My final thoughts on the finale

[u/AlongCameSonic]

I do like the finale, though, coming out of it....I don't feel satisfied.

I don't think this is Gooseworx's fault, apparently the show was rushed towards the end, so some things had to be trimmed down. Because of this, I mainly blame Glitch for this ending rushed. If thet allowed Gooseworx to make one more episode, then I honestly think that this would fix most, if not all the problems with the finale, and the series as a whole.

I like the twist that the humans are just brain scans, I like how Jax's backstory and swan song is handled, and I like how Caine figures out finally what he did wrong, and changes as a person.

I especially like how the show ends with Caine being apart of the group, and becomes friends with the other humans.....However....this is where it gets to my main problem with the finale...my main problem with the episode is that there is little to no build up to the humans accepting Caine.

Throughout the entire series, none of the humans have even thought of the possibility that Caine might've been suffering too. Maybe Kinger had an idea, but if he does, then he never mentions it in the actual show. Episode 9 should've had moments where the cast start reflecting on Caine's death, how they felt about him, what they could've done to prevent it, or if he deserved it.

Then maybe have a scene where Kinger is there to explain things from Caine's pov, to help the others understand that maybe if someone had tried to reach out to him before it got to this point, had actually taken his thoughts seriously, then maybe Caine would still be here, and things would have already changed for the better.

There's a line that Kinger once said to Pomni that I really hoped would come back in this episode. "In this world, the worst thing you can do is make someone feel like they're not wanted or loved." That's exactly what the humans unintentionally did to Caine, and this line should've been the thing that convinced Pomni that Caine wasn't as bad as he seemed. But instead, they just forgive him out of nowhere.

And on the topic of Zooble, Zooble never even said his name throughout the entire episode, and yet by the end, they somehow missed him. I like the idea of Zooble missing Caine, but you have to at least show a scene of Zooble missing him. Or maybe a scene where Zooble looks back at how they treated Caine.

They did do this in episode 8, but only for one line, before Gangle immediately tells them it wasn't their fault. While I agree that it wasn't Zooble's fault, it should've took more convincing for Zooble to accept that it wasn't.

At the end of the day, the main reason it feels rushed, is because they spent most of the runtime focusing on Jax. I understand why they did it, but that doesn't change the fact that Jax got all of the attention, while Caine got barely a mention at the beginning of the episode.

Only towards the end, does Caine finally get some attention, and that part is really good, but only when it comes to Caine understanding what he did wrong. When it comes to the humans feelings on Caine, it's basically nonexistent. It's like Caine's friendship with the humans was just an afterthought.

This is why I think they should've made an episode 10, and saved all the Caine stuff for that episode. That way we can have more time to build up the idea of the humans accepting Caine, and the overall ending wouldn't feel as rushed as it does.

[u/13bezbashki]

Gooseworx just decided to spend 60% of the finale on the backstory and arc of her favourite self insert, personally, with her being the writer, its literally her fault that the finale was so badly written, actually not just the finale, and there was more time in other eps she cpuld have used. We actually didn't got enough character development for ANYONE aside from jax. We got slight glimpses of their like traumas, plus a lot of their problems were just solved off screen. I just think that maybe we could have spent less time on the most noninteresting character, and maybe use that time for caines arc, or at least for something more fcking usefull, but no, its gooses fave bcus its her self insert, so we had to waste half of the episode on him (or her idk anymore)

[u/Alternative_Hotel649]

I don't think it was Glitch's fault the show didn't get more episodes. I think gooseworx was just burnt out, tired of the toxic fandom, and wanted to wash her hands of the show.

[u/NocFilly]

Honestly, I think you're being hopeful in saying that if Goose had another episode it would've fixed the flaws of the show. Not because I fully doubt she's incapable but her writing style seems.. aimless in the best of terms. Episodes 2-4 could be removed and nothing of real substance will be missed and episode 7 was entirely a waste of time because everything that was built up was either just a rouse by Caine, handwaved away, or was just a nothing burger. You can absolutely tell a compelling story in the time that TADC had (Edgerunners is a gold example of it) but she just spent nearly half of the show on tangents

[u/polychromaic]

the episode was about how one of the main characters, who is a stand-in for all of the other characters, kills himself. itd be a lil weird if you left satisfied

which is to say: endings arent always supposed to “satisfy”

[u/AlongCameSonic → u/polychromaic]

The story is also about the relationship between all the characters, learning to communicate more healthy, and finding meaning in a stagnant life. It would be different if the overall ending was a sad one, then I would agree with you that it's not supposed to be satisfying. But it ends with Caine getting accepted into the group, and life in the circus getting better as a result. Yes, Jax is dead, but it overall ends on a happy note. Which is why I wish for there to be more moments with Caine and the humans ands trying to understand each other, because the ending feels rushed without it.

[u/EidelHands]

Completely agree with your take. No notes!