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.

Hi! So while watching I came up with these questions and I want to see if anyone has genuine answers to these question. Please feel free to post your answers and questions and opinions!!

For context I felt neutrally about the finale. I didn’t like it, but I also didn’t not like it. I feel like there were good and bad parts that just made up a mediocre whole. Well anyway here are my questions/points:

1. Pomni not going after Jax when he said nevermind
2. Not explaining any of the loop holes like who is the blue AI
3. Why couldn’t they find a way to save Jax and all the other abstracted people when Caine gave them free rein and control of the world?
4. How severely they downplayed and got over being MENTAL COPIES of real humans
5. How they instantly just let Caine back in ngl
6. How we didn’t get to see Jax abstract when in ep 7) We had that whole acid trip sequence (they could’ve saved that for this episode when he actually abstracted)
7. When they all started learning how to control the world with Kinger like in the beginning of the episode they excluded Jax when all Pomni wanted to do for 8 episodes was show him he’s loved and include him even when he pushed her away???
8. I also hate how they literally have free reign now and decided to keep the abstracted people as pets and entertainment instead of trying to fix them or find a way to bring them back from wherever they are mentally (if they could)
9. On that topic why was Jax almost brought back mentally and then the group pulled Pomni off and he stayed abstracted? What if they hadn’t pulled her off and Jax went back to being who he was before? He could’ve changed his ways and forgiven himself. He said he didn’t want to go. There could’ve been a scene where they all hug Jax and he turns back and we realise that forgiving yourself or like hacking into your code rewires it and you can come back from being abstracted or a glitch.
10. They also made it a Jax focused episode. It wasn’t the amazing Jax it’s the amazing digital circus. They were all fucked mentally. And they just led with him? It should’ve focused on how they all should push through together.
11. It was very abrupt how they showed him abstracted. Like he was walking away from Pomni then we get this random voice over from her saying she should’ve pried harder. And that’s it. It should’ve been a whole flashback episode like if Jax had to stay abstracted like they all find a way out and Pomni is telling someone else what she experience.
12. Also where is scratch? He’s seen on the stage and then never seen again.
13. Who/What is C&A?
14. Also if Pomni was supposed to mirror the women in his life (I.e Ribbit and his mother) why wouldn’t they make that clearer? Sure you can go back and when he pushes her in ep 8 he looks at the same hand he looks at when he pushes his mom but I mean you can make it more clear. You would have to go back and watch it to connect the dots between how he acted with ribbit vs Pomni vs the little we got from his interactions with his mother.
15. Also it was, in my opinion, that he was supposed to be in love with ribbit bc he opened up to her like he did Pomni and he pushed ribbit away like he did Pomni. So if they were supposed to be in love why not make it apparent? Why drop hints and not go all the way? Sure it’s because he wants to be safe and he’s a cagey person but he starts to open up and then pushes them away but Pomni was the only one who pressed and they had the perfect opportunity for a funnybunny kiss: right before he exploded and became a full abstraction when they pulled Pomni off.

I’m sorry if this is a lot or like a little all over the place it was a text conversation and I wanted to see if anyone here had the answers for me. Please let me know what you think!!!🥹

Ig I have to add this but this is RANT. I wrote this on a whim... It's public info. You don't gotta go looking for it. No one's forcing you to. Like no ones forcing you to read this RANT. I've started adding sources to the things I could link. Shit man.

Why is this like the 4th "indie" show I've seen Jax's VA in...?
... Okay, I get that when you're a VA you have to try out for literally anything and everything just to get by but he's genuinely turning into the Rock of voice acting.

Isn't the whole deal with "indie" shows is to be better than big corporations and hire diverse actors..? Like I get it, the better person is going to get the role but still..

And speaking of diversity, respectfully, the cast is a very milky white... Especially the main cast. The most diversity is in the extras or special guest roles such as Disappearing Guy (yes he has a VA, Katawut Hongthong), the Candy Princess (Vera Tan), and Queenie (Cassie Ewulu). I'm not trying to come off as whiny and complaining about the casting choice because I wasn't in the room where it happened but it's a little weird to me.

The General Controversies
I don't care if it happened years ago. I don't care if you don't think the situation isn't that serious. I don't care. It still happened.

