Adventure Time (S01E15)

Episode #015
'What Is Life?'
Season 1, Episode 15

After Jake throws a giant garbage bag full of butter at Finn, it awakens a "pranking demon" inside of him. He decides the best way to get back to him is by creating a robot that throws never ending pies at Jake's face. He makes the robot named NEPTR (which stands for "Never Ending Pie Throwing Robot") it comes to life with a bolt of lightning, and due to malfunction, Finn goes to the Ice King's lair to get it fixed.

NEPTR is never a character I really think about when naming my favorites in the show, but I always enjoy whenever it's around. This was one of the better character introductions of the season, as it doesn't just introduce a new recurring cast member but also serves as a developmental episode for the Ice King, once again tapping into the lonely nature of his character. When the Ice King zaps NEPTR he becomes energized and imbued with the predelictions to kidnap princesses, and Ice King finds himself feeling as if he has a son now. There isn't much story to this episode, but the jokes are pretty solid and the ending is oddly touching, showing the Ice King having a fantasy where he's sitting watching the sunset with his robot son. This is the first sympathetic look at Ice King, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. All-in-all it's not a great episode, but it lays the seeds for something better, establishing a new character and bringing light to a theme that would be explored more fully later in the show.