The Thin Yellow Line

Synopsis
Finn and Jake discover a conspiracy after infiltrating the Banana Guard ranks.

Plot
The episode starts off with Finn and Jake walking in the dead of night in the Candy Kingdom after a get together. Jake is upset over a game they played called "Pilgrims of the Land," as well as people not eating his homemade guacamole. Finn remarks that he is probably upset because Peppermint Butler kept beating him, and then tries to comfort him by expressing his love for Jake's guacamole. As the two continue walking through the city, they begin to notice graffiti painted on the buildings. Jake thinks the art is beautiful while Finn expresses concern that the art is disrespectful. As Finn touches the art he notices that it is still wet, and then the two hear noises from around the corner. They discover that the painter is a Banana Guard, but when they try to confront him he runs into the guard barracks and they lose track of him.

When Princess Bubblegum is shown the graffiti, she remarks that it is "very interesting", and tells Finn and Jake to go back to the barracks to find out which guard did it. Finn asks why she doesn't just ask them to which she responds that she thinks the guards are secretly afraid of her. She then gives Finn a Banana Guard costumes and says they can slip in during the guard change.

In the next scene, Finn is now dressed as and Jake uses his powers to morph into Banana Guards and are waiting in bushes for the guard change to take place. As the guards are changing, the guards all slip and end up in a massive pile while Finn and Jake just walk right into the barracks. They fit in, following the orders of Colonel Candy Corn. They try to find out which guard could have done it in the gym. Jake suggests that they lure the culprit out with enticing suggestions to commit crime. He approaches two buff guards working out, and wraps his arms around them. One is smiling while the other appears uncomfortable. HE suggests that they commit a crime to know what true crime is. He points to a wall and says to meet there with a couple of buckets of paint. Finn and Jake tiptoe around the wall and Jake assures Finn that the plan will work. Suddenly, a spot light catches them as a whole company of Banana Guards surround them. They two buff guards point them out, saying they wanted to commit crimes while a normal Banana Guard approaches Jake and punches him in the face.

Two Banana Guards deliver Finn and Jake, still in disguise to Princess Bubblegum. She sends them off as she tells Finn and Jake to be more subtle. Jake thinks that the guards will be onto them since they know their faces. PB introduces them as new recruits to the guards posted outside and they let them right in. This time, they split up to look for clues, going around offices and different halls to investigate. Jake heads down a hallway and hears a horse neighing. He enters the office he heard it from to see a Banana Guard closing a drawer. The guard says he heard nothing. Jake turns away for a second and hears the horse again, and when he turns around he sees the guard closing a file cabinet, who still denies a horse being in the office. He sits down and asks the disguised Jake to leave. Jake exits and hears the horse again as the door closes behind him.

A shadowy silhouette appears from the corner and whispers "I love you" to Jake, freaking him out. Jake runs after it, but loses sight and asks a Banana Guard if he saw something. The guard just says himself and the door to the showers are the only thing there. Jake enters the shower, while the guard smiles and the shadowy figure creeps out from behind the guard.

In the shower room, Jake hears someone singing. Jake enjoys it and asks who's singing and says that he likes it. The source of the song turns off the shower then rushes out of the shower room with incredible speed. Jake chases after him but loses sight, as the previous guard runs into the shower with the shadowy figure and whispers "I love you" again before closing the door. The horse is heard again when Jake order the guard out of the shower room. Jake freaks out and assumes there is some huge conspiracy afoot.

In the main office, Finn sees Jake run down the hall babbling and writes an arrest report for Jake, the reason being Jake is "being a wiener." Finn doodles a crude dog-like cartoon character with a crown on the report. Another guard notices and suggests to Finn that he should shade it better, make sure the light source is obvious to the viewer. Finn does so and the dog/wolf with a crown is now significantly more realistic and well sketched. Finn suspects that this guard might be the culprit and tries to pry more info from him, asking if he has any of his own work to show him to draw inspiration off of. The guard says his name is Banana Guard #16. The guard asks Finn to follow him. He leads Finn to a vent which ends up leading to a cavernous area full of paintings of PB, Lemon Grab, the Gumball Guardians, and various other characters on the wall done by Banana Guard #16. Finn embarrasses him by revealing to know about the paintings outside in the Candy Kingdom and suggests he put it up in a gallery. #16 is horrified by the idea since it would mean PB would take him apart and dissect him in order to find out why this guard deviates away from the rest of the guards. The guards are under the notion that PB is a warlord of sorts who turned the first Candy Peoples into horrible monsters and imprisoned Neddy against his will when they rebelled. Finn assures #16 that PB is nice, but #16 is still uneasy. Jake enters, tackling the guard and telling Finn that they can now turn him into the Princess.

