Adventure Time: "Bonnie and Neddy"
Adventure Time: “Bonnie
& Neddy”
Season 7, Episode 1
Air Date: November 2, 2015
Adventure Time has returned this week from its own five month exile from television, the longest break in the show's five-and-a-half year history. In its absence, we've seen the popularity and critical acclaim of its sister series Steven Universe (created by former Adventure Time writer Rebecca Sugar) reach new heights, now met with the same excited fandom that Adventure Time itself experienced in its early and mid seasons. Now seven seasons in, the veteran Adventure Time can be easily taken for granted, but to fans such as myself, that would be unwise, as this series is still as rich as its ever been.
“Bonnie & Neddy” occurs two months after the status-quo destroying sixth season endgame, and the social order in the Candy Kingdom is still weird and broken. After losing the election at the end of last season, Bonnibel Bubblegum (with Peppermint Butler) left the Kingdom to live in a wooden shed where she tends to her garden. The King of Ooo (who has previously only made a couple appearances in the series but appears to have become a far more significant character now) has replaced her, and dubs himself the “One True Princess Of Ooo”. He's as unhinged and lousy of a ruler as he is uncomfortably eccentric in personality. While not “weird” or nightmare-inducing in the way that a character like Lemongrab is, K.O.O. puts me on edge. You could argue that everyone in the Land of Ooo is an eccentric by our own standards, but K.O.O's demeanour - in both physicality and speech - is so lavish and forced that it feels put on; King of Ooo isn't the real deal. In a world of oddballs and misfits, he is a conniving con artist playing the part of Ruler of Oddballs. His physical presence and way of speaking come close to that of the Candy Kingdom citizens, but in missing the mark the cracks in his armour show. He's not like his citizens; he is amoral and frighteningly unpredictable, and as the new Princess of the Candy Kingdom, he is the series' strongest sense of danger and impending doom at the start of this season. The Candy Kingdom is likely going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
The appointed heroes of the Candy Kingdom, Finn and Jake find themselves in a new position themselves, as the bodyguards of K.O.O. The duo who would frequently protect the city against all harm, are now attired with ridiculously impractical suits of armour and frequently hang around K.O.O., tending to his needs, and standing guard by his bathtub when he showers. They're fed up with the gig, but are fueled by their distrust of the King to keep doing their job to better keep an eye on him and the Kingdom. In “Bonnie & Neddy”, he carelessly orders Finn and Jake to investigate a room labelled “Extreme Danger” on the off chance it might contain valuable treasures. It turns out to be a sort of control station, where a candy dragon is continuously sucking nectar from roots and transforming it into a pink, candy juice; the liquid that is the lifeblood of the Candy Kingdom. K.O.O. immediately concocts a plan to profit from the distribution of candy juice, but as soon as the dragon notices the intruders in his room, he grows terrified and flees the city.
Air Date: November 2, 2015
Adventure Time has returned this week from its own five month exile from television, the longest break in the show's five-and-a-half year history. In its absence, we've seen the popularity and critical acclaim of its sister series Steven Universe (created by former Adventure Time writer Rebecca Sugar) reach new heights, now met with the same excited fandom that Adventure Time itself experienced in its early and mid seasons. Now seven seasons in, the veteran Adventure Time can be easily taken for granted, but to fans such as myself, that would be unwise, as this series is still as rich as its ever been.
