Heat Signature (episode)

"Heat Signature" is the twenty-sixth episode of the second season of Adventure Time.

Synopsis
Marceline plays a prank on Finn and Jake by making them believe they're vampires, but it nearly goes too far when they're manipulated by her ghost friends.

Plot
It's dusk, and Finn and Jake are visiting Marceline to show her and her friends the movie Heat Signature. When they enter her house, Marceline introduces them to her ghost friends, Wendy, Booboo, and Georgy. Finn and Jake then try to have a seat on Marceline's couch, but it is apparently very uncomfortable. Marceline says she never really uses her couch because she's always floating, so after a short session of deliberation between the two, Finn and Jake decide that they want to be turned into vampires or ghosts. Marceline agrees to turn them into vampires, but whispers to her friends that she has something even better in mind. She tells the boys to close their eyes so she can preform the Biting Ritual. Rather than biting them, she merely pinches their necks and dabs ketchup on them to simulate a bite wound. When she's done, Finn and Jake are asked how they feel; Finn says he feels the same and Jake says his neck hurts.

Marceline and the ghosts then continue their prank by making Finn and Jake think that they can suck the color red from things and turn invisible. While thinking that they're invisible, the duo tries to mess with Lumpy Space Princess, who is in the woods. However, it soon becomes apparent that the ghosts are more concerned with hurting Finn and Jake when they kick the two for no reason and try to kill them by tossing them off a tower while telling them to fly. Marceline becomes angry at her friends for trying to hurt Finn and Jake, but they simply ignore her and try to eat Finn and Jake's guts through their brains after they lure them to their home, 25 Blood Drive, with an invitation to a party. Marceline warns Finn and Jake of the imminent danger, but they ignore her and attend the so called party anyway, where they are almost devoured. Marceline arrives just in time, seemingly to save them, but she says that she can't defeat the ghosts and was only there to apologize. Finn laments that they are about to die just because they wanted to be comfortable watching Heat Signature. This reminds the ghosts that they wanted to watch the movie, so they go back to Marceline's house and watch it. Finn and Jake, however, would rather be eaten than have to endure the uncomfortable furniture, but Marceline and the ghosts are so captivated by the movie that they don't even care.

Major Characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Marceline
 * Wendy
 * Booboo
 * Georgy

Minor Characters

 * Lumpy Space Princess
 * Lady Rainicorn (drawing in title card only)
 * Snail

Music

 * Oh, Baby Yeah

Trivia

 * This episode was originally titled "Blood Drive". The address of the ghosts' mansion in the episode is 25 Blood Drive.
 * The title card has Jake spraying red paint on a billboard for Heat Signature in a destroyed urban background, and what he is painting is Lady Rainicorn.﻿ The tagline "Under the ocean no one can hear you die" is printed near the bottom of the billboard.
 * This is similar to the tagline of the 1979 horror film Alien: "In space, no one can hear you scream."
 * The plot and title of this episode refers to the first Heat Signature film; in previous episode "Video Makers", the intended movie for the film club was the third in the series, Heat Signature 3.
 * This episode was originally scheduled to air on April 25, 2011. However, due to a last minute programming change, it was moved to Monday, May 9, putting it after the two-part season finale: "Mortal Folly" and "Mortal Recoil". Most likely, this episode occurs chronologically before the episode "Mortal Folly", probably happening after the events of the episode "Video Makers".
 * In the episode "Video Makers", Finn and Jake said they would not show any more movies that have the copyright warnings on it, but in this episode they wanted to show another movie that would have the warning on it. This may either be because this episode occurs prior to "Video Makers", or because they did not think of this as a public screening of the movie.
 * This is the third episode where you can see Finn's hair. When Marceline lifts his hat to "bite" him, you can see a hardly visible amount of his hair. The other times are in "To Cut a Woman's Hair" and "Mortal Folly".
 * Lumpy Space Princess remains homeless, as first seen in "To Cut a Woman's Hair".
 * This is the second episode to feature other confirmed Humans than Finn. This is due to the movie being made prior to the Mushroom War, thus allowing human actors to appear in it.
 * Even though it aired on May 9th, a promo for the episode aired before the premiere of "Mortal Folly".
 * Even though Wendy has arms, she hands Finn and Jake an invitation with an arm located under her dress
 * When the ghosts take Finn and Jake for their "floating lessons" they take them to what looks like an abandoned tower with a crashed helicopter on it. This may be from the Mushroom War.
 * The house of the ghosts makes a short reference to classical horror movies of a haunted house, over a hill, with stormy weather.
 * The couch in Marceline's house, which is apparently uncomfortable and hard, appears soft in "Go With Me", and neither Finn or Marceline expressed any discomfort while sitting in it.
 * It's possible Marceline modified the couch in order to initiate her prank.
 * The ghosts' chanting is actually a backmasked message to creative director Pat McHale. The ghosts are really saying, "Farewell Pat. Good luck in New York. Come back soon."
 * When Finn and Jake say that they are going to go home, Jake makes a peace sign with his fingers, but when the episode wipes to the duo at 25 Blood Drive, his fingers are in the same position.
 * Marceline has 5 fingers when she marks Finn's and Jake's necks with ketchup.