Tag: CN

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“The Worm and his Orchard” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: December 18, 2025

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

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


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

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


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

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

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

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


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

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

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


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

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

This drawing just BLEEDS Sugar.


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

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


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

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

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

Favorite line: “He basically shits therapy.”

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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.”

Adventure Time, Animation

“The Crocodile Who Bit A Log” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: October 30, 2025

Written & Storyboarded by: Iggy Craig, Graham Falk, Monica Ray & Jackie Files

Huntress Wizard has certainly had quite the journey in the AT world. Existing merely as a background character for the first six years of the show’s run, HW was able to thrust herself into relevancy based on her gnarly design alone. But even with her increased role in the series, Huntress Wizard’s personality and motives have never really been explored, which has been somewhat intentional. Adam Muto himself talks about this in a recent interview, stating that it was risky to flesh out a character that was primarily known and loved for being mysterious. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t also cautious about this, especially when it comes to a character that was mostly elaborated on purely as a result of fanservice. That’s not necessarily a knock at HW, as I quite liked her role in the original series. But that’s because she was such a bit character that really only showed up ever so often, and even in her brief appearances, we never truly got what she was all about. The Crocodile Who Bit A Log feels like it’s slowly setting up for parts of that mystery to be unraveled, but does so through a subdued backstory that is quite eloquently executed.


There’s basically three sections of this episode, so instead of going through it frame-by-frame like I did last week, I’m gonna talk about each individually. First is the Huntress Wizard stuff, which was easily my favorite segment of the episode. Graham Falk cooked with the cold open – man, is it gorgeous! Falk has been in the industry the longest out of anyone, so any time he’s able to really flourish through individual segments (like the silent movie dimension from Prismo the Wishmaster) it really shows how much of a seasoned veteran he is. The backgrounds, complemented by rough, inconsistent pen lines and messy paints strokes, are absolutely boasting with beautiful colors. When it comes to the visual look of the current series, it’s been tougher in the show’s recent years to actually pinpoint which artist worked on which portion of the episode. There’s a number of possible reasons for this; with directors more at the forefront this series than prior (which is as good a time as ever to mention that Cole Sanchez is back, after several years being absent from the franchise), it’s possible cleanup and revisions end up homogenizing a lot of shots from their individual essence. There’s also a new overseas studio for this season, brought to my attention by fellow commentator Digamma-F-Wau, which could be contributing the same level of wash out. There’s also the possibility that I’m just off my game and the individual touch still is in tact, but there are bits in this one that feel like they may have been squandered in the final product (i.e. when Cake reacts shocked to the cooking materials nearly falling, that’s clearly a Falk shot. But I’d be interested in seeing the actual storyboard, because it feels a bit more stilted in execution). All that is to say, I’m glad to see how much Falk’s touch absolutely erupts during the opening, continuing to spotlight AT‘s unique talents in the best possible way.

Huntress Wizard’s journey to become part of the forest is meditative and wonderfully paced, showcasing her commitment, but initial struggle, to adopt zen in the roughness of the wilderness. She’s accompanied by Spirit Dream Warrior, who evidently she never had a romantic past with, and served more as a guru to her through her journey into wizardry. Once she becomes apart of the green wizard society, HW chooses the path of isolation instead of being connected to her new groupies. I’m wondering if we’ll get more of a backstory on what led HW down this path, but I’d also be okay if this is just some kind of intrinsic desire HW has to do things as a lone wolf without any type of community on her side. When she reaches the “Heart” of the Forest, we treated to a fun bit of back-and-forth between her and Witch Wizard. The show additionally continues to not give any clear answers on HW and Finn’s relationship, with HW hesitating to find a way to address him, which I like. I originally kind of went in to this season thinking they were more on the casual side, remaining friends but having moments of intimacy every now and then. Her reaction here, and later her dream sequence with Finn, make it seem like Finn really likes her, while she’s hesitant to be true to her deeper feelings. This is easily connected to her behavior in Flute Spell, and while some of that denial toward larger connections seems to have been shed by her next major appearance in The Wild Hunt, it doesn’t appear to have opened up any type of larger shift in her consciousness.


Granted, I’m sure there’s a lot we’re not seeing behind the scenes. I would imagine HW had a large role in helping Finn after the passing of Jake, and Finn’s connectedness to the forest implies that they have spent a lot of time together. I think there is a difference between Huntress Wizard having these moments of intimacy and actually acknowledging them as they are, or even just opening herself up to the perception of others. Regardless, her drive to do things her way come to a roadblock when Witch Wizard opposes her, leading to a really great fight sequence. The build up, the animation, camera angles, transformations, and great bit of score to boot. Continuing to give her credit where credit is due, Amanda Jones has been knocking it out of the park season with stellar music cues, accenting the high stakes battle between the wizards perfectly (also I’ll note before I forget, Jones brought back Kheirosiphon’s theme when he reappears! Nice touch). Outside of the opening, the forest bits provide the most visual flair for the episode, with the revelation of the “Hart” of the Forest being yet another highlight. This is once again a pretty direct reference to Princess Mononoke, which miiiight be slightly derivative? But regardless, I love the design and the way it thrashes, breaks apart, and eventually absorbs into itself provides for a uniquely exciting excerpt that comes to a screaming halt when Huntress Wizard fucking explodes. AT has been doing a really good job at not letting their current rating impact how gratuitous some scenes could be. I’m sure you could make Huntress’s body parts separating from her even more graphic, but it really wouldn’t feel like Adventure Time if they made it especially gruesome. It feels like it would be a little silly in execution, and it is, but in a way that is true to this franchise. For any seasoned viewer, it’s still impactful and devastating in a way that really only works within the tone of Adventure Time.

