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Adventure Time Season 5 Review

The fifth season of Adventure Time was overall disappointing. It had its great episodes, but for the most part the show turned into something else, something that I personally found less interesting.

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“You’re gross, Simon!
We’re both gross, darling“

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I am talking about a change in structure and approach. The previous seasons were all concerned with Finn and Jake and their immediate friends, but this season went above and beyond in enlarging its world and the cast of characters in that world mostly for the worse. I do realize that many prefer this type of treatment, but for me it is always better to properly develop and utilize your main crew instead of introducing us to hundreds of new characters that are much less significant.

Another issue was the runtime. It has 52 episodes. Yes, 52! That is twice as much as the first couple of seasons. This did lead to a huge amount of creativity and world building, but that emphasis on ambition ultimately spelled the season’s doom as it lost a lot of heart and simple enjoyment that the first seasons had in spades. We got so little of Finn, Jake and Ice King here and so much of one-off characters that are much less interesting unfortunately.

Finn the Human and Jake the Dog made for a stellar two-part opening. Finn and Jake going against The Lich led to such an epic, important arc that unfortunately this season had only in sporadic moments. This was a darker storyline with bigger stakes, so ultimately it worked. Five More Short Graybles is another collection of short stories centered around a central theme, but this time around it was much less effective as it disappointingly focused on the five tastes.

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Up a Tree is this very crazy episode where Finn must battle a bunch of squirrels to escape from their tree. This is the stuff I’m talking about – Adventure Time should be worthy of its title and have these adventures for our protagonists. This episode was so much fun. All the Little People has a unique, solid concept. Jake the Dad offers a lovely, all too rare look on Jake’s responsibilities and parenthood methods. Davey is this odd episode about an uninteresting one-off character and this season had too many such installments.

Mystery Dungeon is a solid, but far from best Ice King episode. All Your Fault focused on Lemongrab that was voiced by Justin Roiland. I never cared for this character. Little Dude is a solid magic-centric episode. Bad Little Boy is another mediocre, annoying fan fiction episode and I never cared for these. Vault of Bones focused on Flame Princess, another uninteresting character to me. The Great Bird Man is forgettable, but Simon & Marcy is an incredible episode that is a fantastic origin story for Ice King. His relationship with Marceline is well explored and his character was significantly deepened here. A Glitch is a Glitch is another stellar, very fun Ice King installment that has a great concept, but I wished that they spread these episodes apart a bit.

Puhoy is not memorable, but BMO is charming as this character always is endearing. Princess Potluck is another hilarious Ice Man episode that showcases just how petty he is. James Baxter the Horse has a very intriguing concept and mostly satisfactory execution. It’s the type of weird that this show does best. Shh! is a wonderful Finn/Jake outing that was so conceptually brilliant and executed in an amusing fashion.

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The Suitor is a better than average episode for Bubblegum, but her arcs continue to be less interesting than others. The Party’s Over, Isla de Senorita is a fine Ice King episode. It’s imaginative, but not as funny as some of his best stories. One Last Job is too odd and inconsequential, Another Five More Short Graybles is by far the weakest collection of shorts yet in this subseries and Candy Streets is another weak Bubblegum episode.

Wizards Only, Fools is a very imaginative, fun and unique episode centering on magic. It’s a great adventure indeed. Jake Suit is silly and forgettable. Be More was not the best BMO episode, but Sky Witch is a terrific Marceline episode and she continues to be one of the show’s best creations. Frost & Fire is mostly filler and Too Old is another boring Lemongrab episode, but Earth & Water is a rare solid Flame Prince episode and Time Sandwich is very uniquely plotted and interesting. The Vault is a strong canon episode with a rare important storyline for the season and interesting mythology.

Love Games is silly, but undeniably entertaining. Dungeon Train is a solid Finn and Jake bonding episode. Box Prince is actually ingenious in its at first seemingly sophisticated, but ultimately silly story of these cats who are after all just cats and not some fascinating civilization. Red Starved is adventurous and fun. We Fixed a Truck is forgettable. Play Date finds Ice King at his usual ridiculous and funny self.

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The Pit and James are fine, but hardly important. Root Beet Guy is ridiculous, but actually kind of fun and funny. Apple Wedding isn’t the best Tree Trunks episode out there, but a solid one nonetheless as she’s always hilarious. Blade Grass and Rattleballs are entirely disposable. The Red Throne is another uninteresting Flame Princess episode, but Betty is a terrific, deeper than usual Ice King installment. Bad Timing is silly and fun, but Lemonhope is a very annoying, unfunny dual-episode that did not work. Billy’s Bucket List ended the season on a high note by revealing that Finn does have a human biological father and that he is alive somewhere. This was a crucial development that will hopefully lead to somewhere meaningful soon.

Overall, the fifth season of Adventure Time is not great. It has its stellar, deep and high-concept adventurous episodes that really worked, but it also had a bunch of annoying side characters that received too many episodes all on their own. I missed having Finn and Jake go on adventures together. Instead, the show became too ambitious for its own sake and way too big in length and cast of characters.

Worst Episodes: Bad Little Boy, One Last Job, Too Old and We Fixed a Truck.

Best Episodes: Finn the Human, Up a Tree, Jake the Dad, Simon & Marcy, A Glitch Is a Glitch, Princess Potluck, Shh!, Wizards Only, Fools, Sky Witch, Time Sandwich, Box Prince, The Pit, Betty and Billy’s Bucket List.