There
was a bit of confusion in regards to where season 8 ended and where season 9
begun, but now it’s been officially determined what season goes where, and
season 9 covers the multi-part saga where the elementals have taken over and
transformed Ooo, then the handful of episodes in the aftermath where Jake looks
weird, Finn has to deal with his rogue clone Fern and there’s one more battle
with a leftover bit of the Lich.
This
sets up the plotline that will dominate season 10, revolving around members of Princess
Bubblegum’s family, but feels like a bit of a throwaway season. It doesn’t have
a strong identity, not even having been defined as a full season until a while
after it finished, and is dominated by a multi-part series that not only isn’t
very exciting (Slime Princess’s episode being the most memorable but mostly for
being a little disturbing) but is in the shadow of much more compelling and
plot-driven multi-part arcs in the season before it. The episode with Jake and his
brother Jermaine is a nice human touch in a weird series, which I say in full
awareness that the characters are not humans. Otherwise, though, this season is
very light on the real character development and world exploration that made Adventure Time hit compelling new
heights a couple of years back.
I’ve
definitely moved on somewhat from Adventure
Time. Obviously it’s a long way from the silly short that kicked it off,
and it’s been wildly successful especially with older stoners. But it feels
like time to wrap it up, because most of the intriguing background elements
that were slowly revealed have now all been shown. There’s not much more to say
about Simon’s past, Finn’s parentage, the Mushroom War or the weird alternate
universes, and morsels like what happened to Marceline’s mom centuries before
the show begins are probably best left understated.
I’ve
enjoyed Adventure Time and I’m still
watching season 10, but there are better shows to watch and I hope the show
gracefully comes to a close soon. Ah, I see that’s what’s planned, so that feels
like good timing to me.
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