I think you make an interesting point about Kaufmo and his dynamic with the group as well. I agree; I don't think he'd be as overbearing as Ragatha, as she is presented with an almost obsessive need to bear the responsibility of anything and everything that goes on within the circus.
She directs a lot of blame inward, and as Kinger said, attempts to do a lot of the heavy lifting in relationships, even when it's not expected or necessarily wanted from her.
Even though Goose said that the pair were similar in personality, episode 9 has Kaufmo as more mellow. That might just be due to his lack of screentime, but in general, he does read to me as someone who is less anxious than Ragatha.
However, he also didn't seem to read too deeply into Jax and Ribbit's friendship. By this, I mean he understands how close Jax and Ribbit are- undoubtedly so- but I feel like he isn't necessarily concerned with the intricate details of their relationship.
It doesn't seem like he approached either of the two after he interrupted their talk in Ribbit's room. He also says:
"...we were friends, but I know you two were especially close...."
This line is a little interesting to me. Of course, they are friends, and Jax is shown to have been close to Ribbit and Kaufmo, but the language and especially the tone isn't conveying a super close bond to me.
I know grief could be a simple reason why Kaufmo sounds subdued, but to me, it doesn't convey the exact emotion for me to assume the characters have a grounded enough relationship to confide in one another.
I might not be making sense, but I'll try to explain a bit more.
While the show explicitly states that Ribbit and Jax are closer, the level of trust between them—specifically, the amount Jax is willing to give —is unstable. Jax's lack of trust is what directly causes his spiral and the downfall of some of the other characters.
With the amount of effort it took for Ribbit to trust Jax, or at least the effort the show implies it took, I'm not sure if Kaufmo was able to meet that level at the halfway point.
The scene immediately after Kaufmo's previous line is Ragatha attempting to comfort Jax after Ribbit's abstraction. However, unlike Kaufmo, Jax does not dismiss her with snark; he instead makes her promise to never mention Ribbit again.
A promise like that is an absurdly massive deal! Ragatha specifically tells him that it's okay to reach out to her, and, as twisted as it is, Jax has some level of trust with Ragatha that he genuinely expects her to keep her promise and never mention Ribbit.
As far as Jax knows, Ragatha has never mentioned Ribbit. She got close in episode 5—or at least he assumes she does—but still, the point remains: Jax legit thinks Ragatha has never and will never mention Ribbit again.
To me, that comes off as Jax does trust Ragatha more than Kaufmo. And I think the rest of the cast might have similar sentiments towards Kaufmo.
While I can't say this definitely because the show doesn't give us much on Kaufmo's dynamic with the rest of the cast, I find it worthwhile to mention that Gangle also was anxious for fake laughing at one of Kaufmo's jokes.
There seems to be a strain on the relationship, likely due to the drop in his mental health before abstraction. Despite this, Gangle seemed genuinely distressed and surprised that Kaufmo abstracted.
If that is her first time seeing an abstraction, it could also be the reasoning behind her reaction. However, while short, the funeral does imply that Gangle did care about Kaufmo.
There's not much to pinpoint about Zooble and Kaufmo's relationship either, but they were the ones to set up the funeral in the absence of the others.
Zooble was likely on decent terms with Kaufmo. However, I think that was the case for anyone besides Jax who intentionally went out of their way to cause trouble for them and the others.
I don't think they bonded too strongly with anyone beyond acquaintanceship until they developed something more with Gangle.
Though, once again, it caught my eye that Zooble was the one who took the initiative to set up the funeral. Not only that, but they were the ones to comfort Ragatha, offering her a shoulder touch. (*Miles Morales voice* Hey~)
However, I'm just noticing that there are multiple little moments sprinkled in the show of the two of them displaying a more subtle bond.
Kudos to @winterpeta1s for the images.
Once again, I can't definitively say if the characters would behave similarly to Kaufmo, like with Ragatha, as we just don't see it.
But, as of now, I think that while Kaufmo would definitely be less overbearing than Ragatha, I'm not sure if the cast would trust him any more.