Within the Hart/Heart of the Forest, we get the aforementioned heartbreaking dream with Finn, reassuring Huntress Wizard that he’ll never forget her. It’s probably my favorite moment in the episode, doing so much with so little, and speaking to both of these characters and how differently they feel and express their emotions. HW’s body breaks up into individual segments that disperse throughout the multiverse as seeds of her essence. They end up in the following locations: Farmworld, Vampire World, the Baby World and then a gaggle of other dimensions that don’t immediately register in my brain as locations we’ve seen before. I thought the one from space might be the Drift, but nah, the specific background here doesn’t match anything from BMO. I’m just gonna assume we haven’t seen these locations before and then wait until someone makes the connection and makes me feel very stupid. The mystics that this scene plays around with are great; Huntress playing around with the various portals and being overwhelmed with the sounds feel true to her process of essentially being reborn.


With her hand cut off early in the episode and used as a sacrifice for the Heart, it seems like HW’s spirit is capable of living on beyond her physical body because of her connection to this magic. Or maybe, Huntress Wizard is dead, but her spirit lives on to incarnate at pretty much any time she’s separated from it. This seems consistent with Witch Wizard, who was practically murdered by Finn last season, but still maintains a physical body (possibly connecting to HW noticing her new “fit”?) The birth process is painful, and HW struggles within the overwhelming possibilities of choice at her very fingertips (with a foreboding rain of blood drops backing her). She returns to her meditative state, questions the possibilities of the world, and trusts in the universe that her choice is ultimately where growth will lie for her. It’s really nice that they got Sean Rohani to do voiceover within the spirit realm. It was great knowing that Kumail Nanjiani was coming back this season to reprise Prismo, but I was a bit bummed for Rohani since he did a great job of picking up for Prismo last season. Glad to know that he still has a role in the series, even if it will be considerably smaller. Thankfully, HW does NOT choose to find a new host body within Baby Cinnamon Bun’s mouth, and begins her growth within Fionna-World.

Over in Fionna-World, we rejoin the gang as they attempt to reclaim Gary’s new business venture. I really wanted to go into this season being more positive about the Fionna and Cake stuff, but honestly, mostly everything in Fionna-World does very little for me this time around. I just simply don’t really care about what happens in the individual lives of these characters. Gary and Marshall served as great stand-ins last season to show how PB and Marceline’s connection exists in all corners of the universe, but I’m less invested this time around, and I honestly do think that has something to do with the performances. I went from being neutral to both replacements to really not liking them this time around, with Marshall’s delivery falling a bit flat and Gary’s inflections feeling far too cartoonishly peppy. Watching these characters deal with what feels like generic sitcom fodder just isn’t doing it for me. And don’t get me wrong, the show is aware of this – Muto has said that this version of their world is very much an idealized 90’s sitcom world. But so far I don’t think they’re playing with those tropes enough or in an especially comedic way to make me feel like it’s more than just a bit of fodder between the real meat of the episode. I feel like looping in Cheers as a way to allude to this is very quickly starting to overstay its welcome – we get it, Fionna and Cake live in a sitcom! We don’t need Pendleton Ward to do his Norm impression every single episode!

I like some of the jokes we’re treated to, like the return of PepTank and his triumph in getting a night out to himself. I like how Hanna Abadeer apparently has spies out on Marshall, as seen with one hiding out when they’re at the bar. And we get female Dirt Beer Guy, aptly named Ruby! I am only so strong when it comes to these additional character cameos. I’m additionally a little bit confused about Fionna’s continued anxiety developing, as it initially seemed to stem from her desire to help those around her in fear of acting selfishly as she once did, but now it seems to derive more from her fear of being alone? Not to say those both can’t factor into each other, but I think it’s maybe emphasized a bit too much towards the end. I think they’re clearly trying to contrast HW’s desire to be alone with Fionna’s fear of being alone, similar to how Simon and Fionna’s arcs both played into each other last season, but I’m not sure it needed to be this direct. Did they really need to include Fionna projecting her own fear of abandonment while someone is withering away on the other phone line? It just didn’t feel natural to me and I feel like her arc doesn’t need to be defined so vocally.


The stuff in Ooo takes up the smallest segment of the episode, but probably provides for the funniest scenes. I love some classic Banana Guard stupidity, and even though John DiMaggio sadly does not reprise his role as one of them, Andy Merill does a great job stepping in. There’s additionally fun shenanigans with the Wiz kids and Pep being a little shit, as always. The voice acting from both Tom Kenny and Hynden Walch is great, they really sell the more dire and serious tones of Finn’s condition. We know nothing’s going to happen to him, as indicated by Together Again and the trailers alone. But that doesn’t mean this isn’t serious for those close to him, and the episode does a good job at communicating this.

Overall, I really like this one! Or parts of it, at least. Everything with Huntress Wizard is great, and I don’t even really say that as someone nostalgia starved to just see the OG cast members do their thing – I didn’t really have any particular fondness for this character in the original show. I just think that objectively everything going on with HW is miles better than anything happening in the subplot, though maybe I’m alone with this. Everything I’ve seen so far seems to be equally beloved no matter what the focus is, so I apologize if I’m being a stick in the mud to anyone who really is invested in the Fionna-World stuff and wants me to talk more about it. There’s a good chance that, as the season keeps progressing, the stuff with Huntress Wizard will incorporate more into the Fionna-World stuff and ramp things up to make them a bit more interesting. But as is, I just don’t think these breaks in the momentum really work, and I’m hoping that this season can turn around the elements that aren’t really working for me personally. But I can only bitch so much, as the HW segments are really, really good. For as many qualms as I have, it’s great to see the show can continue to expand upon tertiary characters in such unique and interesting ways.

