‘Adventure Time’s’ magic remains intact in first ‘Distant Lands’ special for HBO Max

“Adventure Time” is not done with us. The eight-year run of that lovely cartoon about love and war and play and drudgery and jealousy and generosity and birth and death and everything under the postapocalyptic sun and moon has recently fetched up to stream in its entirety on HBO Max (Cartoon Network is a branch on the same corporate tree). And four new specials have been commissioned, the better to get you to subscribe, my dears.

The first of these, “BMO” — which comes under the umbrella title “Adventure Time: Distant Lands,” referencing the original series’ theme song — stars the adorable, indomitable BMO, pronounced “Beemo.” Last seen narrating the series finale from a time far in the future of the already far-future time in which the show was set, he is the right little sentient robot for the job. (There has been some discussion, among fans and chroniclers, of the character’s gender or lack of one — some use the pronoun “they” — and the series plays around on that point; but Niki Yang, who plays BMO, has described him as a little boy, and I’ll use those pronouns here, despite the ambiguity. Still, BMO is just BMO.)