episode 8 being in a week has had me thinking about what's going to happen (obvi) so I wanted to write through some of my predictions.
(Spoilers)
So, since episode 7 ended with a sort-of confirmation that Caine either directly or indirectly affects how people abstract and can definitely manipulate peoples' minds, my inclination is to think that several members of the circus are going to be interested in either going to the basement, or getting some of the abstracted members back. Interacting with a previously abstracted member would the be the quickest way to confirm how total Caine's control is if they were able to get an abstracted member to the point where they could communicate again. In the trailer for episode 8 we saw a character who looks like Queenie, and a very confused or thoughtful Kinger, but I have a feeling this is a bit of a misdirection. I personally like the theory that was put forward that episode 8 might have a few flashbacks to when other characters arrived at the circus based on the image of Ragatha and Kinger, both looking very surprised to see each other. If this is true, I would be inclined to say that Queenie's appearance may also be a part of a flashback.
Back in epsiode 5, Pomni asked the other characters if they knew about Kinger's wife, but we only see Jax's reaction, a confused or surprised "Wha-?" before Zooble gives Kinger his drink, and Disappearing Guy enters the bar. We do not, however, see Ragatha or Gangle's reaction to this question. Since we know that Ragatha entered the circus before Jax, it is possible she's met Queenie.
To me, Kinger's appearance in the trailer behind Queenie doesn't quite seem like the current Kinger. His expression reads to me not really as confusion, but as thinking hard about something. While Kinger is still capable of having moments of lucidity, personally I think Queenie's appearance is most likely a part of a flashback, and possibly a part of the flashback including Ragatha. If the circus members begin talking about the abstracted circus members in episode 8 (possibly when they are all sitting on the couches and Jax is separate from the rest of the group) this might be why a flashback occurs, with either Ragatha or another character talking about the abstracted members and what they were like, or what caused their abstractions.
I think logically it would make sense for the circus members to talk at least a little bit about previous abstracted members in the context of trying to determine if Caine really does affect how people abstract. We also know that Jax has personal experience with abstraction and what happens in at least the beginning stages of it, though he may still be reluctant to talk about himself, and even if he is willing the other members may not want to hear him out given his actions in episode 7 and his pattern of behavior.
In the trailer we also see Caine popping many, many Bubbles, and some people have pointed out that we may be getting a plot point referencing the bubble boy virus. We also see in the trailer that the circus is glitching, either from Caine's mental state (as previously seen in episode 3 when he and Zooble are in their therapy session) or because of the issues with Bubble. I think this would also give the members the opportunity to try to find the basement or discover things in the circus, at least for a part of the episode.
However, given that most of the members might be more urgently concerned with escaping the circus or figuring out if they themselves have been altered mentally by Caine, I think that another way we could see a flashback is if different members are comparing their memories or common experiences to try to find a pattern or anything that seems out of place.
Finally, this isn't necessarily a theory on anything that might happen in the episode, but I think it's interesting that we see Pomni's mouth zip shut in the same way that Caine zipped Zooble's "mouth" shut in a previous episode. One thing I keep thinking about is that out of the circus members, Pomni is the most likely to hear out any sort of plea from Caine in regards to how he views his own sentience and "humanity". She has consistently been the character with the most empathy for other NPCs, and is also the character who has been the least tortured by Caine simply due to how much longer the other characters have spent in the circus compared to her. The fact that it appears that somewhere in the scene at the couches, Caine is there and zips her mouth shut is interesting, and I wonder if she's going to be the most likely character to speak to him/ be willing to entertain any of his explanations when he appears.
you know what. I think I should be allowed to temporarily turn into a seal and go swimming around in the ocean for a while. just submit a little note to work that says "sorry, I need to take some sick time, I am becoming a seal" and leave for a week