As a long time fan of Adventure Time, from the very first algebraic! moment, up to the very last utterance of "Come along with me," I truly loved everything this series had to offer. Like so many fans, I wasn't ready for it to end, even after ten amazing seasons and almost 300 episodes. So, when it was announced that Adventure Time would be returning with four hour-long specials , my heart about leapt out of my chest.
Warning, there are spoilers ahead!! Don't want to know what happens before you watch? Click away now!
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HBO Max is the one-stop shop to stream HBO movies and shows, as well as TNT, TBS, TCM, and Cartoon Network. It's also the only place to watch Adventure Time: Distant Lands! If you've been dying for one more adventure with Finn the Human, Jake the Dog, Princess Bubblegum, Marceline the Vampire Queen, and BMO, HBO Max has got your back!
When Adventure Time: Distant Lands was first announced, we were provided with very little info as to what these specials would actually entail. However, as we got closer, got a proper trailer, and even the first four minutes, it still wasn't quite clear how these stories would fit into the rest of Adventure Time. I certainly had some expectations, but after having watched every episode multiple times and read just about every comic, BMO was not what I had expected.
If you don't want spoilers, this is your last chance to bail! Go watch BMO and then come back to geek out about it with me!
First things first, let's start with the ending. As awesome as this first special was, it's not until the very end that we find out that the entire story happened before the Adventure Time series. In fact, the episode ends with BMO meeting a toddler Finn and teenage Jake. Which brings me to my only major complaint: BMO is so disconnected from the events of Adventure Time that until that very last moment, you have no idea when it is happening, why BMO was in space in the first place, or what's happening with almost all of the pre-existing characters.
This felt really similar, at first, to the series finale, "Come Along with Me". The finale opened with two new characters: Shermy the cat and Beth the Princess Pup. The pair come across one of Finn's prosthetic arms and take it to the "King of Ooo" - which turns out to be BMO. BMO tells them a story about Finn and Jake, and the end of the Gum War.
In the first Distant Lands special, BMO is in a space ship, headed for Mars to farm potatoes (a cute nod to The Martian .) He never makes it to Mars, though. Instead, he ends up on a failing space station called the Drift where he works with another pair of friends - a Rabbit girl named K5 and a shapeshifting service bot named Olive.
Each of the trio have their own motives: BMO wants to save the Drift and get back to his ship, K5 wants to make her parents proud by finding a piece of tech that will impress the enigmatic Hugo, and Olive, once a service bot for Hugo, has its own reasons for bringing BMO to the Drift. Ultimately, though, BMO inspires K5 to stand up to Hugo and her parents, and they work together to rally all the residents of the Drift to literally eject the "apocalyptic power drain" leeching the life from the station.
Along the way, they meet a pair of bug thieves, a Space Lard named Twinkletoes, warring tribes of space elves and shells, and a very familiar "deadbeat", Mr. M. This colorful cast of characters are mostly new, but still manage to feel entirely Adventure Time. In fact, it felt a bit like I had gone back in time and was just watching a new episode - and a really great one at that!
The team behind Adventure Times: Distant Land has created something so true to the original series, despite being almost entirely disconnected from the Land of Ooo and most of the characters, and this has me even more hyped for the upcoming specials.
Although BMO was set before the rest of Adventure Time, the remaining three descriptions suggest that Obsidian, Wizard City, and Together Again will be set after the finale. Adventure Time has such a vast universe with incredible characters and so much potential. I, for one, can't wait to see that potential fulfilled.
Adventure Time: Distant Lands is streaming now, only on HBO Max. The second special, Obsidian, will be focused on Marceline the Vampire Queen and Pricess Bubblegum, and will air later this year. I'm definitely not going to miss it and neither should you!
