Review: Adventure Time – Fionna and Cake “The Wolves Who Wandered”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

When DJ Flame won’t return Fionna’s calls, she and his girlfriend Fennel go on “trip” to find him on Venus. Meanwhile, Marshall learns why Simone distanced herself.

OUR TAKE

We’re getting concerningly closer to the end of the season and we finally have an episode that takes place entirely in Fionna’s world. No check in with Simon or Finn’s condition, no reference to another piece of lore or legendary item from Ooo, nothing. Which is fine, this is the FIONNA show after all, it’s just odd to take a pause here when it’s been so prominent in episodes prior. This episode is…I don’t want to say filler because it does progress things somewhat, it does feel like a bit of a lull in that progress. Fionna’s main involvement is thinking DJ Flame is missing since he hasn’t checked in with her about the gig in awhile, and ends up recruiting Huntress Wizard and Flame’s current girlfriend Fennel (a Fionnaworld version of Finn’s grassy doppleganger Fern) to find him. Huntress also gets involved and ends up teaming up with Hunter, who she did not have the most pleasant interaction with when they met, and finding Flame doing another gig across town for the Lemongrab women, but still promising to do the gig for Fionna. Which is good, because Marshall ends up finding out why Simone ended up cutting ties, and it’s apparently because his mom sent a guard after Marshall when he was young, misinterpreted their friendship, and filed a restraining order against her. Upon learning this, Marshall can’t bring himself to do the venue with his mom’s help, which he’s disappointed to find out is still happening since Fionna still has Flame.

But wait, if DJ Flame is fine, then what do Fionna and Fennel end up doing? Well, after taking some of Huntress’ plants to give them “wizard eyes” they…basically end up getting high and hallucinating a whole vivid adventure on Venus. This week’s cold open is actually not a flashback, but Ellis P (still voiced by series creator Pendleton Ward) getting contacted by some strange alien who gives him a message he refuses to hear, which does then make it seem like Fionna and Fennel going to Venus might be real, especially since Finn’s world has stuff happening on Mars, but nope, it was all just a bad (or good?) trip. At the very least, Fionna has a new friend in Fennel, who knows both Flame and Hunter, but it seems like her relationship with Marshall, and probably Gary, is significantly damaged. We’ve got three episodes left, so let’s see how, or if, she manages to turn this around.