Tag: Animation

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“Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake” Season 2 Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

Season two of Fionna & Cake might be the first true misfire for me in this franchise. Granted, there were plenty of episodes from the original series that I didn’t like, and I was pretty negative towards Wizard City, but I still overall adore the first series and was left with mostly mixed to positive reviews about Distant Lands as its own thing. Of course, I also loved season one of this spin-off, and while it wasn’t perfect, it did feel particularly refreshing to have something that felt so inspired and passionate with what could have easily been such a gimmicky concept. Season one was billed initially as a miniseries, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the crew wasn’t really expecting to work with this concept beyond a first season. Regardless, I was still pretty excited for what this season would have to offer even if it wasn’t as strong as what came before it. As much as I’ve taken the piss out of it in my episode write-ups, I still don’t see season two as something especially awful. I’m not gonna act like this is something that destroys the franchise as a whole or is completely devoid of creative merit. Still, I am kind of surprised at how aggressively mediocre I personally found it to be and how divisive it would ultimately land itself within the fandom. As a result, I think reviewing this week to week, episode by episode was kind of a mistake. I really only did it because of how much I loved the first season and how much I have enjoyed writing for this blog. But this wasn’t my cup of tea and as much as I tried to make an effort to see the good in each episode, I was doing a bit of a disservice to the nature of this project to force myself to gel with something I really didn’t have any level of passion for. It was fine with the original series, because for every episode I didn’t like, there was one that I loved on the horizon. But to constantly be forced to engage with something that I didn’t find all that engaging probably wasn’t doing justice to all of y’all who did enjoy the season and I apologize for that! Not that anyone should feel bad about not liking or criticizing the series either, but it just doesn’t really feel right to me that a site dedicated to my love for a series would constantly be revolving around my dislike for it. Moving forward, I’m probably gonna re-evaluate how I tackle things and maybe refrain from the week to week format that I chose for F&C. I’m still going to share my thoughts, both positive and negative, for projects that I think are worth talking about. But episode by episode reviews may be scrapped moving forward, with potential exceptions.

I also feel like myself and many others have already voiced our qualms with this season a plethora of times, so I’m gonna keep it relatively short for the most part. The Fionna-World segments really failed for me on most fronts, which doesn’t totally shock me. I didn’t care too much for the more grounded approach last season, but I was also okay with a lot of these segments because I feel at the very least they were working to tie together thematic elements about Fionna learning to understand and accept her world as it was while also cleverly paralleling the characters and relationships from Ooo and giving us more insight into how they operate. Season two seeks to expand and flesh out these characters beyond what we already know about them, but I really don’t think the writers can make up their minds with how these characters work. They’re either too similar to their Ooo counterparts or not similar enough and never feel fully realized. All of the attempts to create symmetry between Fionna-World and the magical world are in vain, because they’re just borrowing from the same emotional beats of Adventure Time without giving us a real point of investment. Marshall Lee and Gary don’t have any of the yin and yang that made PB and Marceline engaging, Marshall Lee and Simone have a bare bones relationship that the season doesn’t even seem especially interested in exploring in more detail, and a character like DJ Flame is there to reignite the turmoil of the Ooo-world relationship without really giving the character any interesting traits himself. I don’t even really blame the team behind this season for dropping the ball anywhere, because really, what do you do with these characters? They just feel like diet versions of the original cast and I don’t think anything in this season has made me excited to explore them further. There is some interesting stuff teased throughout the season about how this world just kind of shifted entirely when the magic was stripped from the crown, and I did think it was sort of fascinating how these characters are all just given lived-in backstories and realities without seemingly having any control or autonomy over it themselves. But again, I don’t think this season was super interested in exploring that concept, and it’s already kind of discounted as not making any linear sense by the fifth episode. And speaking of Ooo parallels, good God, there are waaaaay too many Easter eggs this season. I think Easter eggs are fine as sort of a fun detail that only true diehards will recognize, but I felt like a good chunk of Fionna-World’s exploration boiled down to, “hey, remember this character? Here they are in human-form!”

As much as I don’t enjoy the Fionna-World stuff, I think the B plot doesn’t really get enough flack for being equally as unengaging. The Ooo segments are super frustrating, feeling like they’re never able to progress for the entirety of the season, yet we still spend a decent amount of time each episode with red herring cures for Finn that don’t go anywhere. I think PB gets the best role, as her grief and stress are apparent with each episode, building up to her breakdown in the final episode. I love her call with Huntress where she completely loses it – it feels like the staff took full advantage of the severity of the situation through her actions. I can’t say the same for Marceline and Simon though, who are pretty nerfed this time around. Simon does have interesting ideas laid out for him with the Demonic Wishing Eye and Gunther, but the season just doesn’t have enough time to really delve into some of the potential lingering baggage of this character, or it’s just not really interested in doing so. Marceline feels like she’s been boiled down to just having a couple of quippy one-liners every other episode, which is disappointing to see. I can’t really only limit my criticism to Gary and Marshall’s relationship, because PB and Marcy feel especially vapid this time around. The show is just kind of comfortable with them because they know how much people have engaged with their relationship in the past, and it doesn’t feel like there’s really any effort to give them anything to work with beyond being a cute and loving couple. I mentioned it in the last review, but this season does feel weirdly conflict-averse with its character interactions. There is conflict, namely towards the end of the season, but most of it is internal and any external quandaries are settled in pretty abrupt, healthy matters. The original show was filled with bubbly characters that rarely ever devolved into totally nasty territory with each other, but I don’t think that transfer works when you’re dealing with a more grounded tone and trying to tackle the quandaries of adult life. Additionally, I think the grounded tone really clashes with everything going on in the Ooo segments. It’s hard to chill out and relax with the day-to-day problems of twenty-somethings when Finn is rotting out from the inside elsewhere.

