Three Buckets

Three Buckets
Production code:	1042-272
Airdate:	July 21, 2017
Credits
Director:	Cole Sanchez
Story:	Kent Osborne Jack Pendarvis Julia Pott Adam Muto
Written & storyboarded by:	Tom Herpich Steve Wolfhard
Episodes
Previous "Whispers"
Next "The Wild Hunt"

"Three Buckets" is the fourteenth episode in the ninth season of Adventure Time. It's the two hundred and sixty-sixth episode overall.

Synopsis

Finn and Fern's carefree visit to some old ruins turns disastrous.

Plot

Fern invites Finn to some quality time in some ancient ruins, as BMO and Jake take a trip to the Music Kingdom. They end up playing in a field, but Fern says that it is boring. He wants the thrill of victory, not monotony. When Finn ends up beating Fern in rock-paper-scissors, and Fern complains about how nothing is fair to him.

They go through a door in a cliff, and into a ziggurat temple. While inside, Finn says he is happy that they both have a love of adventure in common, and that it feels like they are real brothers. Fern gives him a blank stare, and when Finn walks inside the main room, he locks him in. Fern declares that he is going to replace Finn, and leaves him inside the temple. As Finn messes with his robotic arm, he discovers a hidden microphone, with a message from Princess Bubblegum. He realizes that his robotic arm has multiple features, including a rock smasher and a weed whacker.

He charges at Fern, and the two end up fighting each other. Fern says that Finn has been Finn long enough and that it is time for someone else to have a shot. Fern's eyes suddenly begin to glow, and Finn wonders what Fern really is. They come to a stalemate, and Finn sadly says that it does not have to be like this, but Fern is resolute. The weed whacker function activates, and Fern is torn to shreds.

Finn returns home, despondent and traumatized, while Jake and BMO try to comfort him. A stranger gathers up Fern's remains and vanishes into the distance.

Characters

Major characters

• Finn
• Fern

Minor characters

• Jake
• BMO
• Neptr
• Princess Bubblegum (hologram)
• Gumbald (not named)
• Snail

Mentioned

• Ice King
• Susan Strong

Trivia

• There are some rockets on the field Fern and Finn are passing through that were left there during the Mushroom War.
• Three statuettes are standing on the shelf, which can be seen at the end of the episode: one of Finn, one of Jake, and one of Fern disguised as Finn.
• There is a painting of Gumbald in the tree fort near the beginning of the episode. The reasons for this are unexplained.

Cultural references

• This episode portrays an example of the "bad twin" trope, where one of the two becomes the sworn enemy of the other. This is seen in books such as John Steinbeck's East of Eden and is very common in cheap detective novels and soap operas.
  • This episode portrayed the concept of a clone/twin of the protagonist turning on them in a battle to the death, the concept is also shown in series as Star Trek: The Original Series, Rick and Morty, Regular Show, Star Wars, and several others.
    • One of the references in this episode is when Fern wanted to be the only Finn and take over his life. This is a reference to a Star Trek episode, "The Enemy Within."
• When BMO, Fern (disguised as Finn), and NEPTR all claim to have broken Jake's vuvuzela, this was reminiscent of the final scene in the movie Spartacus. In the movie, the defeated slaves all claim to be Spartacus and it uses this event as a metaphor for standing up to Sen. Joseph McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee.
  • This reference is also in the episode "The Thin Yellow Line."
• The vuvuzela is the national symbol of South African soccer. It became infamous during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa when the incessant sound of fans blowing them was heard over television sets across the world.

Episode connections

• Fern discovered his abilities to disguise as others in the previous episode, "Whispers."
• Finn says he is very sensitive to being abandoned. This may be due to his past family history.
• In a hologram, Princess Bubblegum mentions the events of "Reboot"/"Two Swords" where Finn lost his arm again and his fight with Susan.
• This and the previous episode show that Finn and Sweet P had fought their demons since in this episode, Finn weed whacked Fern and the previous episode, Sweet P is shown to kill off the Farmworld Lich. Both of which has been haunting/consuming each other since Season 5 (Finn and the Grass Sword), and Season 6 (Sweet P having Lich nightmares). This makes both this episode and the previous episode connected in some ways.
• Jake is seen using a reusable shopping bag for the second time, the first one being in "The Tower."
• Fern impersonating Finn is reminiscent of the Bear doing so in "In Your Footsteps." However, Fern's ruse is much more convincing.
• The idea of Fern trying to replace Finn by deceit is similar to Football's actions in their namesake episode. In each case, the original character is left in a small, isolated room.

Storyline analysis

• Finn's prosthetic arm is actually more than meets the eye. It can be used as several power tools and even a weapon, and has a microphone and holoscreen.
  • This explains why Princess Bubblegum spent so much time making it (since Finn first lost his arm in "Escape from the Citadel") compared to quickly making a new arm for Shoko.
• With the "weed-whacker" mode on his arm, Finn kills Fern by accidentally turning on "Fatality" mode on the weed whacker and cutting him in the chest resulting in him bursting him into pieces of grass.
  • However, at the end of the episode, Fern's remains are seen and his eyeball moves. This implies that Fern is alive.
    • Fern was later revealed to be alive in "The Wild Hunt," but as the Green Knight.
• The room in which Fern trapped Finn is very similar to the inside of the Finn Sword: it's an empty space with just a small amount of food and a chair.
• Throughout the episode, three buckets have been seen, symbolizing the episode's title and the title card.
  • In the beginning of the episode, Finn carries a red bucket before he offers to clean the chicken coops.
  • A blue bucket, acting as the "contemporary trash," is seen in the main room of the temple before Fern locks Finn inside.
  • At the end of the episode, the mysterious man gathers and carries Fern's remains in a yellow bucket.
    • The mystery man is also seen wearing a ring similar to the one in the title card.

Production notes

• This episode was orignally intended to be the season 8 finale. However due to Cartoon Networks restrucutring of seasons 7-10, it became the season 9 finale.

Errors

• The list of abilities of Finn's arm changes order twice. Once after Finn says "Huh." and then when the view zooms into the Weed Whacker option.
• The arm ability "ear piecer" seems to be a misspelling of "ear piercer."
• When Finn is being held down by Fern and the grass sword, his shirt isn't rolled up in one shot.

Gallery

Official art

Title card designed by Steve Wolfhard and painted by Joy Ang

Screenshots