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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Season Two Episodes Best to Worst

The Worm and his Orchard
The Bird in the Clock
The Crocodile Who Bit a Log
The Wolves Who Wandered
The Hare and the Sprout
The Bear and the Rose
The Lion of Embers
The Cat Who Tipped the Box
The Butterfly and the River
The Insect That Sang

Final Consensus

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

Adventure Time, Animation

“The Bear and the Rose” Review

June 13, 2026June 13, 2026 Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: December 25, 2025

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Adventure Time, Animation

“The Hare and the Sprout” Review

October 23, 2025November 4, 2025 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

September 11, 2025September 11, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

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

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

Uncategorized

Artist Spotlight – Jesse Moynihan

April 7, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

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

Art Style

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

Manly

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

Midnight Gospel

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

Finn & Friends

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

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

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

Promo Art

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

Storyboards

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

Adventure Time, Animation

Artist Spotlight – Adam Muto

March 26, 2025March 26, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

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

Art Style

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

Finn & Friends

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

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

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

Concept Art

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

Misc.

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

Storyboards

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

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Artist Spotlight – Rebecca Sugar

February 10, 2025November 18, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

Perhaps the most prolific of AT‘s production crew, Rebecca Sugar is one of the few board artists that nearly every AT fan, casual or seasoned, has been able to recognize. Known for her more overtly emotional style of writing and very blobby, expressive sketches, Sugar may have the most distinctive visual identity in the entire series. If a character is seen crying between seasons two and four, there’s a good chance Sugar was at the helm.

Art Style

If Herpich’s style incorporates a blend of realistic human anatomy and cartoony features, Sugar’s is that to the nth degree. Her love for human anatomy bleeds through in her dancing sketches, as seen in images 3 and 4, which boast extremely dynamic posing that are rich for exaggeration in other examples. For an artist that delves so deep into emotional and physical realism, it’s astounding how much she is willing to push to an almost extreme level when it comes to facial expressions and body language. None of this is more evident than in her short film Singles, which features an entirely convincing display of human body language in the blobbiest, most absurd way. These are the sensibilities that bleed most into her AT work – extreme dynamic posing with characters that essentially bleed out of their own anatomy with emotion.

Concept Art

Various different sketches from Sugar, some of which develop design aspects for episodes (Flame Princess’s general look, Marceline’s outfits) while others are seemingly just drawings whipped up in her spare time. All of her general interests bleed through in these sketches – Flame Princess, Fionna & Cake, fashion and hair, and of course, Marceline.

Steven Universe

It wouldn’t make sense to do this without some Steven! The Sugar trademarks bleed through the most in these sketches – strong posing, stretched faces, expressive eyes, lowered mouth, anime accents, bulbous features, and a love for dancing and outfit changes. It’s no wonder that Sugar crafted Marceline’s most iconic outfit in What Was Missing.

Finn & Friends

Talk about bulbous! Sugar’s Finn is the blobbiest Finn of all. Perhaps most distinctive are his facial features, which will range from the eyes becoming huge and glossy while the mouth shrinks, to the mouth becoming massive and complementing with equally large eyes. The mouth is quite possibly even more distinctive than those huge anime eyes, often morphing into a Muppet mouth that flaps off the side, mostly notably in the seventh image. Eyebags and wrinkles are common, though they usually drastically range in size and detail (different from the previously explored Steve Wolfhard who has a pretty consistent line weight and size for all of his accents). Of course, blushing and anime eyes are also staples, and that excellent sense of posing bleeds through in the eighth image. Perhaps most unique is how much Finn’s hat actually feels like a separate piece of apparel rather than a legitimate staple of his body in Sugar’s drawings. His face will often protrude outside of the hat, as seen in the fifth and ninth image.

Jake isn’t usually a focal point in Sugar entries (even her sections during Jake vs Me-Mow were mostly centered around the Finn portions) but her touch is still evident when working with him. It’s a chance for her more simplistic attributes to shine, like the boomerang mouth seen throughout these images, which is usually more pushed than the typical bean mouth. He’s also a bit more segmented than the usual Jake, often having a clear separation between his back and lower half, as seen in the first and last images. Again, emphasizing that great sense of posing.

Some more Sugar shots of other characters. Mouths off to the side, boomerangs, tears, eye bags, and some of the most realistic hair physics you’ll ever see in the series. There’s plenty of implications of her styles in Seasons 2 and 3, but her contributions are really unmistakable from Season 4 onward. I think Jake the Dog is probably where her style shines the most, because she gets to work with eye whites and noses. That first shot is essentially just a Steven Universe character.

Promo Art

I believe Rebecca was the first board artist from the series to start doing individual episode promos. These promos range from detailed black-and-white drawings to full, vibrantly colored pieces, often without any type of backdrop. Sugar is also unique in having miniature versions of her and Adam Muto (and later Cole Sanchez, to a lesser extent) in all of her promos from Season 2-3. Tom Herpich would later mimic this for a bit during his time working with Ako Castuera throughout Season 2.

Storyboards

A handful of Sugar boards in all of their bulbous, emotional, sketchy glory.

Title Cards

As far as I’m aware, Sugar has only designed the title cards for two episodes: Incendium and I Remember You. I could only find a good scan of the Incendium rough design online, while the I Remember You initial sketch can be found in Volume 2 of the title cards book from a few years ago. If anyone has a clean copy, feel free to send my way and I’ll add it above!