This week’s artist shoutout goes to Monica (Monty) Ray, the newest addition to the AT board crew! Ray has worked on several shows including Big City Greens, and has done a handful of voices on other popular cartoons, like Harvey Beaks and Glitch Techs. Monty’s portfolio includes a lot of funky streetwear, and I implore you to check it out here!

Favorite line: “For a deity, he kinda stuck-up.”

Adventure Time, Animation

“The Hare and the Sprout” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: October 23, 2025

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

We are back once again, babies!! Let’s go over the ground rules for this batch: since episodes are airing weekly (something that I’m personally very excited about) I’m going to at least try to churn out a weekly review coinciding with the most recent episode. Granted, there’s no promises with this, one because there’s a very good chance that I’ll lose steam down the line and need a break so that I can have the proper energy to write up something half-decent. Second, some episodes last season definitely benefited from taking time to sit with; I think the reviews for Prismo the Wishmaster and Cheers would’ve looked a little different had I not taken the time to chew on them a little. So, we’ll see as we go. As always, a quick thank you to everyone old and new who continue to support the blog! I deeply appreciate your loyalty, and I hope I can continue to offer something insightful and fun in return.

We kick things off with Astrid retelling the tales of last season, and surprisingly it looks like we’re kicking things off pretty much right where they left off, or at least within a few weeks to a month. Love the beautiful watercolor and colored pencil artwork we’re treated to, painted and drawn by Ala Flora. So nice to see my friends Simon, PB, and Marceline again, and Simon’s living with Marcy now! I like to imagine it was offered by Marceline when Simon mentioned he was looking for another place to stay – kind of like a daughter looking after her elderly father, very sweet. Because he’s an easy target, I also like to imagine him interrupting any moments of intimacy between the girls with some nerd shit that only he cares about. I love that dweeb.


We’re welcomed back to our main protagonist shortly after, where we get a bit of tweened animation of Fionna stretching in her bed (begging the gods that this show never gets demoted to fully rigged animation). A genderswapped Betty is teased by the announcer, which I’m interested to see if those implications mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Love to see that they once again cannot stray too far from the snail cameos, as we get a real snail traveling across Fionna’s TV stand, with the addition of the umpteenth Cheers appearance in the series. Though, it doesn’t last long, as Fionna quickly flips through some other 90’s dreck before landing on a fantasy program. Cheers was Simon’s escapist fantasy of a world that was simple and made sense, whereas Fionna still leans toward sensationalist and exciting sensibilities, away from the mundane responsibilities of everyday life. I’ve complained about not being super interested in Fionna in the past, but this does feel relatable. I’m pushing 30 now, which is the same age range these characters are supposed to be in, and here I am writing a blog on a fantasy show that I’m invested in far more than the drudgery of working a 9-5 job day in and day out. Adventure Time really has succeeded at placing you in the shoes of the main character and watching them guide through life in a way that never seems any less confusing. That relatability is always balanced out with something equally fantastical, and while Fionna’s world is far more urban than Ooo, we do now have the addition of a magical cat living in her own apartment right next door. Complete with the first obligatory bacon pancakes reference in this series (hot dog waffles) which admittedly I didn’t even catch the first time around.

New intro this season! I like it, for the most part. As always, it’s great to see the SmallBu team back at it again with very bouncy, vibrant animation. The anime allusions feel slightly jarring, but its an aesthetic that F&C have played around with since their introduction into the original series. The intro additionally doesn’t really feel like Adventure Time – the music and the lack of an introductory long pan feel like a deliberate stray from what we’re accustomed to seeing. I’m kind of all for Fionna & Cake branching out and adopting its own style this way. After 10+ years of alternative intros that have used the original title sequence as a reference point, it’s refreshing to get something quite different in taste. Although, I will say, I liked the music that accompanied last season’s intro far better. I don’t think it’s a very compelling beat and I don’t think it really aids the visuals that successfully either. I almost wish they repurposed the initial score and made new visuals to go around it – but I guess in true anime style, they wanted to start this one from the ground up. Apparently, a good bit of the intro is referencing Revolutionary Girl Utena, an anime I’ve never seen but I am interested in checking it out. I’ll reserve comments about the little bits of foreshadowing for character arcs and relationships sprinkled in until they actually come into fruition within the season.


Glad to see most of the returning players from last season back again in the title card sequence. Michael DeForge’s title cards are better than ever, complete with little iterations of Fionna and Huntress Wizard in both corners. Also, Kris Mukai is back once again! Mukai worked on a few episodes during the course of season 7, including Varmints, Mama Said, and Five Short Tables. Her style is immediately recognizable in the first chunk after the intro through the bakery store sequence (at least, I’m pretty positive it’s Mukai – I’ve only gotten worse at this with time!) with the eyes a lot closer together, accented by several lines and curvy expressions. Also cool that Turtle Prince’s human counterpart is featured in this scene, as she helped bring him to life in Five Short Tables. Also returning after a bit of absence is Chermaine Verhagen, who previously co-boarded Wheels, and had contributed a lot of bit parts and visual development to the show throughout the years. I’ll definitely need more time pinpointing her individual contributions to this episode – gonna take some time to analyze outside of this review so I can better recognize her drawings moving forward.

Funny to see some of the new iterations of characters, like a female version of Buck Pudding, everyone’s favorite side character. I guess who else would they have as the store manager of Home Depot? I’m also pretty sure that the child in the bus is just a male version of Astrid, so it’s additionally very comical that we now have alternative versions of NEW characters introduced in the series. It’s also driving me crazy – I have no idea who the yellowish person on the bus is supposed to be, if anyone. I’ve been looking at characters on the wiki for almost an hour and cannot identify who this character is alluding to – I’m just gonna open it up for someone in the comments to make me look like a total idiot.

