Adventure Time - Season 5 Episode 43 - Recap - Root Beer Guy

Adventure Time - Season 5 Episode 43 - Recap - Root Beer Guy

This week's episode of Cartoon Network's Adventure Time is particularly dense. This is an eleven-minute cartoon! And they get through a whole noir movie plot! This show manages a wide array of different episodes styles, even in the weird magical post-apocalyptic fantasy setting.

The episode opens with Finn and Jake saving some kids from a giant in the Candy Kingdom, as the candy people look on. Instead of following them when they leave, we go with a little root beer float man, the titular Root Beer Guy, as he leads his dull life. His terrible job is as a phone salesman, but then when his wife goes to sleep, he gets busy with his passion: writing a mystery novel. He hears some noises outside when he takes a little break from writing and witnesses what seems to be Finn and Jake kidnapping Princess Bubblegum! The next morning, it seems his marriage is on the rocks, and that his book-writing is at least partly the blame.

Once he's at work (and getting admonished harshly by his boss), Root Beer Guy spots Finn and Jake. He confronts them about what he saw, but the pair is acting very suspicious. He tries to get the banana guards on his side, but Jake shape-shifts a fake Princess Bubblegum that fools the guards. Root Beer Guy goes and finds the security footage of the previous night, and finally proves that he saw what he saw. Unfortunately, his wife has called Finn and Jake, who take the tape and leave all shady! They buy some tools and head to Lake Butterscotch. Root Beer Guy sees the so-called heroes head out on a boat and them dump a rolled-up rug off the side. He calls the Banana Guard to report a crime, and they come out to arrest him. Then it turns out that the whole thing was a scam! Princess Bubblegum was just testing the kingdom security! Root Beer Guy heads out the next day to his new job... as the captain of the kingdom's security force!

This episode was great! It was heartwarming and nice and cool. Plus, I really love film noir and mystery stuff, so it was like a bonus for me since I also really like Adventure Time! Anyway, I want to see more like this, just little stories that make me feel good because nice things happen to good people. And not just from this show. I want that to be something that all shows do sometimes.