Holly Jolly Secrets Part I

Synopsis
In the first part of a holiday special, Finn and Jake try to decipher the hidden secrets of the Ice King's video diary.

Plot
Finn and Jake are trying to dig up a treasure Jake had found in the Dump and had buried without opening. When they get to the treasure Finn recognizes it, saying that he saw Ice King with it and burying it in a pile of boogers in the Dump. So they see that inside the suitcase is a bunch of tapes belonging to the Ice King and make plans for a secret tape watching.

Jake puts up flyers to warn people that the tape watch is for Finn, Jake, and BMO only but the Ice King, while trying the William Tell trick on Gunter, sees one and goes over to the Tree Fort. At that very location Finn and Jake start to watch the tapes and see that they are video journals and get bored soon. After some snack making Finn and Jake think there might be a secret code hidden in the message.

To crack the code Finn and Jake call up Princess Bubblegum, who is the 'smartest person' they know, but the line is interrupted by the Ice King who wants to watch the tapes too. BMO sees Ice King from a window and warns Finn and Jake who hang up on the Ice King. After caught up, he summons huge snow drifts that completely cover the Grass Lands as Jake starts to scream.

Major characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Ice King
 * BMO

Minor characters

 * Princess Bubblegum
 * Gunter (Penguins)
 * Skunk
 * Lady Rainicorn (mentioned)
 * Turtle Princess (mentioned)
 * Snail

Trivia

 * This episode was on Cartoon Network's 2011 Christmas programming event.
 * This episode is a two-part Holiday Season Special.
 * This is the second pair of episodes that are considered to be two parts of the same storyline. The first pair was "Mortal Folly" and "Mortal Recoil."
 * If you slow down the first portion of the Ice King's secret tapes that Finn and Jake fast-forward through, you can hear the following:
 * "Diary, I've been meaning to tell you something insanely private, but darest I? I... love... to... ugghh! Fill my bathtub full of milk and sit in it like I'm a magic angel. There I said it. The white of the milk is so dense, and when I poke my little toes out from under the milk they startle me and I giggle. Hee hee. I giggle, diary! Hee hee. They're my own toes, yet I giggle. And then I fall asleep, and the milk curdles and I get all stinky and sticky. Disgusting, diary. I'm disgusting! I'm disgusting! I'm digusting and I smell like curdled milk! *cries* ...anyway, back to the Turtle Princess."
 * "This reminds me of a time that I got stuck in my bathroom. There was this squirrel (just don't ask); Anyway, long story short, imagine me crouched down on the kitchen floor talking. I'm talking to the toilet paper. Ha ha ha! I'm like, 'Hey, guys! Who wants to go on an adventure?' And the toilet paper's like [inaudible]. You're my best friend, Diary."
 * This is the first episode in which it is implied that the Ice King had met BMO or Marceline before.
 * BMO's alarm for Finn's bath time sounds like a car alarm.
 * A skull that resembles the Lich is mounted on the wall when Finn, Jake, and BMO go look out the window.
 * In the Ice King's Penguin Dance Party Video, there are triangles attached to two strings with letters on them, spelling the words "Happy Birthday," indicating that he recorded it during his birthday.

Cultural references

 * While watching the videos, Finn and Jake are on the floor eating Christmas-themed foods such as a substance that looks like Figgy Pudding and rolls.
 * The title card shows Finn, Jake and BMO setting traps outside the chimney possibly waiting for the Ice King to come down. Jake's outfit reflects Jewish design; the small hat is possibly a Kippah and the scarf is a Tallit.
 * When Ice King and Gunter are in the forest for target practice, this resembles William Tell shooting the apple off of his son's head.

Episode connections

 * Finn's statement in "Too Young" that he does not bathe is once again contradicted when BMO's alarm clock goes off, saying it is Finn's bath time. Though, to be fair, he did avoid it this time.
 * We also saw the Ice King exercise in the episode "Loyalty to the King."
 * In this episode it seems that Ice King diary is a video diary than the first diary where he writes.

Videos
Video:"Holly Jolly Secrets" Animatic|Animatic