1x03 Together Again

[8.0/10] Adventure Time may be the biggest “yes and” show in the history of television. While the show includes some retcons, it’s more inclined to just keep building onto the mythos, adding and adding and adding with a sense of ambition and irreverence that makes you accept and delight in all of this.

For this episode, that means Finn dying and exploring the mean worlds of death. Each of them is as inventive and surreal as you would expect from this series. One is a Nirvana-like state of bliss. Another is a pit of gray goop. Another is an endless conga line of consumption. It ll feels unexpected, but not random, the unrelenting id of creativity unleashed but in a way that feels unknowable rather than weird for the sake of weird. It’s so fun to watch Finn and Jake traipse through these worlds, toying with the rules and boundaries of the afterlife, which are as incomprehensible to them as the audience, but with that uncertainty lending to the show’s renowned sense of adventure.

Also, I can say with certainty that I never would have asked for a Tiffany redemption story, but I’ so glad we got one here. Tiffany’s bad kid ways run up against him becoming a cop, turning on Finn again, and eventually having second thoughts about his role in messing up the balance of life and death. But these misadventures lead to him crossing paths with Joshua and Margaret who, in the moment of truth, see potential in Tiffany and decide to take him in and foster our heroes’ former friend and erstwhile rival. There’s something sweet and wholesome in that, with Finn and Jake’s parents seeing potential in Tiffany in the same way they did with their prior kids. Clean cut Tiffany looks a little silly, but you can totally see him rising to the occasion when finally given the love and support he’s clearly wanted for so long.

Pls hey, silliness is great! The general ridiculous of Finn and Jakes using the stick of life with the wrong end pointed toward their enemy, or Mr Fox’s greatest aspiration being a hypoallergenic pillow, or Peppermint Butler asking if he can borrow the twosome’s bones for a creatively titled “bone spell.” Despite it being some time since Finn and Jake were regularly featured in adventures, the creative team hasn't forgotten how to include all of this mundane goofiness amid the otherworldly insanity that fuels the show.

To the same end, it’s nice to see the usual attention to continuity that permeates the show. Finn’s past forms are ones familiar to the audience. The denizens of the afterlife include the folks you’d expect along with fun outside the box inclusions like Treetrunks’ ex-husband Wyatt and Mr. Fox himself. Plus hey, we get the return of the Lich, albeit in a diminished but still powerful form, for the first time in forever. Some of this veers into fanservice, but never to the point of distraction.

The lore expands at the same time the show nods to its past. We meet the “new Death” who is the son of life and death. The show’s bent toward reincarnation is made more explicit with Life forging new bodies for old souls out of clay and sending them on their way. The afterlife itself is given a few more boundaries, with whistles that let you travel between levels (hello Super Mario fans!) and senses of these realms as projections of those experiencing them. Oh yeah, and so many of the folks we know and love have passed on there.
Including Finn and Jake. The other thing that always made Adventure Time so strong of a show is how, despite all that insanity and off-the-wall humor, it was also a sincere and profound series. While there’s a colorful, liminal adventure through the next vale her, it’s also a story about Jake having died before Finn and that devastating our white-hatted hero. There’s an impatience to Finn because of this. His desperation to find his brother, his unwillingness to let Jake go despite the famed dog finding spiritual transcendence, and his clear continuing issues with the loss of those close to him,as seen in his opening dream, have a real resonance.

We the audience share in that because we’ve seen Jake and Finn go on adventures together for years and years by this point. We want to see the heroes reunited, and in a way, we too have lost both Finn and Jake as their show reached its natural end point. So we can relate to Finn wanting to find his brother again. And anyone who’s lost someone close to them can relate to the notion of reaching for that person from deep within your soul, despite their being gone. Finn’s tears have power not just from the severance of the show’s key relationship and the chance to reconnect it, but from the relatable sense of wanting to regain what and whom we’ve lost.

It’s exciting when Jake snaps out of his state of desiring nothing because he wants to protect his brother. It’s sad when the two wrestle and beat one another up to try to claim the mantle of Death and spare the other one from being stuck in that state for all eternity. It’s cathartic when Finn accepts that he needs to be patient and venture forth to his next life without feeling the need to drag Jake with him, learning the sort of zen or at least acceptance necessary to make that sacrifice. And it’s rousing and heartwarming when despite that, Jake dives into the next life anyay, grabs his brother’s hand, and provides the traditional fistbump to signal that they’ll face the next life “Together again”, as the title card finally reads.

Not to be too cheesy about it, but reincarnation may be the ultimate “yes and” in cosmological terms. The very concept posits that our lives don’t end, but that they just keep building, having new experiences and burnishing our souls from one life to the next. Given the merchandising and other money to be made from Adventure Time, it’s doubtful that this is Finn and Jake’s true last ride. But if it is, it’s enough to see them leaping into a brave new world, ready to face whatever additive adventures lay in store for them, knowing that they’ll face them together.

Goddamn, that was also amazing.

I do rank episode 2 slightly higher - but this one's about Finn & Jake, so you can't not love it lmao.

The fake-out intro setting up the fact that they've already been dead for years was a great subversion of expectations. It seems like this entire series takes place after the show ends (although the fiest episode seems like it goes over how BMO met Finn & Jake? Unless that was a parallel dimension or something...)

But anyway, this episode covers their bond and how it can transcend death itself - and it does a great job at that while also bringing back characters we've seen before. Even has a good message that's kinda meant to make you reflect on your own life & what it means to you.

We also get to see Life for the first time, and having the twist be that the snake guy is her & death's son was great (and it even brought back the Lich!).

And seeing Peppermint Butler again was fun too. I always wondered what his deal was (and still don't know lol). Also seems like Bubblegum finally died, and he took over the kingdom? I wonder what happened to Marceline....

As I said at the start, I do think episode 2 is just a tad better - but I'm biased since I like Marceline and Bubblegum's characters more.

Still though, this is another easy 10/10 for me.