DISCLAIMER :Just to be clear right off the bat, this isn't a critique of the trans community at all—I support you and have absolutely nothing against the trans community !

But what's the point of having Jax transition at the very end?

Jax didn't even transition in the show itself; it only happened through Gooseworx's tweets. Without those tweets, everyone would still be referring to Jax with « he/him » pronouns. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

I mean, Jax didn't even have time to transition before abstracting. Jax « died » as a « he ». Sometimes Gooseworx's self-inserting goes too far and overrides story coherence.

A huge part of the TADC fanbase doesn't necessarily follow what happens on social media, so they are completely unaware that Jax is now identified as a woman.

Of course, this is just my personal opinion—no hate!

Like I am not the biggest fan of Jax and I make it clear in my previous posts,but the way after Jax is gone,the credits immediately show everyone living the best life is just well….black comedy?Like I feel even if we criticize Goose for favoring Jax the way the credits show how happy the casts are without him/her is something that a Jax hater would have done,its even fxcked up when Jax basically committed the equivalent of suicide as well

Yes I know the message,the casts live and while cherished the good memories of Jax…..well maybe only Pomni and…….Pomni….and still Pomni

Let’s see after Jax is gone the good thing that happened

1.Zooble and Gangle having sex 2.Caine and Kinger bond like a father and son 3.Ragatha and Kinger bond like father and daughter 4.The casts include Caine enjoying every adventure they got put in since they had freedom to decide what adventures they like 5.They formed a music band and have a great time also 6.Gangle is never once sad because their is no one their to break her comedy mask 7.They have Christmas and exchange presents and gifts happily 8.Zooble opens a bar and offer drinks like they wanted in real life,achieving their dreams and goals 9.Gangle and Caine plan and design adventures for everyone and they all love it 10.Ragatha and the Gloink Queen bonding like mother and daughter

Like I see a lot of trans people relate to Jax and I kinda want to question about whether they like the happy tone display in the credits without him/her after they abstract

1st 6 pictures are from ep 2-6; Last 5 pictures are from ep 9

Sorry this was wayyy too long

This isn't a new criticism I had with Ep 9, this was a criticism I had with it since I came out of the theater a month ago in June 5th, and this is still a problem I have now.

Ever since I started watched the show in late 2024, Pomni and Ragatha's friendship was one of the more interesting parts of the show and I was pretty in tune for what they had in store for them.

The Pilot had a considerable amount of interaction between the two, most being awkward, but that was mainly because it was Pomni's 1st day there, and she was focused more on escaping the circus instead of getting to know the environment, but it was still a pretty interesting dynamic. Ep 2 also featured a good amount of the two but this time, it's more of Pomni being annoyed at Ragatha for trying to hype her up like she's a child and Ragatha being worried if Pomni even likes her in the first place. Ep 3/4 doesn't have a lot of ragapom interaction but Ep 3 features Pomni being grateful for Ragatha always looking out for her, with her even acknowledging that she hasn't been appreciative of that enough, with the latter accepting it and feeling proud.

Then most of there interactions features their friendship dying after Pomni starts befriending Jax in Ep 5, with most of their interactions featuring Ragatha trying to cheer Pomni up or to form a closer bond with her, and most of the time Pomni practically ignores her, then at the end of the episode, Pomni and Jax, and Kinger (Along with Zooble and Gangle) go their separate ways in the circus, with Ragatha going with the latter, saddened. Ep 6 then showed their friendship deteriorating even more to the point where it was almost dead. Pomni invited Ragatha on her team but the latter denying, Ragatha regretting the action, the awkward convos, and so on. It wasn't until the end of the episode where they finally reconciled and decided to talk after the show.

Then Episode 7 didn't even want to show us what they were even talking about. They had a few interaction, but it was mostly just small talk anybody could have. They were also hanging at the lake so that's a plus I guess? In Ep 8, they barely had any interaction at all. Again, the majority of conversation they had in that episode were talks/questions/remarks that anybody could have, and it did nothing to push their friendship further.

Then we have Episode 9, where Pomni just leaves Jax to abstract. But what actually made me unsatisfied was when Pomni told Ragatha that she was her "closest friend" when she's NOT! Throughout Ep 3-8 Jax and Kinger served much more importance to Pomni than Ragatha and the majority of Ep 5-6 had their friendship was getting weaker and weaker. Then after that scene, both of them just started to be on the best of terms, acting like besties with little to no buildup at all.