As much as people ragged on Fionna this season, sometimes rightfully so, I never got to the point of truly hating her character. I think there is just kind of an inherent charm and likability to her even in some of her worst moments, which I once again credit to Madeleine Martin for bringing so much life to her. I really didn’t care for her arc this season, however, and felt like it was really just retreading what we already went through with her back in season one to an even more debilitating degree. I think this would’ve been fine had I found myself invested in the individual pieces of her character exploration, but since it’s mostly chasing around DJ Flame for most of the season, I just find myself kind of annoyed. He’s probably the most uninteresting aspect of this series and that extends to his interactions with Fionna. They have very little chemistry and I think even people who liked this season would agree that he and his connection to Fionna are kind of a weak spot. I really like anytime she’s able to interact with Finn, as seldom as it is, because I think that’s when the most potent parts of her character comes out. She does have this desire to help others but doesn’t really know how to actualize it, and it’s pretty sweet how much Finn sort of serves as a guide to her on how to fulfill those desires, even if she gets it completely backwards. When she does fail at trying to be good to the people in her life, it’s pretty painful to sit through. I don’t really blame the character as much as just the way it’s presented – namely in episode eight where I felt the execution was really goofy and gimmicky. She comes around at the end of the season, and while I don’t have lingering negative feelings towards her, I’m certainly a bit more indifferent to her. Especially because I just don’t find her interactions with this season’s guest star character nearly as enticing as the previous season.

Speaking of which, Huntress Wizard finally gets her moment in the limelight! I don’t find her nearly as compelling as Simon was last season, though I don’t think she was handled completely poorly. I do like the character overall and was additionally surprised at how much I got into Ashly Burch’s performance. I think Burch is pretty great overall and instills a lot of passion into her performance, even if she really doesn’t sound anything like Jenny Slate. So much so that when I think of HW, Burch’s portrayal is what comes to mind immediately. I think her overall arc this season is okay, I appreciate how a lot of her growth comes in smaller moments throughout each episode as opposed to big revelations about the lessons she needs to learn. As much as I loved Simon’s role last season, I do think some lessons were a bit on the nose, namely The Star where the entire journey is reminding him that Marcy wouldn’t have survived without him. And like, duh. HW’s discoveries are a lot smaller in scale and it doesn’t always feel like it takes an obvious route in having her learn what she needs to learn. For the most part, there are some lines here and there (namely Fionna’s at the end of episode six) that kind of feel like you’re being hit over the head with it. As for the lesson itself, I don’t think it’s… bad, but I’m not sure if learning to communicate better is necessarily the takeaway I got from this character originally? I think her major episodes in the original series actually show that she’s pretty solid at communicating, just kind of closed off to the concept of romantic relationships in fear of becoming “soft.” A lot of it is explained through her backstory and other pieces this season, which certainly aren’t bad, but I dunno, a lot of the arc and lessons felt slightly manufactured to me. Flute Spell is cool because it feels like Jesse Moynihan is using Huntress Wizard as a mouthpiece for his own relationship shortcomings and connecting magic back to creative energy and the sacrifices that come with it. Here, it feels a lot more designed and structured, not leaving as much room for personal exploration. But I think that’s just an overall issue with the the current direction of the series. And as is, it’s certainly not bad, I think I just would’ve liked something that maybe feels a bit more abstract in its approach than what feels like a life lesson the writing team is trying to convey to the audience. Also heavily tied to HW’s journey is the Heart of the Forest, which gets a little drawn out by the season’s end. I think there’s a lot of strong visual elements and nice sentiments about working with the world around you instead of taking from it, but it’s not something I found myself super invested in after a few episodes. I do really love her relationship with Finn though; I think those two rock together, and I have few qualms overall with Finn himself this season. Granted, he doesn’t get to do much because, yeah, but I think he’s a character that this entire series has never really wronged. For as much as the season does falter, Finn is left relatively unscathed. I just love that sweet, dumb boy.

I complained last season that Cake having an arc felt kind of unnecessary in the grand scheme of things, but I actually really love her journey this season! I think she’s probably the strongest character in this show up to this point and the only one who really left me engaged regarding what was going to happen from episode to episode. I previously compared her role in this series as kind of an inverse of Finn’s – Finn is the one regular guy in a world full of odd, magical creatures, while Cake is the singular magical entity (somewhat) in a world of normies. It’s both fun and sad to watch her try to conform and please others in a way that varies from episode to episode. She either is encouraged to lean into her identity as an anomaly or try to hide it, and it’s a super engaging conflict that gets resolved in a very intricate way. Of course, it mostly boils down to accepting and loving yourself, but I think the Transformation song in episode nine helps carry it out in a way that feels unique to the character. We don’t really know exactly what this lesson means for Cake yet – does she want to lean into fully being magical, or is there a middle ground that she wants to explore? Does she belong in Fionna-World or somewhere else? I think there’s enough room here that, if there was a third season, I wouldn’t mind seeing where they take Cake with it. I really love this character, and it’s clear that Roz Ryan does as well. There’s so many good bits and lines from her this season throughout. I was critical about her not hooking up with M-Cron, but that’s mostly a personal gripe. I think it works with everything she comes to learn about herself, I just think it would’ve been hilarious and awesome if he fucked the cat. I was waiting patiently all season for him to fuck the cat.

I’m not even gonna bother to try to talk about the board artists this season, because I had such a hard time deciphering who did what throughout most of this. I noticed a few Graham Falk drawings and Rebecca Sugar’s touch was unmistakable, but that’s about it. I think this is partially just me getting rusty with identifying the styles of newer board artists, but like, I’m pretty positive the animation for this season conformed a lot more than the previous one. Animation-wise, I think a lot of this season looks kind of stiff! There’s an interview where Adam Muto talks about how they can’t get as much individual style into the final product because of the current pipeline of animation, and it’s a huge bummer. I kind of wonder how much this is true, though? I’ve seen the early run of Side Quests episodes and was shocked to see how many individual artist touches made it into the final product, let alone in a rigged series. But I’ll trust that there were just more roadblocks in translation this time around, which is certainly noticeable. It’s benefited by how great the backgrounds looks, as well as the specially designed opening sequences. My only gripe is that every episode didn’t have a specially designed opening, but I imagine that just comes down to a budgetary problem. Of them all, I really liked Graham Falk’s sequence in episode two. Falk’s been in the animation world for so long and for a series that is mostly compiled of young artists right out of school, it’s really neat that the series has this generational talent that can adapt to so many different tones in the medium.

