The Amazing Digital Circus [SPOILERS]

It was mid.

Wait wait, hold on, okay, let me explain.

Before I go into any further detail about TADC, you should know about my stance on it from the get-go. I've always found TADC to be extremely and safely middle-of-the-road. While later episodes do introduce changes and growth to the characters, much of the early episodes always had a habit of returning the characters to square one, no matter what; almost to the point where I felt like much of it could have been cut, reducing the show from 9 episodes to 3 or 4. I always feel like pacing has been a real problem with the series as a whole.

But before I continue down this road, I will say that episode 9 had good moments. I found the characters realizing they are only copies of real people and their journey to accept it was VERY heartwarming, definitely a highlight of the movie! I wanted to quickly point out this plot point right before I tear into the rest of it because I don't want it to seem like I hated every bit of it.

Anyways, the final episode didn't necessarily try to push everything back to square one, because the story wouldn't allow it, but it felt like they really tried to because they could not commit to a single direction. Everyone knew that Jax abstracting was coming, the writing was very much on the wall for it. The big question was: what would happen after? The two most noticeable paths were either going to be Pomni would save him, or he would be stuck abstracted forever. I think the writers and Gooseworx could see that crossroads coming, and were too afraid to commit to either. If Jax was saved, people may have complained that it was too happy an ending, where everyone is ok and at peace; If Jax was doomed to remain abstracted, then fans would complain that their favorite cringe boy is "dead."

"But wait," you say, "Jax and everyone did remain abstracted in the end, so isn't that the very commitment you're arguing is lacking?" Well, kind of. Sure, Jax and the previous characters remained abstracted, but the way Glitch and Gooseworx went about it felt like they REALLY wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Let's take a look at the full 20 minutes devoted to Pomni going through Jax's memories to reach him at the end and the dramatic hug and the blinding light. We get Jax's backstory, what happened with his friends, how he pushed them away, caused them to abstract, and hurt everyone one he ever loved. We saw his growing relationship with Pomni, how she influenced him, and how close they both became. It crescendos with Pomni holding a despairing Jax who cannot understand why anyone would forgive him, turning into a beacon of light, and Zooble pulling Pomni out at the last minute. What happened after that? Nothing. Nothing had changed. Pomni couldn't save Jax; he was still abstracted. Right back to square one.

The writers really wanted the best of both worlds: the dramatic moment of saving Jax from a grizzly fate while still keeping it tragic to avoid the perfect "Disney Movie" ending. They wanted both, couldn't decide on either, and I felt were afraid of the ramifications of committing to either path. What we got instead was an ending with Pomni's struggles to save Jax having no real meaning or purpose, no explanation as to whether or not that sequence of events had any impact, and a disjointed, ambiguous ending that felt unsatisfying.

All of this said, I will still stand by the idea that TADC was an impressive and laudable journey for Gooseworx and Glitch to make, and I'm glad they made it; I don't think they had enough time to really learn from previous episodes to come to a more compelling ending for the series also. All of that being said, I'm still looking forward to the other shows and series Glitch has planned, and hope they can improve their story-telling skills as they continue on their journey as an independent company of creators.

If you have a different view, let me know! I'm curious to see what other people's take on the finale are.

Also I was just told that there was HEAVY implications that Jax was transfem. So if me referring to them as "him" is incorrect then I'll change the pronouns accordingly.

I quite liked the episode and series in general, but both understand where you're coming from, but also think that most stuff afterwards felt a bit too forced to be a happy ending like a "alright, let's give the remaining ones an actual 'and they lived happily ever after' ending after what they went trough, else the fans complain it was too sad"

like

• welp, caine is actually still there, him disappearing was apparently his plan I guess, kinda out of nowhere
• WHAT WAS THAT INTERNET THING??? you're telling me a computer from like the 90s has wifi access? and for some reason it connects to a wifi network that has temporary access?? and he instantly knows how to use google? did he know or that that this was there at all?? this seems like such a big thing that was so out of nowhere and handwavey for this bit of character development
• he also has that moment with the moon that pretty much says again the npcs he creates are fully sentient beings that can develop on their own, and he looks surprised but very "ok I guess, whatever", without any introspection that besides torturing the cast he was also creating and erasing life on a whim for entertainment?