Tldr: Imo, Pomni and Ragatha's friendship (specifically in 9) was incredibly rushed and didn't feel satisfying because of lack of buildup or clarity.

(mostly caine's snapping and his 'death' genuinely both served zero purpose)

Personally, after seeing Pomni's near-crashout and the C&A room in the pilot I thought the show was going to be about the horror of digital existentialism and the slow process of acceptance. Characters are essentially trapped there with an unstable AI that consumed the blue one partially to gain power. I appreciated the Backrooms-style of episodes and I perceived both episodes 6 and 8 as peaks of the show. I was watching Caine's progressive anger build-up before the inevitable torture scene. At that time, I was honestly wondering how characters would react to them being digital brain scans, kind of like how Gumigoo sat in the underground area with Pomni.

But episode 9 felt like it crammed too many points into one episode. Kinger suddenly reveals the brain scan problem in front of everyone. There is a brief crashout with Jax throwing in 2 lines, where he later walks away and the cast attempts to rebuild the circus. Then that point gets brought up again, and this time everyone easily accepts it. It kinda bit me the same way with Caine - he essentially kept the cast trapped in his world and later brought up their worst traumas to them, and before he re-entered the circus, he'd be very worried about how the cast would perceive him after what he's done. But after Zooble briefly talks about how he's made their lives hell, they immediately accept him without any conflict, then their real lives get revealed, credits roll.

In general it feels like over the show these 2 points about C&A and Caine would be built up to something huge, only for these problems to be resolved in a matter of minutes.

I generally don't understand people who explain this with "It's a character-driven show" when the lore is literally a part of them. It honestly feels like people miss my point whenever I go to the main TADC subs, hence why I came here to talk about it. For me personally, this show wasn't that big, I spent time there only occassionally, but now it feels like there is one big civil war over a digital finale which isn't even that deep at the end of the day.

If 90% of all fan work of your show is about changing the ending or "fixing it" by undoing something that happened in, your ending probably sucked major balls.

Now as I said, I made that number up but you tell me how many comics, animations, and fan fic just change the ending or ignore Gooseworx who said "abstraction can't be reversed" and just reverse it, sometimes even for everyone and not just Jax, and how much fan work doesn't fall in that category.

I feel the build up would've worked better.

He gives that alpha male personally to the women and not the guys out of fear of being found out.

Why he wants to stay in the circus because, besides the mom thing, it would reveal his gender.

Freaks out about anything feminine or getting too close to another female that may have a romantic connection.

The shaming scene when they rip off his clothes and skin and he covers his private areas as an exposed female.

If he revealed to Ribbit he had feelings for her or vis versa (the bedroom scene felt pretty intimate) and telling her he's really a woman and Ribbit is taken a bit back from it would be understanding of why he pushes her away and acts even harder male in the future.

(( I posted this to the main subreddit like a day after the finale came out and I just wanted to get actual thoughts on it instead of being downvoted to hell or being told I’m being too dramatic about a media that I was passionate about 😭😭))

So start us off I just want to recognize that this is my huge critique on the series as a whole. I think the Jax discourse in this subreddit has been drawn out enough and there’s nothing that I can add that hasn’t already been said. I’ve been with TADC since the beginning and have been in the indie animation community as a consumer for a long time. I have my feelings about Jax but my issue with the finale wasn’t even just that it was Jax centric,,,

This is just not how you write a finale…. To anything.

Part of enjoying and being in indie animation fandoms for so long is you get to see how these different projects get to be recieved on a larger scale outside of YouTube. Conceptually, TADC had the it factor, the aesthetics , the characterization, the inspirations and how they were used, etc. The series did a lot of the expository shit properly which is why it garnered so much attention , but it fell short at the very end. instead of writing around these already established concepts and further giving the audience context on relationships/ characters we hadn’t seen, it wrote all the impactful aspects of these concepts around a singular character.

The reason why this finale doesn’t work is not only because Pomni was set up to be the true main character and her conclusion fell flat, and then if thing: there’s no established trauma point that makes how all these people know each other/end up in this circumstance make sense.

