Adventure Time Review: S10E9 - Blenanas 

Love that the back of "Ble" says "I miss my dog"

Ble is a comic that actually appear firstly in the episode "Marceline's Closet" from Season 3. You can see Finn reading it in his bed, on the end of the episode. I love how they gave a little story even for a silly comic that no one cares.

As someone that has actually read at least part of the aforementioned Freud book, I can give you the jist of his idea. Freud's main focus of humor revolves around his theory that laughter is a release of "mental energy" that builds up over time due to our repressions, which could be anything that we're trying to keep down or out of public view. However, laughter can only give that release if the joke relates to whatever you are trying to repress. As such, the comic actually relates to Finn's situation pretty well. The tiger biting Finn's leg is Jake's sudden disappearance. The caveman part of Finn's mind demands action, he wants to do something to get rid of the tiger. However, the logical part of Finn's brain, represented by the Freud-like therapist, realizes there is nothing he can do about it. He can't treat the problem, only the symptoms. This is why Finn finds his own joke so funny: Finn can't do anything about Jake's disappearance and immerses himself in his BLE comics. The humor helps relieve the nervousness he feels, but deep down he knows that it isn't really solving the real problem. Also, the chair on the ceiling seems to be a Borderlands 2 reference, specifically from a side quest by Dr. Tannis where you have to find the chronicles of her torture from Hyperion which states: "[i]f you have to ask what a ceiling chair is, I pity the life you've wasted."

Come on Elk. It's obvious why this episode was made. Adventure time is on its last few episodes, they know not to just waste time. The message of this episode is summed up quite clearly with Finn. "I think I just wanted to be part of Bleh. It's something I've been a fan of for so long. And maybe we can bring it back. There's no reason it can't have a new dawn." This is their goodbye before they wrap up their final stories. This, THIS, is the writers talking to their audience about this absolutely amazing cartoon coming to an end. It's been an absolutely amazing time with this series all the way back from 2010. So will they bring it back? In comics, surely this series will live on, but I worry that CN would reboot it the way they've rebooted Teen titans or powerpuff girls. Unless the original staff, particularly the the showrunner Adam Muto and all the voice actors come back, I don't want Adventure Time to come back. It's beautiful in a way that a show that's managed to stay so good for 8 years gets to end not only in a dignified way, but on its own terms.

Considering that I'm guessing Ble is supposed to be a stand in for MAD magazine, I'm guessing that the detectives might be a reference to Spy vs Spy

I think it's important that the show got one last shenanigans episode before it ended. I wouldn't swap it for anything.

And Finn's dialogue about nostalgia made me think it was meta commentary too. I doubt it wasn't.

I think the 'I miss my dog' image on the back of the first magazine says a lot about why Finn wanted to distract hiself

yes this episode was ble, but the waves that finn and bmo give each other... my heart can't take this much cuteness.

Anyone else struggling to accept the ending of Adventure Time? Because I sure am

I can understand why some people might feel a little disappointed with these episodes, considering that that had a lot of filler moments and only advanced the plot slightly, but I didn't really mind them all that much and enjoyed them for what they were. At this point I've fully accepted that not everything is going to live up to our expectations, so I'm just going to enjoy the ride while it lasts until the very end. Many may see this episode as being nothing but filler, but I found it to be enjoyable. It felt like a classic Adventure Time episode, like the kind we used to get in the early seasons. I also loved the callback to the Demonic Wishing Eye, and it makes me really happy whenever they reference little things like that from such a long time ago because it makes everything in the show feel more connected and like it has a purpose.

the whole thing about bringing "Ble" back and wanting to be a part of it even if it isnt as funny as it originally was, trying to bring about a new dawn, but eventually deciding to end it despite it being nostalgic, sounds to me like a meta commentary on running Adventure Time post Pendleton Ward. If not that, then just a commentary on Adventure Time ending.

I feel like “Ble” is the Adventure Time version of the MAD magazine

Hold on, if comedy is pain and laughter lengthens life, d-does that mean Adventure Time is trying to tell me that life IS pain? Someone should probably call up Adam Muto... make sure he's doing okay.