Here’s the episode ranking, but beyond the first three, I’m pretty indifferent-to-negative towards everything after.

Season Two Episodes Best to Worst

  1. The Worm and his Orchard
  2. The Bird in the Clock
  3. The Crocodile Who Bit a Log
  4. The Wolves Who Wandered
  5. The Hare and the Sprout
  6. The Bear and the Rose
  7. The Lion of Embers
  8. The Cat Who Tipped the Box
  9. The Butterfly and the River
  10. The Insect That Sang

Final Consensus

Overall, I didn’t like Fionna & Cake season two. I really can’t even blame the staff for struggling to work with these characters and this world, because really, I don’t know what I would do with this concept either. I don’t know how you take characters like Marshall Lee and Gary and DJ Flame and make them compelling for an audience that loves the original characters so much. I guess on some level they succeeded, because there are a lot of people who did enjoy this season. I understand to a degree; I think the human characters are so straightforward that, for some, it hearkens back to the charm and simplicity of the original series. I also have seen a lot of people enjoy the more grounded, slice-of-life stories that have been compared positively to the less story-focused episodes of the OG. I’ll also give credit where credit is due that the staff didn’t take the easy way out when writing for this season. They had the easiest lay-up in the world to keep utilizing the multiverse gimmick and just explore different worlds like they did last season, but they chose to try something different. It’s a direction that didn’t work for me personally, but I do commend this team for trying something that didn’t just try to retread old concepts. I’m additionally glad that many people seem to like season two much more than me. Maybe they should be writing for this blog instead of me! But as is, I think season two was a pretty big hiccup for the series. If there ends up being a season three, I think I’m too stubborn to not tune in, but only time will tell if I want to review it in great detail. Side Quests, though? We’ll see, I’m surprisingly eager to talk about that.

Adventure Time, Animation

“The Bear and the Rose” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: December 25, 2025

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

Hey Hey! Owe y’all an apology for promising a review and then going AWOL for half a year. Planned on reviewing the finale the day it aired, was too hungover from the holidays to produce anything worth reading, and then generally lost the momentum to talk about the series after feeling pretty fatigued with the recent season. But, with Side Quests on the horizon, I figured I would wrap things up tightly. I’d like to talk about Side Quests in some capacity – managed to catch a few episodes ahead of the jump and was kind of shocked at how much I liked it. Whether that means I’ll be doing one mega-review or individual episode reviews remains to be seen. Let’s go ahead and tackle the finale of F&C season two.

The opening with Finn and Minerva is sweet, minus the “Minerva-Bot in a wig” line – ew? I think my boy has kind of gotten a bad rap this season for putting Huntress Wizard in this position in the first place, but it also makes clear how much he’s sacrificed in his relationship with HW. I think Finn genuinely loves her, but I also think he’s kind of reckoning with his own wants and needs. It’s interesting to see him try to pursue a life of mystics when it seems like deep down he has the values of someone who would want a comfortable family life to settle into. We get more on how he’s internalizing his feelings later, but as is, nice to see Finn and Minnie interacting again.

After the opening, we remain in the human city, where PB and the crew are preparing to upload Finn’s consciousness in a way similar to Minerva. I’m a little bummed by how many cheap gags are squeezed into these segments. I think most people pretty much know by this point that Finn isn’t actually going to die and I don’t think the episode needs to be heavy handed as a result, but I dunno, some moments feel especially gimmicky to me. The robot that they’re planning to upload Finn’s consciousness to is just comically ridiculous – there’s not a ton of subtlety when it comes to how we, the audience, are supposed to perceive this outcome despite it feeling like an issue that deserves some level of ambiguity. Minerva’s not really all there, and the series hasn’t been a stranger to playing up some of her goofier moments as a result, but I think the show doesn’t really do her any favors here. I think there’s just very few moments in this entire sequence that actually treat the situation with a level of sincerity, which kind of goes for most the season when it comes to Finn’s condition. I additionally kind of roll my eyes at the series doing a very obvious fake out with Jake returning to see his brother, but I do love NEPTR, so it gets a pass. Additionally, I’m only so cynical – the “Sleepy Puppies” lullaby does hit me, along with all the pups being present to morn their uncle. Even though Lady is… not really there? Well, she’s in the doorway at one point, and then we see her flying off at the end. Nothing bums me out more than how little she’s gotten to do in the current context of this world, but to harp on only Fionna & Cake for giving Lady nothing to do would be hypocritical. Though I will harp on TV for using “oh my God” instead of “oh my Glob.” Additionally odd about some of the people who attend his final moments, versus other more obvious stand ins. Like, I’m kind of assuming Jermaine is probably dead along with Jake, but no Shelby? Not even LSP among the other princesses? I guess Susan is probably too off the map to contact. But Astrid? Cadebra? What are they even doing there?

Glad to see all of the seeds from episode two finally get to play some role in the overall story, even if I feel like the way of reviving Finn is a bit contrived. I’m sure there’s metaphors galore that you can examine in relation to how Huntress Wizard is using her multiple incarnations to revive her lover, but quite frankly, I’m just not that interested enough in what’s happening. I think that goes for a lot of this season – as much as I’ve tried to dig deeper and observe the intricacies of the characters and their interactions, I’m not finding myself particularly invested in how this is all culminating. As much as the season has tried to fake us out to Finn passing on, it’s never really worked as convincing drama outside of how the other characters are experiencing it. I did enjoy little moments from each seed-world, like the appearance of Winter World Finn, who is courting Slime Princess – a reference to yet another one of Steve Wolfhard’s many headcanons. The Water World was especially neat, featuring a Martin-like giant sporting the ice crown. Maybe this is the greater mode that was offered to him back in The Comet? There’s also the really fucked up gag of Farmworld Finn’s children seeing their mother return and then subsequently melting. Kinda makes you wonder why Farmworld Finn didn’t acknowledge HW back a few episodes earlier, though I imagine it was just for time restraints. Also nice to see Jonni Pepper’s work return again when HW and Witch Wizard link up – glad she got a large part in the visual make-up of the mystical world. With Finn revived, everyone (initially) celebrates, with the exception of PB. I really think PB has been probably the strongest player for the OG cast this season, tying back to my point about Finn’s passing being an interesting concept for his friends to deal with. Granted, I think PB may be the only one who really has anything potent to play with and I like how this ties into her inevitably stepping down from being princess, something alluded to back in Together Again. Her stress and devotion to keeping both her circle, her kingdom, and even herself calm in the midst of one of her more stressful experiences has been built into quite successfully, and it feels like an appropriate part to start exploring how she can exist without being so tied to managing the lives of others over herself.