idk, kinda seems like they spent most of the effort on the being sad and jax part (which I mean, still absolute cinema) and planned on leaving more or less at that with a "and we will survive together" type of end, but then rushed for a better note where at least they get to see their outside life where they all were doing well, and get to live the rest of their existence hanging out, and caine gets to be liked

am not complaining for it ending in a good note with some closure, just that the specific way this one was made felt a bit rushed and quite a fast change of tone from the first half of the episode I guess

still a good series, I certainly congratulate gooseworx and glitch on such a big show

(...although the fortnite thing made me a little bit disappointed with them as a bit of a sellout, but this is not a discussion for here)

I quite liked the episode and series in general, but both understand where you're coming from, but also think that most stuff afterwards felt a bit too forced to be a happy ending like a "alright, let's give the remaining ones an actual 'and they lived happily ever after' ending after what they went trough, else the fans complain it was too sad"

like

• welp, caine is actually still there, him disappearing was apparently his plan I guess, kinda out of nowhere
• WHAT WAS THAT INTERNET THING??? you're telling me a computer from like the 90s has wifi access? and for some reason it connects to a wifi network that has temporary access?? and he instantly knows how to use google? did he know or that that this was there at all?? this seems like such a big thing that was so out of nowhere and handwavey for this bit of character development
• he also has that moment with the moon that pretty much says again the npcs he creates are fully sentient beings that can develop on their own, and he looks surprised but very "ok I guess, whatever", without any introspection that besides torturing the cast he was also creating and erasing life on a whim for entertainment?

idk, kinda seems like they spent most of the effort on the being sad and jax part (which I mean, still absolute cinema) and planned on leaving more or less at that with a "and we will survive together" type of end, but then rushed for a better note where at least they get to see their outside life where they all were doing well, and get to live the rest of their existence hanging out, and caine gets to be liked

am not complaining for it ending in a good note with some closure, just that the specific way this one was made felt a bit rushed and quite a fast change of tone from the first half of the episode I guess

still a good series, I certainly congratulate gooseworx and glitch on such a big show

(...although the fortnite thing made me a little bit disappointed with them as a bit of a sellout, but this is not a discussion for here)

I didn't even think about the computer omg xD

I think I'd be willing to let the computer thing go because that's a suspension of disbelief thing for me (though I do agree with you lol), but the whole Caine disappearing and re-appearing was a pretty wild move, I agree. I think Gooseworx saw how popular he was and was like "well I gotta keep him or the fans will get mad."

ALSO I DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT THE MOON AAAAAA

THIS SERIES HAD SUCH A RUSHED ENDING WHAT THE DICKS

Also I was just told that there was HEAVY implications that Jax was transfem. So if me referring to them as "him" is incorrect then I'll change the pronouns accordingly.

Not just heavy implications in the episode, followed by even heavier implications outside, it's now downright confirmed in one of the funnier ways to do so.

• welp, caine is actually still there, him disappearing was apparently his plan I guess, kinda out of nowhere
• WHAT WAS THAT INTERNET THING??? you're telling me a computer from like the 90s has wifi access? and for some reason it connects to a wifi network that has temporary access?? and he instantly knows how to use google? did he know or that that this was there at all?? this seems like such a big thing that was so out of nowhere and handwavey for this bit of character development

Gooseworx said that she thinks that everything that gets deleted ends up outside in the void, so that's the story behind that part.

As for the internet thing, I interpreted the whole void sequence, with him losing his power, as going onto the network, and the walls being literal firewalls. Presumably something else on the network has WiFi.

As for knowing what to do, well, someone might have told him at some point.

(...although the fortnite thing made me a little bit disappointed with them as a bit of a sellout, but this is not a discussion for here)

In a way, that's just what I expect from Glitch, their whole thing is funding animations and then merchandising the living hell out of them. I don't see any universe where they would turn down an offer with significant money attached. At least it's not a gacha game.

I think Gooseworx saw how popular he was and was like "well I gotta keep him or the fans will get mad."

The final episode was scripted ages ago, AFAIK.

---

Now, as for my feelings about the ending, I liked it. Not everything has to be explained. It had some touching moments. It both answered open questions, and left others dangling. It was, ultimately, a bittersweet ending. The whole social media thing felt a bit tacked on, but I also know that the final episode had a lot of things left out because of runtime. I enjoyed the whole Jax plot, and wouldn't change anything.

I still can't believe Gangle and Zooble fucked, and I still want to know how the hell that worked.