OH almost forgot. I HAVE A THEORY! so we know that finn's past lives consisted of a comet, a butterfly, and shoko. later on, it is confirmed by the creators that shoko's tiger is a past life of jake. since finn and jake have been together in almost every alternate universe(ex: beyond the grotto, evergreen, the vault, all farmworld episodes, and maybe some i'm forgetting), what was jake when finn was a comet or a butterfly? well, jake has always been the person that kept finn level-headed or "grounded", the biggest example being the elements miniseries, when jake is assimilated and finn loses himself to the fire element from his rage. jake wasn't able to help finn through his anger and pain, thus letting him "fall out of orbit". yes, my choice of words is very specific because i believe jake was the earth while finn was the comet! you may be asking, if these are their past lives, then why are both jake and the earth still alive? the earth did die though(figuratively or metaphorically. both make sense, i mean, how does a comet die?). Dr. Gross even said it herself in the founders song("the world was dying"). all of this is fine and dandy but what was jake when finn was the butterfly? jake could be a bee while finn was a butterfly. reasoning? idk the theory still needs work but i think it's connected to the island song. the lyrics fit so well with finn and jake's relationship. "...I’ll be here for you always And always be with you.” awful pun warning, but isn't jake always "buzzing" around finn? always asking about a new gf, coming with finn to find the humans, always asking how he is when he's upset or hurt. idk i'm not good with theories but i hope you read this! sorry it's so long

I think this episode, as much as it was the weakest of the four, was actually the "heart" of the writers. Much like episodes that revolved around "James Baxer" Blenanas is a Meta-reference that doesn't necessarily link to Adventure time directly but to the process of creating art in general. A LOT of interesting aspect came up during this 10 min episode (such as: the fear as an artist to be misunderstood, creating art for other rather then yourself, to "lose your touch" or to fear that you never had it in the first place, understending that a good joke\ story has to have an end and much more). This episode felt like it meant to be the last direct dialogue between the writers and the audience\ the show itself. so I found him to be rather strong.

I am pretty sure the episode is kind of a 'shot' at people who criticize the series for becoming too serious and losing its humor from season 1. Kind of a meta commentary about the humor of adventure time itself and how it developed in unexpected ways, pretty fitting as the show is about to end.

I think what we need to consider about this episode is it may just be the final Adventure Time episode mainly focused on just goofing around.

Pb is dressed as the witch from Hansel and gretel a German fairy tail which is funny because they both make a lot of candy. And there are more parallels between the characters

I’m really enjoying the newer episodes. I think the humour in them is more “realistic” because it’s supposed to reflect the fact that Finn is getting older and moving into adulthood. Wow

It felt like an old AT episode but it's just too near the end.

I thought the whole end of the episode was the writers wondering if Adventure Time's weird treatment by Cartoon Network and cancellation was because they just weren't funny to a broad audience, even though the writers themselves enjoy the show.

Finn and ice king are both humans so I think finn likes hanging with him

I liked the swampy ruined city at the BLE facility.

I thought the episode was good it just seemed weird to put it here when there's so much stuff that needs to be resolved

I think the “can’t be nostalgic” line refers to the show as it began with wordplay and dumb cute humor and it’s more random style and it’s transition into it being a more serious story/lore driven show, the line is saying that they can’t dwell on the old style of show and keep it fresh and new

I’m just happy we got one last fun , silly , early-season type episode without a lot of plot development before the series ended. Also yes I know I’m late

I feel like the pudding troll is inspired by Italian cartoonist Sio, who usually uses pudding for his sketches (like, for example, the pudding dog from Johnnyfer Jaypegg). It would just be fantastic if a cartoonis who was certainly a lot inspired by adventure time, inspired adventure time itself

Yo, Uncivilized Elk, I can't wait for your review on Temple of Mars and Jake the Starchild.

i am so hyped for the reviw of temple of mars and the last episode. you are one of the only people who review adventure time, thank you for that.

You didn't mention the dog with two hats on that shows up in Temple of Mars! I thought it was a strange foreshadowing of a moment when Jermaine puts on Fin's hat and has two on his head

Can we please just give a moment of silence to that poor soul who misses their dog?

I think this episode is kind of a message from the crew to us due to the way they talk about how to draw or write comedy and how people can react to that, it's like "hey audience, this is how we feel all the time"

I find it silly he didn't mention the transitions :0 if you notice, they were like windows movie editor, and that was like a subtile funny thing

i think its cool that they took time to make a last random episode to adventure time, specially one based on creating content.

