When Finn and Jake get lost in the woods, it’s an adventure, but when it happens to BMO, the stakes are considerably higher. While trying to mimic the moves it sees at a bug dance party, BMO is confused for a worm by a giant mama bird and is taken to her nest to feed her young. After being regurgitated and sat on, BMO begins the quest back to its crazy far-off home, joined by a bubble and a baby because these stories tend to happen with a trio (see: Homeward Bound and We3) and baby, Bubble, and BMO has a nice alliterative ring to it. “BMO Lost” is a fun episode that continues BMO’s evolution, taking it out of its comfort zone and forcing it to learn some lessons that it otherwise wouldn’t.
I’m a big fan of BMO, especially as the writers continue to explore the darker sides of its personality, and its naïveté always allows for some great comedy. Finding the way home is a storyline that is specially suited for juvenile characters, who often express a desire to explore the world outside their usual habitat without truly understanding the reality of the environment. BMO has expressed a desire to join Finn and Jake on their adventures but is rarely able to, and this episode shows why they’re reluctant to hurt their favorite video game system. After escaping the nest, BMO cracks its screen, and later it has to have its batteries removed when it gets wet. BMO’s technology makes it a liability during adventuring, and that ain’t algebraic.
The first subject BMO meets on its journey is Bubble, a wise, floating sphere that doesn’t really remember its home but wants to help BMO find its way back. BMO tells Bubble that once they find Finn and Jake they’ll be able to find out where Bubble is from, and they join forces to protect each other from carnivores and offer moral support. Bubble is one of BMO’s first real friends outside of the treehouse, and their friendship quickly evolves into something more when they discover a baby in the woods. It becomes immediately apparent that BMO and Bubble are not fit to take care of baby Ricky/Sparkles, beginning with BMO dragging the baby across the forest floor as its primary mode of transportation. When they come across a bridge without guard rails, they foolishly decide to send the baby across first, setting up one of the episode’s funniest visuals as Ricky/Sparkles charges forward before sharply turning to the right and walking straight off the bridge.
BMO dives in to save the baby but then finds itself coming toward a waterfall, the latest in the series of misfortunes that befall the group. It’s only by sheer luck that Bubble is able to save the two of them, proving that BMO and Bubble just aren’t fit to be caretakers. Luckily, that’s when the baby’s mother arrives on the scene, anxiously searching for her lost Sparkle and telling BMO that it should be ashamed of itself as she takes the baby away. What follows is a mini-Adventure Time adoption plot as Bubble tries to make BMO feel better about giving Sparkles away, saying that it was the best decision for the child and that now the baby can be whatever he wants, whether that’s a strapping horse whisperer or a sexy hitman.
Bubble is BMO’s emotional support throughout their entire journey, and when they finally make it back to the tree house, Bubble professes its love for BMO and says they should get married. Bubble doesn’t think it will ever find its home, but that while it was with BMO, it felt like home, so they should be together forever. That’s when Jake shows up, sees a bubble floating in the air, and pops it, shattering BMO’s dreams. Up until the popping, I thought that Bubble was a creation of BMO’s overactive imagination, but it really is an anthropomorphic air sac that falls in love with a video game system. BMO gained a child and found love on its journey, but it has to lose everything before it can return home. Or does it?
While weeping over its lost love as Finn and Jake laugh behind, BMO hears Bubble’s voice once again, but not as Bubble. The reason it couldn’t remember its home is because it’s actually Air, but once Jake popped the bubble, he freed it and revived its memory. Now BMO’s love will always be around, waiting in every room, watching its every move, forever and ever. Ominous music builds as Air talks about his omnipresence, creating tension that is defused by BMO’s signature innocence as it cheers: “Yay!” BMO’s life is so lonely, suffocating attention is exactly what it wants.
Stray observations:
- I completely missed the first appearance of the fun-sized CMO at the start of last week’s episode, getting dumped on Finn’s head along with BMO and a bunch of pillows. I hope we see more of that little guy in the future.
- Adventure Time continues to pull from the Star Trek: The Next Generation talent pool (Jonathan Frakes voiced adult Finn in last week’s episode) as Levar Burton guest stars to voice Bubble, bringing a comforting, almost paternal quality to a ball of floating air and soap.
- “Finn, Jake! Kiss my face!”
- “So this is the pits.”
- Bubble: “How about…Sparkle?” BMO: “No, I think he looks like a Ricky.”
- “You are so beautiful and… I love you.”
- “Bravery!”
- “I think my batteries are wet. (Takes out batteries.) Good bye.”
- “I got dirt all in my butt circuits.”