So I've been watching this show since late 2023-ish, and I'm about half-way through now! I've been meaning to do this for a while, but here's my overall thoughts on the seasons I've complete so far.
SEASON 1 - 8/10
This was when the show was at its most pure - no lore, nothing too dark or crazy, simply 2 bros having adventures together. Similar to SpongeBob's first season, this one is by far the most charming and nostalgic one of the series, having a whimsy feeling I feel as though fades away as the series progresses. While the episodes themselves aren't the best, I still find them very entertaining to watch. Overall, a solid start.
SEASON 2 - 8/10
This season is very similar to the first one, where most of the episodes consist of Finn and Jake having silly adventures and stuff. Despite that, I still think this season's an improvement as the humor and characters feel more refined and the worldbuilding's really great too. This season also began introducing more darker elements, such as the Lich, which I love here. It's not much of a change from season 1, but yeah, still great.
Season 3 - 9/10
I argue the show peaked here. This is when the more darker elements the show's well known for really starts to hit, and the overall lore's established here as well (Lemongrab, Flame Princess, Ice King's backstory, etc.). Like I said before, I love the expanded worldbuilding and character depth as it keeps the show interesting and fresh. Despite all that, they still managed to keep the lightheartedness from the first couple seasons, and of course the comedy is still gold as usual. This might be my favorite season of the show so far.
Season 4 - 9/10
Season 4 continues the trend of increased worldbuilding, lore, and character growth. Very much like last season, there's some very funny episodes in addition to the more serious and down-to-earth ones. It also features arguably my favorite episode of the entire show, Burning Low. Despite there being a few mid episodes, this is still overall a great season.
Season 5 - 7/10
This season is interesting considering not only that it's twice as long as the previous seasons, but this season also saw a change in the production team, with people such as Rebecca Sugar leaving the show to pursue other projects. This is definitely notable in the quality difference in this season. While the 1st half is great like what came before, the 2nd half definitely began declining in quality, with episodes being boring, melodramatic, confusing, or outright uncomfortable to watch. I feel as though the show began sacrificing its humor and charm for being "deep" and "serious." Like I said, I don't mind that, but at least make it entertaining or something. I still think the season's solid, but it's definitely the start of a decline in this show.
All that being said, this show has been great so far. While I've began watching season 6 and, well, it isn't looking too good, I have hopes that the show will turn around and redeem itself. Until then, see you when I review the rest of the show