Come Along With Me: Adventure Time – “Still” and “Wizard Battle”

Still
Written and Storyboarded by: Kent Osborne & Somvilay Xayaphone // Air Date: August 22 , 2011
Coverage: Prestidigititis

One of the reasons I’m glad this little project exists is that it’s allowing me to re-examine how I felt about episodes that I had a strong reaction to, be it positive or negative. “Still” was a polarizing episode for me back when AT was on its initial airing. At first I thought it was a blast: funny, weird, unexpected, and having great interactions between our heroes and Ice King. I enjoyed its premiere so much, I was glad to catch a re-airing a few weeks later…and this time I just plumb didn’t like it. Everything I had thought was pleasantly off-center hit me as tin-eared and unpleasant. I haven’t watched the episode in years; perhaps fresh(-ish) eyes will let me figure out where I really stand with the episode. A tiebreaker, if you will.

Things start with our boys in their jammies, just waking up. Utterly unable to move. And what nefarious evil force could have caused—oh, it’s the Ice King, of course it is. He clambers up the root ladder to the treehouse bedroom, insisting Finn’s accusations of wrongdoing are unfounded. He didn’t “do” anything to them to cause their incapacitation, ‘cos they’re all friends. He just froze them, is all. With “Freezing Potion A.” Y’know. Pal stuff.

Lugging their motionless husks to the living room, IK explains that he has recognized a relationship imbalance between them. He loves Finn and Jake. But alas, F & J do not return this affection. I mean, they can’t even identify his favorite color. So, Ice King has decided a day of bro-bonding is in order to make things more equitable.

After locking the corks of both the freezing and unfreezing potion bottles (which is a great visual gag), he puts them up on the highest shelf so tag-along Gunter can’t get at them during the befriendening. (“This one breaks bottles.”) 

While Ice King preps some lemonade for the crew, Gunter demonstrates this inherent desire to bottle-break, tipping the potions precariously over a high shelf’s edge…which inspires Finn to think outside the box. Reasoning that losing one sense enhances the others, he decides that his loss of physical movement means he has sharpened abilities of mind, with which he can summon forth a beast from the astral plane to assist the lads. Smart, right?

And when Finn does indeed slip off into the multihued, brightly lit astral plane, it means poor Jake is left behind to endure the Ice King’s bonding rituals. These include artsy slide shows, games of dress-up, gossipy sleepovers, and foot-enhanced omelets. All of these things are exceedingly weird, and awfully uncomfortable, especially since it involves extended views of Ice King’s gross body and awful grundies. Seriously, I never need to see his underwraps again. 

Jake sees a possible opening when Ice King’s key drops from his…uh…bod, and onto the floor. But all Jake’s whispered entreaties lead to is some penguin flippers messing with Jake’s jowls, Ice King falling asleep with his eyes open, and a Gunter confined to a pet carrier. Things are not looking good for our brave dudes. Eventually the morning comes, and the episode heads into act three, with a…resolution…of sorts. And a cute little windowsill dance from Gunter.

This latest rewatch has me leaning toward the negative overall for this ep. I liked a lot of what hit home for me that first viewing. Lots of funny stuff demonstrating how unabashedly weird Ice King is (and as usual, a fantastic showcase for Tom Kenny’s performance). It gives Finn a new path to heroism, jumping in with just as much gusto as he’d have if he could make use of his physical body. And the episode bravely rolls to what’s a now-familiar ending, with some weird gag carrying us directly into the credits, not feeling the need to tie everything up with a bow. That shows faith in the audience, and confidence creatively.

But at the same time…the weirdness is trending toward the unpleasant. Gunter’s role as instigator-of-mayhem feels forced and annoying. As visually interesting and as cool an idea as Finn making his way to the astral plane is…there’s really not much to it, is there? Just a few neat visuals and some yelling. That happens in most episodes that never leave Ooo. Finn’s self-criticism seems to come out of nowhere, and is out of character for him—my dude, you summoned astral butterflies!! That’s not a failure! That’s awesome! And the way Jake uses said butterflies to “beat” Finn out of his dourness just doesn’t sit right with me.

