.

Promo Art

Moynihan has created A LOT of promo art throughout the series, mostly in a black-and-white fashion with heavy shading, while some let his love for bright, vivid colors shine. Others are simplistic notebook doodles, which I always appreciate as well. Board artists don’t need to create promo art for episodes, so I always like when they commit to putting something out, even if that is just a simple doodle on paper. Some are really elaborate, like his last two season six episodes that incorporate live action elements. It’s pretty cool to additionally see the shear volume of people Moynihan has worked with throughout his tenure. He most consistently worked with Ako Castuera, but has partnered with various other artists, most notably throughout seasons 5 and 6. He might be the artist with the highest volume of partners? I could probably fact check that, but I’m not gunna.

Storyboards

Some select Moynihan boards. In a similar look to his promo art, Moynihan will often incorporate his own sense of shading into his boards, even if said shading doesn’t make it into the final product (i.e. Betty). Also included is his love for forced perspective, and a cameo from the lost beta character Tiny Hippogriff.