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“Business Time” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Original Airdate: April 26, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Luther McLaurin & Armen Mirzaian

The episode begins with Finn and Jake lighting flame guns (with the help of their pal Flambo!) and thawing out icebergs in order to build their coveted gauntlet dock, a dock that is also a gauntlet. During their scavenging, they melt through an iceberg and find four men dressed in business clothes.

It’s worth noting that this is the first episode to deal with the post post-apocalyptic elements of “Adventure Time”, as the Businessmen were likely frozen sometime during the war. Pendleton Ward himself said that this was the episode that kickstarted the idea that AT took place in a world after the apocalypse, and that they just kinda stuck with it after that. I didn’t really make anything of it at the time I first saw it, but watching it on subsequent viewings has added a much more interesting twist toward the episode.

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The Businessmen can’t remember anything about their past, except that they enjoyed doing business, so Finn hires them to finish working on the dock. The Businessmen quickly finish the dock and F&J take it out for a test run, featuring a really entertaining and well-animated longshot. Finn and Jake decide to hire the Businessmen full-time, to which they are ecstatic about. Back at the treehouse, the Businessmen assist the boys by monitoring Ooo for danger and cleaning Finn’s golden sword. When Hot Dog Princess is being attacked by battle cubes, Finn and Jake attempt to slay them for like, six hours to no avail. F&J feel burnt out, so the Businessmen take over. After the day is saved, Hot Dog Princess wants some sugar from Finn, but he’s like, “hell naw” and one of the Businessmen takes one for the team.

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The Businessmen begin doing everything for our duo as the two just sit around and eat ice cream while playing video games on BMO. Hey, it’s BMO! Sorta weird how his first appearance doesn’t even include a speaking role. Finn and Jake get really obese and lazy from eating so much ice cream, as they realize that the Businessmen are sucking up the Fluffy People in some big vacuum contraption. The boys realize it may be time to get some action, and confront the Businessmen. They say they want to suck everyone up into their “care sack” where they plan on protecting everyone from danger, which is somewhat psychotic, but hey, they’ve been in an iceberg for 1,000 years. Finn fires them for their actions and they have a hissy fit, as they begin to go crazy. While trying to suck up Jake, his fat clogs up the machine, and it eventually bursts. Finn rehires the Businessmen and orders to freeze themselves once more. The boys decide to go back to adventuring and Jake shapeshifts back to his normal body weight and Finn attempts to do the same, but nothing happens. The end.

Besides the brief apocalyptic references throughout, this episode’s a bit of a bore. The Businessmen are quirky and a bit amusing, but aside from them, this episode’s somewhat devoid of good humor. In addition, an episode that involves Finn and Jake just kinda lazily sitting around while other characters participate in likely more entertaining adventures off-screen isn’t an especially promising setup. It’s a bit of a slow one from start to finish, and doesn’t really mix well with how energetic and upbeat the past seven episodes have been. Overall, a pretty lackluster and forgettable episode.

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“Prisoners of Love” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Original Airdate: April 12, 2010

Written & Storyboarded by: Pendleton Ward & Adam Muto

The episode starts out with a solid minute of Finn and Jake sledding around in the Ice Kingdom, which includes the usual fun snow activities of decapitating snow golems and covering a cyclops in snow. I have to say, even though I find season one of AT to be the weakest of the series, it really does a great job of establishing an element of fun and excitement. Finn and Jake are pretty intoxicating to be with throughout the first part of the episode, and it’s hard not to want to join in on their good times.

During their fun and games, the boys accidentally bump into the Ice King, effectively pissing him off. Ice King bickers with the boys back and forth about his status as a big nerd, and how F&J were just trying to cool off because a totally hot Lava Man is outside the treehouse (not sexy-hot). Ice King summons his snow monsters to kick some little boy and magic dog ass, but F&J prevail. The duo rubs it in Ice King’s face, but IK freezes them into a block of ice. As they return to the ice castle, Ice King tosses Finn and Jake into a cell with a bunch of kidnapped princesses, including Wildberry Princess, LSP, Slime Princess, Hot Dog Princess, Ghost Princess, Emerald Princess and Raggedy Princess. Where’s my girl Embryo Princess??

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Slime Princess informs Finn that Ice King had been keeping them there for weeks in order to pick the perfect bride. Finn and Jake brainstorm ways of escaping, including using Finn’s iconic flute, but it’s ineffective. Jake suggests shapeshifting his hand into a key-hand, but Ice King freezes Jake. Finn flips out and the princesses complain that they aren’t having any fun, even though Ice King read them the classic timeless novel “Baby Whoozlefut & the Wuttlebugs.” IK then suggests they should all play instruments, while Finn strategizes a plan with a very detailed thinking face. God, it’s weird seeing Finn with eye-whites.

