Finn goes on an adventure to heal his foot.
Add clowns to anything and things become scary and weird. I don’t know when the communal fear of clowns began in a America; I personally blame Stephen King’s It. Regardless, anything featuring clowns now is obligated to make them as freaky as possible. Adventure Time takes this rule and multiplies it tenfold.
Finn and Jake are experiencing some downtime after receiving some injuries. Clown nurses come over to the duo’s home and decide to remedy our heroes with “smooches.” Finn, feeling awkward towards the clown nurse’s unusual medicine, insists that he does not need it. Jake advises him to accept the method. One of the clown nurses tells Finn that the kisses are “the only way” to feel better. In a fit of rage, Finn departs for the Cyclop’s Tears to prove them wrong. Along the way, he forgets his purpose and harms a poor hairy man’s wife. He also injures an anthropomorphic tree and bush. In his quest to avoid fetishes, Finn has hurt innocent Oo creatures.
In recent seasons, Adventure Time has played more to its periphery demographic. We have seen Finn deal with some oddly adult (or rather, surreal adult) situations. This week’s story focuses on Finn’s response to sexual exploration. They use the clowns as the metaphor. Finn finds sexuality scary and escapes into an adventure to avoid dealing with his feelings of anxiety. Or, it could just be the classic “everybody hates clowns syndrome.” But given how “bildungsroman” Adventure Time has become, it’s not unlikely Pendleton Ward’s crew were thinking something very similar.
On a less Freudian note, we hear Finn’s auto-tuned voice during his realization of his douche-baggery and it’s always welcomed. Adventure Time knows what their audience wants and they also know how to make clowns pretty damn creepy without being punched in the face.
Some stats and info about Adventure Time, “Another Way”
TV SHOW – Adventure Time
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 3, Episode 23
AIRED ON – June 23rd, 2012
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Cartoon Network
GENRE – Animated Shows, Comedy
CREATED BY – Pendleton Ward
CAST – John DiMaggio, Jeremy Shada, Tom Kenny, Hynden Walch, Niki Yang, Pendleton Ward, Dee Bradley Baker, Maria Bamford Lumpy Space Princess seduces Finn with her lumps.
This review originally appeared on TV Geek Army.