“Jake sees his own death in one episode,” says Ward. “And Finn has to deal with that. Jake’s a hip guy. He can watch his own death, and he’s comfortable with it, and that’s a weird thing, especially for Finn, who’s super young, and it’s really hard on him.”
In the episode, called “New Frontier,” Jake experiences a vision during which he’s taken to an afterlife of stars and darkness by a little bananalike creature (voiced by Weird Al Yankovic).
“When I die, I’m gonna be all around you,” Jake reassures Finn. “In your nose. And your dreams. And socks! I’ll be a part of you in your earth mind. It’s gonna be great!”
“That episode was really tough to tackle, writing it for a children’s television show,” Ward remembers. “It was hard for us to really not make it so sad and scary that you feel really sad and scared watching it.”