While Ice King takes a shit, Finn devises a plan for the princesses to all act like they’re having fun so IK can release them. The plan works, and Ice King opens the cell, only for Finn to kick him square in the face. Finn confronts the Ice King and knocks him unconscious, as Ice King enters a dreamlike world and ponders his existence. It’s both pretty funny and pretty sad to watch; obviously Ice King is insane, but you just sorta feel bad for this guy. Sure, as the Cosmic Owl states, he’s a sociopath. But he’s written so charismatically that even after threatening to kill princesses, you still just want this old creep to have a friend or two!

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Ice King awakes, but all the princesses have escaped, along with Finn and Jake. Slime Princess then asks Finn if she can marry him, but Jake claims that Finn pees in his pants constantly, so SP backs off. Somewhere, a 7-year-old bed wetter is feeling very triggered. My condolences to that child. Anyway, this episode was a pretty solid introduction to Ice King. He doesn’t quite sound like the IK yet, just as how Jake doesn’t really sound like Jake yet, but you feel sympathetic for him as well as feeling like he’s a decent threat, while also being able to laugh at him. Quite the combination! Like I said before, this episode does a really great job of showcasing the enjoyable presence of Finn and Jake, while the past two focused more on the bond between the two. The beginning is an invigorating journey through the Ice Kingdom and the energy remains throughout the episode. I also really enjoy the extended cast of princesses they introduce, including one of my favorites, Slime Princess. I could listen to Maria Bamford talk all day long, truthfully. (insert pun about this episode being cool here)

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Introduction

Adventure Time Reviewed

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Hey all you AT fans out there! Welcome to Adventure Time: Reviewed, a blog where I will be reviewing every episode of AT over the next year or two. As this blog begins, I plan on reviewing two episodes on Mondays and two episodes on Fridays, but as time goes on, I’ll transition into reviewing two episodes that will be posted each Friday.

First, however, I wanted to give a brief background on my history with AT. “Adventure Time” is a show very near and dear to my heart and I personally don’t think there is any show on television, animated or not, that is quite like it. I still remember when I first saw the premiere way back on April 5, 2010. I hadn’t ever seen the pilot of the show, and so watching it for the first time was certainly a treat. I wasn’t necessarily blown away by it, but thought in short, it was cute. I continued to watch up until season two, but began to lose touch a bit. I was much more interested in “Regular Show” at the time, and thought it overall delivered more laughs and more entertainment. My faith in AT was restored with “Mortal Folly”/”Mortal Recoil” and I was once again found myself hooked. I continued watching episodically through season three up until “Incendium,” and that was a significant point in my AT experience where I realized, there was no turning back. I loved everything about “Incendium”; the genuine emotion and honesty of the characters, the compelling story, the sharp humor and the beautiful colors. It was that point that I generally became obsessed with the show, and that obsession continues to this very day. My interest in AT has only grown over time, and I find that, while it may be a controversial opinion, the series has only gotten better and better with time.

As I had mentioned, there sincerely is no show quite like “Adventure Time.” I can’t think of a single other series that contains an episode that questions whether or not life is merely a giant disappointment or involves a backstory as tragic as the Ice King’s, that also contains an episode where one of the characters narrates the life of a rabbit while shape-shifted into the form of a brick. It’s a complete balls-crazy yet poignant mess that might not follow the traditional structure of a regular series, but that’s just what it is. It isn’t your typical series, it’s friggin’ “Adventure Time,” and it doesn’t need to be anything else. It can tackle big subjects like depression and the inevitability of the future in one episode, and be a completely irrelevant fun romp the next.

Ultimately the part of “Adventure Time” I find most admirable is that I’ve grown up with it from its beginning to its upcoming end. I was 12-years-old when the show first started, and through its entirety, I’ve felt as though it was easy to put myself in Finn’s shoes 90 percent of the time. Sure, I never lost my arm or owned a sword materialized from my paradoxical self, but Finn has been an easily identifiable character in the show’s entirety and I almost feel as though the show it self has held my hand through the tough times of adolescence and entering adulthood.

So, in honor of my love for this show, I’ve taken it upon myself to review all the episodes from beginning to end, covering its highest and lowest points. I’ll also cover some of the shorts, bonus content, specials and more. So come grab your friends, and let’s go to distant lands!