Time for the part of this blog that I am always so enthusiastic and passionate about discussing: Fionna and friends! So, we see the fallout of everything around the Sweet Spot, where everyone is understandably hurt and upset by Fionna’s actions. Except for Fennel who is like, bummed out, but sort of hints at a potentially deeper relationship with Fionna? I kinda liked the spirit bond the two had episodes earlier, but I don’t know if I really like the idea of them as romantic partners? I always felt like this was more of a sibling bond given how Fern and Finn were characterized in the previous series, so it feels a little icky to me. AT finales are typically known for their quick resolutions and failure to truly break the status quo, which I mostly defended back in the day, but it all feels so hollow here. Cake’s back in Fionna World! Which, okay, I feel like the permanence of her decision to stay with the Karmic Worm for a bit is sort of lessened as a result, but I guess it’s just to help save the day and then- Oh, she’s fully back with Fionna by the end and just hits up the Karmic Worm whenever, I guess? I guess they just wanted Cake involved in the action, but c’mon, why not commit to having Cake stay there as part of her arc? It wouldn’t have to be a permanent change, and I doubt there’s like an executive reason for having Cake stay with Fionna. I feel fairly confident that this staff has way more creative freedom than they did years ago working for Cartoon Network, so it’s kind of baffling at times how often this season in particular has chosen so many safe options. And speaking of which, we have the resolution to Cake and M-Cron’s storyline: they’re just gonna be friends. It served Cake this season to explore more of her struggles with being magic in a non-magic world, but like, in the same way everything else is wrapping up, it’s just such a boring, nothing conclusion. For a season that has been so devoted to fairytale concepts, it would’ve been awesome if these two actually got a fairytale ending. I would have got up and cheered if Cake transformed back into her normal cat self and M-Cron wrote on his little board, “Actually, I’m really into that.” But alas, we did not get that. Speaking of the fairytale theme, I feel like it just sorta petered out by the season’s end? There’s really nothing here that feels like a thematic conclusion to that motif.

I’m gonna talk about stuff I liked soon, I promise. But let’s just finish with Fionna-World while we’re at it. With Cake getting such a clean, polished conclusion to everything she’s experienced up to this point, I guess it’s only fitting that Fionna does too! Yeah, nobody is mad at her by the end of the episode. She breaks into Gary’s apartment and trashes his kitchen with baking materials and makes him a disgusting cake. And then Marshall is all, “Community is everything.” And then they make up. Alright! Again, it’s a little silly they had Fionna go as fucking bonkers as she did in episode 8 if it was going to make for like, a few minutes of drama and then be resolved very quickly. Most annoying, perhaps, is that I feel like Fionna’s pretty much exactly where we left off with her last season. She often acts selfishly and in a self-destructive fashion, but she just needs to learn to listen to others and communicate better. As much as people have criticized Fionna’s behavior this season, I was actually somewhat on board with having this character struggle to grow even with the lessons she learned prior. But I don’t really feel like I gained anything that new about Fionna in this process and it doesn’t seem like the show is really interested in showing any lasting consequences for her character. This season is weirdly conflict-averse between its characters. I feel like the staff took note of that one sentiment from Pen where he mentions not really enjoying Finn and Jake bickering and just projected it onto every relationship. I’m not saying it would be thrilling to have Marshall and Gary resent Fionna over the course of several episodes, it’s just odd how much these characters are not able to express “negative” emotions without a super healthy resolution to follow. Same goes for Phelix, who I feel like the show wants me to like for some reason but I’m not sure why? I dunno man, just an absolute nothingburger of a character by the end.

Alright, I’ve bitched enough! I’ve been mean to this episode, but it does have one gem, and it’s probably the scene you’re thinking of. Fionna going deep inside herself (or her inner Finn-ness) to speak to an exiled part of Finn. With the help of Bellamy Bug, of course, in his second appearance ever! Congrats to that one person who wanted to see Bellamy return back during the original run of the show. We see Fionna traveling through a plethora of familiar rooms to get there (including the hole from Dentist, the pillow fort from Puhoy, Castle Lemongrab, among others). A really sweet detail is Finn having a totally empty mind but an absolutely stacked heart – love that. The interaction between Fionna and Finn is really beautiful and sad, especially Finn being revealed to be the gut voice that led Fionna astray initially. I was a bit annoyed with the execution of this scene two episodes earlier, but I do like how this is revealed to be somewhat of a protective measure from Finn himself to not have to deal with the passing of his best friend. A lot of this series has kind of refused to deal head-on with Jake’s passing, which I think ranges between being incredibly nuanced to being coy for the sake of being coy. This is the most direct examination to date of Finn, among others, actually dealing with the consequences of his passing. Together Again leaves us with the sad realization that Finn may have never moved on from Jake’s passing. I think others were right to harp on this as kind of a morbid portrayal of the rest of Finn’s life, but The Bear and the Rose carries this out in a way that I think is very quietly beautiful. Finn is not totally devoid of reasons to live, but carries within him a devastated part hidden away that just can’t deal with what has actually happened. A part that harkens back to his adolescence – a part that doesn’t feel whole on his own. Talking to this part is what helps Finn understand his worth beyond trauma burdening him, and additionally helps Fionna understand her own place. It’s a very nice sentiment about the two learning to understand and comfort the darkness within them rather than trying to compartmentalize and ignore it like they have both been doing up to this point. It’s probably one of the best moments in the spin-off series.