Adventure Time, Animation, Uncategorized

“Together Again” Review

September 2, 2021November 18, 2025 Adventure Time Reviewed

Original Airdate: May 20, 2021

Written & Storyboard by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Iggy Craig, Maya Petersen & Serena Wu

Together Again was easily the most anticipated Distant Lands special for me personally. Come Alone With Me still stands as a decent cap for the original series, but it left me a bit unsatisfied with how Finn and Jake, the core of Adventure Time, were mainly sidelined for story purposes. That being said, I may have went into this one a little too hyped. The story that I thought I was going to get in Together Again was very different from what actually happened, and I couldn’t help leaving this episode a bit disappointed. I was mainly expecting it to be about Finn’s life during the timeline of Obsidian, his grief over the loss of his brother, and his eventual acceptance of his passing after a shared epiphany. That being said, I’ve watched this special several times since my first viewing with a different perspective – it’s unfair to view it through the eyes of my own personal bias, so I wanted to give myself a chance to appreciate it for what it is. And, lo-and-behold, I got that chance. Together Again really is the solid conclusion to Finn and Jake’s brotherhood that I was still truly craving even after all was said and done. That being said, I think some of the initial criticisms I left with after a first viewing haven’t completely dissipated, but I’m still feeling mostly optimistic.

I know it’s only been like, two years, but seeing that classic Adventure Time opening, along with the traditional title cards, was a bit too nostalgic to resist. I think it’s all the more fitting that the remainder of the opening is set up like a classic Finn and Jake entry. I will say that the entire beginning of the episode is a little underwhelming for me in terms of capturing that classic AT spirit. I know that it’s all just a hallucination, but I felt as if there wasn’t enough dedication to truly making it feel like Season One Adventure Time. It’s a little bit too low energy and the characterization of Finn and Ice King just doesn’t really seem on par with what you would expect from the time period it’s supposed to take place in. Ice King’s a little overly sinister and Finn doesn’t really capture his youthful energy. I feel as though it would’ve been a stronger tribute if some of these beginning elements have been fine-tuned. That being said, it’s a fine opening that makes it pretty clear early on that it isn’t actually from that time period; there are snowmen that look very similar to Gumbald and Peacemaster, and Finn’s voice is very clearly… pubescent. What it boils down to is Finn’s continuous attempts to keep the light adventuring going so that Jake doesn’t have to leave. Probably the biggest emotional takeaway from Together Again comes when Finn has to once again deal with the idea of Jake “dying” in a very disturbing way. The panic that Finn begins to experience is genuinely heartbreaking, and as much as I emphasized that I originally wanted this episode to be about Finn accepting Jake’s passing, the episode makes it very clear early on that Finn really never did. Or if he accepted it, it still tore him up a lot. And honestly, I do feel like that’s much more appropriate than what I wanted. As sad as it is, the idea that Finn was really never the same after Jake passed away just feels… right. It would make me personally more comfortable to see Finn acknowledge and accept his brother’s passing because I want to believe the lil guy would be okay even after such a tragic event. But this special emphasizes again and again and again – it fucking hurts, and even if he lived a life where he had things that brought him fulfillment, he still never was able to feel full after Jake passed. Damn, man.

The longer I think about it, the sadder I get, so let’s keep this sucker goin’. Seeing Finn as a withered old man is a decision that I really didn’t expect the team to take, but because his scenes are left so vague, it really doesn’t give much info into Finn’s life. It’s both a blessing and a curse, because while this episode continues AT‘s trend of keeping things mysterious, it also slightly hurts the realism of the episode in the process. Or confuses it, at the very least. For the entirety of the episode, Finn is actually an elderly man, but takes the appearance of his 17-year-old self. It’s weird in that sense because, in his 70+ years of living, we don’t really see anything indicative of major changes in Finn’s behavior or what he’s been up to, so his developmental state comfortably sticks with what is recognizable for viewers. Finn even alludes to this when choosing his appearance. You could argue that Finn being reconnected to Jake brought back his youthful sense of self, but I dunno, it’s super difficult to keep this mystery up when literal decades have passed by and outside of a few throwaway lines, Finn doesn’t exhibit any signs of growth outside of what we are already familiar with. I don’t necessarily see this as a major flaw – I don’t really think it would be particularly fun to see Finn acting like an old, whimsical coot for the entirety of the episode. I still can’t help but feel like it’s slightly gimmicky in its presentation regardless.

As much as Together Again presents itself as a climax of Finn and Jake’s journeys together, it also weirdly offers closure for some very random Ooo inhabitants. Mr. Fox and Tiffany are both given conclusions to their individual “arcs,” per se, and it’s kind of awesome, actually. I peruse through old reviews sometimes to see how my perception has changed overtime, and I kind of have no idea why I was so passive to Tiffany in the past. At this point, I think it’s hilarious that this intended one-off character became a fully realized, Shakespearean anti-hero who only ever wanted the love of a momma and poppa. I was a bit miffed that all of these other characters were coming in to mooch off of Finn and Jake’s time, but I really think these additions, such as Tiffany’s arc as mentioned above, help add a layer of fun to the special in general. He finally gets to be blood-brothers with Finn and Jake! As I also mentioned, Mr. Fox gets his big day in the limelight. I especially like how far Mr. Fox has come, because he’s pretty much the least notable side character in the series for any casual viewer. But here he is in Together Again, in all his glory, as he’s now the official ruler of the Land of the Dead, even after all he wanted was a cushion-y pillow. As always, M.F. would be nothing without Tom Herpich’s terrific performance. Something that never quite gets old to me is how it feels like Herpich isn’t really even voice acting, but just stumbled into the booth and started reading a script. That sounds incredibly harsh, but I promise you all that I mean it in the most flattering way necessary. Because there are too many to mention in their entirety, here’s my personal favorite callbacks and cameos throughout the special:

