High Strangeness Television 

Five Thoughts on Adventure Time‘s “High Strangeness”

By | January 26th, 2017
Posted in Television | % Comments

In “Two Swords” and “Do No Harm,” we had an Adventure Time that was exploring its identity themes. In “Wheels,” we had a more hijinks and stunts based humor. And now, tonight, with “High Strangeness,” we’re delving into the wider mythology of the show. So far, the Season Eight premiere week has been a survey of everything Adventure TimeSpoilers, probably.

1.) “I’m Gonna Sass Those Boys Up Nasty”

It seems any time either Lumpy Space Princess or Tree Trunks is heavily featured in an episode, series creator Pendleton Ward is also significantly involved. Whenever he comes on board, it seems the show pushes itself to be weirder or more bizarre or explore some idea I haven’t figured out yet. This isn’t to say that the show’s better or more successful, but there’s a tone like “The boss is here. Let’s see what we can get away with.” I mean, there’s a chest-busting scene. And not a cut away and suddenly a little alien is sticking out of someone’s chest. No. It literally just pops out, yo.

He and Sam Alden deliver the script/storyboards for this episode. And it is weird. I think I got to the insect thing slicing apart a carrot before I was like, “We are in some interesting territory.” With a title like “High Strangeness,” though…. Much of the plot involves Tree Trunks getting visited by her alien family, who stop by every few years so she can see her hybrid alien children. Lately, their ship has been penetrated by a Bubblegum rocket, which is releasing its spores into their home and contaminating them. Tree Trunks starts a resistance.

2.) “I’m Tree Trunks and People Know I’m Kind and Honest and That’s Why People Like Me” 

Ward has the best grasp on Tree Trunks’s voice and the episode is peppered with all great lines from her: “Don’t be jealous of my alien consorts, Mr. Pig. I love you the most.” “I’m sorry but she’s a fat fish in the sand.” “I don’t have time for campfire stories. I’m a mother of six and they’re in trouble because Princess Bubblegum is probing them. Will you help me raise a ruckus? Let’s stink it up!” I could go on.

3.) “If You Want a Taste of My Juicy Apple Pie, You Better Be Nice”

I can’t decide if there’s something predicative in Adventure Time‘s way of handling resistance or if Ward and Alden saw parallels in history and kind of knew everything was being steered in one direction. Tree Trunks writes the word FASCIST in bright, Spencerian glitter and takes to the streets. She even raises a small band and ambush a Bubblegum factory. She sees Bubblegum as a tyrant while in turn Bubblegum sees her as a pest (maybe a terrorist? I don’t think Adventure Time would take a beloved character to that extreme).

But it’s an optimistic view of dissent and communication. The show believes that something can be resolved through direct contact, and this is where it differs from the current climate, I think. Even though Ward and Alden made the flat circle episode of Adventure Time, there’s still so much we can’t predict.

4.) “Stop Sellin’ Fib-Bibs and Give It Straight!”

We find out that Bubblegum’s plot involved sending spores out to into the far reaches of space to help preserve the Candy Kingdom in case Ooo “goes straight up dong-bongles.” It’s very April and the Extraordinary World but with more apple jokes. “Confidentially,” she tells Tree Trunks, “there’s a lot of ways that can happen.”

The most important bit of the episode comes here. Bubblegum is actually and finally forthright with something she’s doing, and for the first time, Tree Trunks is able to see her as something more than a “fat fish in the sand.”

“I can help you find a space for your goo,” Tree Trunks tells Bubblegum. “You and I will never be friends but we can respect each other’s mothers and as fellow believers in the infinite promise of the cosmos above.” What I especially like here is that Ward, Alden, and company don’t pretend everyone will be happy and together in the end, but there are plenty of mutually appreciated ways of looking at the world. And if you can find those ways, then maybe something better, something more can be achieved.

Continued below

Of course, consider the consequences here: Bubblegum hints at impending doom for Ooo. There’s even more aliens hanging around the atmosphere. Tree Trunks has hybrid babies. I would be surprised if none of this shows up again before the show’s over.

5.) “When We Get Home, It’s Apple Pie Time”

Random visuals I loved: the elaborate way Starchy takes Tree Trunks to her hideout. Jake the armchair. The background colors when Bubblegum and Tree Trunks crash back to Ooo. Mr. Pig taping all his family’s noses down to keep them from snoring. Ward and Alden ending the scene by having Tree Trunks spank Mr. Pig. Them closing the episode by having Tree Trunks make her husband and her space husband embrace across their bed.

While this episode wasn’t as interesting or successful or outright hysterical as the previous two, it maintains its edge and even moves the world forward a bit. And I think it does have a nice bit of stuff to say.


//TAGS | adventure time

Matthew Garcia

Matt hails from Colorado. He can be found on Twitter as @MattSG.

EMAIL | ARTICLES



  • -->