If you don't mind me chiming in with some thoughts on Abel… while watching I kinda just assumed Kinger didn't recognise the name because Abel was a name he chose while in the Circus, and so Kinger possibly never knew him under the name of Abel (especially since Abel claimed to have kept his distance from the other players so as to not let Caine notice him).
I also kinda feel it was weird for Caine to create a adventure which seemed to specifically toss suspicion onto Kinger and exclude him (although granted; that could just to be stopping Kinger from potentially calling BS).
Plus the ending showed Caine was very much able to alter the minds of players, so he could very well have just caught and lobotomized Abel if he was real.
Maybe am too optimistic/overthinking, but I guess I kinda thought the "it was all a Caine game" reveal might potentially have some holes in it.
I didn't trust that fucker from the start. TADC is NOT a show that hands out information; we only know the word CnA from looking at backgrounds ffs. We don't get flashbacks in TADC. We don't get storybook aesthetic backstory. We get gorgeously lit bar scenes where they talk genuinely and honestly about their lives in very real ways, or muddled memories in the dark. TADC says a lot about important conversations constantly.
I've been rewatching the episode and Abel is actually VERY suspicious when you give him a second thought. Lemme lay it down because it took me a bit to put my finger on why:
-Abel is constantly trying to push the agenda that Caine is suffering and a prisoner and it's Tragedy that they will be leaving him behind. Like I get the vibe on reflection that he's trying to guilt trip them with what *Caine* sees this decision as, "a tragedy"
-Gives little credence to the abstractions at all. "I don't know what will happen to all these people I've supposedly been watching parasocial-y for years live and love and then abstract but let's forget about that"
-I'm equally so fascinated by the choice that Caine seems to have made to throw Kinger into suspicion in this plotline of his. I understand that if Kinger was listened to he could tell everyone that 'Abel' is spewing bullshit but it feels oddly vindictive. I wonder if Caine is jealous of how Kinger is so respected in the group?
While Pomni and Ragatha are the only ones close to him, Zooble and Gangle treat him like any older man with mental issues, they listen actively to him and try to keep him safe and keep him happy. That's more attention than Caine gets from literally anyone ever. Maybe he was trying to chew on their bonds a bit to try and create distance?
-I don't think Abel is completely lying. Abel is trying to make Caine as endearing as possible to the others, playing up how deeply he cares about his adventures, the fact that he reboots himself twice when he was happy when we've never seen that happen, it's always been distress, etc. He mentions Kinger twice despite somehow having 'beef' but mentions Caine like three or four times. Caine committing to a bit is probably true too.
-The fact that they all landed perfectly into the tube- you'd think that part would be out of bounds, it'd be brittle and easy to break. But it's supposedly super easy to do?
-Caine's feeling at his most terrified rn. We see how badly those results last ep fucked him up. I think this was Caine trying to give himself a sort of, like, comfort pep talk? Because Caine refuses to consider the negative, he DELEGATES CREATION IN HIS ADVENTURE to Bubble. Like he is so fragile that if they went to Shrimptown I think Caine would've lost his entire mind.
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