Plot: What’s it about?
With the second season of Adventure Time, I had more understanding as to what was going on. Yes, the adventures of Finn and Jake were still somewhat new to me, but after having watched the first season, things weren’t as new to me. I mentioned in my review for the first season how much of a fan I am of television shows like Family Guy and The Simpson’s, so I’ve the utmost respect for an animator, especially since I can’t even draw a stick figure with any sort of confidence. When you think about how much creativity, time and effort goes into even one single episode, I think these folks are the unsung heroes of entertainment. I mean really, an actor or actress can do multiple takes but to sit there and literally go through every single frame? Impressive.
The second season finds our heroes Finn (voiced by Jeremy Shada) and his loyal compatriot Jake (voiced by John DiMaggio) as they’re pretty much doing more of the same thing they did in the first season. We do get a wider variety of characters, though. They meet the Ice King (who graces the cover of the set, by the way), Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the Vampire Queen. The indicator for a show’s success is the guest stars and though we’re not presented with any “A” list stars, we’re treated to some guest spots like rapper Biz Markie, Henry Rollins, Andy Samberg and Ron Perlman. Season two offers up more of the same that the first season did and at only 11 minutes an episode, it’s certainly worth your time to at least check it out.
Video: How does it look?
Having the first season under my belt, I had more of an idea as to what to expect with this sophomore effort. Yes, I knew that the colors would be bold and bright, I was hoping that some of the things that bothered me about the first season might have been fixed, but they really hadn’t. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s really not that big of a deal as the 1.78:1 VC-1 HD encode really looks pretty darn good. I’ve yet to catch an episode as it’s been broadcast, but I’m sure the quality is the same if not better on disc.
Audio: How does it sound?
Again we’re presented with the same Dolby Digital 2.0 mix that serves its purpose, but not much else. I don’t know if the third season will feature a more robust sound minx and I doubt it’ll keep me up at night wondering, but simply put – this does what it’s supposed to and not much else. The vocals are crisp and clear any and all sound effects are present and have no distortion, but in this day and age of uncompressed sound, it really is kind of disappointing to have a show not be presented in at least 5.1 sound – in some way, shape or form.
Supplements: What are the extras?
In an unprecedented move, this second season features a commentary of every single episode. Yes, you read that right all 26 episodes have a full commentary on them from beginning to end. I don’t have it in me to comment on the whole thing other than to say that if you’re a fan of the show, then you’ll spend 286 minutes listening to commentaries. Get comfortable, it’ll take a few hours. Also included is an interview with the creative team by the show’s creator Pendelton Ward.