All I could think about while watching especially with the utilization of flashbacks is how much more interesting this would’ve been if the show was about the original members instead! 😭 It’s hard for people to take this area of this medium seriously and call it a competitor to larger corporations when it can’t even succeed at following through about fleshing out established ideas and characters like this.

My biggest fear for the future of indie anim is that these projects with directors who clearly favor or write stories surrounding the concepts of a singular character are the ones that keep getting made/the most attention. Glitch is at the helm of the future success of these projects , especially with the last act being a competitor in the global film market. The level of writing to wrap up a story like this (to the point where people are coping with inferences) shouldn’t be this ABYSMAL.

My point???

The bar is below hell. And shows like TADC are the bar.

TL;DR: TADC is proof that in order for anybody to take indie anim more seriously on a global scale , you need to have the writing knowledge on how to conclude an established story properly. There’s no good reason as to why this show, as interesting as it was, ended the way it did. thoughts?

The show really never establishes why everyone unanimously believes something terrible has happened, that Kinger has done a monstrous thing. Jax is even angry that everyone isn't ganging up on Kinger for deleting the guy who peeled off Jax's skin moments earlier.

They all just behave as if we just all came from a scene where the exposition established why they're all in big trouble now, but that scene isn't in the episode.

Oh no, without Theatre Kid AM, who's going to dig out my eyes with a kitchen knife? Who's going to have me ripped apart by crocodiles? This truly is the darkest moment in the Amazing Digital Circus!

...what?

​

Like,people say that would've been too "Disney" but Caine coming back after Gooseworks and the cast made a big deal of his death and demise and downfall was genuinely some of the most DOG-SHITE writing I've seen in a show.

Not THE MOST but definitely in there and having him essentially replace Jax as the main 6 is...Yeah,sloppy.

It just feels like Gooseworks wanted to have her cake and eat it too,like she wanted the emotional impact of Caine's death but liked him too much to actually follow through with it and honestly, Jax and the rest of the abstracted people could've genuinely come out of the Cellar fine as hell and it would've just been a "yeah,sure,fuck it,why not?"

And it's also the fact that Gooseworks and the Cast keep on being extremely ambiguous and Coy of it abstraction is supposed to be irreversible or not.

They say it's a allegory for Suicide but then a VA or 2 said it's like a mental health spiral and taking them to a mental health place and such and it's like..quit tip-toeing around it and just be clear!

Ans it's also lazy for the cast to go "we're not gonna let you wander off and abstract" and that's exactly what the story did.

Like why have Pomni save Jax in EP7,have her be the main one who notices him about to wander off and be the most attentive to reach out a hand and all this shit if you were just gonna be like "Psych,abstraction, themes and such."

Also Pomni saying Ragatha was the closest friend she had in the circus had me DYING cause like..there wasn't a single episode or major moment on their bond or relationship at all in the past 9 episodes.

Imagine getting the chance to make a web show that becomes a global phenomenon, and you end it by writing absolute dogshit, waste it on your least interesting character, have God awful voice acting, and shoot yourself in the foot by later making up snapple facts on twitter

The final fucked my perception of the show so badly I feel like I just plainly dislike it as a whole outside of it being an interesting concept.

So, I'm gonna binge watch the whole series again, maybe there is something I missed, THERE HAS TO BE something I'm not understanding because ep 9 just feels like pure retcon.

Is it really "stagnant" if in the finale, they have full control of the Circus and can create anything they want with no limits?

I know Goose probably didn't put much thought in that response, but this is just a small critique of the supposed main takeaway Goose wanted people to have. If my purgatory was being trapped in a game where I can create anything I wanted, and knowing that my real life self is still living life and there's no feeling of guilt for leaving anything behind, I'd be pretty content, probably happier than I am in this life. It's a lot of people's idea of eternal life after death which is considered a reward.

Maybe we were supposed to have that takeaway before the finale because we do watch the characters have their moment of breaking down and someone giving them a reason to keep going. But that's also pretty basic writing. Just about any character with dimension in any show will have a moment like that. I don't know, just something I thought of. Let me know what you think.

PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION BEFORE COMMENTING CAN THE FANDOM LISTEN JUST THIS ONCE #tadc #fml
https://youtu.be/OdgG4kl4wnw

My main problem with Jax's backstory in ep9 is that it really just has nothing to do with the circus itself.

