The Declining Quality of Adventure Time

[LobsterFeng]

So Adventure Time has been running for 4 years now with 6 seasons which is really good for a cartoon and I believe another season is on its way. It's one of my favorite cartoons ever but honestly I haven't seen an episode I've liked from it in a long time. Well the Food Chain episode was pretty good but that was done buy a guest.

It just seems like they lost grasp of what made Adventure Time awesome. Every new episode is always really weird and spontaneous and I never know what's going to happen when I tune in every week. The stories are really dull and boring and usually just have the characters doing mundane stuff throughout the episode with shit all happening.

Finn and Jake are practically C-list characters in their own show now and we never really get episodes that develop them as characters. Finn losing his arm was a pretty huge thing and I thought that was really cool but like all cool developments in Adventure Time it was scrapped and changed back to normal within a couple of episodes. I don't know why they set up what appears to be really cool plot arcs only to can them immediately and it really bugs me.

One of the things that made Adventure Time so appealing is that there was a lot of deep lore buried within a happy simple little show. Now it seems like the writers are beating us over the head with it and are always trying to pull off some artsy symbolic "2deep4u" message with every episode that usually makes little to no sense. The humor isn't really any good either as it usually just relies on dialogue heavily ridden with the weird made up slang that exists in the Adventure Time universe for whatever reason.

I honestly don't know why I keep watching this show as it hasn't really been appealing for a while now but I guess I'm too obsessed with cartoons to just let it drop.

 

[bojackx]

Well, I thought the Food Chain episode was the worst episode in Adventure Time history (no, I'm not exaggerating) and the show is still going strong. If you go back and watch the first season, you can see how far they come in mostly good ways. Seriously, apart from a couple of gems, the first season is just awful; no plot arcs or character development or any of that good stuff.

I'll admit that the last dozen or so episodes haven't been particularly great and there's a fair few that are misses, it's still got whatever it is that made it great. I'm not really that surprised that more episodes are focusing on other characters since, as you said, they've done 6 seasons in 4 years and are probably tired of Finn and Jake.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Nothing lasts forever. It happens.

 

[Shadowstar38]

I'm the opposite when it comes to this show. I think the first few seasons are great while the most recent seasons have evolved into amazing. They gave continuity more weight without restricting themselves with it. I like it in any show when supporting characters get more screen time and development. Plus they've learned to juggle multiple plot lines where they can advance those stories but still keep some things open for new episodes. Nothing's ever cleanly tied up but you still feel like something was accomplished.

All this makes the world the characters are in feel bigger and more real. If anything, I'd say Adventure Time quality wise is at it's peak.

 

[TheWorstMuppetEver]

The one thing I will say, is that the show would benefit from a longer running time...

I mean, look at 'Something Big'... that episode was pretty big! Shoulda been half an hour or so. But it was amazing in its compact content.

Other than the length of episodes, I don't see a decline in quality. I like that the underlying story arcs in the show are still there, but now we have more experimental episodes like Jakes Tail, Food Chain and Little Brother (which was an amazing episode exploring other characters in Ooo).

 

[IceStar100]

I stop about the time they dropped flame princess so we can get back to PB and Fin. Now flame is just somebody that I use to know. _> <_< I'm sorry.

Yeah it still has it's ups.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I suppose at the moment there isn't anything big or compelling that is going on with the season at the moment since they had return to status quo with Finn getting his arm back.

Ok sure there is still the whereabout with Finn dad and Ice King wife but I'm not really too bother about those two at the moment.

Who knows, the last few episodes could goes big again just like they always do at the end of the season.

Capcha- Rent-a-swag, you can do that????

 

[pilouuuu]

It's totally the opposite IMO.

They've been creating a bigger universe and the story and chracters have been getting more interesting.

 

[Captain Quetzal]

I still haven't seen a single Adventure Time episode that I haven't liked. And I've seen every episode to date. May it continue forever and ever.

 

[klaynexas3]

I feel like it's gotten better as it's gone on, with some dips here and there. Sure, most episodes are just people doing random things, but that's basically how the show started, it's just now, they realize they can't just use Finn and Jake anymore and expect people to enjoy it, they need to shake it up. As for the arm arc, I felt it went through the appropriate steps, though I'd have been fine had he never gotten his arm back at all. He had to learn to except shit the way it was and let go of his anger towards his dad, then he had to learn the true meaning of love and understanding himself by going through a numb phase. It worked pretty well, though I'm still confused as to what happened with his arm growing back and all that junk.

