Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Season 2 Episode 4 Review: The Cat Who Tipped the Box

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Season 2’s much more linear, if fantastical, story has simply been a joy to watch as Fionna’s mission to support her friends has led her down a weird path. While she wants the best for Marshall and Gary, what’s resulted so far has been a complicated situation.

While Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Season 2 Episode 3 finally brought a bit more action to Fionna-world, this episode inserts a bit more nostalgia into the overall story. This is mostly done through a troubling trip down memory lane that Fionna isn’t particularly fond of.

This is partially due to the fact of DJ Flame’s, better known as Felix, lack of a good work-life balance with the rest of his once-blossoming relationship with DJ Flame.

What’s most interesting about this episode is that, unlike the first two episodes of Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Season 2, “The Cat Who Tipped the Box” likes to re-explore the potentiality of previous situations. Through Fionna’s eyes, we truly get to see how that psychological process of regret plays out.

Throughout the episode, there’s these multiple flashbacks to a simpler time, when Fionna and DJ Flame were together. Much like the Finn and Flame Princess dynamic fans are familiar with, these memories have a bit more nuance to them. However, Fionna’s too caught up in her  own reminiscing to focus on the present.

Rather than taking up on Hunter’s offer to give Marshall and Gary an available spot for their fundraising, Fionna’s desperate to reconnect with DJ Flame. Through those memories, whether it be those one-off hot dates to enjoying each other’s musical tastes, Fionna’s trip down memory lane is actually evocative of something much more deeper.

At the end of Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Season 2 Episode 3, a drunken Fionna decided to lay everything onto them not just because of her own state, but because of that reliability and trust that they both share. It’s something that has made Fionna and Hunter’s relationship unique because they both can relate to this day-to-day struggle.

They both have this innate desire for connection with somebody (in Hunter’s case, potentially with Fionna), but one is stuck lingering on the past instead of focusing on the future. Just like Simon way back during Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Season 1, Fionna’s put herself in her own messy mental box.

As for Cake, her arc of “accepting who she wants to be” seems to take its apparent turn here as she’s called up to guest star on the “Cheers” show, something that was briefly shown back during Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Season 1. However, it isn’t what it seems as the producers essentially force her to use her powers.

What Cake does here feels like it’s both a relief and, yet, it’s painful as its representative of people simply typecasting others and celebrating that instead of actually acknowledging what they want to be. This is a problem that definitely resonates with those wanting to be something they actually want to be and, even though it’s played out briefly, it’s good to see Cake taking charge.

Yet, “The Cat Who Tipped the Box” still has a need to keep up with the magical shenanigans of the previous episodes. Of course, this is done with the full transformation of Huntress Wizard, who keeps on feasting on meats and much more with Fionna’s help.

While the opening of the episode (presenting Huntress Wizard’s adoptive parents) showing how this is possible, it also fully rounds out Huntress Wizard’s backstory and her mannerisms. She’s so secretive because if she builds that inner emotional connection with others, she fears she may lose that too.

The core of “The Cat Who Tipped the Box” embodies both ends of the emotional longing for connection, through Fionna and Huntress Wizard’s perspectives, quite nicely. Where Fionna longs for that missing spark she had with DJ Flame, Huntress Wizard is conflicted to fully commit to that because she doesn’t want to feel that pain.

Huntress Wizard’s pain, driven by her companionship with Finn, is an aspect of Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Season 2 that definitely has potential to be further explored with Fionna. Now that Huntress Wizard is back to her full self, it’s only a matter of time to see how that plays out.

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Season 2 Episode 4 is a satisfying thematic exploration of regret and fear through the leading duo while cautiously pushing its main stakes forward. While it still feels like there’s a need to keep pushing the story to save Finn and get Huntress Wizard back to Ooo, the grounding that Season 2 takes here is perfectly purposeful.

Stray Thoughts:

• I still like how we get that introductory tidbit into Huntress Wizard’s “origins” and how she wants to find that community even if she can’t. Her mini-form is pretty adorable!
• Prismo still dealing with the repercussions from Season 1 feels like it’ll come back around soon, at least he did come back.
• I actually didn’t expect the “Cheers” show to be a set that’s legitimately small, but in the title’s case, I suppose it does make sense.
• I also didn’t think we’d finally get to see Ice Thing make a comeback either since the Ice Kingdom was briefly teased back in Season 1. Although, he does give an impressive drum solo!

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New episodes of Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Season 2 release Thursdays on HBO Max.

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