Ocean of Fear

Synopsis
Finn discovers he's afraid of the ocean, so he enlists Jake's help to overcome his fear or risk failure.

Plot
The episode begins with a quote by "Pat McHale": "In the dark recesses of the mind, a disease known as FEAR feasts upon the souls of those who cannot overcome its power..."

Finn and Jake chase a Fire Newt after he steals boots, similar to what Jake did in City of Thieves. They say that if newts steal boots, the penalty is "poots on newts." When Jake decides to fight the Newt by "pooting" on it, he chases it into the ocean, but when Finn tries to catch up with Jake, Finn backs up from the waves and freaks out. Suddenly, his bellybutton gurgles and out comes a dark, evil cloud-like entity called the Fear Feaster, who explains he is the manifestation of Finn's ocean fear and tells him that he can never be a hero if he cannot overcome his fear. After the Fire Newt is defeated, Jake goes back on land and Finn tells Jake that he thinks he is afraid of the ocean, and wants Jake's help to overcome his fear. Jake decides to help and Finn with his fear. When Jake moves Finn's feet to help him get into the ocean, Finn jumps on Jake's head and yells at him to bring back on land. Jake decides to resume it tomorrow. Finn wants to restart now, but overreacts over one tiny drop from one of the waves, and Finn agrees on Jake's decision.

The next day, Jake wakes Finn up and reveals that he moved Finn's room into the ocean with a "three-step plan" to help overcome his fear. As Finn begins to panic, Jake reveals he has contained Finn by tying him up in his sleeping bag. Finn tries to calm down, but when Jake dunks Finn's head into the ocean with his jowl, Finn finally breaks free and jumps on Jake, then beats him up. Finn uses Jake's ears as sails to get to a ruined building, and Jake decides to give up, as he is sick of Finn always beating him up whenever he gets too terrified. Jake decides to help Finn one more time, but makes Finn promise not to beat him up anymore and to only speak in rhymes. Jake brings a submarine (which he refers to as a "sea cucumber") and he and Finn both go down into the depths of the ocean with it. Finn is scared at first, but when Jake tells him to open up his eyes, he sees the true beauty of the ocean, but when Jake tries to dive in to a black abyss, Finn breaks his promise, and goes nuts tying to make the controls go to the surface while beating up Jake. He make a missile shoot from the submarine, which hits a building. It crashes down on the submarine and causes a hull breach. Finn then puts on his diving suit and pulls the emergency cord, making him float up back to the top of the ocean, but Jake was knocked unconscious during the incident and sinks to the bottom. The Fear Feaster arrives and tells Finn that he can't overcome his fear, and now Jake is going to die. Since Finn can't handle being in the ocean awake, Finn knocks himself out and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, dragging Fear Feaster with him.

Finn reaches the bottom and wakes up after shrimp clink on his helmet. When he wakes Jake up, Jake tells Finn they are at the bottom of the ocean. Finn screams and tries to pull his emergency cord to get back up, but it won't work twice, and Jake decides to pull his to help him and Finn get back on land. Jake congratulates Finn on conquering his fear, but Fear Feaster shows up again and tells Finn he will never be a hero if he is scared of the ocean. Suddenly, a limo appears and Three Wise Men come out of it, telling Finn that Fear Feaster is wrong and Finn truly is a hero. The Wise Men and Fear Feaster go back inside Finn, he and Jake then celebrate over Finn's victory.

The episode finishes with another quote by "Pat McHale":

"And so fear is forced deep within the soul of a hero. Conquered...at least, for now..."

Major characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Fear Feaster

Minor characters

 * Fire Newt
 * Three Wise Men
 * Shrimp
 * Limousine Driver
 * Snail

Trivia

 * The quotations at the beginning and end of the episode are credited to Patrick McHale. Patrick McHale was Adventure Time's Creative Director. The quotations are narrated by Clancy Brown.
 * Finn only had three toes in this episode.
 * The second of the Three Wise Men has a crown similar to the Ice King's.
 * This is the first time in the series that Jake farts.

Episode connections

 * Fear Feaster returns in the episode "King Worm," opening a chest and releasing Finn's fears, which include the ocean and other fears that were revealed throughout the show.
 * There is a real mental disorder called Amafufunyana, where patients believe evil spirits reside within them and they can hear voices from their stomachs.

Errors

 * After Jake's "three-step plan" Finn gives Jake two black eyes. But in the next scenes after getting the submarine he doesn't have any black eyes and seems to have miraculously recovered.

Cultural references

 * Jake's line "that's not a lake, that's an ocean" is similar to the game Alan Wake, where Alan says to himself "it's not a lake, it's an ocean" in regards of the human imagination.
 * The Fear Feaster and Three Wise Men are similar to the four humors: black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm.

Production notes

 * The episode was originally titled "Finn Underwater."
 * This is the first episode that was worked on by JG Quintel, the creator of Regular Show.

Storyline analysis

 * On the ocean floor are the remains of a city. The remains of forgotten cars, buildings, a destroyed tank, sunken aircraft carrier, and even people are further evidence of the Land of Ooo's post-apocalyptic setting.

Videos
"Ocean of Fear" Animatic|Animatic #1 "Ocean of Fear" 2 Animatic|Animatic #2