Review: Adventure Time – Fionna and Cake “The Bird in the Clock”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Fionna manages to get the venue to save the Sweet Spot back on track, but soon after is roped in by Huntress Wizard to save Finn from getting a Croak Dream from the Cosmic Owl.

OUR TAKE

Okay people, here we are, the episode everyone was waiting for and the marketing hyped up to hell and back: FIONNA MEETS FINN!…kinda. It’s in dream form, so it’s more of a technicality, but it’s still actually quite effective nonetheless. She essentially gets brought on by Huntress to stop the Cosmic Owl (who gets the cold open backstory scene this week in a rather odd bit of mythology) from giving him a Croak Dream, which we saw him do earlier in this season to Big Destiny. And as a longtime view of Adventure Time, it is a bit dramatically heavy to consider we might be seeing Finn about to die. Like we know that he eventually does and reunites with Jake in the afterlife, but to think we might be seeing that moment, all while his friends are trying desperately to save him, really hits home. It also makes his kinda sorta meeting Fionna that much more meaningful, as while dream Finn is basically just in hero mode all the time, Fionna is mostly conscious, and is getting to see what is essentially a more proactive version of herself who never quits until the problem is solved. Hopefully the two get to meet and talk while they’re both awake, but if they don’t, this is some pretty great stuff.

Back in Fionnaworld, the drama continues to build as Marshall and Gary decided to reluctantly accept Hana’s help to save the Sweet Spot, and Hunter briefly meets Huntress, which is a lot less friendly a meeting than Fionna with Finn, mainly due to Huntress still being cagey about her emotions and not wanting to seem weak, which also seemed to impact her relationship with Finn even though he clearly loved her without abandon. And then there’s the stuff with Fionna still crushing on DJ Flame and taking a dream she wanders into as a sign to ask him out, and apparently the Cosmic Owl being in a dream means it’s going to come true, which also may impact how Marshall is going to talk back to his mother at the big show. As we inch closer to the end of the season (and hopefully not the series itself), I do find myself more invested in what happens to Finn that what’s happening with Fionna’s group, which is not something I’m happy about, but I’m glad that it felt like these plots were truly connected for once. Hopefully it will continue to build from here in the remaining episodes.