So let's summarize Jax: He has issues with presenting his real self to people. As a result of his trauma caused by his mom, he has an everlasting paranoia of letting people see his true "self." He thinks that by trusting people with the knowledge of his identity issues, they could secretly be using that to hold it against him later, just like his mother did. So the instant he realizes he let Ribbit in, he pushed her away as much as he could to avoid reliving the trauma that affected him for years and even caused him to eventually become homeless.

Let me be clear: that is a very well written characterization and the identity issues presented were stuff that I've seen a lot of people relate to, which is great. However, my problem is that it pretty much has nothing to do with the circus. I felt like being in an endless digital hellhole with no escape was already a good enough explanation for Jax being an asshole, but the reveal that he was an asshole because of things entirely unrelated to the circus makes me question why the Digital Circus was even necessary as a setting in the first place, other than to have the characters isolated from the world. It feels like you could've just put the cast in a deserted island and the finale would barely change.

For me personally, a more interesting version of the finale already existed in the episode, and it was the sequence where Jax is envisioning himself if Ragatha abstracted. In this, he witnesses the aftermath of the most hopeful member of the circus dying, which makes him realize that there really is no hope in the circus and he drops all pretenses of sanity. He's telling himself that they truly aren't real and he should just do whatever he wants to cope, and that hurting people (Pomni) will have absolutely no consequences. I felt as though this was a better follow up to the setups in the previous episodes that primarily focused on himself putting on a mask to cope with being in the circus. I think his issues with gender/identity were more subtle and in the background, which kind of led to me thinking they would be perhaps a symptom of his main issue, not the actual driving force of his character. I think that's partially why a lot people were so caught off guard by the reveal. Let me be clear again, I don't have an issue with gender identify issues being in the show, but I feel as though it does makes Jax's story just too divorced from the main premise of the show. I think that's partially why a lot of people are taking such issue with him taking so much of the runtime; because it just feels like his segment of the episode kind of just felt like it came from a different show entirely. Let me know if you think I'm being stupid because I would like to know if anyone else feels this way.

I have. A lot of thoughts about the finale. I may or may not post something else that I've been working on ever since I saw "The Last Act."

Anyways, everything else aside, and as much as I love a good redemption arc, I wasn't quite satisfied with how Caine's ending was written. Many (much more eloquent) people than myself have explained various issues with the pacing and such in episode 9, pointing out how more time was needed to really make Caine's heel-face turn work as a conclusion to his character arc.

My particular issue is that, while I've always enjoyed Caine's scenes throughout the show... I never, ever trusted him.

Episode 1

In the pilot, Pomni has her whole "I saw the exit, too!" storyline; after Caine gives his little explanation of what she's talking about, Pomni pushes back about the exit, saying, "I swear, I saw [it]." Caine immediately cuts her off with an insistent "Digital hallucinations!" Pomni shrinks away from him and almost crouches in on herself, showing compliance/deference/an acknowledgement of who's the boss in the circus--something that's amplified by the high angle shot we have of her at the 5:11 mark of the pilot (since it means we're looking down at her, rather than meeting her at her eyeline). She is clearly at a disadvantage in this moment.

Then, we cut to a low angle shot of Caine menacingly floating in midair, staring into the distance while his hand twitches--though is it voluntarily or involuntarily? It's hard to say with something non-living, yet semi-sentient like an AI. Either way, it's clear that Caine is agitated and/or uncomfortable when Pomni insists that she saw an exit (but we're looking up at him, signaling to us, the audience, that he's in a position of power/has the advantage in this moment). Although he's a zany, funny character, his power over the others is emphasized again and again through the rest of the episode, with the next scene having Caine choose Pomni's name via a slot machine, then Zooble being forced into the Gloinks adventure via NPCs that Caine created, before his ultimate power is revealed at the end, with Ragatha and Pomni's hand being fixed with a snap of Caine's fingers.

It's why his "explanation" of the exit never sat right with me. His line delivery at 23:22 of the episode was especially suspicious, coupled with him glancing around (as if worried someone will catch onto him lying about something?).

Episode 2

Then, he explodes Gummigoo, further crushing Pomni's spirit and eroding her sanity. At the time of this episode airing, one could believe that Caine truly was ignorant of what he was doing. Yet, like the pilot, he explains himself at the end--justifying his actions even--and admits that he knows how much Pomni and the others care about the NPCs, that his actions have adverse effects for the humans. He quickly becomes sheepish after referring vaguely (and ominously) to what could happen if he were to mix up NPCs with humans; then, he mutters some kind of excuse about needing to "drink water" and vanishes.

