Sometimes you see a person and there’s an attraction that is immediate and magical and consumes your entire being; it’s truly love at first sight and there’s no reasonable explanation for it. Breezy the bee experiences this feeling when she sees the flower growing where Finn’s right arm used to be, and her journey to be closer to “the greatest miracle of all time” leads to a touching episode of Adventure Time that delves deep into Finn’s PTSD.
Finn got burned by his dad, lost his arm, and all the ladies are saying that he don’t talk to Flame Princess no more, a combo that has filled his body with bad vibes that are killing the precious greenery growing under his shoulder. He’s deeply depressed, telling his doctor that he’s completely numb at the moment, so she orders him to have some fun to get the good vibes going, advice his adolescent mind interprets as “find as much physical gratification as possible.” This show is doing remarkable work interpreting unyielding teenage sexual desire in a way that is appropriate for all ages, and Finn’s idea that making out will lead to happiness is the kid-friendly version of adults seeking emotional gratification through unhealthy sexual relationships.
Written and storyboarded by Derek Ballard and Jesse Moynihan, “Breezy” adds new layers of complexity as it moves forward, creating a deep relationship between Finn and his new wingman over the course of 10 minutes. A bee has a natural attraction to a flower because it needs to bring the pollen back to its hive, and Breezy’s instinctual desire to be closer to Finn’s flower is a clever way of depicting the instant, unexplainable attraction a person can feel for someone else. Finn and Breezy’s friendship starts with the bee helping Finn secure those “make outs” in order to get closer to the flower, but as Breezy tastes more of Finn’s flower, she becomes more attached to the human attached to the plant. It all sounds vaguely sexual because it is; bees have long been used for educational sexual metaphors, and there’s a lot of phallic imagery that is directly related to Finn’s transcendent experiences.
Breezy transforms from an ordinary bee into a more humanoid Queen bee in order to save Finn from other members of her species, and after he sends her to the friend zone, she visits him in the middle of the night to lament through song. Finn hears the song and probably has some sort of biochemical reaction to all that pollen in the air, experiencing happiness for the first time in a very long time thanks to Breezy’s sacrifice.
The big problem is that Finn still doesn’t want Breezy. He hallucinates Princess Bubblegum holding a huge sword (phallic image) during that period of sleepy euphoria, which causes him to sprout a giant tree (phallic image) from his right arm socket. The wood (phallic image) chips away and under it is a brand new hand dripping with a sticky yellow substance resembling honey, suggesting that, despite Princess Bubblegum’s image, Finn’s was probably reacting to deeper feelings for Breezy that he was keeping buried in his waking life.
The episode introduces an element of social prejudice toward Finn and Breezy’s relationship when they’re spied by some bees that demand Breezy go back to her hive and stop hanging out with the “bologna tube,” and while Finn stands up for his friend when she’s criticized, those words still impact how he looks at her. Let’s face it: Finn’s a human and Breezy is a bee. That’s probably not going to work out unless Breezy finds a way to grow hands and legs and some other parts. Finn needs a vaguely humanoid silhouette to be physically attracted to a woman, and he gets that when Breezy gives up her freedom to become a queen bee, but he still holds on to his old opinion of her, which keeps him from experiencing the happiness he could have with Breezy. (Which would ideally not involve him becoming a drone by partaking of her pollen crumbles.)
After Breezy’s transformation, Finn continues on his make out path, but when he encounters Lumpy Space Princess, he discovers that he’s been doing it all wrong. After getting the single kiss that Finn considers “making out,” LSP demands that Finn get out of the kiddie pool and dive into the deep end with her, and while it’s unlikely that Finn loses his virginity to LSP this week, he goes further with a woman than he’s ever gone before. This path of promiscuity leads to Finn pushing himself into sexual territory he wasn’t prepared for, and it’s not providing the good vibes he expected.
What Finn’s looking for is a true emotional connection with another person, something that he’s had with Flame Princess, Princess Bubblegum, and most recently, Breezy. He’s lost his chance with the first two and may have lost his chance with the third. This episode’s final moment shows Breezy with her beloved flower, now separated from its former owner, and maybe that will be enough for her. Maybe we’ll never see Breezy again, or maybe she’ll be Finn’s next great romance. In any case, Finn gets a new arm and we get an exceptional episode of Adventure Time, so everyone wins.
Stray observations:
- The use of music is excellent in this episode, and forcing the characters to express their feelings through song really helps capture the heightened emotions. Finn is serving up a heaping helping of emo sadness while Breezy is an insect Disney princess discovering true love for the first time. I love it.
- Finn grows a new arm this week, but it looks like there’s a little green sprout growing out of his palm in the shot of his arm covered in honey. I’m guessing the plant curse isn’t going anywhere.
- What’s Jake up to this week? He’s so bored he’s experimenting with changing the default shape of his head.
- What’s BMO up to this week? Hanging out with bikini babes!
- “But I’ve been pounding pickle juice like I was preggos.” Alliterative!
- “You ain’t my man! So why you all up in my lumps?!”
Finn: “Thanks, Beezy.” Breezy: “My name’s Breezy.” - “I’d invite you over, but you can’t breathe underwater, right?”
- “Yeah, wingman! I’m a girl…but, alright!”
- Finn: “What’s up with your head?” Jake: “Eh…I’m trying something new.”
- “She’s an independent lady!”
- “I think…I love you! Now you can partake of my pollen crumbles and become my drone.” So creepy.
- “But I royal-jellied for you.”
- “I’m lost in the darkness, Breezy.”
- “Don’t be scared, Finn. Lumpy’s on lifeguard duty.”
- “I’m gonna forget you did that. Right in the vault.”