The guards and the colonel gather as Finn and Jake hold #16 in order to turn him into the Princess. Finn has a change of heart and trips, causing Jake to let go of #16 and pushes a different guard for Jake to hold. Jake says it's the wrong guy but PB enters and asks #16 to emerge. Finn says he made a mistake and was confused but #16 cuts him off and proclaims he is #16, and ready for punishment. Finn is worried but then another guard steps up to say he is #16. More step up as PB steps down to them, and says she is not there to punish him, she wants him to paint a mural in the banquet hall. The Banana Guards are surprised that their brother was spared and all bow down as Colonel Candy Corn brings forth a shrine of PB in order to thank her. She says that she's just a person who has a past she's not proud of but today she is there to celebrate. One guard approaches her and shows her his ventriloquist doll and says "I love you" while another guard is shown riding a Jelly Bean Horse. PB is amazed at the guards, and another one approaches her with crop he grew "hydroaplonically." A different guard who has a trumpet plays it very well as the singing Banana Guard begins to sing along with the tune. Another guard walks up to her and says he has no special talent, to which she says "That's ok, too." That Banana Guards cheers right before the end card "In memory of Mandy Long" fades in and out.

Major Characters

 * Finn
 * Jake
 * Banana Guards
 * Banana Guard #16
 * Princess Bubblegum

Minor Characters

 * Colonel Candy Corn
 * Neddy (flashback)
 * Rattleballs (flashback)
 * Oozers (flashback)
 * Snail

Pictured

 * Marceline
 * Mr. Cupcake
 * Tree Trunks
 * Lemongrab
 * Goliad
 * Stormo
 * Mother Gum
 * Gumball Guardians

Trivia

 * This is the second episode to show a dedication card at the end. The first being "Shh!." This episode was dedicated to Mandy Long, a talented musician and artist, and a student of Bridgewater-Raritan High School. She passed away on September 24, 2015 after a long battle with brain cancer.

Cultural References

 * "The Pilgrims of The Land" is probably a reference to strategy boardgame "Settlers of Catan", a complicated game devoted to resource management.
 * The scene in which the Banana Guards step forward and claim to be Banana Guard 16 is a reference to the scene from the 1960 Stanley Kubrick film Spartacus.
 * During the scene where Banana Guard 16 shows Finn the room where he does all of his art, it shows a certain piece of art that highly resembles Uboa from the game "Yume Nikki".

Episode Connections

 * There is a flyer for LSP's play Summer Showers from the titular episode in the alley where the graffiti is.

Storyline Analysis

 * According to Banana Guard 16, in the past Princess Bubblegum abused her power on the candy people, essentially being a cold-hearted dictator hiding behind the façade of a benevolent princess. This is further proven by her admitting she has done things in the past that she is not proud of. Although it could be general fear of their creator as some of the recollections from Banana Guard 16 aren't true.
 * "When the first candy people rose up against her, she transformed them into to hideous monsters" - Banana Guard #16
 * "Her own brother Neddy, She imprisoned him beneath the great tree"
 * This fact may be false as in the beginning and end of "Bonnie & Neddy" both times Neddy was never chained down beneath the tree, instead willingly staying there to provide life to the Candy Kingdom.
 * "And the Rattleball boys; She ice all those guys!"
 * This fact is confirmed as Princess Bubblegum killed them all as they were too violent.
 * Princess Bubblegum allowing the Banana Guards to express themselves rather than re-write their brains for absolute conformity is a sign that she changed greatly during the time King of Ooo was the illegitimate ruler of the Candy Kingdom.