If you think that yesterday’s post was a long one? Buddy, this is only just the beginning when doing these countdowns. Two episodes in one post for the number 10 spot in the year-end Top 12 Countdown because it is a two-parter that came out on the same day, so it had to be merged into one. I don’t make the rules even though it’s my list, it's just bound to happen and here we are with the number 10 spot in the Top 12 Countdown for 2023 and it’s been a long time since this series last made the cut. Three years to be exact, two if you include this being on the honorable mention list, we’re talking Adventure Time and with Fionna and Cake this time around. And since this is a two-parter to the finale of Season 1, and yes, I said Season 1 because the show, rather, the spin-off, got greenlit for a second season earlier this month, I might as well do the first episode before going into the second, the first episode of the two being Episode 9 of the first season, “Casper & Nova”.
And this is going in between the two sides of the coin with this episode with Fionna and Cake on one side with them returning to their home dimension after countless episodes of them going dimension hopping alongside Simon, and speaking of Simon, on the other side of the coin, you have him going through an existential crisis when going face-to-face with a mysterious being that the Lich that he along with Fionna and Cake had encountered at the end of “Jerry” that resulted in both Fionna and Cake to be sent back to where they belonged. That being that The Lich was doing the chants was none other than Golb.
And to spell the background, Golb is that giant red being that came out of nowhere in “Come Along With Me” because the supposed war between Princess Bubblegum and her uncle Gumbald didn’t really happen, and instead, it’s all for show based on the previews leading up to the original series finale and the show had to pull the “Kaguya card” out of their deck that was under the control of Betty wearing Magic Man’s hat...and also who Betty had to sacrifice to save everyone and, of course, Simon. So, with Fionna and Cake back at their home dimension, and we’ll get to that in a bit, but Simon finally got to come across with the being that Betty sacrificed. Finally going to have his come to Jesus moment and mind you between this episode and the next, there was some hesitation with him trying to put on the crown. And there was a lot of hesitation. Especially with a certain someone who they thought they got away with but keeps on popping up for more.
That being the Scarab, who, right after being called into his boss's office about him defying the rules by going after Fionna and Cake for being quote-on-quote “anomalies” because they came out of Simon's head since they are his creation and their world is not in line with the canonical multiverse and wants to Thanos snap Fionna and Cake’s dimension. Whether it’s him trying to pressure Simon and coming close from having a crystal slitting his throat to escaping being pummeled by Golb one too many times to sneak his way into Simon’s head the more Golb pummel him, mostly because he was attacking Simon and betting you that was all Betty’s doing to keep the guy safe, but that resulted in the Scarab in his bug form to sneak into Simon’s head and that’s where shit decided to break loose all the way to end of the episode and going into the next.
Of course, gotta bring up the two main cast of the show, Fionna and Cake, finally back to their home dimension and talk about baiting when starting the episode with them thinking that they’re back at their home dimension but ended up seeing their town being war-torn like it was hit by a nuke during the Mushroom War before finding out that it was all a dream and wake up at the ice rink, finally back at their home dimension. And the first people that both Fionna and Cake see when arriving back are, of course, Gary and Marshall, who become ecstatic over them becoming a couple before telling them that their world is about to change in the event Simon were to put on the crown. That and also Cake showing Gary and Marshall her newfound powers while dimension hopping. And it’s pretty much them playing the waiting game for Simon to put on the crown, not knowing that Simon is hesitating to put the headgear on, oh, but it looks weird shit is coming into their direction, only, it’s not Simon putting on the crown and instead, it’s Scarab in his bug form to invade the Fionna-world, messing things up for Fionna, Cake, Gary, and Marshall and having it turned into a game of squishing bugs before deciding to trap them along with some help from Hunter, the landscaper and the Fionna-world counterpart of Huntress Wizard, and have the thing settled as they await for Simon to do the thing...only for a piece of dumbassery decided to hamper their plans and we’ll get to that in a bit.
This episode brought us the second appearance of the future incarnations of Finn and Jake with Shermy and Beth, who had been introduced in “Come Along With Me” and it was bound to happen to see those two in this series after the original series finale. Whether it’s them escaping Gibbon’s palace and evading arrest to having his mind being hijacked by Simon in search of the book on the crown and the lore that came with it, whether you call it an unnecessary addition, but you can take it for what you get. Especially when learning about the background with the crown and the consequences that came with it for this episode and going into the next that gives Simon his own come to Jesus moment.
Now, the background to the crown with the introduction of the titular characters of the episode that are being presented in the book, named Casper and Nova, through a holobook where in the future, all books will be holographic once you open it...so...sort of like an eBook or a Kindle? Detailing the duo’s adventure in what is pretty much a choose-your-own-adventure book meant for little kids with Casper and Nova being introduced with the same profession as Simon back in the day in finding ancient artifacts and one of those artifacts that the duo are looking for in the book was the crown with the option of book following either Casper’s quest or Nova’s quest with Simon, as Shermy, picking Casper’s quest which turned into a wild goose chase to go after the crown. So far with this episode before we get to the next to continue the story, the animation looks good and it was an alright set-up for what is to come for the finale. Especially during a world-ending event over at Fionna-world. And, oh yeah, might as well get to the dumbassery that caused it all.