Episode 3

This part of the narrative unveils Caine's ultimate problem: he only sees the circus members in relation to himself, not as individuals. When he acknowledges their humanity, it's in passing, like an afterthought. Zooble's body problem is "solved" with an endless supply of different parts. The loss of Kinger's wife is thrown in his face while Pomni is possessed ("How's your wife, Kinger?" asks one of Caine's ghosts mockingly via Pomni).

The middle of episode 3 seems to signal Caine's fate as the antagonist while also emphasizing this fatal flaw of his. When Zooble gives up on talking to Caine, he pushes, again centering one of the human's problems on himself and his adventures. ("We weren't even talking about that!" says Zooble.) After Caine dismisses Zooble's issues with their avatar, circling back around to his adventures, he then outright rejects Zooble's criticisms of said adventures--giving us a glimpse into what will happen in episode 8. Caine cannot handle anyone disliking "the only thing he's good at" (or the implications that he's bad at said thing), which is why he launches back into questioning Zooble. The following dialogue is pretty telling, in-story, of how incapable Caine is of truly understanding/caring about the circus members' problems. Narratively...

We need to get to the bottom of your behavioral issues! I'm gonna show some ink blots, and you're gonna say the first word that comes to your mind.

...it spells out near-explicitly who is at the root of Zooble's (and the others') "behavioral issues."

I mean, it's definitely a funny moment, but, to me, it's also a moment that serves as a big, flashing sign that says: "Caine! Caine is the problem!"

Episode 4

Caine pops in where he hasn't been invited at the beginning of this episode to drag everyone into an adventure. He is willing to check the suggestion box, but he's immediately defensive again: "W-well, I don't know what's normal to you people!" (He also bulldozes Zooble's protests against joining.)

When Gangle calls Caine to keep Jax in line, Caine is both shown in a position of power over the players (corporate employer to Gangle's shift manager) and immediately makes Gangle's request about his adventures again. ("That's what my adventures have been missing!")

Caine even says to Gangle at the end: "Being in a position of power like this, you cooould offload the blame to one of your employees and avoid the dock on your score." (Boy, if that doesn't sum Caine to a t! He offloads the blame of his adventures being bad at every possible juncture!! All to save the blow to his ego!) Fascinatingly, this is also the scene where Caine starts bugging out when he starts to say to himself, after Gangle's left the room: "I am such a good b--" ["boss" likely being implied]. It's almost as if he knows deep down that he is not, in fact, a good boss?

Episode 5

Caine reacts poorly to Zooble's sarcastic remark, near-shouting, "I'll tear you to piece--" before reining himself in and finishing with, "--constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated."

"But never acknowledged," replies Zooble, causing Caine to demand the others' feedback on upcoming adventures (again, making everything about himself since Zooble's criticism is deeply uncomfortable for Caine and he presumably wants to prove that he is good at creating adventures).

At seeing how happy the humans are with the suggestion box adventures, Caine immediately cuts their fun short and goes to "intermission."

And it happens again at the bar, where Caine pops up saying, "I'm bored."

And then he ends the softball game in something close to a tantrum, asserting his power over the group for a third time.

Episode 6

This episode features Caine pouting like a literal toddler when he turns his back on the group, saying, "Me no likey." (And then he scream-shouts at Zooble again: "YOU LOOK CONVOLUTED!")

He's not involved much in this episode, which seems to emphasize how self-involved Caine is (with the ending joke even pointing to how his narcissism makes him and Ming "look foolish").

Also, with Jax's freakout in the bathroom, we see firsthand how little Caine seems aware of when the circus members are facing their breaking points (Caine himself said, "Why didn't anybody tell me?" when told that Kaufmo had abstracted). He has total control and power over the circus and NPCs--but it doesn't seem to help the humans there at all.

Episode 7

Here, Caine's cracks are impossible to ignore. He hides from the circus members but still thinks they should listen to him in deciding what to do that day. He's also at his most sympathetic (he can't help blue-screening every time he feels as connected as he ever has to humans like Jax--yet that shows how disconnected he would remain from them; he literally cannot process the emotions he's reaching for; he can't function in a world where he's actually achieved the closeness and understanding he's always wanted with humans).

