Adventure Time: Ghost Fly
October 29, 2014 7:51 AM - Season 6, Episode 17 - Subscribe
Finn and Jake are tormented by a dead fly.
I was trying extra hard to make out all the ghosts in the tree house. There was a two-headed duck, a bunch of cats (what's up with that?) and a table.
posted by drezdn at 4:23 PM on October 29, 2014
posted by drezdn at 4:23 PM on October 29, 2014
The cats made me think of "BMO Noir," wherein BMO is menaced (or not) by a group of cats who apparently roam the treehouse when no one is looking. Maybe they're ghosts only BMO can see?
Pitch perfect episode. I'm so happy Adventure Time's back!
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:40 PM on October 29, 2014
Pitch perfect episode. I'm so happy Adventure Time's back!
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:40 PM on October 29, 2014
(About the "dark" ending: Oliver Sava at AV Club reads BMO's tone in the last scene as disappointment that s/he didn't successfully kill Jake, which isn't what I got from it at all. BMO had assured Jake that s/he could bring back Jake back to life, and I take BMO at his/her word...but clearly BMO was mistaken. The "Yeah, BMO is...good" line read to me like BMO didn't want to confess that only an emergency trip to Doctor Princess had saved Jake's life.)
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:47 PM on October 29, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:47 PM on October 29, 2014 [6 favorites]
Ever since all of their good writers left for The Dissolve, the AV Club has mostly kept me coming back with the promise of cracking me up with how off-base their interpretations of completely straightforward television programs are.
This episode was great. Adventure Time is always a balance of weird and fun, but most of this season I've felt that they were leaning a little too hard on the weird, and the fun was suffering for it. Ghost Fly brought things back into balance.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:58 PM on October 29, 2014
This episode was great. Adventure Time is always a balance of weird and fun, but most of this season I've felt that they were leaning a little too hard on the weird, and the fun was suffering for it. Ghost Fly brought things back into balance.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:58 PM on October 29, 2014
Remember BMO pretending to be human? BMO was scary to me long before it gave Jake the five-finger death punch and stopped his heart.
posted by ob1quixote at 10:06 PM on October 29, 2014
posted by ob1quixote at 10:06 PM on October 29, 2014
kittens for breakfast, I agree with you about the ending, but still, pretty dark for a kid's show.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 5:26 AM on October 30, 2014
posted by 1970s Antihero at 5:26 AM on October 30, 2014
I also concur with kittens for breakfast, that was my understanding of BMO, too. The joke was completely setup by the pan away to Doctor Princess and the attendant.
It was great getting some AT back in my life. The characterization of Jake, when he's sitting on the couch and just not feeling well, was great. BMO really wasn't doing anything annoying, specifically to Jake personally, but just that BMO was doing it was getting on Jake's nerves due to his head hurting and other factors.
The Ghost Fly was superb as it slowly tormented Finn, Jake and BMO, including its little scythe that it started swinging around. For a 11 minute cartoon, I appreciated they bothered with the little lead up in suspense, such as having the monkey with the cymbals going off ("I didn't know we had that!") and preparing Jake for the ghostly reveal.
Of course Peppermint Butler shows up to perform the Dark Arts and also implied that Jake and Finn had full knowledge of them as he began to prepare his incantation/ritual/whatever. The comedy of the moment when the ghost fly picked up the bag and flew it into the wall timed with Peppermint Butler not even hesitating as he turned and threw himself out the window, an acknowledgment that the ghost fly was now unstoppable, was awesome.
Question! The outline of the girl's body that Finn drew as he was moving his way to his magazine, was that the image of the girl who died in the tree? (Though, I recall she was missing an arm). Did anyone recognize her?
Then we also had the lesson of horror films, the rules are the rules, and when you attempt to bend the rules, BAD THINGS HAPPEN. In his case, Finn goes all The Fly (which I wondered if it was inspired by Legend of Korra's Beginnings Episode, in which when a spirit possesses a body, the body can assume the characteristics of the spirit - or if it was just a total play on the movie, The Fly - okay more likely) and clambers up onto the ceiling. The randomness of the ghosts inhabiting the tree house was great, as well, though the best played up ghost had to be the ghost of the soup. Seriously. Soup Ghost. I did not see that coming. Halloween people, it's not too late to make it happen!
A great return to AT. Most excellent.
posted by Atreides at 7:09 AM on October 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
It was great getting some AT back in my life. The characterization of Jake, when he's sitting on the couch and just not feeling well, was great. BMO really wasn't doing anything annoying, specifically to Jake personally, but just that BMO was doing it was getting on Jake's nerves due to his head hurting and other factors.
The Ghost Fly was superb as it slowly tormented Finn, Jake and BMO, including its little scythe that it started swinging around. For a 11 minute cartoon, I appreciated they bothered with the little lead up in suspense, such as having the monkey with the cymbals going off ("I didn't know we had that!") and preparing Jake for the ghostly reveal.
Of course Peppermint Butler shows up to perform the Dark Arts and also implied that Jake and Finn had full knowledge of them as he began to prepare his incantation/ritual/whatever. The comedy of the moment when the ghost fly picked up the bag and flew it into the wall timed with Peppermint Butler not even hesitating as he turned and threw himself out the window, an acknowledgment that the ghost fly was now unstoppable, was awesome.
Question! The outline of the girl's body that Finn drew as he was moving his way to his magazine, was that the image of the girl who died in the tree? (Though, I recall she was missing an arm). Did anyone recognize her?
Then we also had the lesson of horror films, the rules are the rules, and when you attempt to bend the rules, BAD THINGS HAPPEN. In his case, Finn goes all The Fly (which I wondered if it was inspired by Legend of Korra's Beginnings Episode, in which when a spirit possesses a body, the body can assume the characteristics of the spirit - or if it was just a total play on the movie, The Fly - okay more likely) and clambers up onto the ceiling. The randomness of the ghosts inhabiting the tree house was great, as well, though the best played up ghost had to be the ghost of the soup. Seriously. Soup Ghost. I did not see that coming. Halloween people, it's not too late to make it happen!
A great return to AT. Most excellent.
posted by Atreides at 7:09 AM on October 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
So what DO you call a bear who only attacks guys named Paul?
posted by mrjohnmuller at 4:36 AM on November 3, 2014
posted by mrjohnmuller at 4:36 AM on November 3, 2014
I know the punchline, but you'll just have to wait for it, I have some unfinished business to take care of in the meanwhile.
posted by Atreides at 6:55 AM on November 3, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Atreides at 6:55 AM on November 3, 2014 [2 favorites]
I really love the idea of a murderous ghost fly who just wants to finish the soup. Feels like something I'd dream.
posted by bleep at 9:36 PM on November 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 9:36 PM on November 29, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by 1970s Antihero at 10:59 AM on October 29, 2014 [1 favorite]