Jake’s clap from James Baxter the Horse! Kinda wish they didn’t call extra attention to it, because I feel like it was instantly recognizable otherwise.
I like that Mr. Fox, after all these years, is seemingly still carrying a torch for Boobafina. It’s time to move on, man.
I believe this is the first time in the series/any form of AT media where Jake is confirmed to be a reincarnation of Shoko’s tiger. Always was assumed, but cool to have that additional confirmation.
It was super sweet to see Finn interact with Joshua and Margaret as his adult self, but I think the icing on the cake is that he could care less about seeing Jermaine. Nobody cares about poor Jerm.
Peppermint Butler being the new princess is both very interesting and cryptic. I doubt this implies Princess Bubblegum’s death, assuming that the disguised figure in Come Along With Me‘s opening was her. It is interesting to see all of the additions to the castle in general, adopting many elements of wizardry and dark magic. Wondering if this will be touched on at all in Wizard City, though I’d think likely not.
Choose Goose appearing AGAIN! Considering that the trailer for the next special also includes his voice, it’s amazing to me that nearly half his appearances in the entire series will derive from Distant Lands. Is this spin-off bait just waiting to happen?
Clarence and Ghost Princess living it up big time in 50th Dead World.
Tree Trunks living it up big time with all of her man slaves in 30th Dead World. Also featuring Polly Lou Livingston’s last performance before her death. Rest in peace, you lovely gem.
Wyatt NOT living it up in 1st Dead World. He really is the worst.

In general, the exploration of the Dead Worlds is super gnarly to me. This worldbuilding in general feels like something that Adventure Time has wanted to do for years but for whatever reason it never got past the conceptual stage. A portion of this story was actually adapted from an outline Jesse Moynihan worked on back in season three that was initially going to be Ghost Princess, but it was revised to have a smaller story. I really thought the gorgeous backgrounds in Together Again were works of ghostshrimp, but it was actually two other designers that did a fantastic job: Udo Jung and Julian De Perio, who both worked on BMO. I really love how each Dead World, even the unnamed realms, have a unique and abstract feel to them that you really can’t decipher if it’s peaceful or threatening. It also kind of makes you wonder how each works on an ethical standpoint – clearly the 1st Dead World is equivalent to Hell and the 50th is comparative to Heaven, but is there any true “ranking” that goes into the other Dead Worlds? If I had to guess, I’d say placement in a prospective Dead World connects to the values of the deceased. 30th Dead World feels like Tree Trunks’ meadow residence with added luxuries, while 45th Dead World appears to just be a very Homeworld-esque suburbia for loving families. Or, at least in this case, the Dog family. That being said, it kind of makes you wonder how some folks ended up where they did. You can’t tell me that my boy Choose Goose deserves to be rotting with Maja. (UPDATE: Well…)

We’re introduced to the offspring of Life and Death in this episode, simply named New Death. New Death is a bit of a pain in the ass throughout the run of this one. His rebellious teenager personality is amusing at first, but quickly tires out after a period of time. He really doesn’t take up a ton of time in the special itself, but any time he shows up, his presence really doesn’t add much, outside of a killer design by Iggy Craig. The one bit I did find genuinely intriguing from him was the moment at his demise when he solemnly mentions his mother’s name. Feel like it was surprisingly a bit ballsy to give him one moment of humanity before he is legitimately destroyed. Of course, the late Miguel Ferrer sadly could not reprise his role as Death, but it is cool seeing more into Life’s perspective. Life is another aspect of the special that feels like she was always meant to have a larger role in the series, but it just never was able to come into fruition. Her realm is similarly gorgeous, with lush ocean colors permeating throughout. I find Life’s personality as a sweet but relentless ruler that you do not want to mess with a lot of fun – it gives you a pretty good idea of why she had married Death in the first place.

I’ve been batting around with a lot of the less major stuff up to this point, so let’s get into the meat of this episode: Finn and Jake’s connection. I do feel like everything that is portrayed with Finn and Jake’s relationship in this episode gets the emotions right, but not always the characterization. Let me elaborate: nothing in this episode feels out of character or unlikable for the boys, but it also feels like there’s something slightly off or different about their individual roles. I think I could honestly just say this about Distant Lands in general, however. Considering that the writing staff is completely different, with the exception of Hanna K. Nyström, it’s really no wonder that this feeling arises, though I can’t entirely put my finger on it. There’s something a bit less goofy about it and slightly more straightforward when it comes to the humor and dialogue of Distant Lands that just feels lacking of a certain spunk and identity the original series had. Even certain lines, such as Finn’s “because it’s no jerks allowed!” felt especially corny for him to exclaim. It still captures the heart of Adventure Time, but I think any media franchise that runs for a period of time and changes teams majorly is going to run into this problem. Hell, comparing season 8 of Adventure Time with season 1 is literally comparing two radically different shows with radically different teams. Even the lack of Tim Kiefer is very apparent. Amanda Jones does an okay job at composing the score for the special, but there’s really nothing about it that connects to the essence of what Kiefer was doing. I really hate to complain, because nothing Distant Lands has done so far has been anywhere close to bad or disrespectful to the original series, but I think it’s one step at showing how much one team over the course of a few years really defined the series (Jesse, Tom, Pen, Steve, Ako, Rebecca, Somvilay, Seo, Adam, Graham, etc.) and how, as more spin-offs and reboots come into fruition down the line, it’s likely that the magic of the original will never truly be replicated.