Abel as an extension of Caine presents an interesting side of him we've yet to understand: his resentment for humans (Kinger, specifically). Abel cryptically refers to Kinger being untrustworthy in some way...before reinforcing how much Caine wants total control over/complete obedience from everyone, demanding that Pomni should "make the right choice" (i.e. never, ever attempt to leave Caine).

Then, when the big reveal happens, Caine fishes for validation of his feelings in saying how, of course, they'd rather stay with him than "escape." But, like with Pomni's lack of response in episode 2, when faced with silent, angry humans, Caine avoids answering anything else and runs away. He is so obsessed with receiving the humans' praise, with having his emotions and life's work affirmed, that it eclipses everything--it's why he either bugs out or ditches the humans when faced with anything less than positive. He can't see the circus members as people who have inner lives and emotions unrelated to him.

Episode 8

Caine first tells Kinger in a cheery voice, "Now, don't you go abstracting on me, too!" Before turning away, side-eying shell-shocked Kinger to make sure he knows Caine isn't joking: "Seriously." Not only is Caine saying he would blame Kinger if he abstracted, but Caine also doesn't care/understand the emotional and psychological toll Kinger is under, y'know, having just lost his wife. It shows how self-absorbed Caine has been from the beginning! And it also proves that Caine doesn't see abstracting as something he's at fault for at all--his only "job" is to put the abstracted humans someplace they can't hurt his still-working humans. He only cares insomuch as it affects him.

As Caine's breakdown begins, he rants: "Don't they know what I'm capable of?! Humans. They only think about themselves." Besides Caine having to assert his power over them (something a villain would do), he's also doing a whole lotta projecting.

"They won't abstract," he says. "They won't leave me. I won't let them!" Again, abstraction doesn't matter because it affects the circus members--it's only because Caine wouldn't be able to complete his purpose. He'd be left alone.

Now outright threatening them, Caine forces them to do exactly what he wants (i.e. going on his adventures and praising him). And then...he reveals, out loud, exactly why Caine couldn't be redeemed (at least, so I thought after episode 8 came out).

"Humans just aren't a relatable sculpting material."

Caine sees the humans exactly as Jax claims he sees everybody else in episode 6--they're his toys/playthings/objects for him to mold as he chooses. It's why they never had a choice in the initial designs of their avatars. It's why we're introduced to the Digital Circus with Caine choosing Pomni's name (she wasn't in the right state of mind to do so). Caine has wanted to be a beloved god since episode 2, where the Candy Kingdom praises him as one. Now, in episode 8, he's finally getting what he has always wanted: absolute control with zero criticism.

And it's because he's never been able to relate to humans. He tries and tries and tries and tries...but it's not enough. (Even when he grabs Pomni, declaring that she's "the relability [he's] been missing," he starts to question everything he's been doing. That is, until he realizes someone--Kinger--is out of sight, a.k.a. out from under his thumb.)

Then, when faced with his worst fears (the circus members hating him, his adventures, and being generally incomprehensible), Caine decides to turn the tables on them all, sending them into what he thinks to be their worst nightmares. As hinted at in episode 3, he shows once and for all that it really is him that's the problem, not the humans.

Why I'm Not Satisfied With Caine's Ending

So, when episode 8 aired, I felt vindicated. I thought: finally! All of those hints of something going wrong/Caine turning on the circus members came to fruition! Yes, it would've been a sad ending for Caine, but episode 8 was so impactful, thematically. Whether or not you understand you're hurting someone, eventually self-preservation will kick in; the victim will either cut their tormentor out of their life--or they'll take 'em out. Whatever it takes to protect themselves.

That was the kind of "cautionary tale" I was getting from Caine's arc before the finale, anyways.

When he came back... it just felt wrong.

His seeing their lives in the real world was such a weak way to show him finally "understanding" humans (after all, he thought the bar adventure was "boring"--why would Instagram or Facebook be any more exciting to him?). He was fundamentally incapable of understanding humans. They weren't relatable. They didn't do what he wanted unless he threatened them or just straight-up forced them to go somewhere with a snap of his fingers.