I think the whole “Heart of the Forest” storyline got a bit too mumbo jumbo for my liking, but I do like how the resolution towards “natchy” magic is very similar to the lesson both Fionna and Finn learn – that you can tap into a magical existence just by learning to quiet the mind and connect with one’s true self. Also nice to see those kids finally living together, and with NEPTR nonetheless! I hope he’s always around if we check into this timeline in the future. Things start wrapping up; we hear Marshall’s demo play, which is just an instrumental track and no vocals (sure!), apparently nobody gave Prismo the memo that the Cosmic Owl has been revived, Dream Spirit Warrior targets Astrid as his next apprentice (who is sporting armor from the show’s promo art – Muto, you monster) and everything seems to be tidying up neatly. That is, until Fionna discovers the answer to the “go beyond the end of the peach” riddle and kicks a fence down, discovering a whole wide world to explore beyond the city. I… don’t want any more of this. I’m sorry y’all! I truly do not care about any of the Fionna World characters enough to want to see where this is going, and I’m even less interested in the post-credits sequence featuring Hunson. It feels like we’re starting to get into territory that the comics would tackle.

So yeah, with the exception of that one fantastic scene between Fionna and Finn, I didn’t really like this at all! Rushed, safe, kind of empty? I was holding out hope that the season was fooling me in the first half and that the second half would really shift into high gear, but it never did, and I feel the finale is just scrambling to try to make sense of it all. Everything just feels like it’s working to wrap up as quickly as possible, while simultaneously trying to open new doors to make room for a potential third season. But really, nothing here makes me confident in the series expanding further. I’m gonna be reviewing the season as a whole too, hopefully before Side Quests comes out, and then I can properly discuss that. So stay tuned soon for the review of season two, which should be hitting this blog in the next few weeks!

Favorite line: “Ax mod! It came to me in a dream.”

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“The Insect That Sang” Review

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 Bird in the Clock” Review

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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Artist Spotlight – Graham Falk

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

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

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.

Adventure Time, Animation

Artist Spotlight – Adam Muto

Adventure Time Reviewed

Muto’s been with the show since the beginning, and has become the head honcho following the departure of Pen Ward. I always have said that it’s kind of hard to understand Muto’s vision for the overall series when it comes to tone and direction. I think more than anything his love for the series additionally includes letting the artists do what they do best while also trying to evolve and expand the world and keeping the characters relatively evergreen. When it comes to boarding, it can be equally difficult to determine which sections Muto worked on unless it’s with someone very distinctive, such as Sugar. His style is so synonymous with the polished look of the series that there’s definitively overlapping synchronicities in style. Not to say that he doesn’t have his own flair, however. Muto’s probably of the best draftsmen in the entire series, churning out some really clean and neat drawings that bleed through even in his rough storyboards.

Art Style

Muto is a comic man most prominently. Most of his style can be analyzed through his two most prominent comic series – Tall Penguin and Future Boyfriend. I’m always impressed by how clean Muto’s linework is, ranging from very simple shapes to more complex designs that never seem to battle each other. Diverging from the hyperrealism of his counterpart, Rebecca Sugar, Muto lends himself to more cartoonish sensibilities. It’s easy to see how Adventure Time has impacted his own look, while also noting the nuances that bleed through in his own boards. Very wide faces, forced perspective, small slants for eyebags, the heightened detail mixed with extreme simplicities. Muto mainly avoids color in his artwork and sticks with a monotone drop.

Finn & Friends

woof. This one was a toughie. Scanning through the earlier seasons, it’s really difficult to denote Muto hallmarks outside of the observation that “this bit was not boarded by Rebecca Sugar.” I don’t mean that to make it seem like Muto is an inferior artist, most of his drawings look great! It’s just somewhat difficult to distinguish his Finn apart from some of the many other iterations in the series. Something pretty consistent with all of Muto’s art is his wide-eyed characters donning slanty eye bags, which Finn takes on in the first and fifth image. One feature I never really noticed until I was researching for this write-up was the slightly curled dot eyes that will show up more so in the earlier Muto efforts, seen in the second and third images. Also, the thin, liney eyebrows in images four and six carry through most of Muto’s episodes throughout the series.

Muto’s Jake is way more easily recognizable than his Finn. Muto and Wolfhard have an unspoken competition for crankiest, wrinkliest Jake. While Wolfhard’s accents are noted by their smallness, Muto goes for a bigger, more expanded approach with Jake’s features, often making his eyes, nose, and mouth take over most of his body. These choices really get to shine in Daddy-Daughter Card Wars more than anywhere else. As seen in image 3, 7, and 9, Muto will often have Jake’s ears hang off his body as little nubs. Though, I usually associate this design choice more with Hanna K. Nyström.

This gallery of other characters is mostly just me realizing that Muto’s style is perhaps most notable on the dog characters, and his love for drawing them in side view. Again, a bit difficult to find some specific examples where an image really stands out as “yeah, that’s a Muto drawing.”

Concept Art

Muto regularly dips his toes into conceptualizing ideas for the series. A lot of these have made their way into the show verbatim (Finn and Jake Banana Guard disguises, Nightmare Princess, BMO and Ice King’s business outfit) while others were expanded upon by other board artists (Fern’s design).

Misc.

Muto has whipped up a lot of gift drawings and non-episode promo images, mainly towards the original show’s climax. Like most of his art, they’re done in his traditional black-and-white style.

Storyboards

Some Muto boards, showcasing both his love for added details, thick and defined outlines, and sideview pups.

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Artist Spotlight – Steve Wolfhard

Adventure Time Reviewed

Known for his love of tabletop games and general affinity for the pups, King of Ooo, and the 1000+ Ooo-scape, Steve Wolfhard started out as a board revisionist before becoming a full-time board artist at the start of season 5. His partnership with Tom Herpich has been the longest running board team for the entirety of the series, and despite their general overlapping interests (Tree Trunks, Finn and Jake’s brotherhood, Finn being kind of stupid) Wolfhard’s style largely contrasts Herpich when it comes to design.

Art Style

Wolfhard’s style is easily recognizable for its super thin, squiggly outlines. Details mostly extend to facial accents, such as wrinkles, eyebags, hairs, and fuller lips. His sensibilities are similar to that of his partner, connecting to the magic and sorcery of the world while also leaning more toward a cartoonier side. Wolfhard has worked on a few animated shows post AT, most notably Amphibia.