But my bullshitting aside, I do think that the team behind Together Again did their damnedest to really paint a beautiful story among AT‘s baby boys. This is probably the most emotional we ever see Finn in the series, and I think it pays off super well. Finn and Jake’s brotherhood has always been the heart of the show, but Together Again really stresses how much Finn was never able to fully live the same again after Jake’s passing, and I think it makes total sense. Finn probably wasn’t that old when Joshua and Margaret passed, so Jake essentially doubled as both a brother and parent to Finn for so many years. That grief of losing someone is something that really never fades, and Together Again is genuinely relentless in showing that. It was especially devastating to see that Jake doesn’t initially recognize Finn, as he continues to fall into breakdown category. That poor boy just needs a squoze from his brother. Despite it being quite difficult to stomach, I do think that it ultimately makes sense that Jake would let go of all earthly possessions, as alluded to throughout the years in his desires to fulfill his croak dream. I’m sure it wasn’t something that he was consciously okay with from the start, but he let go as a means to find his inner peace and allow for his destiny to truly unfold. Finn, however, has never really been the destiny or holistic type; his true meaning in life comes from his dedication to others. It does make me wonder what Finn’s connection to the 37th Dead World is, considering that it was left mainly ambiguous in Sons of Mars. Since Jake initially ended up there, I wonder if it has something to do with selflessness. Jake chose to stay alive rather than fulfill his destiny on Mars because Finn needed him, and Finn likewise died on some sort of rescue mission it seems. That, or it’s where original Death would send people that he was tight with.

Although only about half the special focuses on their brotherly bond, there are tons of highlights throughout: Jake letting loose a toot while they try to be incognito, Jake offering caring advice when Finn feels at fault for New Death’s scheming, Finn’s admiration for Jake’s mermaid bod, the reunion of the Jakesuit, and many more. Even their overly aggressive fight is super endearing in their continued desire to protect and aide each other. And of course, one of their most cherished, shared activities is a good old-fashioned Lich fight! I gotta be honest y’all, I went from really not liking this shoe-horned inclusion to kind of digging it. I was pretty done with the Lich after his appearance in Whispers, where he was no longer intimidating and felt like he was about effective as any other villain in the series. Here… he’s still not very intimidating, but Ron Perlman’s voice acting is almost impossible to not be impressed by at all times. The Lich gets a few solid lines, namely “the spawn of life and death is a creature without purpose, fit only to be a pawn in my eternal quest to end all life.” Even though he is quickly disposed of, it seems apparent at this point that, like Life and Death, the Lich will always be around as an entity of destruction and death. And truthfully, I feel like the only appropriate way to cap off Finn and Jake’s role in the series is to have the Lich as the final big bad. The Lich was the first true trial in their journey as adventurers, and it feels appropriate that he would be their last as well. The ending is probably the highlight of the entire special. Once again emphasizing Finn’s need for Jake in his life, it’s super touching that Jake would give up a lifetime of enlightenment just to live with his bro again. Even before he joins, the tight hug Finn gives Jake shows that he’s probably not fully committed to letting go of his reincarnation dreams with Jake, and Jake has his own epiphany that the strength of his brotherhood outranks any type of Glob destiny that awaited him.

Together Again isn’t a perfect AT episode for me personally. Some of the character dialogue feels a little clunky, there’s maybe a bit too much fanservice, and it lacks that certain spunk of the original series that I had mentioned. But it’s so committed to being a love letter to everyone that cared so dearly about Finn and Jake that I really can’t have too much of an issue with it. Come Along With Me felt like a big jumbled mess that wanted to tie up any loose ends that it could in the span of an hour, while Together Again is very much committed to the heart of AT itself that it feels much more akin to a finale than the prior entry. So far, I think it’s probably the strongest of the DL specials, and a wonderful way to cap off the spin-off series as a whole.

… Oh yeah, we still have Wizard City. Huh.

Favorite line: “All I ask is for permission to use your bones…for a spell.“

Adventure Time, Animation, Lifestyles

Season Nine Review

February 15, 2020 Adventure Time Reviewed

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Has anyone realized yet that I always start the season reviews with a picture of Finn and Jake and sometimes other people hugging? Seriously, look at every other season review. Even the miniseries reviews had ’em. I’ve worked really hard on finding these hugging pics guys. I honestly think that shit ties this entire blog together. It’s my true magnum opus.

Anywho, season nine! Season nine is probably the weakest Adventure Time season to date. There has been a couple of seasons that I didn’t really connect with on a greater scale. Season 5.1 kind of strikes me as slightly hit-or-miss with not many episodes that truly stood out. If we’re taking Cartoon Network’s rebrand into consideration (of which I’m really starting to regret not following, I feel like I’ve ultimately dated this blog for future readings) Season 7 wasn’t too hot either. I think Season 9 stands out more than others on a quality front because:

It is the last season of the series, after all.
It’s shorter than every other season to date.