I think Kaufmo could be easier to talk to during a post-abstracted Ragatha circus; that is to say, that his mental health doesn't nosedive into the nearest cellar. If he's sane but more bitter and irritable (especially towards Jax), I think the characters could find him more sincere and/or read his behavior a bit better.
However, I'm thinking Ragatha provides a sense of security that Kaufmo simply can't. Maybe it's because she has been there for everyone's beginning (minus Kinger). She knows things, and given that Zooble knows how to initiate the funeral, Ragatha likely taught them that and much more.
If she's been in the circus for nine years, it's only logical that the characters have learned something from her.
Not to say that Kaufmo can't also teach the cast new things to help them adapt. I certainly believe he's the type who likes to keep things light and fun for everyone. He likely used jokes to keep people happy, but, like with Ragatha, overthinking might've been the thing to bite him in the ass.
If he's insecure enough to notice that the others fake laugh at his joke, and the characters are aware of this, Kaufmo might not be as stable of a foundation as Ragatha is.
He'll likely try to keep the peace, but he's probably not going to be as intentional as Ragatha. To jump back to my earlier point, I'm assuming this more from the slim moments we see before and after Ribbit's abstraction.
Even in conversation, Kaufmo is more passive, almost neutral in sense. One of the many critiques I have of episode 9 is that, while we finally get to see Kaufmo, there are multiple points in the flashback where he does nothing but sit and smile. He doesn't add to the conversation with Ribbit and Jax—he does absolutely nothing!
This could be argued as an intentional design, but I honestly think it's a writing flaw. But to avoid another tangent, I'm going to say it is intentional. So, while a good guy, Kaufmo is a little absent in emotional or deeper conversations. He's content with just sitting there in the company of friends without exactly providing much.
As written, the character was honestly giving "stereotypical guy friend". But not in the annoyingly macho jerk kind of way.
I discussed this with my friend, but it kind of seemed like Kaufmo could fit right in with male groups who can hang out for years without any of them knowing each other's names. You know, the ones where dudes have to wait for someone else to mention their friend's name because they're too stubborn to ask? Yeah, those ones.
That's real, btw. Had a guy friend confirm that—and, honestly? What the hell, man? What y'all brothers got going on over there? 😭
Kaufmo also reads to me as someone comfortable in his masculinity. Maybe you could also argue that this is another reason for the difference in trust between Jax's relationships with Ribbit and Kaufmo.
Since Goose states that she wrote and foreshadowed Jax with a transfem narrative, I think it's reasonable to see why Jax also leaned more towards Ribbit. While he does, unfortunately, mostly target all the women in the series, he did trust Ribbit most of all to divulge his past and trauma.
A little off topic, but I thought it was noteworthy.
All this to say, while I think Jax trusts Ragatha more, I still do believe he considers Kaufmo a more favorable companion. That is before he turned unpleasant, as Jax said in episode 6.
While Kaufmo is not exactly presenting any extreme toxic masculinity, I think Jax would still find any excuse to cope by doubling down on his own toxic masculinity traits.
In the event of Ragatha's abstracting, Jax would likely reinforce these traits, even worse after Ribbit's death.
Another point I'd like to add, that Ragatha abstracting means she died and kept her promise of never mentioning Ribbit to the grave with her.
Something Kaufmo did not do!
I fully believe Ribbit and Ragatha would be an extreme topic of conflict for Kaufmo and Jax. However, we'd likely learn more about Ribbit and Ragatha much earlier on because Kaufmo made no promises to stop talking about either of.
And he would most likely never agree to do so with Jax. Especially if we want to imagine a scenario where Kaufmo is actively more antagonistic to Jax.
Those two are for sure feuding. However, unlike the (entertaining for us, but exhausting for the cast) arguments we see between Ragatha and Jax earlier on in the series, I think a fight between Jax and Kaufmo would be more heated and especially messy.
I don't think anyone wants to be near them and would rather stay clear of the crossfire than get involved. Especially if the confrontations are violent ones.
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