Adventure Time 6.16 “Joshua and Margaret Investigations”

We fell a little behind with our Adventure Time reviews here at PDI, so get ready for an Adventure Time onslaught! Today and tomorrow will get us caught up on back episodes, and then every day this week we’ll have reviews of the Adventure Time Corn-Ooo-Copia marathon of new episodes that aired Thanksgiving Week! Tell your friends!

They seem to have a lot of birthdays in Adventure Time. This time, it’s Jake’s turn and he reminisces about the day he was born.

Honestly, Joshua and Margaret, Jake’s parents, are absolutely perfect as hard boiled, 1940’s era, supernatural investigators. Like their snappy, too-fast-for-thought banter, things move pretty fast in this episode. We get a monster, a woman who does not need defending, and a secret origin!

Margaret is super-pregnant and Joshua is trying to keep her from dangerous situations. But they are monster hunters, and danger comes with the job. So he picks the least dangerous job he can find; stolen pies. Margaret’s constant assertion that she does not need to be treated lightly was a head-noddingly fun part of the episode. I’ve had a pregnant wife. Twice. She might get tired carrying that kid around but don’t tell her that she can’t do it. Because she can; and more than likely, better than you.

And so it is with Margaret. She did it all this episode and saved her husband in the process. Among the many things I adore about Adventure Time is the abundance of really strong female characters. Ooo is littered with Princesses who don’t need saving. Well, sometimes they do. But, for the most part, they are treated as three-dimensional characters with strengths and flaws. A little girl can watch Adventure Time and see herself in the characters without compromise. Little boys can watch it and see that girls are just like them. Just as important and unique as them.

Grown-ups can watch Adventure Time and not worry about their kids getting a gender-biased experience.

I’ll be quoting this episode for years. Since I have kids, my potty-mouth (see?) had to transform so I like to lift “innocent swearing” from AT. “Hot Cram!” is my new favorite phrase. After Joshua and Margaret find out that Treetrunk’s (pre-ex) husband is stealing her pies, like a broken man he cries, “It’s the best part of my day!!” I understand. I’ve eaten my kid’s ice cream right out of the freezer enough times to know exactly what he’s talking about.

After the mystery is solved, Joshua and Margaret encounter the real monster: A Shape-Shifter who bites Joshua on the head. Again, in that film noir-inspired dialogue, Joshua decrees that Margaret should kill him before he becomes a monster himself. The swelling blue lump and the poison-filled veins creeping down his head are an indication that his time is almost up, so Margaret rushes off to get a sample of the monster’s venom in order to cook up an antidote.

The fight with the Shape-Shifter was spectacular! While battling birth pangs, Margaret conquers the creature after he transforms into a baby in an attempt to play on her maternal instincts. No good. She socks him in the jaw and gets that venom!

And in a disturbing twist, the Shape-Shifter then transports itself back to its home dimension after an evil chuckle.

Meanwhile, back at their office, Joshua is experiencing his own torture as the lump on his head gets even bigger. Convergence happens as Margaret gives birth and Joshua’s head-bubble bursts open…

(Spoilers)

… and he gives birth to Jake!! Little Jake even comes out singing and dancing!

Of course, he does. He’s Jake.

So, Jermaine is Joshua and Margaret’s son and Jake is the spawn of Joshua’s head and a Shape-Shifter’s bite!

It’s been a season filled with parental mysteries. We finally met Finn’s father, who turned out to be a horrible person, and now we’ve met Jake’s… whatever that is… dad/mom/monster, who appears to be source of his shape-changing powers (and maybe his more criminal inclinations?). This show never fails to surprise me.