Returning players like Queenie and M-Cron are a pleasure to see too. It’s been a while since we’ve had any Lady rep in the series, so I’m glad to see M-Cron getting a bit more focus, with Cake being absolutely infatuated with him. I’m curious as to where this is heading, which is something I’ll probably be saying a lot in these first few episodes. I do like all of the allusions to fairytales that have been coming into play within the episode thus far: the introduction with Astrid’s “happily-ever-after” story, the naming convention of The Hare and the Sprout, Cake’s cross-species romance, Fionna’s increasing interest in fantasy, the anime-like opening, the focus on mystics in Huntress Wizard’s segments, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire season largely worked as a deconstruction of fairytale tropes, or at the very least, used them as a thematic stepping point to explore ideas about how these characters view their goals and expectations. In the best case scenario, it’ll work similar to the multiverse concept in season one where they allow themselves to have a decent bit of fun with the genre without getting too lost in clichés. Also, the onslaught of new genderbent character introductions is certainly a bit gratuitous at this point, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly enamored with seeing how far they’re willing to take it. Madam Slicer was not on my bingo card for this season.


Simon opening his call to Fionna with “hey, girl!” was irresistibly sweet. It really is a testament to the previous season’s strength that he has become such a beloved presence in the series, after mainly being a gimmick for storytelling purposes in the original series. His awkwardness around PB is additionally hilarious, because I totally think he’s overthinking the kidnapping element and I think PB struggling with her own demeanor is just kind of how she is. Though, I also wouldn’t be shocked if she’s still petty over being called an assistant way back in Broke His Crown. Simon in general seems a lot more well-adjusted after the events of last season than Fionna does, which I’d imagine is a direct result of having several stand-in daughter figures and an outlet for his interest in magic. I was totally prepared for the scene with Simon at the solo tombstone to be heartbreaking, but having it be Choose Goose probably provided the biggest laugh of the episode for me. Not only does this sudden obsession with him since Distant Lands continue onward, but I’ll additionally never understand the absolute vitriol for him that the staff feels. He somewhat unknowingly became possessed after the events of Wizard City, was used and tortured by Simon in the first season, and now is dead with a tasteless rhyme on his graveyard, seemingly rotting in Hell as seen in Together Again. It’s kind of hilarious.

We get our first bits of Huntress Wizard soon after, and I guess this is as good a time as any to talk about the voice actor changes. There’s quite a few recasts this season, which AT is usually no stranger to when it comes to casting celebrities generally outside of the animation industry. This season sees the recast of Huntress Wizard, Gary, and Marshall Lee. It’s always disappointing to see, but none that I feel too strongly about; Jenny Slate is definitely the biggest loss, given that she’s played the character most consistently out of the bunch, but Ashly Burch has been a great presence up to this point in the series and I’m pretty confident she can do this character justice through her work. Donald Glover has been with the series the longest of the three, so losing him is a shame, though understandable because he’s reportedly been struggling with his health behind-the-scenes. As for Gary, it’s just kind of hilarious to me that this character cannot find a voice that sticks. I do wonder what the nature of needing to recast so many of these actors is – the animation industry isn’t exactly thriving right now, so I wonder if it ultimately ended up being that there wasn’t enough incentive to return to the series. In this article, Adam Muto mostly alludes to this being a result of scheduling conflicts, but c’mon, Andrew Rannells can’t show up a few times to voice the gay gum lad?? I guess scheduling conflicts could involve a whole plethora of issues, including travel time, personal matters, and full-time commitments, so I can’t really judge without knowing the whole scope of why they chose not to return.


Anywho, back to the meat. The Vampire King lion was additionally not on my bingo card, and it’s interesting to see him play a bit of a supportive role to Finn, who is in considerable peril. I think Amanda Jones as a composer has gotten progressively stronger from when she first started with the series, as I quite liked the score throughout this episode, especially during the scenes where HW is following the lion to her home. As I mentioned, I think the general sounds complimenting scenes aren’t as odd or experimental as they used to be, but I think think the adventurous, tense stings that accent certain scenes do assist the general tone and scope of the series becoming much more grand. It’s great to see Finn again, even though he largely plays second banana to just about every other character in the episode. It seems his role will mostly be a catalyst for the mission of other characters, namely HW, but I do hope we get some Finn love this season. After seeing him largely repressed and injured a good portion of the recent projects, I’d love to see a brief moment of reprieve for him by the season’s end. At least he’s still having freaky dreams, as indicated by the illusory Huntress Wizard feeding him (Princess Mononoke reference?) Let me just say that the forest backgrounds in general looking quite gorgeous. It’s so cool to see the evolution of certain shots from the original series, like Huntress’s “cliff under a tree,” the originally was composed of flat colors and now transformed into a multi-layered beauty. Shoutout to the many background designers and painters who helped make up this episode, some of which I’m planning to give a shoutout to at the end of each blog entry.

Back in Fionna-World, we’re treated to a few more character returns. Glad to see Marc Maron Squirrel is thriving in his new environment (in his impressionist era, no less!) and we see Marshall really adopting his vampiric roots. There’s a brief moment where he gets a call from “Birthgiver,” with the obvious implication being Hanna Abadeer, though with Ice Queen being taunted in the opening theme, I do wonder how exactly her connection to Marshall will play out in a way that differentiates itself from Marceline and Simon’s history. We’re also treated to Hunter and a quick parallel with Fionna’s injury slightly mimicking Finn’s current state, or at the very least, drawing back to the thorn that Finn had lodged in his hand way back in Is That You? With all of the allusions being made between characters, their physical state, relationships, and emotional wellbeing, I’d love to see this season play around with the ideas of just how much these characters have autonomy over their surroundings, or if they’re destined to falling into the same patterns and soul connections that their otherworldly counterparts are.

