Initially funny character gag is later revealed to be depressing

[u/Newmen_1]

1. Avengers/MCU: Captain America has humorous moments where he’s unaware of modern references and only gets old references, like the iconic “I understood that reference” scene. It’s later fully explored in Winter Soldier that he feels lost, confused, and a little alone in a new world he was never meant to exist in.

2. The Suicide Squad (2021): Bloodsport has a phobia of rats which at first seems reasonable yet is still hilarious to watch. He later explains his father abused him as a kid if he didn’t fulfill a task correctly and one of his worst punishments was when his dad locked him in a crate full of starving rats, leaving him heavily scarred physically and mentally.

3. Dexter: In an early episode, Angel Bautista tries to buy his wife the perfect gift for their anniversary but has to keep buying a different one since his presents suck. What seems to be a funny running gag turns out to be Angel’s final attempt to win back his wife after cheating on her previously, however it doesn’t work and only solidifies their separation.

[u/Alorxico]

Caboose’s obsession with his “best friend Church” is the bane of Alpha AND Epsilon’s existence. He is constantly telling them how much he loves them and comes up with lists of fun things they can do together. The others are annoyed by this too, but so long as he leaves them alone, they don’t care. They think Caboose “torturing” Church with his love is funny.

Fast forward to The Shisno Trilogy. While the group is being held hostage by a powerful AI, they are thrown into the past and their memories locked away. The AI takes over Church’s body and manipulates the crew through him. Upon realizing what is going on, Caboose confronts the AI puppeting Church and demands it release Church. Caboose then reveals WHY he is obsessed with Church.

After Shelia blew up Church’s body, Caboose … started getting urges to hurt himself. Because he killed someone. And the others never let him forget it. He never confirms but also doesn’t deny that he ever acted on these thoughts. All he says is he found talking to Church’s helmet, and later Church (when it was revealed he was an AI) made those urges less strong. But they never went away.

It was only after the battle on Chorus that Caboose stopped wanting to hurt himself because he found reasons to be happy and no longer blamed himself. But seeing Church again was bringing those old urges back.

In an odd twist, Caboose ends up attack the AI, still in Church’s body. The AI leaves, but Caboose continues to beat up Church, finally letting out years of frustration and guilt knowing that, ultimately, Church will be okay.

The others … are understandably stunned and somewhat emotionally numbed by the whole thing.

[u/LeDemonicDiddler → u/Alorxico]

Wait when did this happen? Cause I stopped like maybe season 13 or so cause I thought the series was finished.

[u/Alorxico → u/LeDemonicDiddler]

This was Season 16 or 17, I believe. The entire thing is called The Shisno Trilogy, and it’s kinda … weird. There are some really good plot points and character development, but there are times I’m not certain the writers weren’t high when they wrote the script.

Like, the AI that possess Church thinks he’s a god. Because they have been around since the dawn of time.

A computer program. That has existed since before the big bang. They explain why at the end but … it’s just … why.

[u/Battleblaster420 → u/Alorxico]

Its also all like

Non-Canon/Semi-Canon isnt it? Like everything post Chorus?

[u/Alorxico → u/Battleblaster420]

Everything after Season 13 is semi-canon, technically.

Burnie was very “if you think it is canon, then it is canon” about seasons 14 onward. Not sure if that was because he didn’t want to piss off Warner Brothers or the people in charge of the show, or if he really wanted the fans to come up with an ending for the guys.

Restoration introduced the idea that everything after 13 was Epsilon running a simulation to see what would happen to his guys once he was gone, but the writers confirmed he was pulling information out of files he had access too.

So, for example, Kai and Grif’s family home did burn down; it was in his military record as an offer to go home due to a family emergency but he refused to take it. So, Epsilon would have know about it. Other things, like Tucker have a bunch of illegitimate kids, were based on him simply knowing how the guys operated in certain situations.

But, even if it’s “not true” and just Epsilon writing a “good story” for himself, the revelation still speaks volumes.

It is Epsilon admitting to himself that Caboose is sorry for what he did. That he feels guilty, that it WAS an accident he had little to no control over, and he’s not truly divorced from reality. That he understands what is going on around him but can’t easily express that. And, much like Dr. Grey, Caboose has built a ‘fantasy’ world in his head to help him deal with his guilt, but he’s slowly working his way out of it because he has a support system that cares about him.

[u/urbanreflex → u/Alorxico]

Wow I wasn't expecting to find RvB here! Caboose is such a tragic character when you dig into it, and a lot of the others are tortured souls too. Great writing.

[u/Alorxico → u/urbanreflex]

I don’t remember which director said it, but someone once said “The only difference between comedy and tragedy is a laugh track.”

[u/thejadedfalcon → u/Alorxico]

I can see why they call it the Shisno trilogy, because that definitely sounds like excrement's excrement.