| "King Worm" | |
|---|---|
| Adventure Time episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 18 |
| Directed by | |
| Written by | Steve Wolfhard Somvilay Xayaphone Bert Youn |
| Story by | Patrick McHale Kent Osborne Pendleton Ward |
| Production code | 1008-096[1] |
| Original air date | August 13, 2012 |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Guest appearance | |
| |
"King Worm" is the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series Adventure Time. The episode was written and storyboarded by Steve Wolfhard, Somvilay Xayaphone, and Bert Youn, from a story by Patrick McHale, Kent Osborne, and Pendleton Ward. It originally aired on Cartoon Network on August 13, 2012, and guest stars Erik Estrada as the titular King Worm.
The series follows the adventures of Finn (voiced by Jeremy Shada), a human boy, and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake (voiced by John DiMaggio), a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. In this episode, Finn and Jake find themselves trapped in their own subconscious by the King Worm (voiced by Estrada), expanding upon the final scene of the season one episode "Evicted!". Eventually, Finn is able to escape the reverie by focusing on his inner-most fears; doing so causes the dream to quickly become a nightmare, wrecking the integrity of the dreamscape and forcing King Worm to flee.
The episode, inspired by popular "YouTube poop" videos, was an attempt to craft an episode that would feature bizarre and absurd visuals; it also marked the first time that Wolfhard would storyboard for the series. The episode ranked first in its timeslot, but was met with mixed reviews from critics. Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club felt that the installment was too absurd, resulting in confusion for the viewer. Nicole Klein of Geekadelphia and Jack O'Keefe of Screenrant, however, both praised the show's use of dream imagery and its exploration of Finn's subconscious.
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- ^ "Shows A-Z, Adventure Time With Finn and Jake". The Futon Critic. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2013.