“Bonnie & Neddy” occurs two months after the status-quo destroying sixth season endgame, and the social order in the Candy Kingdom is still weird and broken. After losing the election at the end of last season, Bonnibel Bubblegum (with Peppermint Butler) left the Kingdom to live in a wooden shed where she tends to her garden. The King of Ooo (who has previously only made a couple appearances in the series but appears to have become a far more significant character now) has replaced her, and dubs himself the “One True Princess Of Ooo”. He's as unhinged and lousy of a ruler as he is uncomfortably eccentric in personality. While not “weird” or nightmare-inducing in the way that a character like Lemongrab is, K.O.O. puts me on edge. You could argue that everyone in the Land of Ooo is an eccentric by our own standards, but K.O.O's demeanour - in both physicality and speech - is so lavish and forced that it feels put on; King of Ooo isn't the real deal. In a world of oddballs and misfits, he is a conniving con artist playing the part of Ruler of Oddballs. His physical presence and way of speaking come close to that of the Candy Kingdom citizens, but in missing the mark the cracks in his armour show. He's not like his citizens; he is amoral and frighteningly unpredictable, and as the new Princess of the Candy Kingdom, he is the series' strongest sense of danger and impending doom at the start of this season. The Candy Kingdom is likely going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
The appointed heroes of the Candy Kingdom, Finn and Jake find themselves in a new position themselves, as the bodyguards of K.O.O. The duo who would frequently protect the city against all harm, are now attired with ridiculously impractical suits of armour and frequently hang around K.O.O., tending to his needs, and standing guard by his bathtub when he showers. They're fed up with the gig, but are fueled by their distrust of the King to keep doing their job to better keep an eye on him and the Kingdom. In “Bonnie & Neddy”, he carelessly orders Finn and Jake to investigate a room labelled “Extreme Danger” on the off chance it might contain valuable treasures. It turns out to be a sort of control station, where a candy dragon is continuously sucking nectar from roots and transforming it into a pink, candy juice; the liquid that is the lifeblood of the Candy Kingdom. K.O.O. immediately concocts a plan to profit from the distribution of candy juice, but as soon as the dragon notices the intruders in his room, he grows terrified and flees the city.
Finn
and Jake immediately inform Bonnibel of what happened, to her shock.
The candy dragon is Neddy, her brother (they both spawned from the
same mothergum). In an emotionally affecting and unsettling
flashback, we see the consecutive births of Bonnie and Neddy. While
Bonnie majestically plops from the womb above onto the floor, Neddy
lands on a sharp rock, causing him to cry in severe pain and
confusion. We cut to another flashback, this one of infant Bonnie and
Neddy walking through a scenic field past flowers and butterflies.
The experience overjoys Bonnie, but she soon has to console her
brother, who can't adapt to the world around him, and fears his
surroundings. In later seasons Bubblegum's character has been accused
of being an evil and heartless leader of the Candy Kingdom, but her
scenes with Neddy are a reminder that she is also a loving,
empathetic candy person. In the early goings of the Candy Kingdom, Bubblegum builds a
secret room just for Neddy, where he can stay all day sucking on
nectar roots and producing candy juice (an activity that made him
happy even in his earliest moments, as seen in the flashbacks), which
would become the liquid that fuels the entire kingdom.
Neddy is a disabled person as well as an introvert – and appears to have a severe case of social anxiety disorder - and I've read harsh criticisms of the episode that seem to forget the latter; saying it is despicable of Bubblegum to lock her brother away from the rest of civilization because he is so different, or attacking the episode itself for condoning her actions. What they overlook is that from what little we've seen of his life, the act of producing candy juice is the only thing that makes Neddy happy, or not cry in fear. The sight of any person who is not Bonnibel causes him to panic. He's not being isolated because of a birth defect, but rather because he prefers being alone. Bonnibel briefly but sweetly brings up Neddy's disability and introversion in one short speech at the end of the episode:
Neddy is a disabled person as well as an introvert – and appears to have a severe case of social anxiety disorder - and I've read harsh criticisms of the episode that seem to forget the latter; saying it is despicable of Bubblegum to lock her brother away from the rest of civilization because he is so different, or attacking the episode itself for condoning her actions. What they overlook is that from what little we've seen of his life, the act of producing candy juice is the only thing that makes Neddy happy, or not cry in fear. The sight of any person who is not Bonnibel causes him to panic. He's not being isolated because of a birth defect, but rather because he prefers being alone. Bonnibel briefly but sweetly brings up Neddy's disability and introversion in one short speech at the end of the episode:
“People get built different. We don't need to figure it out. We just need to respect it. Maybe he likes his own company better than I like mine.”
Bubblegum sincerely loves her brother, and did what she thought was best to make his life as pleasant for him as possible. She's made mistakes in the past and you could argue this being among them, but she created an environment for Neddy that actually makes him happy, and even an integral part of the Candy Kingdom. In her typical totalitarian way she used Neddy's gift as a means of running her own city, but her heart is in the right place, and she succeeded in forging an enjoyable life for her brother.
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