Tonight’s episode is for the kids. It’s simple and easy to follow, and doesn’t contain any unsettling imagery (unless you’re unsettled by melon-men with steaks for heads). But that also prevents it from being especially memorable. Writer and storyboarder Tom Herpich has only handled one episode solo in the past, season 3’s “Thank You,” which was one of the first episodes to cast Finn and Jake in less significant roles. He moves in the opposite direction for “Walnuts And Rain,” and the lackluster results reinforce that this show’s expansion is the best thing that could have happened to it.
Even though the episode isn’t that great, it still features some strong voice work from guest stars Matt Jones (Breaking Bad’s Beaver) as Finn’s captor King Huge and Chris Isaak as 7718 (“Seven” for short, and “Bill” upside-down), the bear that has lost his grip on his sanity while floating in King Huge’s stove chimney pipe. Jones hides his character’s sadistic spirit under a joyful, chummy veneer, and Isaak’s gruff vocals reflect the character’s lengthy imprisonment in the pipe where his only sustenance is the walnuts and rain that fall down the hole above.
The highlight of this episode is Finn’s escape, which is actually presented in two parts: his imagined plan and his actual plan. The imagined plan is a very fun, way too complicated strategy that involves tossing a lot of things and hoping stuff lands where it’s supposed to, and there’s no way that it was actually going to work out the way Finn wanted to. When he puts his plan in action, it starts off going as he intended, but quickly falls apart. That’s when he starts to improvise, deciding to focus all his energy on destroying the cuckoo clock.
He’s successful, and his actions cause a chain reaction that allows Jake and Seven to float down the pipe and into the Kingdom Of Huge. With the bros reunited, they make their escape, and the episode ends with Finn and Jake finally making their way back home with Seven in tow. This adventure, like this episode, was just a detour on the Adventure Time road, and I expect the show to be back to its typically high quality with next week’s episode.
Stray observations:
- There’s an “Algebraic!” in tonight’s episode! It’s been a long time since we’ve heard that exclamation.
- I do wonder if this episode is intended to be an homage to classic Disney shorts, but that’s solely because Finn’s situation reminds me a bit of “The Brave Little Tailor” and the design for Seven’s horse looks a lot like a classic Disney horse. I don’t know if there’s enough material in the episode to really make strong connections in that regard, but that’s what pops into my head.
- I love the squiggly Finn look when he’s pushing the clock off the wall. A quick, easy way of showing the amount of force he’s putting into his action.
- “I’m not tryin’ to escape anymore. I’m gonna murder your stupid clock, you psycho!”