The second aspect is interesting, because I don’t necessarily think a smaller quantity equals a lesser quality – in fact, it’s usually the opposite. But in this case, it’s noticeable because Season 9 mainly spends its time focusing on a more serialized story arc, rather than following the show’s previous attempts at being episodic. Considering that I think the Gumbald arc sort of falls apart by the finale (though it was never especially interesting to begin with) it makes the season feel more wasted, even if I do appreciate that it was giving fans what they wanted after so long: a continuing story, not weighed down by filler.

I have a weird relationship with Adventure Time‘s attempts at serialization. I’m not necessarily opposed to the idea, but this is a series that was kind of built on the foundation of having little-to-no continuing story. That’s not to say it can’t change – Steven Universe was also kind of in the same boat in its first season (and in some respects, the seasons that followed it) until committing to a more ongoing storyline. Part of what makes Adventure Time so unique, however, is that it can kind of do whatever it wants whenever it wants with very little limitations at hand. A serialized story, while more rewarding in a sense, actually makes Adventure Time‘s individual entries standout less. I remember Always BMO Closing less as a fun BMO and Ice King adventure and more as a dull continuation of Gumbald’s story. Marcy & Hunson isn’t allowed to just focus on the already tumultuous relationship between Marceline and her father, but it also has to shoehorn in a secondary forced conflict with Princess Bubblegum’s cousin Chicle. Then again, Adventure Time ‘s eight season was almost exclusively bigger, serialized stories with very few standalone entries, and it proved to be one of the show’s best. So does it just boil down to poor quality in general?

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I think it’s easy to kind of jump on the idea that Season Nine COULD HAVE been better had the series not ceased production so early or if there were more episodes in general. But I think there’s also the possibility that AT may have just run its course. Not saying that it’s the obvious answer (we’ll see how Distant Lands fairs) but I think there’s a definite chance that the series, seven years old by this point and 260 episodes in, just wasn’t able to delight and surprise as it once did. Don’t get me wrong, Season Nine had some goodies. Blenanas was just the kind of standalone madness that I had been craving from AT by the time it aired. The Wild Hunt boasted some of the show’s slickest animation and storyboarding yet. Ring of Fire, despite the criticism facing it, was a delightfully horny Tree Trunks entry. But, even then, the entries that are great or good don’t really even rank among a top 10 or anything. Likewise, the episodes that are bad aren’t horrendously bad, but they’re also a special kind of mediocre that I’m not really used to seeing from the series.

Jake the Starchild was this really big culmination of a lot of elements that were built up throughout the series and it kind of just ended with these elements going absolutely no where. I know one could argue that Adventure Time is no stranger to holding the status quo oh-so-dear, but at this point in the series, I’d like to see some actual punches thrown. It doesn’t even really have to be a gamechanger by any means necessarily, but just do SOMETHING new with this story element that quite honestly wrapped up perfectly fine in Abstract, even without lasting consequences. While The Wild Hunt boasted some of the best animation in the series, Seventeen exhibited some of the worst, feeling like a mish-mash of storyboards that just felt super unpolished. Hunson & Marcy, aside from bits of forced conflict, brought back a long-running antagonist only to basically execute an exact repeat of all of his spotlight episodes thus far. Comparing it to the previous season once more, I feel like Season Eight seemed to address the show’s longstanding complaints by closing doors and offering more immediate satisfaction and overarching stories. Season Nine, while keeping in the spirit of what Season Eight wanted to accomplish, feels like one step back in its execution of these events.

The actual story arcs weren’t particularly strong either. I’ve gone on and on about how Gumbald’s arc fell flat in previous reviews, so I wouldn’t be adding much by elaborating on it here. At the very least, I will say that the Gumbald stuff isn’t awful, nor does it ruin any aspect of the series for me. It just isn’t very good and kind of squanders the potential of the last handful of episodes, but it’s executed in a quick and painless way and at least provides for some (relatively) interesting bits of PB’s past. I said “story arcs” above, but truthfully, that’s pretty much it. Fern gets some flack throughout, and while I don’t think his ending was particularly strong, I think his recurring role in the series probably makes for some of Season Nine’s strongest points, namely his battle with Finn in Gumbaldia. Otherwise, that’s kind of it for ongoing arcs. There’s a few episodes with Jake and his dad that go nowhere, as well as setup for GOLB, but most of that is dealt with in the finale.

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It’s difficult to talk about the success of boarding teams this season since there’s so few episodes. Per usual, Sam Alden hopped around from partner to partner, and almost always did great wherever he landed. Current and old AT staff members hopped on board to assist every now and then, which was a treat. Adam Muto chimed in for Marcy & Hunson, and I’m kinda sad in realizing that a lot of the Muto-boarded episodes after season three… aren’t very good. I mean, he’s had some gems, such as Everything Stays, Little Brother, and Varmints. But he’s also had The Prince Who Wanted Everything, Dark Purple, and Marcy & Hunson. Yeeesh. Still love the direction that he took the series in, but I can’t really say he’s been the strongest when it comes to the boarding front these past few years. Erik Fountain joined Sam Alden for The Wild Hunt and proved that he’s one of the most skilled storyboarders on the staff. Pat McHale returned after years apart from the series for Blenanas, making for the best episode of the season. And Kent Osborne lent a hand for some BMO-Ice King goofiness in Always BMO Closing. For all of the praise I focused towards Seo and Somvilay last season, I really didn’t like a single episode they churned out during Season Nine. Their chunk of the finale was probably the weakest, and I think Son of Rap Bear ranks upon one of AT‘s worst efforts. Tom and Steve’s work was enjoyable, though not necessarily up to par with what I typically expect from them. I completely acknowledge that I sound like a self-righteous douche saying that, but I mean that in the most complimentary way. They’ve been one of the strongest teams throughout this show’s run, but nothing in Season Nine struck a chord with me in a particularly strong way. I kept thinking that Temple of Mars should have been the greatest episode ever, but it just wasn’t. Hanna K. and Aleks Sennwald dished out a good amount of hit-or-miss material, with the mixed bag of Bonnibel Bubblegum, the mostly delightful The First Investigation, and the painfully bland Jake the Starchild. Per usual, Graham Falk hopped around as well, in mostly decent-to-meh boarding efforts. It’s funny to me that Falk ended up boarding the last chunk of AT material to date. I have mixed feelings on his episodes overall, though I do recognize his talent. Still, he’s one of the last storyboard artists I would have expected to finish out the series entirely. I guess his role in the final calls is also up for debate, however.

