Still, even the resourceful “Adventure Time” team can’t always work within the constraints of a single episode. Her abrupt decision to use the device on him when it seems as though their romance has turned sour leads to the kind of resoundingly touching climax that has become the pièce de résistance of “Adventure Time” throughout its run. The world’s most obnoxious diva, Lumpy Space Princess (voiced with nasally exertions by Ward himself) falls for an enterprising man from her past while grousing at the local bar, and even manages to form an innocuous relationship with him (the show navigates the waters of eroticism with remarkable diplomacy). It’s a brilliantly layered approach to the story that forces your eyes to swim around the screen selectively to pick up on tiny details.Įven so, it’s the plot at the center that truly demands attention: At its core, the most ridiculous “Adventure Time” character finally receives her due. The entire installment takes place within the frame of a “time bubble” that absorbs characters drawn into a time travel device, created by the show’s reigning inventor Princess Bubblegum, until they’re regurgitated later on. Uncertain how to cure his dwindled state, she’s last seen watching him from the window, the only seed of hope in his otherwise sorry existence.īut the bittersweet climax of “Betty” has nothing on “Bad Timing,” perhaps the show’s best visual achievement.

The mini-narrative manages to introduce Dunham’s character, the titular Betty, whom Simon manages to contact in the past while briefly his old self again - only to find that the resourceful young woman can cling onto him and wind up in his less savory present just before he morphs back into a crazy old loner. In “Betty,” Lena Dunham voices the long lost girlfriend of the Ice King, who was initially set up as the show’s cardboard villain before it turned out that he used to be a good-natured researcher named Simon Petrikov who lost his mind. If you only watch an hour of recent “Adventure Time” installments, make sure to prioritize the last five episodes of this season. But make no mistake: “Adventure Time” remains of the most creative television shows around, and the last dozen or so episodes rank among the best examples of its narrative strengths.Īs one watches “Adventure Time,” its universe becomes increasingly absorbing - for every irreverent aside, the writers drop clues to weightier story elements at play, deeper thematic content and complex emotional hurdles. The network has turned the show into a franchise behemoth, and it’s easy to get lost in the fan worship in order to see the incredibly sophisticated artistry that merits it.

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