not that I haven't been enjoying fionna & cake (given my initial reaction to the show's announcement a few years back was utter exasperation), but as most people can acknowledge, it is a show with many flaws. I was excited to see that this season focused on huntress wizard, though I resent their treatment of her character specifically in the way that the idiosyncrasies which make her character lovable are flattened for the sake of a bog-standard heterosexual narrative. some of her rough edges and weirdnesses were clearly sanded off for the sake of making her a more stereotypical "cool girl", and that sucks. like, sure, it's somewhat charming that she's this ultrasmart, cool and powerful wizard that's in love with a doofus, but there's a misogynistic tinge to the way her and finn's romance is portrayed that I really dislike. (to be fair, the original series did also have a slight misogyny problem).
I also resent that finn is so much of a doofus here. he has completely regressed from the growth he went through over the course of the original series. I don't hate the choice to characterize him this way--I can see it for the well-intentioned tragedy that it is--but it's also very frustrating to see him blatantly disregard the wishes of his loved ones (i.e. seeking out the heart even though huntress made it very clear it was important to her that he never go there). huntress also spends this entire season being the *self-sacrificing woman*, going to insane lengths to clean up finn's mess. we do not see finn atone for his mistake; we do not see him process the ramifications of how his actions hurt huntress (and the rest of his friends), he is simply the good ol' golden boy who everyone automatically forgives. it is strange to me that the show takes no time to analyze how poorly finn handles his relationships. are we meant to believe that he never meaningfully grows as a person between now and "together again"?
all of the potential for growth is placed on huntress wizard. I really don't appreciate how they paint her independent, closed-off nature as a character flaw that needs amending. it is not sufficiently communicated that it should also be *finn's* responsibility to respect her boundaries and love her for who she is; no, finn's recklessness and disregard for his own life is sort of tongue-in-cheek her fault in some way because he doesn't understand how loved he is (even though it's very fucking obvious that everyone in ooo will move mountains for him). why is it so unacceptable for a female character to have this kind of personality? why is is so imperative that she be emotional and loving? why do we need every female character to be warm and touchy-feely? I don't want huntress to be like hunter. this should not be the endgoal for every female character. her cold, stoic nature is what makes her character interesting, and I really don't think it's inherently a bad thing.
I understand that she and finn are paralleled in that they're both closed off emotionally in different ways, each partially due to past grief, but they do not take any time to explore huntress's grief even though this season is literally about her. (they do take the time to explore finn's grief, of course). they don't have her come to terms with her parents' death and how this may have affected her beyond having her younger mind-self crying over finn (which was corny and cheap, imo). sure, maybe the writers didn't have time to flesh it out, owing to the season's tight 10-episode run. but man, just make the seasons longer.
