Adventure Time! Season 7 (episodes 1-5)

Adventure Time

Season 7. Episodes 1 – 5.

If you have not seen Adventure Time, then my god are you in for an unpredictable ride before you get to this season (season 7). I assume you are in for this ride, because I know, one day, almost everyone will have seen the entirety of Adventure Time much like almost everyone has seen the entirety of Breaking Bad (I apologise to the people who have not seen Breaking Bad, but you are rightfully looked down upon. You should just watch it and stop being stubborn about time and entertainment, your reading a review blog, get some perspective). Anyway, if you haven’t seen Adventure Time, the show is set in a colourful post-apocalyptic earth (now named the Land of Ooo), inhabited by many strange creatures, characters and thus situations.

The characters we follow in most episodes are Jake the Dog, a magical shapeshifting man-child of a golden dog, voiced by John DiMaggio, and Finn the Human, a heroic teenage boy who is our central protagonist, voiced by Jeremy Shada. The strange and inventive humour of the show is what makes every episode a joy to watch. ‘What just happened?’ I’m sure is something I can quote from multiple people after watching an episode high at 2 in the morning. In series 2 episode 9, named ‘The Other Tarts’ the characters go on a typically fun adventure, which concludes smoothly and predictably… then a strange old gingerbread man bursts into the room and proceeds in a husky voice, to say, ‘This cosmic dance of bursting decadence and withheld permissions, twists all our arms collectively, but if sweetness can win, and it can, then I'll still be here tomorrow to high-five you yesterday, my friend. Peace.’ Then the episode just… ends. This is a perfect example of the strangely poetic and surreal humor the show has to offer, which can at times be beautifully ethereal. It really is a show which will revert you into an American stoner from the 70’s, who says ‘Deep’ too much, but with good reason.

The first 5 episodes of season 7 were all released on the first 5 days of November, creating a very speedy foundation for viewers to get hooked into. This has happened more so during the last 2 seasons than any of the previous 4, meaning the show is no longer a strange Sic- Com for kids, but now a sprawling mass of constantly changing, unpredictable characters, surrounded by a vast history, with so much potential to come. The first 5 episodes hit these main points which are evolving the show, as well as keeping it exciting.

The first episode confirmed the situation for all focal characters, whilst delving into the history and origins of certain supporting characters (namely, Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the Vampire Queen). We last saw the character’s Finn and Jake destroying a godlike creature and battling with metaphysical dilemmas before returning to the Candy Kingdom, which is now ruled by the morally questionable King of Ooo. The next few episodes were a brilliant mix of comedy and character drama, developing and expanding on characters we already know and relationships which have already been forged, but not fleshed out. We see the deceased war hero Root Beer Guy re-animate and get into domestic troubles with his wife, now married to another man in the episode ‘Cherry Cream Soda’. We see Marceline and Bubblegum re-forging their relationship, whilst trying to deal with the pressure-less pressure of being immortal beings. And we see B-Mo, Finn and Jakes video game console, star in a psychological thriller, in which B-Mo is tricked into swapping lives with his reflection and thus running the frustrating risk of being trapped in a mirror all his life.

In short, after these first rapidly released episodes, I am incredibly excited about what is too come. Because the comedic imagination is fusing with the character evolving drama in a ‘whooooahaha’ kind of way and this has made me incredibly giddy.  Well done TV program. You have impressed me.