9x13 Whispers

[8.7/10] Aw yeah! I love me some Lich stories. Lots to like about this one. The first and most obvious are the little blasé details about the fight between Finn and the creature that is nominally his ultimate enemy. Adventure Time always takes such a light touch even in some of its big dramatic moments that helps the show to liven what could otherwise be overdramatic material. Finn kind of shrugs off fighting The Lich “for like the fifth time.” He laments that Jake is missing out on a good Lich fight (and Jake’s “whaaaa?” reaction to the voicemail is a treat too). Fern says out loud “the only Finn” and Finn responds “that’s a weird thing to call me” before he’s finger-crushed, Kids in the Hall-style. It’s minor stuff, but it adds light comedy to the episode and gives it that distinctive Adventure Time flavor.

It helps that the Lich material doesn’t feel like a retread, if only because Sweetpea brings a different dimension to it. The severed hand of Farmworld Lich causing him problems is a novel way to go. The contrast between the adorable singsong voice of Sweetpea and the haunting voice of the Lich-hand its titular “whispers” makes for a combination of creepy and cute that fuels the episode well. When Sweetpea joins Lich-hand in the old subway tunnels, possibly to join his dextrous counterpart, but ultimately to turn on him, it’s a triumphant moment of good over evil, delivered with stakes that come less from Finn dangling over a pit of radioactive goop and more from whether he and Fern can protect his innocent wrapped over an unkillable evil. (The way that struggle is depicted in shadow is a really creative choice on that front.)

There’s a similar struggle going on within Fern. In contrast to a monolithic evil like The Lich, there’s a more sympathetic moral struggle for Fern as a major antagonist. He wants to be Finn. He is Finn in some way. But he’s struggling with the ways in which he feels Less Than. Finn is encouraging and compassionate as always, but Fern can’t help feeling like he’s not what or where he should be, and his attempts to save the day only end in pain and failure. It’s all done at a level appropriate for children, but that’s deep stuff. His efforts to do right, efforts that seem to crumble before his eyes, lead to him to think that if he could just eliminate Finn he could realize his potential, a conclusion that is appropriately understandable, horrifying, and a product of his mixed up way of thinking -- the combination of FinnSword and the grass demon thing that creates a person who’s both sympathetic and terrifying.

It’s a neat trick, and the combination of those elements makes for an exciting, funny, and thoughtful episode of this great show.