Top 5 Best Episodes

5. Temple of Mars – A pretty neat continuation of Betty’s story, along with some cool psychological trials along the way.

4. The First Investigation – A fun time-skip episode interlaced with really sweet moments between Finn, Jake, and their late parents.

3. Ring of Fire – The journey of life told from a horny elephant’s perspective. I’m sold!

2. The Wild Hunt – An action-packed, high stakes episode with stellar animation to boot. A really nice exploration of Finn’s psyche as well.

1. Blenanas – All-in-all, a super fun, endearing, lighthearted, and funny entry that is as simple as the series can possibly get. And, as proved time and time again, that can sometimes be enough.

Worst Episodes

5. Always BMO Closing – A mish mash of silly ideas and forced serialization that never truly complement each other.

4. Seventeen – The animation and poses in this episode are super awkward and stilted, and the plot itself isn’t entirely compelling.

3. Jake the Starchild – Just a really lame, pointless story that kind of goes no where and has nothing new to say.

2. Marcy & Hunson – A rehash of every Hunson entry in the series so far, interlaced with pandering moments for Bubbline fans.

1. Son of Rap Bear – A truly insignificant way to wrap up Flame Princess’s character, mixed with poor story elements, weak character moments, and even somewhat of a desire to be “hip with the kids,” which I never thought I’d say about Adventure Time.

Final Consensus

Season Nine is likely the weakest season to date. Outside of time limits, the episodes we got just weren’t very good in my eyes. There certainly is much more of a higher expectation for this season than previously seasons, however. Considering that this is the final batch of episodes for such a longrunning series, there’s more immediate satisfaction desired. Episodes in the past with some of the biggest sins, such as Breezy, are now more overlooked since episodes like Reboot came along to repent. Episodes such as Jake the Starchild and Son of Rap Bear aren’t as easily overlooked, considering that there’s no longer a cushion to make up for their squandered story elements. But as I’ve said above, this season wasn’t necessarily awful. It never had me shaking my fist in anger or denouncing the series. It was just kind of a let down for a series that has been going on for so long and has consistently sought to improve itself. But, considering that we now have more Adventure Time material on the way, maybe this will be the staff’s opportunity to truly get their final say in. Or maybe it will tease seven seasons worth of Adventure Time material down the line. It’ll probably be the latter.

That about wraps it up for the routine material – now we get to the fun stuff! Tune in next week for the Best and Worst of Adventure Time episodes!

Adventure Time, Animation, Lifestyles

“Come Along With Me” Consensus

January 25, 2020January 25, 2020 Adventure Time Reviewed

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Before checking out this review, be sure you read the segmented analyses of each part of Come Along With Me.

It’s been a while, friends! Hope everyone had a terrific holiday season and a great start to their new year! Following the release of the final Come Along With Me individual review, I was definitely feeling burnt out and needed space from the series and this blog for a bit to rekindle my energy. My enthusiasm for discussing AT has happily renewed, and I’ll be wrapping up the first wave of this blog throughout the next few weeks with some bonus content. Since I’m just getting back into the swing of things, I don’t want to promise any form of heavily stressed deadlines, though this is the order of content you can expect for the next few weeks:

Season 9 Review.
The Best and Worst of Adventure Time Episodes.
Top 10 Adventure Time Moments.
Adventure Time Character Analysis.

I’ve batted around a few more ideas for bonus content before, and those ideas are still on the table, but I’d like to focus on the stuff I really want to tackle before possibly over-promising anything too elaborate.

A reminder that my giving campaign is still up and running! If you feel like you got one dollar’s worth of entertainment reading this blog in the past or present, or if you want to support the future of this blog, feel free to throw some cashola my way in you have the extra money!

SUPPORT ADVENTURE TIME REVIEWED!

With that said, let’s take a look at Come Along With Me as a whole! Ever since the release of the finale, I’ve seen nothing but overwhelmingly positive responses about Come Along With Me. Review sites like The A.V. Club and IGN awarded the finale with an absolute perfect score, while several longtime fans and fans who jumped back on board to see how the series ended were pretty amazed. I was pretty much in the same boat, but as time has passed, and I’ve looked at the finale with clear eyes not clouded by hype of everything…

It’s a’ight.

I think there’s a lot to like about Come Along With Me. In many respects, it is a completely inoffensive, loving, and dedicated finale. This certainly isn’t a Game of Thrones situation where the finale is so bad that it hurts both rewatch value and the overall quality of the series, but it is a finale that I find somewhat underwhelming. On a thematic level, Come Along With Me succeeds in following the main mission statement of the series that “the fun will never end,” by portraying the optimistic viewpoint that life and existence still continue regardless of impending doom that so often afflicts humanity (and Ooo-manity, of course). But, when looking at it from a surface or story level, I think there’s still a good amount to be desired.