Concept Art

Wolfhard’s squiggly outlines and flat color are prominent in most of his artwork – concepts included. Wolfhard has maybe created the most concept artwork for the series, with a blend of ideas he conjured up for the episodes he’s worked on (Finn and Jake’s KOO armor, the adult pups) while others involve oddball pitches that don’t get off the floor (Finn dating the Mona Lisa, King of Ooo dating an androgynous blue figure). Some of these oddball ideas do end up making their way into the series later in the process (Slime Princess growing huge, King of Ooo being a little waxman).

Pups

Wolfhard has an affinity for the pups, which makes sense – it was one of the first elements of the series that he had a part in developing. Lots of different points of development above, including appearance and personality outlines for the pups.

1000+

This section isn’t entirely unique from the one before it, as the pups make their way into the 1000+ lore. Wolfhard got to build the visual look for the 1000+ world pretty much from scratch, and most of his character concepts made it into the actual show, with the exception of Wintergreen and Clover, the possum standing on Sweet P’s head.

Finn & Friends

Whenever Finn or any other character is drawn with thin face wrinkles or more prominent lips and cheeks, that can be a dead giveaway of Wolfhard’s touch. When Finn isn’t wrinkly, it can be a little bit more difficult to tell of Wolfhard’s touch. Standard shots of Finn are very simplistic looking, as seen in the final image. Sometimes he’ll give Finn or other characters a dumb little cheeky smile as seen in the fourth image, though this is an expression that most of the staff likes to churn out from time to time. Wolfhard’s details can usually be noted by their “small”ness, not overly exaggerated and usually manifest as minute line strokes.

Wolfhard’s Jake is a bit more identifiable than his Finn, because boy, is this guy cranky!! Again, the simplicity is key here. Anytime you see those thin, slanted, slightly wobbly eyebrows on Jake, it’s likely going to be Wolfhard. His most focal ear is usually just hanging off the side a bit, while the second may peak off or be hidden.

Some Wolfhard board-to-animation drawings in all of their wrinkly, big-lipped glory. Also some dumb smiles.

Promo Art

Often, instead of doing promo artwork, Wolfhard will conjure up full comic strips for the featured episode. I linked Daddy-Daughter Card Wars and The More You Moe, the Moe You Know to their full page.

Similar to Herpich, Wolfhard has made some really powerful Finn solo stuff that I think is gnarly.

Storyboards

Some cut scenes from episodes that Wolfhard has boarded – those squiggly lines are, of course, most prominent in the boards.

Title Cards

Some title cards Wolfhard has designed. It’s interesting because these are generally larger than his usual visual efforts, often featuring grand features and extremely detailed backgrounds. Wolfhard’s handwritten titles can be most prominently noted on episodes like Bonnie & Neddy and Ring of Fire, where they’re traced over precisely in the final product. Temple of Mars strayed away from this in the final product.

Some cut title cards that Wolfhard has crafted (he did end up creating the official title card for The More You Moe, the Moe You Know regardless).

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“Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake” Season 1 Review

Adventure Time Reviewed


I’ve said it before on this blog, but man, I was not looking forward to Fionna & Cake. I was really bummed out that a franchise with so much potential for exploration would resort to such a gimmicky concept that hasn’t even been beloved by the fanbase for over 8 years. But I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the series (or the “season” now) was actually very clever in not playing into the lowest common denominator of its source material and utilized it to tell a very engaging story about accepting your own ordinariness. In a way, this has always been what Adventure Time has excelled at – playing into the sensibilities of what a general audience would want to see/what sells with a big studio and then pretty much doing whatever they want after its greenlit. Granted, Fionna & Cake doesn’t have the same kind of freedom that its predecessor did. They only had 10 episodes to tell a concise story, so there’s not really a ton of room to experiment with ideas and styles and tone. But for what they were actually able to fit in to those 10 episodes went above and beyond my expectations, making for pretty great first season. Mostly.

The stuff I’ve gushed the most about throughout the season is anything involving Simon, which was equally surprising to see just how invested I was in his role. Despite how outlandish his circumstances are, having been controlled for thousands of years by a magical crown and suddenly becoming conscious once more in the midst of a colorful post-apocalyptic landscape, his portrayal is strangely relatable. I think there’s a lot you can draw from his experience thematically: feeling like you don’t belong, being deprived of the highs and lows of life, dealing with the day-to-day following addiction recovery, not knowing how to exist without your partner. With all successful AT allegories, there’s no singular one connection, and Simon’s journey allows you to connect with him in whatever way you see fit. His arc is probably the most successfully executed on; it helps that it closely relates to the cosmic stuff that I love so much, but also because I think it caps off in a relatively nuanced manner. You have Simon realize that he has his own part to play in the world, but I don’t think it’s as neatly tied up as some of the other plot points in the season. He still has a lot of soul searching to do, but at least has a good foundation based on his own journey. I additionally really love the exploration of his relationship with Betty, learning to take the past off a pedestal and accept its imperfections while still cherishing the experience. It’s a far cry off from that awful Marcy and Simon comic series, which has Simon rescue Betty from the clutches of GOLB, with nothing learned or gained from the process itself. This version doesn’t negate the tragedy set up by Come Along With Me, but instead plays off it in a way that allows for quiet, somber closure and ambiguity when it comes to what it means for these characters.

