From Bad to Worse

Synopsis
When another plague of Candy Zombies arises and Princess Bubblegum is among the undead, Finn and his friends are in a race against time to figure out how to stop it... but things get worse by the minute.

Plot
The episode begins with Finn, Jake, Lady Rainicorn, and Lumpy Space Princess running from Candy Zombies and just barely escaping to the Castle in the Candy Kingdom. They see Princess Bubblegum, and are informed that while she was experimenting with candy zombie tissue, Cinnamon Bun ate it out of hunger and then infected the entire Candy Kingdom while Princess Bubblegum escaped.

Princess Bubblegum then says that she is coming up with a cure, but a candy zombie bursts through the window and bites her on the shoulder. She tells Finn to use Science but, before she can explain, she is dragged out of the window and is turned into a zombie. All she could manage to say was: "Science is... muhraahh." Lumpy Space Princess then pushes Finn away from the window and, much to Finn's horror, hits zombie Princess Bubblegum with a board and nails the board to the window. Finn then says they will have to make their own formulas to cure her and the Candy Kingdom. Finn tests his cure on a candy zombie but with horrible results. The candy zombie grows wings and infects the other zombies with the same liquid giving them wings as well.

There is a view of Starchy on top of a building stating that he's glad he's not down there with all the zombies and starts to do a little dance, but is grabbed by Pineapple Guy and thrown into the window and breaks through the wood.

Finn and the rest of the group escape to the top of the castle to continue to try and cure the zombies. Lumpy Space Princess then drops her formula on to some of the zombies, but it does nothing but give them enlarged lips. Lumpy Space Princess wants this to happen to her, goes outside to lick it up, and ends up getting turned into a zombie herself. Jake and Lady Rainicorn then test their formula, but it only makes the zombies stronger. The candy zombies use their new abilities to reach the top of the castle and attempt to bite the group, so they retreat to the lab. The zombie Mr. Candy Cane comes out from hiding in the lab and bites Jake, who uses his Stretchy Powers to prolong the effects. However, Jake realizes he will become a zombie, so he goes into a sealed science shower. Lady Rainicorn feels sorry for him, and lets Jake out, only to be bitten. Then, the candy zombies break through to the lab, and Finn locks himself in the science shower. He then realizes that Science is Princess Bubblegum's rat. Science creates the antidote and Finn tests it on Jake, discovering that it works, but then Jake gets attacked by the mob of Candy zombies that were standing by him. Finn covers himself with the antidote, and the crowd of zombies break into the science shower.

It cuts to all the candy people back to normal, and we see Princess Bubblegum awarding Science with a medal. It ends with Princess Bubblegum yelling rejoice three times to the cheering Candy People.

Major characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Princess Bubblegum
 * Lady Rainicorn
 * Lumpy Space Princess
 * Science
 * Candy Zombies

Minor characters

 * Cinnamon Bun
 * Chocoberry
 * Banana Guard
 * Pineapple Guy
 * Candy Cane Guy
 * Chocolate Bar Guy
 * Starchy
 * Peppermint Butler
 * Gingerbread Muto
 * Snail

Trivia

 * The safety shower in Princess Bubblegum's lab is actually labeled "Sciencey Shower."
 * When Jake is being re-zombified and then attacked by the candy zombies after Science makes the Decorpsinator Serum, some of the music from the title card of "Death in Bloom" plays.
 * In this episode the Decorpsinator Serum is yellow-green, but in "Slumber Party Panic" it was orange; even though they are supposedly made using the same formula.
 * When Princess Bubblegum said "Science is muhraahh," she was attempting to say "Science is my rat."
 * The plague is caused by Cinnamon Bun eating the zombie flesh. However, in "Slumber Party Panic" when the Candy People ate the candy from inside the zombies they were unaffected.
 * In Princess Bubblegum's flashback, there is a laser pointed at a chair and a pile of bones on the floor.
 * The only time a full zombie transformation appears onscreen is when Jake is bitten for the second time.
 * Jake tells Lady Rainicorn he can stretch forever although he could not in "The Limit" however tis may have just been his way of calming her down.
 * The background music played when Finn, Jake, Lady Rainicorn &amp; Lumpy Space Princess were making the serum was the same in "Dad's Dungeon" when they were chasing the sparkles.
 * Along with "The Creeps," this episode aired as part of Cartoon Network's 2011 Halloween programming event.
 * A few minutes of this episode were previewed at the Adventure Time/Regular Show panel at New York Comic Con 2011.

Episode connections

 * This episode involves the candy zombie plague that first appeared in "Slumber Party Panic."

Cultural references

 * Science's cage is labeled "TS-19." This is probably a reference to The Walking Dead series in which "TS-19" is the title to the last episode of the show's first season.

Errors

 * Candy Cane Guy has regular arms when Jake pushes him into the locker, yet when he escapes he has strong-arms. Later, in another scene he has normal arms again.
 * Lumpy Space Princess isn't holding a nail when she boards up the window; she just begins hammering the board and a nail appears.
 * When Jake was bitten after Finn poured the antidote on him, the outside of Jake's eyes are black, and then when he is seen again, they are all green.
 * When all the Candy Zombies are in the science room, and Finn is in the "Sciency Shower," as it zooms out, the zombies' wings are gone.
 * Jake and Lady's completed formula was in a test tube, but when they ran upstairs it changed to a Florence flask.

Videos
Video:"From Bad to Worse" Animatic