Omg, the "nega" incident and the people defending it to the death get on my nerves... In the stream it all started with just a username where Zooble's VA read it out and it happened to sound like the n-word. I believe Ashely apologized because it was bait. And I personally think it should've been left at that. But then someone in the stream (I don't remember who) brought it up again through the shirt. To me it should've been a short "haha".
Tell me why literally everyone in that stream laughed for a minute straight... Banging on the tables??? Out of breath laughing?? Like this is the one and only time I'll say that the joke wasn't that funny... Like hello? What's so funny about that huh?

Then they KEPT repeating "nega" after that. Then there were people after it came out saying it was short for negative. If it was short for that it surely wouldn't have been that funny, no? Like let's be so fr, they were laughing because it sounded like the n-word. It was funny to them because they could say something that sounded like the n-word... I know they apologized but the tadc fans jumping on anyone who dared to still criticize the event (especially POC) is crazy? Like (extreme example coming up), imagine someone is shot or something. When they react to loud noises would you tell them to get over it just because it happened (insert number) years ago? No..? Because it's totally insensitive. So, it can be applied for situations like this.

Michael's digital footprint deserves it's own section because omg. He voiced in a video about Anne Frank and Goku??? He made a "rap" song with a friend where I believe he said the actual n-word multiple times and I'm sure there's more that just hasn't resurfaced. For all times he's apologized sure, but if it's something that just keeps happening over and over it should become a little concerning.
: VA Rapping (censored) VA Rapping (Uncensored)
Goku and Anne Frank

Kinger's VA, I know he was cleared from talking to a minor or something like that. But he still does/used to joke about pdf multiple times I believe. Like some stuff is just edgy but some stuff is weird, y'know.
Short Explaining the Situation

Gooseworks...
Oh, Gooseworks. Just scrolling through her Twitter she's already proves her character. Again, there's a veryyy clear line of being edgy and just straight sexist, fascist, racist, and maybe even just insensitive.
I'm not too sure what the context of this was, but I believe she tweeted out saying something along the lines of, "hey! We all say some weird stuff behind closed doors or with our friends that we'd never say publicly".
I mean... Yeah...? But not like you...?
Because even if you say she's just got edgy humor, you gotta admit she has said some wild stuff. I clearly remember one time she's tweeted, "yeah I'm racist."
Edit: Apparently that was taken out of context.
... Uh. Like if she was going to start a show, she could've at least had the liberty to wipe some of that stuff because Twitter is a public platform.. Y'know..?
And I could go on and on about the tweets she's made while the show was going on? Hella unprofessional. And answering tweets from fans is what established those parasocial relationships which caused more problems for her and the cast.
Especially when she'd speak out about stuff about the fandom. When Michael said that people were making his voice with AI, she spoke out. I'm not saying anyone should have their voices fed to AI ofc.. But when the "nega" incident had happened she literally didn't say sht. Mind you, she was watching that stream and joked about it as well.

I know the joke is over used... But talk about the Amazing Digital Footprint 💔

But yeah. That's my big rant. I apologize if certain points don't come across right or don't make sense. I've learned that I'm not too good at articulating my thoughts in word form. So.. Yeah.

Edit: did people not read the flair? It's criticism. This is a criticism sub btw, I'm not the only to say all of this btw. Tell me to touch grass ain't gonna help y'know. I'll still have my thoughts after touching grass. And I am perfectly well.

Not just talk about person change their gender, i assume, it also will change genre to nothing like the "i have no mouth and i must scream" reference. i can't explain more, but i can see it.

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: 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 weren't as prominent, (the only example I can remember is the maid dress) which kind of led to me thinking they were more of 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 a little too divorced from the main premise of the show. I think that's also why a lot of people are taking such issue with the segment taking so much of the runtime.

I feel like Jax's story could've just been a show on it's own, where he was the protagonist from the start and it was able to focus on his gender identity issues in a more fitting setting.

Let me know if you think I'm just being stupid and didn't pick up on things

Especially when the fans treat those posts like Canon Law.

It was a bad finale. No amount of "She's tired, shes mad at the Fandom, shes sad" will stop it. She had it planned some time in advance because she can't write finale's. She's not a good writer. This is the Goose show so of course it became the "Jax and Caine and friends" show. Its about her. It leaves SUCH a bad taste in my mouth.

