The older I get, it becomes glaringly obvious when a creative team has a sense of intentionality with the story they’re telling, season by season. 

I don’t mind episodic, filler centric series, but it’s especially exciting when there is continuity or when a show’s format changes.

While Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time (2009) is episodic in nature, the further the show progressed, the more extensive the show’s lore became. 

We learned more about where our main characters (Finn, Marceline, Ice King etc.) came from and how it shaped their identities that we grew to love through eleven minute stories.

One thing that I’ve come to realize is how much they foreshadowed the loss of Finn’s arm.

While Finn only officially loses his arm in season six, there are several instances where he is depicted wearing gauntlets over his arm, or even other universes where the loss of his arm has already taken place.

We see him grapple with self-image issues as an adopted kid, which leads to the creation of Fern, who essentially acts as a tormented manifestation of his psyche and a physical part of Finn.

Then there’s the entirety of Ice King/Simon Petrikov’s lore that is so well-written and stunningly revealed that its longevity has spawned a spinoff that explores several universes that take classic events from the original series with ‘what-if’ scenarios that lead to the destruction of several universes.

The level of development and creative effort that has gone into both series is inspiring from both the standpoint of a writer and a cartoon enthusiast, and the quality makes the task of keeping up with a cartoon so much easier.

Shows that take sharp turns into lore without setups are often less enjoyable because they’re banking on shock value or last minute decisions.

This is what makes shows that spoon feed their audiences lore so intriguing–-it was done slowly over time and has more opportunities to be fleshed out.

I would rather watch a show that slowly roasts its plot than be taken on a rollercoaster with tracks that were installed an hour prior to the ride.