Adventure Time - Three Buckets (S9.E14)

“You looking for an uncle?”

It’s an understatement to say I love Adventure Time. It started out as a playful and whacky children's show. However, as it progressed, it matured very much with its audience and often exhibited adult themes. This is especially true of “Three Buckets” (one of my favourite episodes), which ends Adventure Time’s ninth season rather grimly. But as layered as the episode’s plot is, the episode title also carries bucketloads of symbolism and metaphor that make it very enjoyable.

Before diving into the title review, the episode’s credits are: Pendleton Ward (creator), Cole Sanchez (supervising director), Kent Osborne, Jack Pendarvis, Julia Pott, and Adam Muto (story), with Tom Herpich and Steve Wolfhard as the writers and storyboard artists.

Adventure Time is known for quite abstract titling. Episode names are typically either blunt references to the subject of the episode, or, are whimsically and explicitly mentioned within the episode itself - e.g. “Escape from the Citadel” or “Something Big” respectively. However, “Three Buckets”, at first glance, feels random or slightly cryptic, which creates some fun intrigue. 

“I know that look. You just killed someone!”

The series is also known for using poetic dialogue in childish and simplistics ways. Characters frequently use common idioms and phrases, or humorous twists on them, in a lighthearted way when addressing adult situations. With this in mind, if I hadn’t watched the episode and had just read the title (nor researched its symbolic meaning), I would have thought it was in some way referring to the euphemism “kick the bucket”, and would’ve expected a character to die. This is partially true as the main character Finn the human (voiced by Jeremy Shada) ends up accidentally killing his darksided, grass-clone counterpart, Fern (voiced by Hayden Ezzy) - though Fern’s survival is alluded to in the final scene. I appreciate how the title, simplistic as it is, can draw you to this conclusion in just two words.

As with each episode, “Three Buckets” has its own title card with an accompanying image. In the image we see Fern playing the shell game (a game that challenges players to follow the movement of a hidden item under one of several covers) using three buckets. Underneath one bucket, Fern reveals a small, glowing, purple ring. This hints towards the presence of the sinister Uncle Gumbald (voiced by Fred Melamed) who appears in the final scene for the first time in the series. 

But the bucket list of references doesn't stop there. True to title, three buckets do indeed appear within the episode, each symbolising a different aspect of Fern’s character arc and relationship with Finn. 

“Actually, I was thinking maybe just you and me would go. Spend some quality time together, Finn and Fern style.”

The first bucket seen is Finn’s red bucket. It's kept in his backpack to clean the poop from the chicken coop. This bucket symbolises Finn’s normality; his kindness, heroism, and humility. Whether he’s saving princesses from the Ice King, beating up evil bad guys, or clearing nasty, smelly poop from a chicken coop, Finn’s daily routine revolves around helping others. It’s what has earned him the title of “hero” in The Land of Ooo, as well as other character defining treasures, like the fabled book of heroes, the Enchiridion. All of which Fern, who is in the midst of an identity crisis, is deeply jealous of and believes should belong to him. Finn’s bucket sets an initial tone of innocence and good intention in the episode. It's a symbol of genuine purpose, which Fern lacks and craves.

The second bucket seen is the blue trash bucket. It is kept in the main room of the ziggurat temple - the room in which Fern traps Finn. This bucket symbolises Fern’s feelings; rejection, neglect, and discardment. The blue bucket marks the true fear of Fern’s identity crisis - the fear of being thrown away. Also, the blue bucket literally holds waste, which subtly foreshadows Fern’s fate - being disposed of by Finn (cue GTA’s “wasted” SFX). 

The third and final bucket seen is the golden bucket. It is carried by Uncle Gumbald to hold Fern’s remains after he’s (weed) whacked by Finn. Its gold colour represents Gumbald’s royal heritage as uncle to Princess Bubblegum. The golden bucket holds Fern’s literal and metaphorical dismemberment. Its regal colour also adds a layer of mock grandeur for Fern - presenting Fern as a “treasured” possession for Gumbald, but is in fact nothing more than a pawn in the latter’s evil plans. The last of the buckets encapsulates the ultimate betrayal of identity. Fern is not just a disassembled tragic hero, he is now a repurposed villain.

“I've been double-crossed by grass Finn! I don't like being abandoned! I'm sensitive to it!” 

So with that, we find “Three Buckets” isn’t just some ba-nay-nay reference to some hollow, cylinder, metal containers. But is in fact a brutal map of Fern’s emotional arc, and a meditation on what gets discarded, what gets repurposed, and what never gets to be whole. In true Adventure Time fashion, it perfectly narrates a deep, melancholic truth, inside a mundane, and even silly title. “Three Buckets” even stays on the same numerical theme when compared to Fern’s first proper appearance in, “Two Swords”. Very mathematical Pendleton Ward, very mathematical indeed.

Overall - 5/5