Adventure Time (Season 3)

Adventure Time has really been reminding me of Star Trek: The Next Generation. That was a series that really suffered from a rough first two seasons, before quickly turning around and delivering a phenomenal and confident third season that I'd easily call one of the franchise's best. Adventure Time's third season isn't TNG Season 3 levels of good, but it's similarly a big improvement.

Season 2 of Adventure Time ended with a pretty massive lorebomb with the introduction of The Lich. There is no Lich in Season 3, but the increased serialization still remains with a vastly increased number of sequel and character-centric episodes. Episodes like Memory Of A Memory, What Was Missing, and Holly Jolly Secrets revealed new facets to characters such as Princess Bubblegum, Marceline, and Ice King. Episodes like The Creeps and From Bad To Worse expanded on the ideas established by episodes like Mystery Train and Slumber Party Panic. And episodes like Too Young and Beautopia were simply just sequels to previous episodes like Mortal Recoil and Susan Strong. It all gives off the sense that the writers have figured out what people liked about the earlier seasons and doubled-down on it. Susan Strong and Mystery Train were great well-received episodes, so Susan's back and we have more detective episodes. The Season 2 finale was critically acclaimed for its serialized elements, so now there's more serialization and continuity.

But even the standalone episodes of this season feel way more confident, creative, and most importantly, funny. While there are still plenty of episodes and jokes that don't land for me (*cough* Another Way *cough*), we have way more genuinely great one-offs like Hitman, Fionna And Cake, and especially Thank You. On top of that, Season 3 also ups the post-apocalyptic scare factor in a lot of ways, tossing in some genuinely dark and unnevering episodes. I think the best example of this is From Bad To Worse, the second zombie apocalypse episode in the series. Slumber Party Panic treated the zombie epidemic pretty flippantly with the zombies being easily taken out by a town who had no idea there were zombies there. Meanwhile, From Bad To Worse is a more intense affair with moodier atmopshere, darker coloring, and a dwindling cast that leads to Finn being the only unzombified person remaining by the end.

Highlights:

Thank You: Thank You is a nearly silent episode entirely focused on a snow golem befriending a fire dog. While it's not focused on any of the previously established characters nor does it progress the plot in any way, it manages to tell an incredibly heartfelt and funny story through its animation, boasting some great physical comedy, and managing to tie it to Finn and Jake's rocky relationship with the Ice King.

Holly Jolly Secrets: At this point in the series, I found Ice King to be incredibly annoying, constantly kidnapping princesses and never leaving Finn and Jake alone. But I gotta say, this episode made me do a big turnaround on the guy. That last secret tape where we learn Ice King was a normal human driven mad by the crown is surprisingly heart-wrenching.

Overall, while still uneven in a lot of ways, Adventure Time's third season is a big improvement in terms of confidence and quality. From the increased continuity, to the more consistently strong humor, to the willingness to be dark and creepy, it feels like Adventure Time is starting to really settle into its own niche.

3/5 Stars