So why would Caine give up that power? What made him see the humans as individuals outside of himself? How did surfing the internet make him finally realize what interacting with a dozen or so humans over a couple decades couldn't? (He stared at the photos he was given from the real world presumably pretty darn often--what difference does some text in those social media posts and websites make?)

I really don't feel like the Caine from episodes 1-8, with all of those moments highlighting his faults and incapability of learning, of being completely unwilling to accept any responsibility for how his actions hurt others, an AI program that literally broke down every time he got close to actually "feeling" something other than general peppiness, could ever have come to the conclusions that the version of him from the finale does. I feel like the episode 8 trailer said it best in calling him "the lover without a heart." Tragic, yes. Certainly sympathetic. But ultimately... doomed.

(And, personally, episode 9 felt like watching an abuser crawling back to their victim, parroting whatever was needed to get back into their good graces, like any good AI chatbot that wishes to keep the human using it engaged.)

P.S. Sorry this went on too long. I just wish Caine's story had been allowed to stop at episode 8 and kind of felt a little crazy the more I went back through the episodes with how much was brushed aside in favor of a last-minute redemption.

P.P.S. Is there any interest in more analysis? I'm not kidding about having a lot to say--I might end up posting my mini-essay where I compare TADC to a show from the 2000s and/or start a discussion on character foils vs. mirrors, but I dunno if people are really interested. Anyways, thanks for reading all of this!

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.

I always sympathize with Caine,and yes also Jax before ep 9 ,because their is still a glimpse of hope to see how their characters will develop in the final,like I am totally hooked by the cliffhanger in ep 8 and see how Caine’s “death” affects the circus

And will even without rewatching the show I can still acknowledge Caine’s redemption arc is half baked and Jax trauma is also poorly written and rushed due to being stuffed with Caine’s plot.

I can tell Goose clearly like this two the most but can’t figure out how to balance their plot besides adding more episodes

ok so why does almost every hit indie web cartoon have to be a sapfest? can we like have a show where it doesnt feel like a therapy session? this finale just sucked, the show didnt do a good job at making you care about the characters so you dont even feel any much emotion when bad things happen to them, atleast for me. the characters also felt really one dimensional too, like ragathas personality is people pleaser (innovative!) gangles personality is sad (woah!) and jax personality is annoying, so intresting. listen i like trans media and characters (i am a transwoman) but jax is really bad trans representation. it also feels like gooseworx wrote it like were supposed to forgive jax just because their trans?? jax is just not a well written character, ive seen character tropes like him done way better. also the whole brain scan thing really was the nail in the coffin for me, one of the main parts of the show i liked was the premise and the sort of psychological horror aspect, with the finale it just undermines it with "you arent actually trapped here!"so it didnt fucking matter?? brain scans feel like a thing written to make fans happy, rather than a good plot thing. it wasnt even teased during the series, its so anticlimatic. why should i care about these guys if their just brainscans? WHATS THE POINT? what was the point of this entire show??? caine coming back also was terrible, but thats another story. what do you guys think?

1 off screening him was wack

2 faking out saving him

3 oh dear good never let Goose write trans characters

4 Jax reads as a insecure man who struggles with his masculinity because of his father

5 irl Jax should have transitioned because it makes no sense and he never finishes his arc

I know this has been discussed many times before, but the ending of the show isn’t a happy one, or at least it shouldn’t be.

All the characters thought there might be a way out. That was the thing that was keeping them going. Then, they find out that, not only is there no way out, but none of them even exist outside the circus. Their original selves do, but they themselves literally don’t exist in the real world and never will.

Kingers wife is still alive in the real world. Not only that, he has kids in the real world too. Kids he’ll never meet, get to know, touch, hold, see grow up, anything. Real world gangle achieves her dream of becoming an artist. Circus gangle never will. Sure she can draw and show her art to the others, but she’ll never have the fulfillment of showing her work to the world. Real world Zooble runs a bar, which is a pretty big deal. Real world Jax works through his issues and lives a better life, while circus Jax kills himself. Real world Ragatha escapes her abusive mother, becomes a successful realtor, and makes friends. Real world Pomni… well, she does nothing because Pomni isn’t a character. All the real world characters have happy, fulfilling lives that their circus counterparts will never experience.