I'd say they have more bland episodes now than at the beginning, but they also have more great episodes. Basically season 2 of MLP. I'd love some more plot and world development, but I realize it's still a kid's show and they have to keep enough silly quota or else they'll get canned all together. It'd still be nice to get a few more episodes dedicated to developing the plot more.

Anyway, I'm just rambling, all in all, I think the show has gotten better in quality, and even it's weakest episodes I'd say are better than most shows.

 

[Keoul]

I think they're just making some filler episodes while they come up with the major ideas. Not every episode can be "Simon & Marcy".

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I thought Food Chain was crying awful, easily the worst episode in the show. When that filler song came at the end and filled the last 20% of that episode, I was done, only Adventure Time episode I've skipped.

Thing is, we're six seasons in and we've already gotten the main characters fleshed out, from backstory to their general behavior. There's no more deep emotional stuff they need to go through unless they want to drastically change someone's character, so they're going for the moderate fillers. And since Adventure Time is fokkin sweet, the moderate fillers are all memorable, quotable, and better quality than most every show that's airing right now.

I agree that I really wish the arc about Finn's arm got more fleshed out. I loved the stages of grief Finn went through and the understandable rage he was in, but that was all suddenly concluded in the last minute of a seemingly unrelated episode. (But Ashly Burch as Breezy fucking stole the show in that episode.)

What I honestly want the most is more of Flame Princess. I loved everything Flame Princess was about and I adored her and Finn's relationship, but now that she's ruling her kingdom and rightly hates Finn... bleh. The creators keep egging us on that Finn never got over Flame Princess and we should be due for another part of their arc and I want it.

 

[Signa]

Well, OP, I can't take you seriously if you like that Food Chain episode. I could see that episode being shown in a class room, but it was so below the bar that I nearly turned it off. It was a waste of a guest artist and it was a waste of the Magic Man.

Hell, as fucking weird as Sad Face was (Jake's tail), it still showed a smaller side of Ooo that is completely disconnected from the bigger things that Fin and Jake have to deal with. I was completely OK seeing that.

 

[Supdupadog]

What's wrong with Food Chain? It seemed like the usual magic man madness with exuberant animation.

 

[Loop Stricken]

I'm just sitting here waiting for more Flame Princess, or some more Fionna and Cake episodes.

 

[Ryallen]

I feel that there's no real point in watching for the lore anymore, as Pendleton Ward, or at least one of the writers has said that they don't intend to give us the actual lore or story anytime soon. As for the inclusions of Finn and Jake, you have a very good point. They are more like C-list characters in their own show. I never liked the ridiculous slang that they use, as it seems almost tryhard to be funny through the use of words not often, if ever, used.

 

[PapaGreg096]

Yeah I gotta agre that At has decline in quality but thats to be expected for a show thats lasts 6 seasons, I mean lets face it theres not a lot of shows that go for at least 4 seasons and not hit some ruts and Adventure Time is no exception. So if it doesn't get better we at least have 4 great seasons of this show

 

[FPLOON]

Wow... Who knew Rebecca Sugar's departure from the series would be hitting THIS hard, in terms of AT's overall quality?

OT: The show is clearly changed into the "mundane adventures of Finn, Jake, and Co." for better or for worse, I guess... and, honestly, it doesn't bother me as much as I should be right now... We're basically at the point where despite still not knowing how events will play out in the short/long run per episode/season, we know these characters a bit TOO well that nothing could practically phases us in a "that was a great episode" kind of way[footnote]Except for "Furniture & Meat", "Something Big", "Little Brother", "Ocarina", and "Thanks for the Crabapples, Giuseppe" for me post-"Food Chain", I guess... especially their ending, yo... (Sorry, "Princess Day"... except I kinda liked how that episode ended, though...)[/footnote]... Sure, not everyone has that mindset right now or will even have that mindset even when the show does have it's final season and, I'm hoping, potential TV movie/wrap-up, but honestly, at least there hasn't been a episode that has lead people to believe that it has finally "jumped the shark"... I think... *twitch*

Regardless, I'm still going to buy all of the seasons on Blu-Ray, since I still love the show and those commentary tracks are both funny and "insightful" in their own right...

Now, how about that Steven Universe?

 

[fenrizz]

It is the same as with everything else really.

What was once fresh and exciting simply is not anymore.
Not much to do about that.