What Was Missing

"What Was Missing" is the tenth episode of season three of Adventure Time.

Synopsis
Finn and his friends must come together and play music as a genuine band in order to open the gate of the Door Lord and retrieve their stolen items. thumb|right|300px|"What Was Missing" Animatic

Plot
The scene opens to Finn checking to see if no one else is home before pulling the lock of Princess Bubblegum's hair from To Cut A Woman's Hair out from under the couch. He sits down and cuddles with it until Jake comes out from behind the couch with Beemo. Jake tells a startled Finn that he already knows about his "private time with the wad of P.B.'s hair". Jake picks up a floor board and pulls out his baby blanket to show Finn a special object of his own. Then a door appears and out hops a Door Lord. He snatches Finn's wad of P.B.'s hair, Beemo's controller, and Jake's blanket. The three follow the Door Lord through a door that leads to P.B.'s castle, where she is seen running after him and demanding that he come back. The Door Lord then opens another portal, which Finn, PB, Beemo, and Jake follow through into Marceline's house. The group, now with Marceline and P.B., go through a final door into a desert area, chasing the Door Lord until he escapes into a double door that closes in front of the four. Finn then reads the words that appear on the archway that say: This door shall yield to no command save for a song from a genuine bande.

The crew then tries making some music to tempt the doors to open using their assorted instruments, but when Marceline begins to sing about wanting to "drink the red from your [PB's] pretty pink face" Princess Bubblegum comments that her lyrics are "too distasteful". Marceline then replies defensively, "Oh, you don't like that? Or do you just not like me?!" She then sings a song mocking PB, sarcastically apologizing for not "treating her like a goddess" like the princess's "loyal little subjects" and not being "made of sugar". Bitterly, Marceline sings "I'm just your problem" to PB, inducing shocked reactions of silence from the princess, Jake, and Finn. Since the door reacts to the truth (later realized by Finn) and the door reacted to her song, the lyrics to Marceline's rock ballad consisted of her true feelings. At the end of her song she stumbles, stammering something that isn't truthful ("Why do I want to... bury you in the ground... and drink the blood from your... urgh!") causing the faces to stop responding to the music.

Jake calls P.B. and the others "talentless hacks" and leaves, only to come back again later (this is all part of his act as the band's self-proclaimed jerk). Finn suggests that they have a noodle break and asks about singing a song about noodles but Marceline and P.B. yell at him in unison, "No!" Princess Bubblegum attempts to make a complicated song, but it doesn't work out and Marceline and P.B. start fighting. They all begin to leave, except Finn. Finn then begins to sing a song of apology to the three. Marceline, Princess Bubblegum, and Jake join in as Finn sings about how they were all "best friends in the world". The door, in response, opens to the Door Lord eating a sandwich in an empty room. The crew listens to his mumblings, and while Finn appears to be perplexed at them, PB, Marceline, and Jake state that what the Door Lord had hoped for them to learn, that the real treasure was their friendships. The Door Lord smiles with glee at their revelation, but then he is shortly beaten up afterward by the five, presumably in retaliation to his thievery. Jake then passes out their stolen items. Finn receives his wad of Princess Bubblegum's hair, where P.B. replies, "Oh, you." and Finn mutters under his breath "Yeesh." Jake gets his baby blanket and Beemo gets its controller back. A black tee shirt with what seems to be cinnamon rolls strangling a snake is mistaken to be Marceline's, but is claimed by Princess Bubblegum; claiming she wears it all the time as pajamas causing Marceline to blush. At the end, it is revealed that Marceline had nothing to be given back and was just hanging out with them. The episode ends with Marceline in a monster form chasing after Finn, Jake, and P.B. exclaiming, "I'll kill you!"

Major Characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Princess Bubblegum
 * Marceline
 * Beemo
 * Door Lord

Minor Characters

 * Shelby
 * Snail
 * Chocolate Malt Ball Kid
 * Cloud Person

Songs

 * I'm Just Your Problem
 * A Song About Noodles
 * Bubblegum's Blueprint Song
 * My Best Friends In The World

"Mathematical!" controversy

 * For information on the controversy surrounding the "Mathematical!" video related to this episode, see: Mathematical!

Trivia

 * This episode was formerly titled "Door Jam." Adam Muto confirmed that it was the working title. It was a pun on the musical term "jam" and on "door jamb," the name for the vertical part of a door's frame. However the title was changed because the Adventure Time writers prefer not to use puns in episode titles.
 * The oven, range hood, and cabinets in Marceline's house are now white instead of red, as they appeared in previous episodes. Marceline may have sucked the red coloring out of them.
 * The title card was designed by Michelle Xin and painted by Martin Ansolabehere.
 * Shelby is seen crawling out and back into Jake's viola when he smashes it.
 * This is the first time in an Adventure Time episode where Princess Bubblegum sings.
 * A scene of Finn returning the candy kid's toy train was not included, presumably because of running time.
 * At the end when PB is seen running away, her shirt is magenta instead of black.
 * At the end of the episode where Marceline is chasing everyone, Beemo is not seen with them. This is more likely a continuity or an animation error.
 * This is the first episode with PB and Beemo interacting.
 * The Door Lord looks similar to Key-per from the episode "The Enchiridion!." Key-per wore a key strapped to his head while the Door Lord wore a door.
 * While PB, Finn and Jake are chasing the Door Lord in Marceline's house, the title card music for "Hitman" is played.
 * During Finn's song, you can once again see that "toots" is written on the back of Jake's viola, which was first seen in the episode "Gut Grinder."
 * This is the second episode where Marceline cries, the first one being "Memory of a Memory."