She's not a good writer LIKE AT ALL and I think that's why she despises lore so much. It would show the fact that she can't write as well as her Fandom seems to think. Besides, she can't write her characters that well. Trans Jax, for instance, feels odd. Here's why: one of the main points a trans jax defender uses is when Jax wore a maid dress and looked uncomfortable. She has already admitted that that is her kink. She likes that. Doesn't anyone else find that INCREDIBLY ODD? (not the fact that she has fetish, that she included it and said, my opinion, lied, that he had things he didn't want to admit.) And when Kaufmo abstracted, on his wall was an open-mouthed Caine eating him and when Jax reached into Caine's mouth. Also her kink. The fact that she relates to Jax but killed him off and showed everyone else being happy he's gone.

I hope this doesn't come off as transphobic, its not my intention, but looking back the entire show feels like trans-suicide-porn for us to feel bad for her. (MODS, don't ban me pls)

Apologies for the shitty MS paint markup.

Me and my brother had discussion on this scene after watching the finale because it didn't make sense to us what in the bloody hell Jax meant by getting into his head when we were confirmed that the flashback was the same scene in episode 9. This Bugs Bunny wannabe....

Tadc is driven by its characters, meaning they should naturally move the plot/show forward since we're not focused on the lore of the circus. Pomni is the main character and she serves that purpose well in the first 4 episodes by being the viewers' POV, interacting with the others so we get to know them better and reacting realistically to her new and confusing environment while subtly growing more confident and asserting herself and showing her leading skills later on. That, in my opinion is what makes Pomni a good protagonist.

Jax on the other hand, does the exact opposite of that. He doesn't interact with the others unless it's to bully and poke fun at them, and since a lot of characters who stand up to him get shut down quickly there are no interesting back and forths or any clashing dynamics cuz he's not allowed to face consequences (the couch scene, Pomni defending him from Ragatha, on top of other scenes where he either shuts up people effortlessly or just does what he wants without any push back) and on the latter half of the series his interactions are even more limited cuz he's always depressed, quiet and isolating himself from the others just cuz they don't react to his bullying anymore, he's also an unreliable narrator and can't be trusted. And worst of all, he doesn't develop or progress naturally at all and that in turn hinders the show's progression and keeps him stuck in the same spot. The others characters have to stop what they're doing and drag him by the ears for him to actually DO something purposeful that directly influences him or the others (and no I won't count him throwing Gangle's comedy mask in ep3 or him dropping Pomni into the backrooms cuz those are just "the plot demands it" moments that could've easily led to something else entirely). Combining that with how much screentime and focus he gets makes for a boring/frustrating character to watch with a disappointing resolution to his story (even if you're happy he died, his past's still pretty generic and a bit underwhelming compared to all the build up)

Kinger on the other hand has much less screen time, but is more likeable and important to the plot since he's one of the circus's developers, Caine's creator and has no problem interacting with the others.

Not only do we learn more about him in a handful of scenes than we do with Jax, who we learn almost everything important about him in the finale. He also affects Pomni (and Ragatha) positively by being comforting and giving advice, and whenever he and Pomni interact, they're always moving the plot forward. His talk with Pomni in ep3 helps her (and us) see him as more than just a crazy old man while telling us about his past (and Queenie) and advising Pomni to be more considerate of those around her. This moment in turn builds their trust (shown in ep7) as well as leading to her taking matters into her own hands in episode 8 and leading the others with his help to try to escape the hell Caine's been putting them through.

With Jax however, when focus shifts towards him in ep5, the other characters get sidelined for the sake of him and Pomni being "friends". Pomni goes from being empathetic and caring about everyone to only caring about Jax. She shuts Ragatha down when she stands up to Jax, she changes the way she talks and acts in ep6 to match his so he'll like her more, when he FINALLY almost gets consequences in episode 8, she once again defends him and shuts everyone else down, in ep9 she sees how he drove TWO of his "friends" to suicide, those weird questionable scenarios in his head as well as his rude lines towards her and she STILL cares for him and hugs him and is even shown to still care about him in the end.

Jax is not as complex or interesting as people claim he is, he's a boring, badly written abusive character who gets way more attention and grace than he deserves, and the show has to bend over and backwards to defend him and for him to actually have a purpose and be interesting, cuz on his own he's a nothing burger and there are a LOT of other characters in different medias that handle the tropes he represents in a much better way (and even the other tadc characters are more interesting than him if their stories were given the same amount of care his got).

Strength in numbers, multiple brains are better than one, there is no I IN TEAM

IF this show had more than one writer, someone to work with Goose on these complex things she’s trying to implement I believe we would have a much cleaner finale