I wonder if the "BLE" stands for Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers...

in the episode of the furniture ice king is seen reading simons journal during the mushroom war

"every day gets worse" actually had me lol that joke must be for me

OH MY GLOB I've wanted so much to talk about "Blenanas" that I'm glad this video exists and really hope you read this

Excellent review Elk, finely complemented with the great analyse of Pat Knack. I sense a third layer of understanding, about our perception of humor. We could see three ways of how we, in general, perceive humor in the show. BMO seems inclided to practical jokes, Finn, to more elaborate and cultually based jokes and PB, is so pragmatic, that a joke for her must have a form of correlation with logic. That's why Finn immediatly connects with Ice King, because they share a quite mutual cultural background together (Ble), meaning that they bond around to the same type of humor, where it's less relevant with BMO because of a lack of practical jokes and Pb, for a lack of imagination. It shows that we could turn down people just because we don't share the same references or that we are not kin to the same type of humor. This leads Finn to wonder if he is really funny and/or to why they don't catch up with him when it's just a matter of understanding. At the end, when Finn trip and fell on the banana peels (the cartoon all time visual and practical gag ), he makes BMO irresistibly laugh, and, the little smile on Finn face, leads us to understand that he realize that if we wants to share more funny moments, but most of all bond in humor with BMO, he will have to adopt BMO preferences for more cartoonish gags and yet, not being condescending about it. Hope you get my point but mainly, that it is enough clear and relevant to be here. Frenchie here. Cheers everyone and take care y'all !

Ble

The chair taped to the ceiling at 6:20 is probably a reference to wonderworks amusement park which is an "upside" building.

I actually kinda liked this episode, more or so because of the relationship between Finn a d Ice King.

But props to you bro. I GREATLY appreciate all of your Adventure Time content. Its very well written and thought out, and I couldn't do it better if I tried.

I'm glad to see your videos! I can't tell you how many I have watched multiple times and come away with a new found appreciation! I appreciate the work you do in spite of not always feeling well.

Solid review, mate. Great analysis on the subject of humor and jokes, I didn't get any of that on my first viewing, very concise and interesting. Huge props!

Question. If the pudding guardian said he'd been guarding dead people for over 500 years, does that mean humans survived on Ooo for roughly 500 years? Those skeletons seem awfully human, and the city is obviously pre-war, with cars, an insurance building, and a supermarket. There's also graffiti on one of the sunken buildings that says 'Help', and there's notes on the supermarket windows that spell out 'Hello Ble?' One may argue that the employees weren't human, because their founder was a guy with a burger for a head, but I think it's more of a mascot thing. The Ble headquarters were anything but serious.

Lol did you realize when the ice king calling out the penguin was referring to the book Lord of the files

The "demonic wishing eye" reminds a lot of the "eye of agamoto" on doctor strange

6:22 Ice Bear!

I found it interesting that on the back of ble it says “I miss my dog” referring to Jake

'Blenanas' was definitely the weakest episode of the bunch, tho it doesn't make it a bad one. It's possibly the funnier of the four, since the other 3 are very plot-heavy. I really enjoyed it overall, so as your review, as always. Can't wait to hear your opinion on 'Jake, the starchild'... and for you to explain exactly what happened on the third episode (that i forgot the title), because i'm not exactly sure if i get it pretty well... i'm a little confused. But i'm sure you got it so, looking forward to that. GUMBALDIA's ENDING THO. I'm still mindblown.

I would also like to point out that on the back of the OG ble that fin was reading in the first scene it says, "I miss my dog" just thought that was a lil interesting

I love how BMO puts out the banana like a cigarette

Despite being MIA these last few months, you redeem yourself when I randomly discover this review, find out there are new episodes, and impulsively watch all of them when I should really be sleeping. Thank you, mostly for making me aware more episodes are finally out! You're the best! Awesome review. I think the end when Finn is talking about accepting the past, it's definite commentary on the show ending and whether it'll ever get rebooted again. I know most of us are probably disappointed in these episodes, especially because it was built up so much and so overhyped. But you said it perfectly. We have to view them as standalone episodes. If it weren't the end of the show, it wouldn't be a problem, but we have to accept them for what it is. I think they were all classic Adventure Time, still giving me the warm feelings this show always leaves me with. I'm not going to complain ❤

Thanks so much for all the work you put into these videos! You've really inspired my journey back into Adventure Time, and it has been incredible. I find this episode to be an existential journey for Finn. With Jake aging rapidly, it is likely he will not be alive for Finn's adulthood. Finn is coming to the realization that, without Jake, he is not as funny as he thought he was. Or at least feel as supported as he would by Jake. Throughout the episode, none of his friends are willing to simply laugh and support him the way that his brother might, and it becomes more and more difficult for Finn to cope with this. Overall, this seemed like a great episode, especially when juxtapositioned with Jake the Starchild, to explore Finn's possible future without his brother in it.

I get that it's the end and everyone wants to have as much plot-related or character-driven episode as possible but I'm happy there still make episodes like this one ! Adventure time always was more than plot and deep characters (even if those are it's greatest traits) and I would've been sad that near the end they forget that laid-ack goofiness that makes it so..well..adventure time !

