24/06/2026
I have observed the final episode of The Amazing Digital Circus
with my own Eyeballs. and I have had some time to stew my Opinions.
Firstly. Positives. I very much enjoyed everything Kaufmo did and said. Honestly the best payoff in the entire show lol. Good reuse of the theme song again, very nice very cyclical good writing yes yes. Soundtrack is all very good. The theme again at the end with a happy and integrated Caine did make me feel the Joy. And also the frame of Zooble punching the wall is so unintentionally hilarious to me that I'm calling that a Pro. And Ragatha tearfully going 'Ribbit'... hehe...
Overall, I would not consider the final product of this episode disapointing, since all its problems were present from earlier in the series, just bigger.
Now to Hater mode time. The pacing was complete bananas. The Pomni voiceover out of nowhere felt like a lazy attempt to fix the pacing issues they had found themselves with. And it didn't even work oof. The Jax flashbacks took up sooo much time. And really take away from anything else the finale is trying to do. Caine's big Staircase sequence was visually uhh fine, but it was so very drawn out, especially with all the repetition of breaking a wall. Breaking a wall again. And I am fine with unclear scenes, but the overlaid scene from the past felt heavily implied to be happening at the same time, so it made for an unclear first watch until I was informed of what it was actually trying to do After the fact. It could've been much more clearly shown that these are Two distinct events happening, like having them be Mostly similar instead of Exactly similar. Oh well. And then we speedrun through to Forgiveness and now everything is solved with Caine now hooray. And also offscreen Jax abstraction??? Great?? I understand the shockvalue of it, but we didn't even get to see people reacting to it having happened. And they are really overly chilled about the danger of the situation, which lessened the affect more. It also super jars with the majorrrrr time we spend with Jax after this. So it all adds up to Abstraction in the end. The obvious fix is to have the mega flashbacks *before* the sudden abstraction, then it carries the momentum and it is still a shock in its suddenness but it has precedence. And also Pomni witnessing all the memories feels like a slightly janky and too-convenient way of communicating all this stuff.
Things which were set up over the whole series as important had no payoff or were forgotton? Why is Caine just alive again? The entire climax of the best episode in the show is just glossed over? Not even a single line with a half-assed explaination, just nothing at all. No reaction from anything about it. And Pomni's glitching hand was visibly there when she was trying to summon a circle, but never came of it? What was Bubble about, was she just a 1-1 of the Blue Dot AI? What was the Blue Dot AI for? Why does releasing Blue Dot AI fix anything?
The "reveal" of them being brain scans. He just. says the word. If I hadn't accidentally stumbled across a theory video about them being brain scans, I would've been Extremely confused at what it was trying to tell me. But then they essentially speedrun the fallout from this reveal in a montage, and quickly adjust to it. I understand wanting to have mysteries throughout the show, and keeping a few for the very end to reveal, but this really feels like it should've been revealed earlier in the series, even just one episode before the finale. To actually give it time to stew. Because revealing it, feeling sad for a bit, and then Oh our actual huamn selves are out there being happy so this is a happy ending now. Did not feel earned. It would've made more sense to me if their outside lives were going bad, so they could be happy about a second chance in the circus? The Overly happy ending is just very jarring to me. Particularly after how heavily the final episode was teased to be a killer.
And now onto the Jax of it all. I understand the intention. A self-hating character who pushes everyone away and does terrible things, that is meant to be more understood then sympathised with. A cautionary tale in not reaching out yada yada. Howeverrrrrrrrrrrrr. This was not a successful version of That. The narrative failed at holding Jax accountable for Anything. Not in that he is not Punished (he abstracts of course), but the consequences of his actions don't have the weight they should. It treats Gangle's experience of constant abuse as essentially unimportant, it is brought up in a single conversation and then never again. Of course Gangle should want to mourn Jax! Of course, why wouldn't she?? And it is ultra distasteful how previously the show even attempted to equate Ragatha's "fake niceness" problem with anything Jax had done. And by having Pomni never have met Ribbit and Kaufmo, it let's her off the hook for considering how being friends with Jax would affect the people he hurt. How can she be friends with both Jax and Gangle at the same time without it being a Major Insult to Gangle. I really hate how self-hating Jax makes everyone become. Not just Gangle, but by everyone else tolerating and not meaningful pushing back against his Antics (except Zooble), it just lets it happen. We would have a very different Jax if the rest of the cast were not the most Permissive group of individuals ever.
"Isn't she lovely?" No she was the worst in fact. Trans Jax is of course cannon and made clear with a big ol bow on the head, but And it's not like this changes much in my opinions. Misogyny isn't cute, even if it has an underlying "reason". Especially when more care is being taken to explore how being misogynistic affects the one dishing it out :( and not the actual recipients. Transitioning wouldn't have saved her.
The true moment my brain shorted out mid-watch was on the line "Having a lot of complex thoughts?" Character are you having complex thoughts character are you having emotions and motivations in this supposedly complex situation ???? This clunky line drove me over the edge. I know it's an overreaction over such a little thing but damn. I know this is the Talking to each other about your feelings show but please can they talk about their feelings in another way. And anyway it would make more sense for Gangle to feel conflicted about crying *for* Jax rather than *not* crying for him. On account of the abuse.
I don't actually think this is a bad show (despite all this rambling lol), it just suffers from a lack of multitasking. A conversation happens and all else comes to a screaching halt. Good music and very pretty visuals often. Highly Marketable character designs translate into pretty damn good character designs. Lots of fun moments throughout the series, probably still worth a watch as long as writing expectations are kept realistic. This show stirred enough in me to make me write all this at least lol. In conclusion, I should watch more Things that I Love.
a few days ago.
I am very happi to have succeeded at keeping up reading with my kindle.
It was a pretty good read.
I did pause on it for a while midway when it wasn't grabbing me as much.
It did pick up again once I got myself back into it. Definitely had a
different vibe being an earlier Pratchett book, with a bit more of parody stuff.
Not as good as Small Gods, but good enough for me to wanna read the later
Death series books if this is as weak as they get. And also Death is a silly
and I would like more of that teehee.
.
Which really had the opposite problem, where I was expecting something
light and shlocky from the cover, but it was much better.
Proper classic Stoker style, and more thoughtfully written than
I was prepared for. Very nice.
!
And it's first eurofighter, and so smooooooth. Hopefully it stays that way.
The stall was excellent and was really nice relief for weird chest tightness haha.
The restraints are basically perfect. Soft comfy lap bar, and still with
shoulder restraints so it doesn't feel too exposing, but still ultra roomy.
Big win.
but I did do it... I suppose... so I should be proud... or whatever...
two days ago yipeeee.
Excellent reading progress methinks.
Brutha is literally me fr.....
Lots of fun to read and made me feel the feelings.
out of 10. I have no idea what is
or isn't plausible in a semi-realistic sci-fi film like this, I typically
enjoy more silly billy space stuff, but still jood film.