tadc finale thoughts (spoilers!!)
overall i enjoyed the finale, and the theater experience (especially getting to go with friends and see cosplayers). i cried at least 4-5 times, the emotional beats got to me a LOT. everyone i went with felt very positively about it, so i'm pretty happy.
however... there's still some things i'm personally disappointed about, so i wanted to talk about those (bc i kind of can't irl, lol)
extreme spoilers under the cut:
the pacing felt off. there were some scenes that felt like they took way too long (like the hug and walk away with Pomni and Ragatha) without doing enough character development to justify it
i wasn't really surprised by anything? not like there needed to be a huge twist i guess. i predicted the mind files but hoped they would maybe add a bit more to it, but no. i believed Jax would abstract so strongly that i ended up thinking he wouldn't because it was too obvious (plus Gooseworx saying we wouldn't expect who abstracts. girl everybody expected that). Caine coming back also wasn't very surprising (i did think the free wifi bit was funny tho).
the only thing that actually did shock me was that Jax didn't come back from abstraction. i really dislike that he abstracted offscreen, especially after all this "friendship is the most important thing, we all have to stick together" stuff that ended up being basically the whole plot, but wasn't a strong enough message to prevent Jax from abstracting or get him back? I mean, after spending so much time in Jax's headspace (which I liked a lot, Ribbit was my favorite part of the finale), i really thought he would come back (the glowing light? I thought it was. friendship light. idk) and was honestly very disappointed when he both didn't recover and then was basically completely shunted aside for the rest of the movie. It makes sense to focus a lot of time on Jax as a main character, but even with that, he didn't really feel like a main character somehow? ig i just fail to grasp the message that this sends and how it's cohesive with the rest of the story. not everyone can be redeemed/you can't save everyone? i just love a redemption arc, so i was really hoping for that. why is this point so long Jax isn't even my favorite character
with the time spent (wasted? oof that feels harsh) on the weird pacing and Jax's stuff, there was basically no screentime left for anyone besides Pomni, Jax, and Caine (though Kinger and Ragatha did each get a moment with Pomni). I can't remember a single Gangle line tbh, I think Zooble spoke a couple times. I don't know that any character felt significantly more developed (besides Jax and Ribbit... but they're dead… so…) but also I don't really know what kind of development I expected. idk
I would have liked some more info on Caine and the original circus members, I feel like it wasn't completely resolved despite the reveal (Scratch in particular, and I want to know what Kinger was talking about when he mentioned Scratch's abstraction in ep. 7). Caine's redemption was nice but felt a tiny bit trite in that everything was a "nice resolution," no ugly feelings (besides Gangle's "complicated" ones i guess) or really any questions asked
rapidfire time:
Kinger doesn't need a bucket anymore, is that because he healed or was Caine messing with his mind?
Why is there still a blank mannequin bedroom without an X through it?
I wish there was a bit more Kaufmo expo, he didn't even tell a joke
it's nice but kind of convenient/facile that everyone's doing great outside the circus, but i'm not mad about it
im so sorry but Leeroy?? okay that was one suprising thing in the finale. what 20 year old is named Leeroy?? 😭😭
Was Bubble a remnant of the blue AI that was removed when Caine threw it away, or was he a manifestation of Caine's own negative self-talk that disappeared when he changed for the better?
i know this is really long and might make it seem like i hated the finale, but i really didnt (and i dont hate fun. i love fun, i love theories, i love mysteries and characters and relationships and bonding, etc). i just had a lot of thoughts to get out. i loved a lot of parts of the finale (like the fish at the beginning or Jax saying reality is gay, those were hilarious. i liked the end with the bus too) and i'm sad it's over :/
if anyone has any thoughts, feel free to comment or reblog with them! i'm really interested to see what the general fandom thinks about all this.