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Let’s start with the good stuff. The expansion of the 1000+ world that was introduced in Graybles 1000+ is quite impressive. I was initially a bit miffed that this futuristic element was being crammed in, seeing as how the finale was already so jam-packed as is, but I think it really adds a lot to what the episode sets out to say. Shermy and Beth are quite likable, albeit not particularly remarkable. I think they fill the shoes of “two wide-eyed scamps set out to do good,” really nicely. BMO’s presence in the future is also similarly endearing. I think he’s really the only character from the main cast that I would actually like to see this far into the future. Every other character is tied to some form of baggage that would probably devolve them into a gritty, worn-out version of their old self, but BMO is just BMO. His stagnant personality is a perfect fit 1000+ years later. The general layout of the 1000+ world is pretty gnarly. It does a great job at setting itself apart from the past version of Ooo, while still retaining its likable nature. I’ve seen a lot of comments about future Ooo being depressing, though I can’t really can’t behind that. There’s a definitely a more muted color scheme, but its spirit still feels light and playful. And considering that there’s a giant heroic Sweet P. traveling the land, it also still retains its large sense of heroism. After all, the whole point of the finale, as well as BMO’s story, is that there really is no end to anything. Ooo is different from what it once was, and Finn and Jake are no longer roaming around, but their spirit and energy lives on in other brave souls and environments. Like I said, the thematic elements of the episode are quite strong.

Come Along With Me feels very dedicated in its fanservice. Some moments feel like a little bit of a stretch for me, (Shermy singing “On a Tropical Island” was a bit too on-the-nose for my liking) but I think it is quite enjoyable for that reason. BMO’s treasure trove of items from the show’s history is so wide that I’m sure there are some elements that haven’t even been discovered yet. There’s plenty of cool character callbacks, some of which return just for the sense of wrapping up their individual arcs, like Maja and APTWE. The ending montage, in particular, is chock full of characters from the show’s history, as well as important character moments. I’ll throw in the entire montage as one of the great elements of this finale, partly because I never get sick of hearing “Come Along With Me,” and because there’s a couple bits that even got me misty-eyed. BMO sending Moe’s memories into space was a perfect epilogue to Moe’s story that ended in The More You Moe, The Moe You Know, Prismo not being able to bring back Betty was a super clever way of turning the tables on Simon’s tale, and Magic Man coming to terms with Margles’ absence was undeniably sweet. I also really can’t think of a better note to leave Finn’s character on than his mother and the humans finally arriving in Ooo. I still hold close that it would’ve been cool to see Finn and Jake take on their parents’ old job as a way to fulfill their desires of adventuring in a more stable environment, but I think this was a solid way to leave off his story in a relatively ambiguous, yet hopeful, way.

The finale also does have moments that legitimately do grab me in terms of excitement. The third part of Come Along With Me is probably my favorite, mainly because it is this fun, fast-paced, action-packed battle that never really takes a second to breathe or think. This is kind of what I was expecting for most of the finale, and I’m glad it delivered on some level. It gives you an idea of how tense and real the stakes are, even if everything ends up okay, for the most part. I think there’s three moments in the finale that really echo that somewhat hopeless feeling: Jake realizing the destruction after he arises before battling GOLB’s beasts, BMO’s face being smashed up, and the animals watching on as GOLB sucks up everything. There’s a true sense of finality that I do think boosts Come Along With Me into feeling like this big, grand entry. The song “Time Adventure” assists with that, which is a song that I love, though not particularly in how it’s executed within that actual episode. The studio recording of “Time Adventure” is a tune that I genuinely love and one that truly does make me feel something, but the way it’s included in the episode feels a little hollow. I still like everyone joining together in harmony in an attempt to defeat GOLB, but I would’ve like it if we got to hear the song the way it was intended (i.e. with Jake singing the final line to Finn).

There’s also Marceline and Bubblegum’s scene, which explicitly shows that they are involved romantically. Thought this was a super nice treat for people who had been invested in their relationship for so long, and somewhat of a big step forward in LGBTQ+ representation within children’s media. Like I said prior, Steven Universe had beaten AT to the punch YEARS before they had pulled this off forreal, but I think it still feels impactful. Steven Universe always kind of had the excuse that the gems were “genderless” in order to fly by the censors. This is an instance where two female characters are quite clearly portrayed as sexual counterparts, and I don’t think there’s really explanation around it either way.

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Now onto the bad/mediocre material. Surprisingly, I think Come Along With Me is really weak from a character standpoint. All of the main characters, in my opinion, are weighed down either by a story element, or the fact that there’s just too much going on at once, with the exception of BMO. Finn gets severely shafted in the third and fourth parts, being essentially a fly on the wall while all of this cool shit goes on around him, and his main character motivation in the first half is handled poorly. Bubblegum’s story of empathy has a pretty lousy payoff, considering that she really doesn’t end up changing the behavior that got her into such a circumstance to begin with. Jake’s presence is fun, but a bit too distracting in terms of tone at points, and he really isn’t given any kind of overarching role aside from being a bystander. Marceline is once again weighed down by her character only revolving around Bubblegum and Simon and not really getting a chance to do anything independently. As for Ice King, I think it works in everyone’s best interest (or at least a majority of the fan base) that he got the resolution that has been built up for so long, but I still have a couple qualms about how Simon’s return essentially means the end of Ice King, even if Gunter’s role attempts at subverting that.

