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!
I can’t get enough Jake. He is purely in the moment at all times. Whatever’s going on, Jake’s up for it. This episode, he’s a brick. Not in the metaphorical sense, “strong as a brick, thick as a brick, dumb as a brick”, etc. He’s an actual brick. In a wall that is close to collapse.
Brilliant.
Being able to shape shift gives Jake the chance to experience life in ways that we can only dream about. In “Jake Suit,” Finn was able to wear Jake like armor and, conversely, Jake was able to wear Finn from the inside out. “The Limit” showed us just how far Jake’s ability to stretch can go as he uses his body as a trail of breadcrumbs through a labyrinth. Then there are the numerous times he’s used his body as Deus ex machina to get the pair out of trouble.
This time Jake only wants to maintain the shape of a brick and experience his lifelong dream of being connected in a collapsing wall. On the surface it seems like a silly thing but it’s pretty existential when you think about it. To be a brick is to know security. Jake says it himself, he “fits in.” As a brick, your identity is measured by your connection to the bricks and mortar that surround you. Together, you make a wall, as an individual, you are purposeless. Jake wishes to experience that loss of purpose and become disconnected.
In his journey to disconnect, Jake separates himself from his family and friends. In fact, Finn has to use a map to find him. Finn leaves a walkie-talkie for communication but Jake is reluctant cause “bricks don’t stay in touch.” Jake learns that he can’t avoid contact with the outside world. Even as a brick, he is witness to the lives happening around him.
A bunny pops out of his warren and Jake begins to narrate his story out of boredom. Jake forgets that the walkie-talkie is on and he captivates the entire Land of Ooo with his tale of the bunny’s fight against the elements and a deer that acts like a jerk.
Finn connects the walkie-talkie to the radio station and, in “Truman Show” fashion, the episode moves from each denizen of Ooo as they gather around their radios to witness the plight of our struggling bunny. Connectivity is the theme and Jake tells of a family of beavers and a sea-lard who help the bunny blockade his home from oncoming floodwaters. All of Ooo listen intently and share a moment of despair as the jerk deer wrecks the bunny’s home. We even get a glimpse of Baby Lich playing on Treetrunk’s floor as the horrible story unfolds.
John DiMaggio, as always, is amazing as the voice of Jake. The timbre of his voice is, at once, titillating and soothing. He just sounds like your buddy telling you a story. His voice sets up each situation perfectly, his tone becoming the embodiment of danger, relief, tragedy and triumph.
At the climax, the tree, whose roots housed the bunny’s warren, falls over and all of Ooo grieves for the bunny’s lost home, but, as quickly as disaster hit, the bunny makes a new home from a hollow inside the fallen tree. Jake is inspired by the bunny and quits being a brick.
Right before the wall collapses. He missed his dream by seconds.
By becoming a brick, he experienced purposelessness as he was disconnected from his community. Through the bunny and his narration, he learned the greater lesson of sharing purpose with others.
Life lessons and laughs. That’s what Adventure Time is all about.