I feel as though the nearly half-hour episodes are much better paced this time around, which is a slight contrast from last season’s premiere. I felt Fionna Campbell was somewhat distracting in how it padded extra time, while we have moments in this episode that use time more methodically. We’re set up to a variety of different ideas and stories for the course of the season, but it doesn’t feel like information overload either. We’re still treated to more laidback sequences, like Fionna and the gang setting up for Gary’s grand opening. It’s good to see a blend of both, not rushing us right into the action, but having enough variety that it doesn’t feel claustrophobic in its surroundings. The dream sequence, on the other hand, does throw a lot out in a short amount of time, which is a welcomed addition. The more introspective elements seem to revolve around Fionna’s newfound dedication to helping others and the internal pressures that come with putting aside her own needs for others, along with the guilt and trauma that she surely carries along from her adventures through the multiverse. We get a brief glimpse of Martin’s discarded head, someone who previously counted on her that was hurt as a result of her actions. Also appearing is Winter King’s demented chicken servant from The Winter King, which is a possible sign that all of the terror and insecurity that Fionna’s arc implied she left behind is still lingering and at the forefront. We also get a wolf lurking, with a white wolf in dreams potentially symbolizing hope and a wolf in general connecting to some sort of threat or internal conflict. And hey, the thorn wasn’t the only arm symbolism we get up to this point, as Fionna has her own gnarly bionic arm in her fantasy dream! Cool to see Cake and Fionna sharing dreams is still a trademark of their relationship.


Things start wrapping up, as we’re treated to additional conflict setups, like Fionna feeling indebted to Gary after Queenie shuts his business down, Simon teaching Wiz Biz stuff (treating us to an aged up Blaine, Pep, and Cadebra! I love how Pep’s voice is slowly starting to sound pitch shifted, I wondered when he was going to eventually transform into Steve Little), and Huntress Wizard tracking down the bear that hurt Finn. Already saw a lot of people complaining about the abrupt ending, but like, here I am thinking, “we are so back.” It’s Adventure Time, baby! As is, it was a pretty decent premiere. Like I said prior, it’s kind of difficult to talk about it outside of speculation for future entries, but generally a better start pacing wise and more engaging compared to Fionna Campbell. I’m still a bit skeptical about how much I’m going to find myself intrigued by the Fionna-World stuff this season, as I’m definitely much more drawn to what’s happening in Ooo, but nothing established so far was particularly bad. Fionna-World is, at best, mildly charming. I think there’s still plenty they can play around with to evolve this concept and I appreciate the dedication that is being put into the world building. It just so happens that a lot of my attitude seems to be leaning toward “we’ll see what happens” as opposed to feeling glued to the screen, waiting to see what Fionna and her friends’ journeys bring us next. But I’m not totally cynical, I’m absolutely giddy to have this show back in any fashion. This team especially have proven themselves time and time again, so I’m looking forward to just what this season has in store in all corners of the multiverse.

This week’s staff shoutout goes out to Ala Flora who, as mentioned, worked on the opening storybook sequence. Flora’s work is visually stunning, tapping into childlike wonder and boasting beautiful colors in the process. You can check out her portfolio here.

Favorite line: “Mommies say hi!”

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Adventure Time: Righteous Jukebox

Adventure Time Reviewed

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

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

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Artist Spotlight – Graham Falk

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 – 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.

Adventure Time, Animation

“Casper & Nova” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed


Original Airdate: September 28, 2024

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

Things are starting to wind down with this one! We’re in the endgame of the season, with everything that’s been built up starting to reach its bookend. I think at this point, my opinions about what drew me into the series in the first place were pretty much finalized. The exploration of Simon’s journey and relationship still felt very compelling, while Fionna and Cake and the unfolding of their universe still failed to really grab me. I think if you kept up reading by this point, you probably already know how I feel about everything, so I’m going to try not to beat a dead horse too much and just be pretty succinct with what I don’t really dig while giving more attention to the stuff that really interests me. I think there’s a good bit of the latter in Casper & Nova, with some surprises baked into it.


Let’s get right into some cosmic goodness. As Simon discovers himself occupying GOLB’s realm, he also discovers the Lich, quietly muttering a prayer to his scholar. As mentioned in the previous review, this is probably the most emotion we see out of the Lich, and while it feels like a concept I would’ve been previously opposed to, I actually quite like the execution. I think at this point, it’s pretty hard to make the Lich a convincing big bad. Towards the end, his role in the series started to feel a bit oversaturated, and with the expansion of the universe that we’ve seen throughout Fionna & Cake, I think it’s apparent that the Lich is only a small portion of an infinite universe. I still like the concept that he embodies all things that are inherently evil, but at the same time, it’s kind of hard to keep pulling the same punches with his character and acting like they’ll have the same impact every time. Fleshing him out a bit and showing that his plight is more of spiritual intention rather than this baseline desire of evil actually adds to his character in a positive light. I love the one-dimensional Lich we’ve seen up to this point, but it’s become increasingly apparent that even the staff have grown tired of finding new ways to make his presence feel evil enough. I think this is a proper bookend to his character, and I’m hoping they don’t try to find new ways to bring him back at this point. I don’t think they really can either – GOLB turning him into a space block erases him from all existence. Which I guess is retconned by Together Again, where the Lich hand is present in the Dead Worlds. Shouldn’t that not be a thing, considering what we know about GOLB via Margles and Betty? I don’t know, all’s I’m saying is this was a great cap to the Lich’s long history of monologuing his way through the series and I’m hoping that it stays that way! Also love Simon relating to the Lich. Dude even kicks him! Simon is fearless, man.