The Scarab is being fucking released and just as Fionna and the others left the apartment to head to the portal to help him after noticing that something isn’t right that caused massive concerns for everyone, especially Fionna, and want to see if he’s unharmed. But then comes Ellis P. And, to be fair, he was unaware of the whole thing since he was sleeping through the whole thing though he didn’t even hear the entire thing about what is going on, he ended up freeing the Scarab, mistaking him as a bug in captivity, not knowing that his actions may have triggered a world-ending event. I get that he’s this universe’s version of Lumpy Space Princess and the writers need to have everything to be in the high-stakes variety because are at the finale, but I had to call it a “dumbass moment” because of the consequences of what would have happened if the Scarab is being left go and by someone who mistakes it as a bug.
Other than that for “Casper & Nova” before going towards the second half of the season finale with “Cheers”, an interesting setup for the finale, and we’ll get to that in a bit, with Fionna and Cake returning home at one end and with the other with Simon finally coming across with Golb or Betty or GOLBetty since that is Betty inside Golb. Shermy and Beth, even though some might say that it’s an unnecessary addition to be brought into the show, were an alright sight to see since the original series finale, even if Shermy’s mindscape had to be hijacked by Simon to get to the part where we take a deep dive on the crown.
And the story of Casper and Nova, though this is only the beginning and we’ll get more to that later in this post, seems to be an interesting setup for what’s to come about the lore regarding the crown and also what might be a consequential moment for Simon, especially now that Fionna-world is now in an X level amounts of fucked thanks in part to the Scarab rearing his fugly head and ready to rip the dimension into oblivion Zeno style. But that’s “Casper & Nova”, oh yeah, the small moments with Marshall and Gary having concerns about what will happen to the world if Simon were to put on the crown and Fionna having to reassure that there’s nothing to worry about...sort of. Not to mention GOLBetty twisting The Lich like a pretzel and turning him into a block was something and I wouldn’t say it’s the last we've seen him, even though it might as well be, even though we do have a Season 2 coming up, but who knows, even though we seen him in “Together Again” in the afterlife. And with that, let’s get to “Cheers”, the second half of the two-part finale to Season 1.
And we might stick around with the story of Casper and Nova since this episode already has three scenes at the ready with Simon continuing to have an existential crisis, Fionna and everyone else having to deal with the Scarab as they’re on the verge of total erasure, and then, of course, tying in with Simon, you have Casper and Nova that Shermy (Simon) and Beth are reading. And we might as well stick with Casper and Nova and go into the Simon side of the episode to where the story of the duo kicked off. A wild goose chase to go after the crown and go to the depths of the universe to retrieve the crown. So, a bit of a slow start for the story though that’s mostly Simon wanting to rush things because of Scarab’s presence and need to find a way to stop the guy, even though the fucker, as of this moment, has invaded the Fionna-world. This is where the consequential moment comes into play with Casper and Nova when they finally find the crown and this, of course, ties in with Simon’s dilemma and the parallels that came with the story.
Casper and Nova finally locate the crown and when noticing that the door is starting to close, you have Nova attempting to keep the door open for Casper to get in and take the crown. And knowing that it’s a choose-your-own-adventure, the choices for Simon (as Shermy) that are presented for him...it’s pick your poison for the guy. It’s either get the crown but let Nova die or save Nova but that would result in Casper’s memory of Nova being erased. Tough decision and an unfair one but sometimes, life won’t be fair. And Simon has realized the parallels between himself and Casper when looking for the crown. They got so fixated on finding the item in question that they didn’t know about the consequences that came with the finding of the headwear. And also states that like Simon and Betty, Casper and Nova, despite the beginning of the story having them being best friends, you can see some subtle hints of them having romantic interests with each other. And that Casper, like Simon would’ve done, should’ve been more thoughtful with Nova and the sacrifice she’s doing to achieve Casper’s mission. And I guess it’s the same way with Simon and Betty with Betty dropping on what she was supposed to do the moment she was supposed to go on the bus and instead helping Simon with his endeavors.
And this is where the bittersweetness comes into the picture for Simon after learning about the consequences of chasing after the crown that holds X amounts of power and the consequences that come with it with the bus scene with Betty as she was supposed to leave before Simon stopping her and made her drop everything with the actual Simon watching the scene being played but with him finding out that the search for the crown is a dangerous task and one that can ruin a relationship and this is where the actual Simon learns that none of this wouldn’t had happened if he just let Betty do her own thing by getting on the bus to do her own exploration. Blaming himself when hesitating to put on the crown when finding out from Fionna that her world is under attack by the Scarab. As if he’s struggling to let go of his thoughts on Betty and, of course, struggling to move on, and it has gotten to the point where GOLBetty decided to help Simon with his little struggle by giving him something that should help Fionna clean up the damages caused by the Scarab erasing her universe in the form of a dandelion. And speaking of the Fionna-world and the Scarab...
