In a future swarmed with ruin and chaos, one man has gotta get back, back to the past. And now we can find out if he does.

In the fifth and final season Jack (Phil LaMarr) continues his journey of saving the world in the Adult Swim series ‘Samurai Jack’.

The revival season of the animated series aired on March 11, after 13 years since the final episode of season four. The fifth season marks the end of the series and Jack’s journey.

Jack is back and 50 years have passed in the realm of Aku (Greg Baldwin) the embodiment of evil and darkness. He’s still on his journey to return to his time period and help all the people he can struggling in Aku’s future, but now without his magic sword.

The revival has very polished art that in a way almost reflects the time change in the storyline.

Jack has changed, while not physically mind some longer hair, the clearer 2017 animation seems to enhance the fact that while Jack may be different and time has passed, he’s still Jack and the show is still the same ‘Samurai Jack’ as it was 13 years ago.

After so many decades, Jack is falling into madness. He starts seeing people he feels like he let down such as his family, his younger self who reprimands him on losing his sword, and innocent strangers he feels he couldn’t save.

The show portrays very clear themes of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) along with mania.

The show has a much more grim feeling of hopelessness and lacks in some of the lightheartedness the previous seasons had.

I really like this season especially for the reason that this show has a very serious theme and I feel as if they are finally showing how desperate and serious Jack is about leaving while not overdoing it to keep the fun cartoon vibe.

During Jack’s infamous journey, Aku is hiding his growing desperation to find Jack. He sends people to go looking for Jack or any sight of the samurai he can get his hands on.

Over the fifty years Jack has gone off the radar and Aku can’t stand not knowing where the samurai is as Jack is the one constant obstacle in Aku’s goal for his future to become permanent.

One thing I really feel is anticlimactic about the action series is Aku. Compared to the funny, fearless, and super strong hero of the series, Aku is an exceptionally bland villain. His humor is far from striking and even though it’s supposed to be a cartoon, he does not give off an evil vibe at all.

With one of the greatest animated protagonists I’ve ever seen like Jack, one would expect an equally dynamic antagonist and Aku is not that.

However, Jack has some new opponents to face such as Ashi (Tara Strong) one of Aku’s daughters, who after being saved by Jack, joins him in order to find out whose side she should really be on. Should she join her father, the being of despair who has completely destroyed the future, or Jack who showed her kindness and fights for the light?

Her choice should be obvious, but Ashi was raised on Aku’s word being the truth, so she doesn’t know who the real villain is, despite Jack constantly assuring her it is Aku.

Ashi’s addition to the show brings a strong girl-power I thought was lacking previously in the show. She brings this no-nonsense attitude with this underlying naivety that gives her character so much charm I couldn’t help but love her right away.

The relationship with Jack and Ashi was almost certainly my favorite part of the season.

The chemistry between the two was so enchanting with Ashi’s confusion of the world and Jack’s odd spiritual knowledge to answer her questions. I feel like Jack and Ashi are very alike in the sense that they both don’t belong in Aku’s future.

My hope for the finale is that Jack and Ashi return to Jack’s time period together either romantically or as platonic companions. The duo should stick together because at this point in the plot I don’t think Ashi or Jack could survive without the other.

Jack wasn’t ever supposed to exist in the time period to begin with and Ashi never ended up fighting for Aku, the only reason she was created in the evil time-line. And both of them, especially Jack are going to change that by hopefully defeating Aku.

After all Jack’s been put through; the trauma, loss, and heartache, I’ll be really pissed if he doesn’t get the happy ending he very much deserves.

The original Cartoon Network shows like ‘Teen Titans’ and ‘Codename Kid’s Next Door’ were my favorite thing to watch on TV when I was younger, and seeing a classic like ‘Samurai Jack’ continue on an even greater note can’t even be described.

‘Samurai Jack’ hasn’t finished streaming yet, but from the episodes released so far I can give the season a deserved 4/5 stars.

Season 5 took me back to the past and while Jack may not be there yet, he is back on the screen and he is better than ever.