This scene also starts to add layers to GOLB that were not touched on in previous entries. GOLB was a character that pretty much only existed in Easter eggs and hushed mentions, to hint of a greater evil/mystery creeping in the background. Come Along With Me introduced GOLB as the final big bad for the series, though beyond his role as a plot device, we don’t actually get to learn much about how he operates beyond what we already know and the mythos is pretty lacking. In Casper & Nova, without really even saying anything about what he (or I guess she now?) is about, there’s so much to take away from how she operates. GOLB is an agent of chaos, and while the Lich associates that chaos as being based in annihilation, I’m not sure that GOLB is inherently an evil entity. She kind of just acts like a baby, curiously interacting with her environment and occasionally turning beings into floating space blocks. Of course, that more genuine curiosity may be fueled by Simon’s presence and the idea that Betty’s soul is still trapped somewhere within GOLB, but I don’t think that her presence is necessarily aligned with chaotic evil intentions. At least this is brought into question when Simon enters the picture.


Not only can Simon and the Lich relate in failure to find meaning, but they also have a shared love for long-winded monologues! Simon dishes out sad sentiments about his long journey in trying to reverse Betty’s current state, and it makes room for yet another performance that highlights Tom Kenny’s chops. Kenny allegedly deemed that Fionna & Cake was the most emotional he’s ever been in the booth, and it’s episodes like this that really bring it to the forefront. Though, not the only time Kenny’s ever provided an emotional performance; the way Simon’s voice breaks and goes raspy as he gets more hushed reminds me a lot of his role in the Futurama episode Luck of the Fryrish. He’s so often recognized for his resume of silly cartoon characters (and rightfully so!) that you forget how he’s a legitimately great actor, and you can feel every bit of remorse, self-pity, and sadness in his voice as he confides to Golbetty. It’s complemented by some really stellar imagery, like Simon standing at the edge of existence while describing his loss of purpose in life. Even his optimism is found only in the idea sacrificing his own existence for the purpose of benefiting others – a pattern that both he and Betty know all too well. This is when that chaotic instinct is ultimately challenged, as GOLB transports Simon right in the middle o- holy shit it’s Shermy and Beth!!

Those rascals showing up was not on my bingo card for F&C, so it’s a welcomed surprise! It’s cool to see more of the 1000+ world, which seems to mostly stay true to what was set up in Come Along With Me as well as Steve Wolfhard’s outline. We got brief glimpses into Shermy and Beth’s personalities in the finale of the O.G. show, and I love how much their rebellious side is focused on in this entry. It really makes them standout from their soul counterparts; Finn and Jake (well, mostly Finn) were loyal to government and law sometimes to a fault, while Shermy and Beth are completely radicalized. This connects back to Beth’s exile from the kingdom, which has yet to be fleshed out beyond said outline and Come Along With Me‘s intro. It is SUPER funny to me that the duo’s revolution seems to be routed in Marxist sentiments based off of Beth’s checklist (mentioning praxis, comrades, and guerrilla warfare) which really makes me curious if their intentions are pure. It makes things a little more interesting that their values are potentially not as altruistic as their spiritual counterparts, especially with Beth in the lead. Jake is more easily corruptible than his brother, so it’s cool to see that shift in dynamic while still keeping the heart of their bond still very much in tact. Also worth noting, another voice actor bites the dust! Willow Smith did not return to reprise her role, which felt like a given, and Beth is instead portrayed by Imani Hakim. Like most of the recasts this season, it’s not super noticeable, especially since Smith only had so many lines to begin with. It is nice to have Sean Giambrone back as Shermy, who is just so darn lovable. His energy and inflections are great, and I love his stupid little face and his stupid little envelope-opener sword.


It doesn’t really make any sense at all why Simon would be incarnated into Shermy’s body, but it’s AT. Sometimes convoluted moments get a pass for being fun and this just happens to be one of those instances. It’s additionally very fun that the library is nearly kingdom sized in the 1000+ world; we never get to see Turtle Princess’s domain in any capacity throughout the series, so I’m willing to bet that she just eventually constructed her own kingdom on the grounds of her very favorite place. Good for her, though it was super fucking rude of whoever boarded the library sequence to include her discarded shell in the ruins. I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life!! There’s lots of neat little moments in the library, like the return of the Pagelings. It’s so cool how every bit of dumb AT lore ends up working it’s way back into the franchise at some point, no matter how insignificant their role is. They’ve gotten a lot more threatening this time around too – assuming there’s no Paper Pete’s among this gangly crew. Also got a kick out of Beth’s interest in transcendental meditation, I would love a “TM for Pups’ merch adaptation in the same vein as the Enchirdion book from years back.

I love the sweet way that Beth goes along with what she believes to be a game that Shermy’s playing, leading to the unveiling of Ancient Artifacts, which has been interpreted more as a fantasy adventure than a guide to the hidden world of magic (more on that later!) We also get another guest artist in the mix, with Louie Zong spearheading the visual design for the Casper and Nova sequences. It’s awesome to have Zong’s presence on the series, his music and art have been hugely inspiring to me for years, so it’s surely a welcomed addition. I love the low-poly designs and animated portions that feel like they were ripped straight from a PS1 cutscene. Casper and Nova appearing very similar to villagers from Animal Crossing was also a lovely touch. It’s pretty apparent off the bat that Casper and Nova are stand-ins for Simon and Betty, but since most of the thematic elements of their story are expanded on in the following episode, I’ll wait to discuss it for next entry.