Yeah, it’s an unwinnable battle when facing against someone who had the capabilities to erase something into nothing and uh...oh yeah, someone who is freaking immortal, so killing the guy off seems to be off the table. Whether it’s freeing people from the crystal to attempting to use music from Marshall Lee to Cake transforming herself into a kaiju and trying to land a few blows onto the Scabard, there’s nothing you can do with the guy when trying to land a hit. Clear to say, that this guy is the ultimate hater. He is the ultimate hater that he doesn’t give a fuck about what you’re doing to him. And all of this is because he was chasing after Fionna and Cake throughout the season because he deemed them as an anomaly and accused them of ruining the worlds that they visited on their way back to their own home universe. Everyone in the Fionna-world, including Fionna and Cake, they’re pretty much sitting ducks and they can’t do anything...that is until...whether you want to call it an ass pull or not to put an end to the Scarab’s reign of terror to come to an end, well, this is what we got.
Once Fionna gets the dandelion delivered by Simon for her to patch things up that the Scarab destroyed and also serves as a restoration piece you find in video games whenever you're in low health, the tides start to turn towards Fionna’s favor against the Scarab but not without some additional help. Sure, Cake being back to full health by the blow of the dandelion has her back to her feet, you also have key allies that Fionna and Cake made during their time dimension hopping from the Farmworld with one of Farmworld Finn's kid and a member of the Destiny Gang to the talking squirrel from Ooo and hell, Baby Finn is also in attendance. And if that's not enough, you also have Prismo finally freed from his prison and finally noticing that the Fionna-world that was lodged in Simon's head back when he was the Ice King with his fanfictions of the show, guess what? It's canon. It's part of the canonical multiverse. So in short, it almost sounded as if the Scarab's attack on Fionna-world might as well be considered an “illegal occupation”. Hmm…sounds familiar? So yeah, what was supposed to be an unwinnable battle against an immortal being, and again, whether you want to call it an ass pull or not, the Scarab had to be defeated somehow and here we are, defeated at the hands of Fionna and Cake thanks in part from some help from some unlikely allies from different dimensions. And yes, it does almost feel like this ain’t the last we’ll see the Scarab since after his defeat, he gets charged and has to serve community service by cleaning up Prismo’s place, knowing that there is a Season 2 coming up, he might return, either as a full-time antagonist or taking the Silence of the Lambs route and have him serve as the unlikely ally if they were to take on a new antagonist. Again, it’s any given Sunday for the guy.
And the same goes for everyone else once the Scarab is defeated and has to go back to their daily lives, well, right after they rebuild the damages that were caused by the battle, but other than that, and if I had to be honest, this does feel like a series finale than a season finale when looking at the epilogue to this episode. If Season 2 hadn’t been greenlit, then it would serve as everyone in the Fionna-world getting a happy ending. Not that I say that it doesn’t deserve it, I do, the question would come down to a few things: “How are you going to follow up to where this season left off?” “What new threat is going to emerge?” “Will Fionna and Cake return to Ooo?” “Will Simon go to the Fionna-world universe?” A lot of uncertainty going into Season 2 but for now, I guess we’ll have to wait and see until we get news on what the next season has in store.
So...again, another long post for this portion of the countdown and we’re just getting started with two episodes having to be paired as one because of the rules I had to set up when it comes to two-parters, but when I come up with I think about “Cheers”, this was an alright episode. Aside from the supposed ass pull with Fionna getting the dandelion and getting help from other people from other universes to take down the Scabard, it was an interesting episode. The story with Casper and Nova was interesting and the artwork looks great for the story and the choices that the book contained once the duo reached the crown, man, oh man, that was pure pick-your-poison mentality with what the book did for Simon, as Shermy, to read. And it did get Simon to have his come to Jesus moment regarding Betty and comparing Casper’s quest to find the crown to him doing the same and endangering their partners and I gotta say, Tom Kenny freaking nailed that scene with Simon blaming himself for the whole thing regarding the crown and what he did and if this doesn’t tell you that this was a top-notch performance, then I don’t know what show you’re watching.
So, I guess out of the two that I would pick as a favorite for the number 10 spot, I’d probably say “Cheers”, mostly for the story with Casper and Nova with the hunt for the crown and also Simon hesitating to put the crown on his head, especially when wanting to help Fionna when finding that Fionna’s world is being scrutinized by the Scarab where, again, whether you want to call it an ass pull or not, to help her beat Scarab and restore her universe. So, that’s my thoughts on the episode.
And that concludes the Number 10 spot in the Top 12 Countdown of 2023. What do you think about this set of episodes? Should it be higher, lower, or stay put on your list? Put it in the comments below as we transition into the single digits with the number 9 spot on the list. Which episode and series will be taking that position? Find and see sometime tomorrow. Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Mastodon, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. And y’all should know the drill by now...
- PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/yahoo201027
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/yahoo201027
- Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8K4OP
Donate over on PayPal, Patreon, and Ko-fi pages to help your boy out in both improving the page and paying the bills to keep the lights on. And until tomorrow with number 9 of the Top 12 Countdown of the year; stay safe, wash your hands, wear a mask, get vaccinated, and a reminder that you are loved, you are beautiful, ignore the haters, and I’ll see y’all later.
No comments:
Post a Comment