In my review of Season 1, I said the show wasn't really all that great yet but the potential was there for something truly special. Did Season 2 realize that potential? Sure... eventually.
Outside a surprisingly fantastic first two episodes, the first half of Season 2 is pretty much more of the same if not even worse than Season 1. In particularly, the stretch of episodes from Storytelling to Crystals Have Powers delve into Adventure Time's worst indulgences, from disgusting grossout humor to cringe-worthy torture sequences to Tree Trunks being even more disgusting than she was last season. Thankfully, around halfway through the season, the show managed to properly pick up in quality, with some genuinely fun and creative episodes in close succession like Guardians Of Sunshine, Death In Bloom, Mystery Train, and Videomakers. It feels like the writers suddenly became more confident, and shifted focus from the aimless random adventures that the show started with, to telling inventive, weird, and wonderful stories in this setting and with this cast.
Season 2 also actually manages to progress the lore a bit, though just a little. Halfway through this season, we learn that Finn is actually the last human in Ooo, a plot point that actually gets followed up on in a later episode when he thinks he meets some episodes. In general, this season leaned a bit more on the post-apocalypicness of the show's setting, like how Finn and Jake started a movie club where they watch old human movies. It all culminates in an absolute lore bomb of a finale, which introduces a new villain, pays off a bunch of plot points from the last two seasons, and changes the status quo in a pretty huge way. After two seasons of purely one-offs, seeing an actual serialized plot was pretty cool, and I really hope Season 3 keeps it up.
Highlights:
Mystery Train: I love detective stories, especially when they're set on a train, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that this was easily my favorite one-off this season.
Mortal Folly/Recoil: As I mentioned earlier, this was a wild finale. I actually think Mortal Folly was the slightly better episode for how well it introduced the Lich and how action-packed it was, but Recoil was also nothing to scoff at for how much it changed the series. The Lich is now free and out and about, Princess Bubblegum is 13 years old, and Finn and the Ice King had to team up for once. Pretty great stuff.
Overall, Season 2 was certainly an improvement over the last one. While its first half was generally pretty horrible across the board, its second half finally showed a big jump in quality with more interesting one-offs, a stronger focus on lore, and a slam-bang finale that hopefully marked a new shift into serialization.
2/5 Stars
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