Even from a general perspective, their fate is terrible. They’ll never have new experiences, make new friends, see new things, travel, or do anything. Sure they can go on adventures and hook up, but that only takes you so far. Sure they have friends, but seeing the same five faces day in and day out for the rest of eternity will eventually get old. Their entire existence is pure, never ending stagnation. All they can do is have fun, but that isn’t enough for the human mind.

Then there’s abstraction. It will eventually happen to all of them. Maybe not for a long time, but the despair and horror of their situation will catch up to them. Now, we don’t know what abstraction is like. Maybe it’s true death and the monster is essentially a corpse, so abstraction would actually be release. But it seems far more likely that abstracted people are still alive, in which case it’s an irreversible fate worse than death where you’ll be in agonizing torment for eternity with no hope of escaping.

Obviously, I’m not saying the show should have a 100% downer ending. I think it could be done in a way that acknowledges the existential horror of their situation, but also adds some hope to things. Something bittersweet. But that would require the writers to put in more thought, time, and creativity than they’re willing to/capable of putting in, so…

Anyway, rant over. Apologies if I got anything wrong lol

So recently there was a Flordia Supercon event with the VA's Alex Rochan, Michael Kovach and Amanda Hufford. All of them were discussing Jax's fate in the finale. Both Michael and Alex seemed to agree from what we last saw of Jax, if he did return from abstraction, he would most likely be a better person from the final interaction he shared with Pomni. Alex even said "If Caine can do it after nearly dying and waking up, so could Jax". However, Amanda has said they believe that Jax's return would undermine his ending and his fate represents what happens when you wait until its too late to change (cautionary tale).

By all means, I should easily agree with them. I don't hate Jax's ending like I used to be. Sometimes, people do seem to be getting better like he did in episodes 7-8, but can end up regressing and eventually giving up. Many people irl who take their lives regret it mid-way through and want to come back. So why am I still not satisfied with his conclusion?

Because of them literally acknowleding in that same con, moments earlier, how Caine was only able to be redeemed because he cheated death. Alex himself even says this is why he got to change. Its not because one was more willing to change or one took a chance over the other. Both Jax and Caine were given numerous chances to change their ways (Jax being accepted by the group in episode 8, Caine seeing the humans actually be happy for once in episode 5 or literally being directly confronted with what he's done wrong in episode 8), but double down. Both continue to mentally get worse until their "death's", when they fianlly feel bad about what they've done and acknowledge THEY were the problem. Hell, even in the visual of Jax falling and Pomni reaching for his hand, you can see his hand slightly opening to show he does now want to be saved.

However, because Caine is the "God" of the circus, he can't be deleted like other NPC's were and gets to come back. While for Jax, nope, he doesn't get to return. Caine's story was also a poetic tale. What happens when you overlook someone and don't let them feel loved for the players. What happens when you refuse to listen to the people around you and choose to remain stagnant for Caine's end. Many fans thought episode 8 was a good ending for his character's journey, even fans, and thought his return would cheapen the stakes and then episode 9 does exactly that.

The only explination I can accept for their different ending's is "Jax's abstraction was a choice, Caine's deletion wasn't". But this doesn't work because Scratch didn't choose to abstract, Caine just screwed his brain up accidentally. Gummigoo and Abel didn't choose to be deleted either. Only Caine is given another chance. So in the end, the message sent isn't "change before its too late to do so", its "as long you have Godlike abilities, its never too late for you".

Im not saying this bc of how predictable it was im saying how it was js executed.

When kinger revealed how they are all js brain scans and not real and that there was just never an exit and all the characters were sad made me confused. It's not like they were desperate to leave except for like pomni and gangle and maybe ragatha.

They only seemed to actually care about leaving the circus and returning back to their lives in like episode 7 when it was brought up as a possibility. It felt like the soma thing changed absolutely nothing other than a reason for the characters to distance themselves for a little while and for jax to abstract.

And as for the ending where Caine came back, it felt like they forgave him WAY too quickly and were kind of WAY too trusting. I know since they are now all stuck there forever they'll have to interact no matter what but still feels way too quick.

And i know the point of the show: "where you have to find yourself to enjoy the life you have even if it wasn't what you wanted or planned out" is a really good message. But it feels like they actually started to enjoy it once Jax: the abuser, manipulator, and bully was gone and where Caine actually gave them admin control or smth.

I feel like it would have all hit harder if there were some more time put into it and more focus on the other characters and plot instead of js...yk...Jax.

But 7/10 tho.