A lot of these issues tie into the fact that there really is just too much going on in Come Along With Me, as to be expected with a series that’s been on this long and that has so many lingering mysteries. Even the elements that are given a good bit of attention, such as Fern’s redemption, feel all too rushed along for myself to truly get behind. Couple that with the fact that the story, or stories, themselves are not very strong.

The first half hour of the special is dedicated to the Great Gum War. This storyline had already felt kind of clunky throughout the course of season nine, but it really ends up going nowhere in its climax. While the dream sequence is interesting in some aspects, namely the scenes where PB and Gumbald experience life inside each other’s shoes, it feels wasted with the conclusion we get. I’m not even sure what the takeaway of Gumbald’s entire story was. It was originally supposed to tie in to PB’s overall insecurity of being a corrupt ruler, and it seemed like that’s where this episode wanted to take it, but it basically just ends up exactly where she started, trapping her family members in a barren vessel because she doesn’t want to deal with the real issue at hand. Except for Aunt Lolly, who apparently is super sympathetic towards PB for… some reason? Even though the last episode clearly showed that it was all a ruse? Her character is painted with little to no depth and it really shows. Not to mention that her role in the episode makes the entire first chunk of the finale moot, since Finn’s choice to Nightmare Juice PB and Gumbald had no effect on Aunt Lolly’s decision. Yet, the episode acts like Finn was the holy savior even after the fact when his choice only benefited Fern and not the overall war. I don’t get it, man. I could go on and on about how the way Gumbald’s betrayal at the end of Part 2 is written in a very sloppy way, but I think I could forgive the conclusion itself if we actually got something interesting from the war element. Since the development between Gumbald and PB ended up being scrapped, I would’ve at least liked to see some of the excitement that the past two episodes have so desperately built up to. I know its in typical AT fashion to subvert expectations, but c’mon, it’s the series finale. Go big with it! I wanna see Pete Sassafras murder someone.

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The GOLB twist provides for that surface level excitement I had been longing for, but I don’t think it’s especially strong either, which mostly has to do with GOLB as a character. The build up to GOLB’s presence was super mysterious and kind of suspenseful, but when he actually shows up, he’s kind of lame. He mainly just acts as a plot device for absolute destruction. The thing is, I’m not really sure how to make GOLB more interesting. I think it’d be silly if he had a speaking voice or some kind of evil plan, but I feel like another element should’ve been added to make him appear more intimidating. The animation shift to a more sketchy style during his demise was rad as hell, I wouldn’t mind if his entire appear called for some kind of animation shift. Or even just in shading – Come Along With Me is also plagued by really dull colors.

Simon’s story is wrapped up within the last chunk, and ehhh. I can’t really put blame on the staff for deciding that the only decision that made sense was curing Simon after years of build up, and to be fair, the way it’s executed isn’t bad by any means. I just think that Ice King’s character became way too elaborate for its own good to the point where I really didn’t want Simon to come back at all. Ice King is a character that has been shown to grow and develop on his own, so why should he get the shaft? I know that he technically still lives on through Gunter’s wish, but I dunno, it seems like a more complicated issue that was glossed over all too fast for the purpose of a quick conclusion. I do think Betty’s sacrifice was genuinely quite potent, and made for a nice role reversal in Simon and Betty’s never-ending saga.

Fern’s arc also gets a grand conclusion, which is bumpy, but still relatively satisfying. I think Part 2’s redemption story for Fern is way too obvious and unchallenged in how it handles his quick decision to cooperate with Finn, but I ultimately find his death to be quite poignant and a nice sentiment of Finn bidding farewell to his childhood and a part of himself.

Parts Ranked

Part 3 – Just a ton of fun, and the one chunk of the finale that actually had me super invested in everything going on.
Part 1 – A nice exploration of the 1000+ world, and a genuinely suspenseful build in to the faux war that never actually comes into fruition.
Part 4 – A little clunky and awkward in how it tries to quickly wrap everything up as fast a possible, but still provides for a nice ending.
Part 2 – The only part of the finale that I’d say is just straight up bad. Makes the entire storyline of the season feel partially wasted and it just isn’t all that interesting either.

Final Consensus

Come Along With Me is a safe, inoffensive finale, and that’s not necessarily a huge downfall. I think, in its core, it is a finale that had a lot of passion and love put into it. Like I said, there’s really nothing in here that could ruin the series for anyone or is even that deplorable, but I don’t really think that makes it especially good either. It still is very underwhelming in parts, and clearly comes from a staff that really had no idea how they were going to tie everything together. In my eyes, the series has already churned out some episodes that could make for great finales. Faults aside, The Comet did feel like a culmination of everything that Finn had learned up to that point, and a nice conclusion of himself finally finding peace. Islands also wrapped up a lot of long-standing questions, and offered fans an essential answer to who Finn truly is. Not necessarily saying that these episodes should have been finales – I think it would probably drive people insane if The Comet was the series finale. But those are both examples of episodes that set out to tell interesting stories first without the pressure of having every lingering detail figured out. Come Along With Me feels like a hodgepodge of ideas that want to offer ultimate satisfaction, but never really just focus on being entertaining first. Overall, I think it does get a pass for trying its damnedest to make everyone as satisfied as they possibly can be. But for me personally, it’s far from one of AT‘s strongest entries.