Adventure Time (Season 4)

I probably sound like a broken record by now but Season 4 was yet another improvement for Adventure Time, with a pretty stellar second half and some great pay-offs.

Plot-wise, Season 4 of Adventure Time is the most packed season so far. The main story arc is primarily about Finn's new relationship with the evil Flame Princess, and their attempts at being together despite the latter being able to easily burn the former. It's a solid storyline with some pretty fantastic episodes focused around it, and the lore of the Flame Kingdom is pretty cool. Marceline also gets a bunch of really important episodes this season, focused around her relationships with her father and the Ice King, of all characters. And of course, the Lich finally returns after sitting out Season 3, getting another finale to reveal his long-awaited plot. There's a great sense of forward progression to Season 4, where it feels like plot points set up all the way back in the first season are finally starting to pay off.

On top of that, the standalone episodes are really solid too. This is the first season that feels like it has a lot of episodes focused specifically on characters who aren't Finn and Jake. There's an episode about Princess Bubblegum and Lady Rainicorn, an episode about Beemo, an episode about the Ice King, an episode about Lumpy Space Princess, and even an episode entirely about Gunther. I liked Adventure Time's side characters from the start, so it's great to see them get a lot more focus this time around. Season 4 is also way more willing to experiment with its one-offs, so now we have stuff like an anthology episode, a noir-themed episode, and a bottle episode. That being said, Adventure Time is still a very inconsistent series. Season 4 does have a lot of standout episodes especially in its second half, but its first half still suffered from a lot of weaker episodes like Dream Of Love, Hug Wolf, and Gotcha, the aforementioned LSP episode.

Highlights:

Return To The Nightosphere/Daddy's Little Monster: This was a great Marceline-focused two-parter that expanded on one of Season 2's best episodes. While the second episode was a strong resolution, I especially loved Return To The Nightosphere for its surreal nature and its hilarious DMV humor.

Card Wars: Card Wars is the only episode of Adventure Time that I've actually watched before and while I always liked it for its creative premise, I've gained even more appreciation for it upon rewatch. Not only is it an incredibly funny and charming episode with some of the best Beemo moments to date, but it's also a surprisingly realistic love letter to Magic: The Gathering, not a game I personally play but one I have enough knowledge of to recognize how much this episode does it justice.

Burning Low: This was just a really well-rounded plot episode that balanced some really great humor and solid drama incredibly well. We learn more about Flame Princess and why she was in captivity to begin with, PB gets more involved in the whole situation, and Finn completely snaps.

I Will Remember You: Along with Card Wars, this is probably the most iconic Adventure Time episode. Even though I never watched it myself, I remember all the hype around it. Now that I'm actually watching the thing, I will say it didn't quite hit as hard emotionally as I was expecting. But it is still an incredible episode, super heartfelt, and expands on Marceline and the Ice King to great effect. It's also surprisingly funny, balancing the comedy and drama super effectively.

The Lich: Ugggggggghhhhhhhhh, multiverses?! Okay, fine, I'll give Adventure Time some slack. This was from 2012, Avengers 1 had just come out after all. Putting that aside, this was a good finale, super intense too. From the reveal of what the Enchiridion does, to the reveal of Billy being dead, to that juicy cliffhanger, Season 4 ended on a pretty great note.

Overall, Season 4 is yet another Adventure Time season that surpasses its predecessor, with some great plot, creative character-focused standalones, and a strong second half.

4/5 Stars