As for the rest of the episode, there’s a few more moments sprinkled in that I like. Fionna’s interactions with Marshall and Gary are fun – I love her reaction to seeing them hook up, as well as their collective reactions to hating each other in a parallel universe. Seeing genderbent (is this still an acceptable term? It feels somewhat outdated but I have no idea what the general public’s opinion on it is. Or just nerd culture. I’ve never actually heard someone use the phrase ‘genderbent’ in the real world) Tiffany was additionally fun, and I loved Cake morphing into Fionna’s fit of the day. The brief reference to Cheers (the series) was super funny as well – love Norm Peterson’s iconic catchphrase “I’m walkin’ here.” But yeah, pretty much already talked about all the stuff I was actually interested in. A lot of the pacing for Casper & Nova suffers from the same reasons that Cake the Cat did; most of the episode kind of meanders in the F&C world, feeling like their scenes are mostly just there to slowly carry out the story elements that bleed into the next episode. This is complemented by the “track down and capture the mini-Scarab” segments, which feel equally unengaging. The nightmare sequence at the beginning is fine. I like Simon’s contorted body in the fridge towards the end, but AT has had many, many dream sequences up to this point, most that are far more well-executed.

Annnnnnnd, that’s it I think? An episode that’s mostly pretty interesting when it comes to the stuff I’m personally invested in: GOLB, Simon’s story, the Lich, the 1000+ world. Other aspects of it don’t really grab me as much, but I think there’s more than enough to make me still engaged with what’s happening. Some of the best moments of the season are featured here, namely Simon and the Lich’s individual monologues in GOLB world. I’m not gaga over this season of the franchise, but one thing that does elevate it is that there are like, two to three genuinely great moments per episode surrounded by story and character elements that are mostly good-to-decent. That’s pretty much how I feel about the next entry, which is very clearly a glowing endorsement! Kind of.


No specific production tidbit for this one but I implore y’all to check out Louie Zong’s music. The album linked here is one of my favorites from him.

Favorite line: “I know how to read! I have degrees!”

Adventure Time

“Cake the Cat” Review

Adventure Time Reviewed


Original Airdate: September 7, 2023

Written & Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Jacob Winkler, Haewon Lee & Nicole Rodriguez

Cake the Cat follows in the previous two episodes’ method of developing characters that, up to this point, we really didn’t know too too much about. I’d argue that, of the three main characters, the necessity to flesh out Cake beyond what we already know about her from the original F&C episodes feels a bit frivolous. Cake is probably my favorite of the Fionna & Cake bunch up to this point because she was really the only character who immediately set herself apart from her male counterpart; she was sassy, more no-nonsense, and Roz Ryan’s terrific voice presence gave her an immediate sense of charisma. Of course, she also shared some elements of Jake’s personality, mainly that she doesn’t take anything too seriously and is often there to lighten up the mood when things get too heavy. In that sense, she already kind of established herself early on where the rest of the F&C cast of characters were kind of left with fragments of personality and depth that were most left unchecked. So, with that being said, I don’t think spending extra time on giving Cake her own arc in this story is entirely necessary. Of course, she has some nice moments of development throughout the season, but I think what really made her work in these ten episodes is just whenever she just offered moments of comedic relief.


Before gettin’ into Cake stuff, there’s a brief little precursor to the episode I’ll tackle. We see Prismo once more, only this time he’s very clearly depressed. I really like all the small moments of Prismo mourning Jake’s loss – it’s all very understated moments of grief that really paint how much of an impact Jake had on Prismo’s life. And it’s even sadder to wonder just how long this has been going on, though it’s still unclear of when exactly Jake kicked the bucket. The clip of Finn and Jake at the Bird Temple has questionable implications, namely that Finn got the tattoo of his brother before he died. I think that idea is pretty dumb, so my current headcanon is that this must be an alternate universe where Jake survives, but Finn ends up getting the tattoo anyway. I’ve seen the idea thrown around that the tattoo could’ve been the result of Finn losing a bet to Jake, which I think is relatively unsentimental, but I could get behind it if only Finn was super happy about losing said bet. Like, he doesn’t even care, because he’s like, “hey, I get to have my favorite person on my chest forever!” I think that would be pretty sweet. The little sequence itself of their adventure feels similar to the pretty surface-level quest we see at the beginning of Together Again, though it has some neat little additions. I like how the temple itself seems to be partially based on Ghostshrimp’s design for a Bird Temple from the scrapped season one episode The Helmet of Thorogon and the cockatykes on copter-trikes does feel like a very AT-specific concept. Seeing Jakesuit again is also fun, though I feel like it’s reaching the point of oversaturation after appearing pretty recently in Together Again. You can’t just throw the Jakesuit around willy-nilly, it’s for special occasions!

As mentioned, the rest of the episode mainly focuses on Cake exploring Ooo and discovering her own self. It’s a lot of moments that, in my opinion, mostly feel unnecessary to explore. Like, was the exposition of Cake trying different size-altering fruits and acknowledging that she enjoys shapeshifting something that we needed to see happen? Or even her feeling at home with the magic surrounding her, only to be ganged up against by the very beings that made her feel inspired? I feel like most of what is established here can be cooked into Cake obtaining her magical abilities in the following episode without much having been lost. AT often got flack for jamming too much into the span of 11 minute episodes during its original run. While there are definitely instances where that is the case, and there are ways that the added runtime in Fionna and Cake helps stories to flourish, there are instances where these 25 minute episodes tend to overexplain and spend a little too much time trying to set things up. This is of course most noticeable at the beginning of the season, and I really feel like moments from this episode could’ve been baked into the first one, which also was paced a bit awkwardly. Again though, this is coming from someone who was less enthralled by the Fionna and Cake world in general and was more interested in Simon’s plight and the exploration of different Ooo-like worlds. There arguments for keeping this episode the way it is, with how it establishes Cake and Fionna’s relationship and Cake’s feelings of wanting independence from Fionna. Though, I’d argue that this only really leads to incidental drama down the line, so again, I don’t really feel like I personally got much from trying to expand Cake’s character in this great of detail.


