Adventure Time (TV Series) James (2013) User Reviews

An underrated episode, in my opinion

[Rectangular_businessman · 8/10 · 29 November 2013]

Personally, I found "James" to be a quite interesting chapter, since it seems to be some kind of prelude for a much bigger story arc in "Adventure Time", including an eerie re-apparition of the creepy mutants from the excellent episode "Simon and Marcy".

While the new character introduced in this episode at first glance could seem as someone annoying, the crucial moment of "James" is its climax, which involves a sacrifice that has to be done in order to save the others. I think that is important to notice how Finn is more tan willing that do this sacrifice in order to save his friends (Showing once again that despite all his flaws presented in several episodes like "Frost & Fire" and "Too Old", he still hasn't lost his heroic spirit) which leads to another demonstration of Princess Bubblegum's ambiguous nature: While she certainly loves and cares deeply about her people, it also seems that she has no doubts in order to make any kind of necessary sacrifice for "the greater good" and her reasoning for saving Finn to commit a self sacrifice (According to her own words, because "she can't clone Finn") rather tan being a "Fubblegum" moment, it feels like something much more enigmatic and complex.

Finn and Jake's reaction at the end of the episode is a perfect example of how things aren't so simple as they seem in "Adventure Time": While the last scene could seem like some kind of esoteric "happy ending" there is a creepy factor that makes the two main characters to wonder if that conclusion is actually "right or wrong" (In contrast with the episodes from the first two season, where they accepted many weird events with naturalness) The little cliffhanger at the end was surprisingly unexpected and makes me to high expectations about the future episodes of this series.

Extreme Disappointment

[infinityis1337 · 1/10 · 28 May 2014]

I usually enjoy adventure time, watching the ways in which it avoids being patronising while at the same time being a children's show. It's usually quite progressive, of course the engaging well fleshed out characters, interesting settings and beautifully absurdest stories all add to the appeal.

However, I feel very let down by this episode, and here is why. It's horribly ablest. The story is basically about the heroes plus princess bubblegum and a candy man named James. They get stuck in the wilderness, and the princess secretly sabotages all their escape efforts because she don't like the risks involved. This eventually means that the only chance of survival rests on one member of the group acting as a decoy, allowing others to escape.

I should point out here that James is depicted as an outcast, difficult to like and has a range of mannerisms and ticks which make him appear retarded, even if he is a bright and caring individual. So of course he is the one to be sacrificed. It's clear that the intention was to do this to make him into a hero, trying to humanise the retards etc. But the thing is, he's the one who is talked into making a sacrifice because he is the most expendable.

Of course they remake James's body and personality and laud him as a hero afterwards, but the thing is, the retard sacrificing themselves nobly so others will live is a fairly well known trope, and I have no doubt it's meant to humanise them. But it's also patronising and demeaning, their only worth is in making great sacrifices, wouldn't it be more humanising if they were worth fighting to make sure they live, wouldn't it be more humanising if it showed James being able to get along with others eventually and make meaningful contributions to the group.

Sacrificing the retard may be well intentioned by in reality it demeans then as being lesser.