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"The Thin Yellow Line" is the twenty-sixth episode in the seventh season of Adventure Time. It's the two hundred and twenty-fifth episode overall.[2] Cartoon Network classifies this episode as the last episode of the seventh season.[3]

Synopsis[]

Finn and Jake discover a conspiracy after infiltrating the Banana Guard ranks.[4]

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 costume and says they can slip in during the guard change.

In the next scene, Finn, now dressed as a Banana Guard, and Jake, using his powers to morph into a Banana Guard, 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 spotlight 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 he and the door to the showers are the only things 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, saying 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 orders 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 and 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 from. The guard says his name is Banana Guard #16. The guard asks Finn to follow him. He leads Finn to a vent that 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. Infuriated, 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, proclaiming he is #16 and is 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 Guard cheers right before the end card "In memory of Mandy Long" fades in and out.

Characters[]

Major characters[]

Minor characters[]

Pictured[]

Mentioned[]

Trivia[]

  • This is the second episode to show a dedication card at the end, the first being the season 5 episode "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.[5]
  • This is the first appearance of Uncle Gumbald, although it is in a flashback.
  • The Banana Guard rumors of PB are technically true, though overly embellished to the point of being inaccurate. The first Candy People (Uncle Gumbald, Cousin Chicle, and Aunt Lolly) did rebel against her, as shown in "Bonnibel Bubblegum" However it was Gumbald who transform them, and himself, though not into "monsters" but low-intelligence Candy People, in his attempt to stupify Bubblegum herself. Her brother, Neddy, is underneath the Candy Kingdom, though not as a prisoner but by choice. And the Rattleballs were, in fact, destroyed en masse for being too violent.

Episode connections[]

  • There is a flyer for LSP's play Summer Showers from the titular episode in the alley where the graffiti is.
  • A Tiffany graffiti implies he survived the battle against the queen worm during "Dentist." This is later confirmed in "Preboot."
  • Similar flyers can be seen in "Scamps."

Cultural references[]

  • At the beginning of the episode, right before Finn and Jake stumble upon the mural, there is a graffiti tag of Huntress Wizard, in the style of Shepard Fairey’s famous Andre the Giant Has a Posse/Obey street art.
  • "The Pilgrims of The Land" is probably a reference to strategy boardgame Settlers of Catan, a complicated game devoted to resource management.
  • The episode title is a reference to the 1988 film The Thin Blue Line.
  • 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.
  • In the alley with the graffiti, by the flyer for Summer Showers, there is a flyer with a picture of a hat reading, "Have you seen my hat?" This may be a reference to the "Hat" trilogy of children's picture books by Jon Klassen (I Want My Hat Back, This is Not My Hat, and We Found a Hat), which are darkly-humored tales about animals dealing with hats that are lost, stolen or found.
  • During the changing of the Guard scene, a Banana Guard walks through announcing that he is carrying "10 whipped cream pies" and then falls down. This is quite possibly a reference to an original, iconic & often parodied, series of Sesame Street sketches called "Numerosity" in which a baker would announce what baked goods he is carrying (example: 9 coconut custard pies) and then prat fall down the steps dropping the baked goods. 
  • According to the artwork done by Lyle Partridge, PB's outfit in this episode is based off Elaine Benes' outfits from various Seinfeld episodes..

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 some of the recollections from Banana Guard 16's story aren't true, possibly due to general fear of his creator.
    • "When the first candy people rose up against her, she transformed them into hideous monsters": this fact is later revealed to be partially correct in "Bonnibel Bubblegum".
    • "Her own brother Neddy, she imprisoned him beneath the great tree" - This fact is false, as in the beginning and end of "Bonnie and 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 iced all those guys!" - This fact was previously confirmed in "Rattleballs," as Princess Bubblegum killed them all since 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.
  • The graffiti in the alley was signed with the number 16. Had they noticed that, Finn and Jake could have found the culprit a lot faster, albeit less comedically.

Production notes[]

  • This episode is considered to be the season 7 finale (and all the episodes in season 7 after this are considered season 8) by the ADVENTURE TIME: The Complete Seventh Season DVD, cartoonnetwork.com[6], and Hulu. Previously, "Preboot" and "Reboot" were designed to be the season finale (according to Adam Muto [7] and they are now listed in Season 8 on cartoonnetwork.Com. This was due to Cartoon's Networks restructuring of the final seasons

Errors[]

  • When they go to meet the Banana Guards at night, Finn and Jake's mouths don't move as they talk before the spotlights are turned on them.

Videos[]

Censorship[]

This episode was censored in some countries. See Censorship of Adventure Time for more information.


Gallery[]

Official art[]

Background art[]

Screenshots[]

Storyboard panels[]

See Full Storyboard

References[]

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