The rest of the episode is also pretty middling. I never expected the Marc Maron squirrel to appear again (I kinda just figured he’d be riding that frisbee through the air for all of eternity) but it was nice to see him once more. I think F&C, like Distant Lands, is still kind of struggling to capture the weirdness of the original series, and it’s probably most apparent here. The additional return of the Jim Cummings woodland critters feels like it’d be a prime opportunity for classic AT silliness to shine, but they mostly just show up, get fucked up by Cake (in one of the only instances from the season where I felt the use of blood was a bit gratuitous), and don’t really do anything funny. I’m always down for recapturing the light oddness of Adventure Time, though I feel like this is something the new team is struggling with the most. It’s not without moments that do feel spirituality-aligned; the Squirrel going on about how he involuntarily became an apple salesman one day was great and his boss being irrationally angry with everything she expresses was also fun.

And because I’ve already harped on this in a previous Distant Lands review, I’ll get my whining out of the way now so I don’t harp on it in the future: it still impacts my immersion slightly not having Tim Kiefer composing. Amanda Jones joined the series starting with Obsidian and I just feel like a lot of what she offers up doesn’t always mesh with the series/what Kiefer brought to it. There are so many bits of score in Fionna and Cake that feel kind of generic; the scene where Cake is trying fruits at the market is supplemented by a flute tune that just kind of sounds like typical medieval fare, while Kiefer would always experiment with different sounding instruments, like the dulcimer score heard at the market in Blade of Grass, to support Adventure Time‘s unique and quirky tone. I don’t know if this is really a jab at Jones per se, I think Kiefer was just always so essential to the series in ways that I don’t really see discussed much. Again, I think Jones does an alright job from time to time at capturing the same energy that Kiefer did (I think the theme song for Fionna and Cake itself is particularly great) and I will commend her in the future for times that I think she did knock it out of the park, but I had to get it off my chest at least once so I don’t bitch every time I think the score is ill-fitting.


While on the subject of music, I actually do like Cake’s song in this one! I think it plays out a bit awkwardly in the episode itself, but it is a pretty catchy tune and is actually one of the tracks I find myself humming the most from this season. I quite like Roz Ryan’s singing voice and people may also forget that she was actually on Broadway before getting into film and television. It’s nice that she gets her own song outside of her part in Bad Little Boy, though she deserves just as much praise for that. Oh yeah, and Rainy’s back! She was one of the few recognizable characters from the batch of Ooo residents and apparently she hasn’t aged a day in 15 years or so. I did like how the civilians were all pretty much new designs based around commonplace species from Ooo. I really dig the one tree guy painting portraits that apparently got bored at one point and started painting a house instead. Or maybe that’s just what he sees, I guess.

On the other side of the episode, we see Fionna desperately searching for Cake while Simon continues to lose his mind and attempts once more to summon Betty. Again, it’s more so just moving things along before the ball gets dropped and everything starts moving, but there’s nothing going on that’s particularly of interest. Fionna drinking wine out of a paper bag with Marshall and Ellis P. was fun, but otherwise I didn’t find any of Fionna or Simon’s scenes particularly noteworthy up to her entering Ooo. And with how fast Fionna gets launched into a whole other world and quickly accepts it, I’m shocked that they decided to just kind of tack on this development on at the last minute! I don’t really mind it and I don’t think you have to spend an extended amount of time doing a fish out of water story with her, but with how much the episode takes its sweet time with other things, it’s kind of funny how much Fionna’s introduction is quickly glanced over. She gets some fun moments towards the end – I’ve never related to anything more than when she brushes off her clothes to provide a handful of Cake’s hair, and her just straight up murdering weird creatures around her sets up her longstanding arc of murdering other weird creatures around her throughout the season. It’s cut short when Fionna and Cake are beamed up to Prismo’s and Astrid is left without her hat. I was kind of convinced that Astrid would tag along in this journey and hold a role similar to the Distant Lands sidekick characters, but I’m kind of glad that didn’t end up happening. Astrid is cute, but I think it would probably just overcrowd an already jammed series.


Otherwise, this one is probably the most lukewarm I am for a Fionna and Cake episode. I’m usually fine with letting things breathe a bit, but with such a small amount of episodes for the season, I just feel like a lot of it is kind of padding out setup. Again, nothing against Cake as a character, but I think spending a decent amount of time developing her character in ways that could kind of just be implied feels like there could’ve been some tweaking in terms of how this episode slot is used. The stuff with the squirrel and gang is fine, but isn’t really fun enough either to justify its role in the episode. But generally speaking, it still isn’t bad, it’s just time I felt could’ve been used for something funnier, more insightful, or experiment a bit more with the themes they’re going for. As is, I still think Cake plays a great role in the season, just not from a stance of personal growth.

Also, Minerva gets a small cameo in the human city! There’s actually a full deleted scene from the episode where Minerva interacts a bit more with Cake, which you can see here. I think the additional scene is cute, but I think I’m more happy with the little glimpse/cameo that it was cut down to. The boards for this scene I believe were drawn by Hanna K. Nyström, though feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Favorite line: “Literally, some apple guy came up to me and said, ‘this will be your life now and it will be a life of loneliness.”