Fionna and Cake’s arcs are a bit more spelled out. Again, I have to give kudos where its due for making me care even a little bit about these characters who were essentially props in the OG series. And Fionna’s journey of learning to put the wants of others before her own is decently well-executed, with the additional relatability of being 20-something and incredibly self-indulgent. But I think there remains little to gather from this whole expedition outside of a surface level. Pretty much every episode beyond that first one, Fionna and Cake’s bits are overshadowed by characters and story beats that I find much more interesting. Fionna’s connection to Simon is probably the strongest thing going for her character – I find their relationship genuinely very endearing and crucial to each other’s growth. As I discussed in my Cheers review, it’s neat how their arcs overlap while being driven by two drastically different mindsets: Fionna is unable to look outside of herself because of her own self-cherishment, while Simon is unable to because of his own self-hatred. It’s two sides of the same coin and explored in a way that I think is less obvious than Fionna’s individual storyline, boosting both in execution. I do worry about the future of the series where Simon is potentially not as involved, because I really wonder how Fionna can stand alone without that intriguing connection. Her dynamic with Cake is fun, and unique from their Ooo counterparts, but not nearly as lovable as Finn and Jake’s, which is to be expected. The one time they tried to establish conflict between the two in Jerry brought out some of the lamest character moments in Cake, who otherwise was very enjoyable. Cake was always the strongest part of each of the original Fionna & Cake entries in the series, and she remains very funny in this iteration. I could see her role potentially getting annoying in future seasons, as she’s really just there to be quippy and add comedic relief when scenes get a little too heavy, but it really didn’t bother me much this time around. As I also mentioned in my review of Jerry, however, I don’t think her having an arc of her own was super compelling. Necessary, maybe, as it does tie into Fionna’s desires to look outside herself and the debacle around wanting a more magical world, but I don’t think it added much for me personally. I really wouldn’t have been mad if Cake was purely there to just add some goofs in and support Fionna in her own journey, as any of the more tension-heavy moments from her were a bit of a wet blanket.


We get lots more Prismo here, which is always delightful for a character who really only got to shine once or twice a season, if that. I do miss Kumail Nanjiani’s portrayal, but Sean Rohani did a fine job at taking over. Prismo is mostly out of commission outside his titular episode, but his appearance does make way for lots of fun bits of exploration in the cosmic realm. Also, Scarab is here! I think Scarab is ultimately this season’s biggest failure. Granted, he doesn’t steal too much screentime, but as the primary antagonist, he’s around way too much and contributes so little. I’ve probably said it before but villains, outside of the Lich, have never really been the show’s strength. A lot of the conflict in Adventure Time is more internalized, with actual foes and bosses kind of just coming across as pretty normal or insecure dudes and dudettes. Most adversaries are comedic in nature and don’t pose an actual threat, but Scarab is kind of neither. He’s not funny or threatening enough to really justify his existence outside of being an opposition to the main crew, which I do understand to an extent. With telling such a tight story that seemed pretty sure of what it wanted along with well-defined internal struggling, there also needed to be some sense of conflict that helps those two individual stories unravel. I just wish it made for a more interesting adversary, but this is something AT has really been struggling with in recent years. Hugo, New Death, Dr. Caledonius (had to look her name up because holy shit, who even remembers her?) are all villains that suffered from being tacked on for external drama while never feeling fun or intense enough to really leave any lasting emotions. I somewhat wish the next season would just try to have no outward antagonist and just let the characters and stories pan out without coming up with a new big bad every iteration.

I do think the structure of this season was generally quite sound otherwise. Adam Muto talked about how working on the miniseries kind of prepped the team with a better understanding of how to tackle ongoing stories in a successful way, and it shows here. I never want AT to become so story focused that it loses the charm of having each episode possess its own identity, and I think Adam probably felt the same. Every episode in this season cleverly has its own unique feel and landscape, never feeling like any truly blend together (with the exception of maybe the last two episodes). Additionally, I think the longer runtime is mostly used very well. Again, the team obviously had some experience with this in Distant Lands and mostly succeeded in their efforts, and that remains pretty consistent here. Granted, a few episodes like Fionna Campbell and Cake the Cat do feel a bit aimless in their spare time, but every other episode is so loaded with ideas and concepts that can’t even be handled entirely within their runtime that it does replicate that traditional jam-packed feeling of the 11 minute chunks. As I’ve said, I’ll always prefer Adventure Time for what it was during its run: a mainly structureless series with a million episodes that could focus on story elements, interesting ideas, or just something fun. But I do think a lot of the spirit still remains within this season, even if it does have to be a lot tighter and still try to prove itself so that it can move on to tell more stories.

The multiverse definitely complements the individuality of each episode. It’s the element I was most concerned about, because I’m so fatigued with the current landscape of multiverse stories that seem to only be interested in doing really gimmicky concepts with it. However, as the whole series has proved, Adventure Time likes to take gimmicky ideas and explore them in their own unique way. The multiverse here, outside of boasting fun and new, yet familiar environments also explores the nature of characters that we know within an entirely different light. It’s cool to see that the soul-shape of each of these characters seems to remain in each world – Finn is dedicated to doing good, PB desperately needs control over her environment, and Marcy retains a level of playfulness no matter where her moral code lies. These characteristics remain in spite of their surroundings, but even then, we watch them act in drastically different ways. It’s cool to see an exploration like Farmworld Finn’s display that the characters we know and love aren’t necessarily static or even largely identifiable in other parts of the cosmos. Despite there being some consistencies in general nature, Finn, PB, and Marceline do not have consistent senses of self that expand beyond their own worlds. Their nurturing is subject to change and can mold their nature into pretty much anything that serves their environment. Finn’s sense to do good could involve slaying monsters to protect a Kingdom of candy or it could mean protecting his family at all costs. PB’s need for control could involve creating her own Kingdom or it could lead to her becoming a rebel in the face of oppression. Marceline’s playfulness can be quite childish, if not also a bit selfish at times, but can be managed in the right company, or lead her to destructiveness in the wrong company. It’s really cool to see this concept applied to characters we already know and love, and to do so in a way that doesn’t aim to just display alternate versions of them. There’s a level of exploration that is quite interesting and really challenges what is consistent about these characters no matter where they’re found across the stars.

