5 out of 5

Created by: Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro

This was (at the time) the final season of Aqua Teen, apparently canceled halfway through production, because, as wiki quotes it, Adult Swim was “ready to move on.” While that could certainly be taken as uninspiring, the resulting 9 episodes of the season carry with them a triumphant finality – not exactly the offhand breed of that one might expect from this historically stoner-humored show, but rather a possibly unconscious desire to make this the most Aqua Teen set of episodes possible, which means they wear their shoulder-shrug emotions proudly. The balance of nonsense, indirect plotting brilliance – the way randomness stacks up on itself to make sense – stupidity, profanity, and the kind of weird uncaring brotherhood of the main characters all shakes out is immensely satisfying; there is not a cringe episode in the bunch. Possibly opener “Mouth Quest” might seem like the kind of later-era desperation of event episodes, using live action and claymation, but even here, it feels inspired and not tossed off – it is the most Aqua Teen version of this kind of thing.

I’d point also to the opening theme, which comes back to the kind of in-your-face but catchy vibes of the original one, albeit amped up to be called “We Rule Your Animated Comedy Ass Forever,” and, I mean… yes.

We also have a “last” episode… and then the actual last episode where the Teens are responding to that, in a brain-bending bit of 11 seasons’ worth of callbacks. I understand that something like that makes a longtime fan like me bias, but I stand by the notion that the also-appropriately-named “Aqua Teen Hunger Force Forever” is one of the show’s best seasons, and I’d be absolutely fine with it being a newbie’s first, as encouragement to start their journey back at season 1.