For those of us who are quite unsatisfied with the lack of depth this episode provided, consider this: With four episodes left, this very well may have been the last stand-alone Adventure time episode. (~minus the minecraft one)

your channel is how I know when there are new AT episodes out. also your reviews are great.

1:19 actually the story of how I got into adventure time.

Yes!!! Can't wait for the other reviews.

There's a line of Finn that goes in the lines of "It doesn't matter if other people find it funny, I'm just being myself." To me that sounded just like if one of those storyboarders who became infamous because of their episodes where nothing happens wanted to justify his boring conflictless stories. Then I checked the writters of the episode, and didn't find anything like that. But it's the only thing that made me care about the episode for a little bit, in the negative way.

good episode, but the meat and beans of the new episodes comes in the next three.

"Bleanas" is one of my favorite episodes

Fantastic Video, Keep up the good work!

did anyone else noticed the poster of the detective is actually the vampier king?? at 8:03

Oh lord I forgot these episodes premiered...must go watch them rn

It "takes a piece of my soul" killed me

this review was more awaited than the episode itself😂

that page saying "every day gets worse" fits in well with the back page of the comic that says "i miss my dog". Ah adventure time and your dark humor. I wonder who wrote that page in the new comic though

Do you think GOLB was a primordial monster the Lich was referring in his Gold star speech?

I found the first 3 episodes of this Adventure Bomb to be ehh. The last one though I loved, it left me hyped.

Oh god the notif shocked me

All the employees in Ble apperantly work naked

i think that the "everyday it gets worse" comic was made by ice king, well more specifically simon. We know that sometimes a little of simon sneaks past the crowns insanity like when he was reading the note in I remember you. He may be either saying that every day the crown turns him even more crazy or the betty ai in him is going crazyier/screwing up and its getting worse inside the crown itself.

I think the Freud book was also included because the doctor in the Ble comic was drawn to look like Freud

Chair on the ceiling I've also seen in Escape from Tarkov, has blair witch vibes lol

5:13 look at this "hello ble?" (On the $mart building) 'HELP" (On the house) "stranded" (on top of the building on the far right) Did I miss anything?

8:24 - there's a drawing of GradeAunderA

O.O when was there a new episode of Adventure Time???

Funfact: On Hulu, this episode isn't even part of season 10, its listed by itself in a season marked "Other",

"Perhaps some of the crew would rather not have Adventure Time ever be rebooted in the future" Distant Lands: im about to end this guy's career

Thank you so much for this, I?LOVE YOUR VIDS!!!

Look I have a theory that I think might be true So you know the episode BLENANAS, look at the cover of the episode and you’ll find a lot of bananas on top of the comic which references to the banana boat that Martin aka Finns dad was talking about, which means when Finn was a baby 👶 Martin gave him this comic so he doesn’t worry about their problem that much, that’s probably why Finn was so nostalgic about the comic.

6:53 'witty weds' 'high slappin thurs' 'funny friday'

skyhooks! Perfect image to illustrate Ice Kings emotional growth lol.

I didn't even know that they were airing a new episode this week.

You said you don't get the depressing "Every day gets worse" page in Finn and Ice King's magazine. I think it makes sense they would make pages like that though because the original Ble magazine Finn reads in the beginning has the same kind of depressing pages. When Finn sits in the massage chair and flips through the magazine you can see one where a guy made of random shapes says "I'll never feel love again" and the bottom of the page reads END like it's the end of that story. That's pretty depressing. Also check out the page right to the write-your-on-caption page titled "Dad with Cat...". You can see it completely when Finn shows it to BMO. It's wierdly depressing too. I love it how Finn and Ice King copied these pages too. They really wanted to make their edition legit. Also if you pause it at the right moment you can see that on the back cover they even drew a barcode and put an ad there for a new album called "Gas Station Dogs". Looks like the back of a real magazine. They really put themselves out there.

0:50 Here's one I came up with: "...and how does that make you FEEL?"

Love your reviews

I wonder how the Ble HQ staff managed to survive 500 years after the apocalypse. It seems weird that they would die off at the halfway point rather than right away.

So after this episode is it going to be "Come along with me"?

i think the comic that was "i miss my dog" was a reference to garfield? im not sure though!

i missed this cause I didn't even know It was on how do i figure out when there going to be on

Its a episode full of eeries and mysteries.

Pb : we have an army Ice king : we have a gunther

Yk I think Finn's robot arm design is driving from Benders arm in Futurama which is also voiced by Jake the dog

At 7:45, is that the Vampire King on the poster? It looks like him in a 1940's suit.

I need more Elk!

I just realized Hat Dog is a reference to the next Finn episode, Temple of Mars