It was pretty surprisingly to see announced that Fionna & Cake would be intended for young adults as opposed to its initial tween audience. I think this is generally something that was naturally built into, as the original series gradually grew into something pretty exclusively for older kids and teens, Distant Lands had a bit more of an edge to it that pushed it into a primarily teenage territory, and F&C takes that one step further. I think it’s smart that the season doesn’t try to push this in a particularly egregious way, with really only supplementing blood and minor swears throughout. I even thought they could’ve pushed it a little more! There’s some thematically darker stuff, like all of Jerry and Simon’s entire plight, though it’s difficult to say if those are elements that wouldn’t also be included in the original series. Overall though, I think I’m glad they went in a bit of a safer direction right off the bat so it’s not too jarring of a jump forward. Hoping they can continue to push these boundaries, especially moving forward. From early previews, it looks like Huntress Wizard is going to be more prominently featured next season, so I’m hoping this means that we can finally have a scene where her and Finn do ayahuasca and get saucy. This is what a TV-14 rating is all about!


This is usually the part of the season reviews where I talk about the board teams, but lord, I am not really equipped to do so anymore. With so many new staff members and so little time to explore individual tones and styles, I can’t really eloquently talk about each writer beyond an art style perspective. Big shoutout to my friend Digamma-F-Wau in the comments, who has been shedding light on who worked on each portion of F&C episodes where I have failed to determine. There’s a few dead giveaways I’ve been able to pick up on; Lucyola Langi draws the characters with such massive pupils that it’s hard not to pick up on her style when you see it. Anna Syvertsson, who is the only staff member that has the bragging rights to say she joined for the Minecraft special, draws those pupils really close together, often accented by eyebrows that peek off of the forehead. Graham Falk still boasts his more cartoony style with a slight tilt to each character. Iggy Craig is one of the better board artists when it comes to character acting, constructing one of my favorite scenes in the entire season (I.E. Simon having a breakdown in DBG’s tavern). But otherwise, it was pretty difficult for me to determine style, let alone tone. Things feel a bit cleaner this time around, even with individual artist identity occasionally bleeding through. I mentioned Graham Falk’s style, but besides the intro to Simon Petrikov and the silent cartoon world in Prismo the Wishmaster, it was really hard to pick out his scenes even considering that he’s one of the most standout artists of the original series. The season still looks quite nice visually, with occasional bumps in animation, usually courtesy of Nick Cross’s contributions. This is may be the best the series has looked color wise, with each episode presenting a really unique palette. Carolyn Ramirez worked on the color script for each episode this season, and her work really shines. Additionally, plenty of alumni of the original series contributed to the show’s visual design, with Tom Herpich, Derek Ballard, Charmaine Verhagen, and many others pitching in.

In terms of writing, as mentioned, it’s pretty hard to determine who excelled and who didn’t. There’s only so many episodes to work with, so you don’t have a good chance to understand the sensibilities of each writer. You don’t have 2oo episodes and counting to pick up on Jesse Moynihan’s desires to explore emotional ambiguity or Somvilay Xayaphone’s opposition to telling any jokes that have a direct punchline. And, with four or five boarders each episode and no complete consistency on individual teams, it kind of makes it impossible to analyze the group efforts in the way that Tom Herpich and Steve Wolfhard collaboration could be observed. Granted, I’ll say that I generally liked the even numbered episodes more. Generally, any episode with Graham Falk, Iggy Craig, Lucyola Langi, and Jim Campbell seemed to resonate more with me than the odd numbered episodes, with the exception of Jerry that only featured Campbell as a writer. Would love more of an approach in future seasons if the episodes could be broken up similar to the original series, with two board artists at the helm. No idea if that’s really ethical in terms to how the seasons are produced, but I’m definitely yearning for a bit more artist individuality in each entry.

AT has really leaned into its musical sensibilities in recent years, with F&C churning out an original tune pretty much once or twice per episode. Generally speaking, most of these are jams. I love the very 90’s poppy opening in Fionna Campbell, the grand Rankin/Bass style numbers in The Winter King, and especially adored Rebecca Sugar’s contribution in Simon Petrikov. Also dug the Half Shy song in Jerry, with it additionally boasting interesting thematic elements. There are times in recent years when I’ve felt that AT seems a little obligated to do musical numbers because of Sugar’s contributions, and that was really felt during Cake’s song in Cake the Cat. I might just be saying that because I didn’t particularly like that song, but it did feel like it was a bit shoehorned for the sake of incorporating more tunes in. I was mean enough to the ending song in my review of Cheers, so I’ll let that one go. One thing I’ll mention once more and then let go of is that I’m still bummed with how much I feel the score weighs down the series. Amanda Jones is a fine composer but I really don’t think her sensibilities mesh with Adventure Time. One thing I dug about Tim Kiefer and Casey James Basichis (whose contributions I often fail to properly address on this blog) is that they were constantly experimenting with weird sounds and instruments in a way that the series in its current iteration just doesn’t really play around with. Most scenes are accented with relatively generic adventurous or dramatic stings, and the better cues seem to just be trying to replicate that original magic. The series as a whole is not nearly as weird as it once was, so maybe it’s more fitting that the score that goes along with it additionally isn’t as experimental. Still, I think score is a pretty major part of any animated series, and the lack of Kiefer is definitely noted and slightly hurts my immersion at times.

Season One Episodes Best to Worst

  1. Simon Petrikov
  2. The Winter King
  3. Jerry
  4. Prismo the Wishmaster
  5. Destiny
  6. The Star
  7. Casper & Nova
  8. Cheers
  9. Fionna Campbell
  10. Cake the Cat

Final Consensus

Overall, I was super impressed with Fionna & Cake. After feeling a bit fatigued by the relatively lackluster Distant Lands, F&C really reinvigorated my love for the series with its strong storytelling and dedication to evolving the franchise further. Did I love the season as a whole? Not completely, there’s elements I really dug, but other that I didn’t get totally into, which you can read into above. Granted, it was way better than I expected and clearly had a lot of love put into it, which I think is pretty unique for such a long-running series. Adventure Time really appears to be something special for everyone who has the pleasure of working on it, and it seems like everyone is careful to preserve its legacy. That being said, I do worry that more of the wild days of the series are over. As much shit as Season Six got, I do thoroughly love how willing it was to push away from what fans really wanted to see and just played around with ideas and themes that the artists working on it found interesting. I do feel like in a way that initial charm of the series is lost, but I’ve also come to terms with that. I’m happy to be getting more of the show in any capacity, and as long as there’s still a lot of love put into it, I’ll remain a loyal viewer.