Adventure Time is my favorite show. Ever. I'm going to say that right from the start. it's characters and the lessons they learn have so often refelcted people and things in my life that episodes have frequently been cathartic to watch. I couldn't fathom how they would wrap it all up. How they would end it all. And now 3 days after seeing its final island song come from the depths of music hole in its full form, I can't stop thinking about it all, so I have to write about it.
Beginning the show with the new, but oh so slightly familiar characters of Shermy and Beth was confusing to say the least. They had characteristics of Finn and Jake. But they weren't them. I noticed the backdrop was a bit gray. everything looked like the land of ooo, but it wasn't quight ooo. suddenly Shermy unearths a rusty old metal arm. A familiar one. I realize this is the future, and I wonder just how far. Shermy and Beth live in marcelenes old pad, it's revealed. They begin to talk of meeting with the king of ooo to find out to whom this arm belonged. I thought for sure it was going to be Finn himself. However, it turns out to be BMO. And i remember Shermy mentions that the king of ooo is said to have lived forever. Which made sense to me a few minutes later. when BMO sees the arm they brought, he stops dead to examine it. Pulling off his crown and clearly remembering something. I realized at that point that this is very very far into the future, and it hits me a little harder than I'd have expected. Finn and Jake are gone. long gone, and the idea that these characters I hold so dear are dead, broke me up a little bit. Finn and Jake are killed off with a time jump. There is No true explanation, and it made me a little sick inside. We always want an explanation, but did we need one? as i think about it now, i don't really think so. BMO goes on to tell an epic story. One last story. Before he begins, he speaks of Finn in a far far back tense. Going as far as to not even quite remember his exact name, calling him Phil. As BMO looks at the arm, he refers to finn with admiration. "He was my best friend, and a great hero". There is a song in the episode. And to me it very deliberately sums up the episodes lesson.
"Time is an illusion that helps things make sense. So we are always living in the present tense. It seems unforgiving when a good thing ends, But you and I will always be back then.
Will happen, happening, happened
And we will happen again and again
'Cause you and I will always be back then.
You and I will always be back then.
If there was some amazing force outside of time. to take us back to where we were, And hang each moment up like pictures on the wall
Inside a billion tiny frames so that we could see it all, all, all It will look like, will happen, happening, happened Will happen, happening, happened
And, there we are again and again
'Cause you and I will always be back then
You and I will always be back then"
To me these lyrics sum up adventure times view of time itself. no matter what. some things change, some things go away, but through memory we can recall them. In some way or another everything lives on. On a deeper level, for me the characters of Shermy and Beth are learning about their past lives. To me Shermy and Beth were put in ooo to carry on the legacy of Finn and Jake after they were gone. perhaps even their reincarnations, because ooo will always need radical hero's. it's my theory that Beth could even be a descendant of Jake the Dog himself. but The episode goes on to tell of the great gum war. Which is thwarted by Finn who doesn't want to see another fight. after the gum war is ended, another thing happens that's a little bit too much to go into. But to sum it up, there's suddenly an apocalypse on the way, and all of ooo joins forces to stop it. In the process MarcIlene and Princess Bubblegum kiss, and it's incredible for gay representation. Well done there show creators. A satisfying climax to that's storyline. Simon is finally ridden of the ice king curse, returning to his original self, and fern dies, having reconciled with Finn and asking to be buried where the tree house which is destroyed in the episode, once stood. Finn then does as he's asked, and Jake asks if Finn is ready as the two Neal at the foot of their homes remains. Finn nods and drops the little seed into a small hole, and a tree immediately begins to grow. We flash forward to Shermy BMO and Beth, and Shermy is inspired by BMOs story. "What happened after that?" Shermy asks BMO. BMO simply replies "nothing, they lived their lives". They leave BMOs home, and go to the tree where fern was planted. It's grown high up into the sky and beyond the clouds, and the two climb to the very top, to discover a familiar white and blue sword thrust through its top branch. suddenly we cut to Jake and Finn laying by music hole, who says she's been working on a new song that's about "a really specific feeling that's hard to describe". As the classic Island song plays, a wonderful montage begins of all the characters we love. Doing just what BMO said they did. Living their lives. We see Finn and Jake living homeless on a beach and seeing ships on the horizon, as the two wave to and welcome all of the humans as well as Finns mother Minerva who is waving back on a big monitor. We see Simon visiting the cosmic owl and prismo looking for a way to get his beloved Betty back. We see a montage of other characters doing their things and having fun and on adventures. some closure, some new questions to be had from the clip, but like anything it ends. We see Shermy and Beth again. Shermy attempts to pull the Finn sword from the branch, but fails. Beth then grips it quickly, yanks it out, and hands it to Shermy. She tells Shermy to lift the sword, and the two creat a classic pose that Finn and Jake were known for. Shermy lifts the sword with two hands loudly exclaiming "aaawwww yeahhhh!" and it ends. To me that signifies an official passing of the torch. Shermy and Beth are the new hero's of ooo. But then again as i think about it, maybe they are the old hero's of ooo. The lesson I learned from Adventure Time, is that time itself is a human invention. it's not linear. everything that has happened, is happening, or ever will happen. has already happened. is happening now, and already happened. It goes back and fourth and up and down and there's no stopping or pausing it. for a cartoon to teach that lesson, is pretty special. And it's one I'm not going to forget. Probably ever. it makes me feel small, but it makes me feel like I have control of something all at once. It's a confusing but truly incredible thing. So yeah. Come Along with Me gets a 10/10 from me. well done. I'm going to miss all of these crazy weird funny relatable special characters.
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