So yeah, at the end of the day (this day, specifically) I’ll say that “Still” feels like a bit of a let-down. But it’s a funny let-down, and a strange little experimental one that allows the crew to run with a weird idea, and not be afraid of it leading somewhere even weirder. Which is the trademark of Adventure Time season 3, if you ask me.

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Wizard Battle
Written and Storyboarded by: Ako Castuera & Jesse Moynihan // Air Date: August 29, 2011
Coverage: Cork

The battle

For supremacy

Amongst masters of magic!

Wizard Battle

Wizard Battle is an annual event where wizards from the eight schools of magic (Arcane, Cantraps, Rock, Dimensional, Tree/Forest, Ice/Water, Fire, and Death) compete for a prize. The sacred rules: no science (one of the few times I can be okay with the exclusion of science), no weapons, no quitting, and you must be a wizard.

Much to Finn’s dismay, one of the contestants is the Ice King, who unabashedly admits that he is going to cheat. The grand prize is revealed to be a kiss on the lips with Princess Bubblegum, to which Brain Wizard rightly asks if it’s an open mouth kiss. Brain Wizard and three female wizards attempt to withdraw from the competition, but Grand Master Wizard proclaims that this is Ooo and more wizards need to be bi, then transforms them into cats.

This is the first episode since “Too Young” that features Princess Bubblegum and Finn is not over his feelings for her yet. We see his blush after the Ice King says that he “can’t wait to taste that sweet bubblegum.” Though to be fair, the Ice King is a lovable creep. Finn is young and honorable, and even if he does something wrong, his morals will (mostly) set him back on the right path. We know that Finn is aware that Wizard Battle is for wizards only. Finn, a guy who generally like to follow the rules, knowingly breaks them because of his feelings for PB. Finn claims that he’s doing it to stop the Ice King but he’s just stooping to the Ice King’s level. As soon as PB’s lips became a prize, Finn’s chivalry becomes overrun by jealousy and loses its honor.

Finn and Jake seamlessly disguise themselves as Magic Fist and enter the battle. They hide off to the side and meet perhaps, the greatest character to have ever been designed in the fashion that they were, Abracadaniel. The name is perfect, the shape is phallic, and that rainbow is barely holding up (flaccid if you will). Despite being a wimp, Abracadaniel immediately wins Finn’s favor by his proclamation that he would “turn and push.” Abracadaniel has virtually no self-confidence and is the perfect person to sanctify PB’s lips.

The opposite wizards begin to battle with Ice King pulling out his nunchaku to cheat against Flame Lord. I love the call back to “Chamber of the Frozen Blades” and the through line that the Ice King is a true ninja. The Grand Master Wizard doesn’t notice any of the cheating because he’s too distracted by the tiny kitty that has been climbing over him all episode. If there is one thing that could take my attention off of an incredible wizard battle, it too would be a cat.

A meteor from Rock Wizard seems to crush Abracadaniel but never fear because this character is perfect and his body is squishy. Abracadaniel faces off against the Ice King in some real “wiz biz” and manages to pull of a stunning upset. Invigorated by skillful win, Abracadaniel is overcome with newfound self-confidence. Because Abracadaniel is not only a real wizard but he is a man. “A confident man who deserves a kiss from a princess!” I cannot stress how much I love Abracadaniel, he is the funniest character. The self-journey he has gone through in wizard battle is truly amazing. Meanwhile, Finn is horrified to hear this change in confidence and resorts to the most shameful of magic, a power shriek, to knock Abracadaniel out.

Despite his unbecoming victory, Magic Fist is still declared the winner of Wizard Battle. Jake makes fun of Finn for the shriek and Finn’s emotions spill out in typical teenage fashion. Jake encourages Finn to express his feelings instead of bottling them up. Their disguise is ruined before the big kiss and Finn admits to dishonoring Wizard Battle. Princess Bubblegum still gives Finn a kiss for being sweet but slaps him for cheating. It makes me think of John Hughes movies, the guy should probably be punished for his actions but somehow gets off and is rewarded.

And to answer Ice King’s question, I would rate him a 7. He’s pulling the glasses off but he doesn’t look crazy sick.