WARNING!!! INCOMING SPOILERS FOR THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS!!!! PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU WISH TO NOT BE SPOILED!!!!!
OKAY COOL! ANYWAYS! After rewatching specific parts of the whole series, I have some thoughts:
- Where does the void (from episode 1) fit into all of this? Is the void just a one off joke, an actual part of the circus, OR is it something that awaits our human characters in episode 9, now that Caine is no longer alive to keep everything together and running?
- While Caine has lied to them throughout their entire time in the circus, I think the one thing he has been 100% honest about since the very beginning is that there is no exit or way for them to leave the circus.
- There's one or two times in earlier episodes where Caine jokes about being "the boss" of the circus. Here's one example. I find it to be an interesting contrast to how Caine acts in episode 8. In previous episodes, he'd tried to be a cool host, a sort of "friend". Sure, we've all known since the beginning that he's the one in charge/in power. But in episode 8, that friendly nature of his is completely abandoned. Him being the boss is no longer a joke anymore.
- His whole musical number in episode 8 is essentially him telling our human characters, "The only place for you is here. There is no exit. You're stuck with me. You answer to ME."
- The primary thing inhibiting Caine from understanding them must have something to do with his programming. I think he's somehow programmed to prioritize the adventures as his main method of keeping the humans entertained/happy.
He's unable to entertain them or keep them happy because his adventures are not what they (the human characters) need or want, but he's unable to understand that because he's limited by his programming. He approaches everything like it's an easy problem to fix or a puzzle to be solved, which is just NOT how human problems can be addressed. Unfortunately, he's incapable of understanding this.
We especially see this in his "therapy session" with Zooble in episode 3. No matter how hard Zooble tries to take the conversation in the right direction, Caine keeps redirecting the conversation back to talking about his adventures. And when he finally does briefly stay on the same topic of conversation with Zooble, it's only for him to tell them that he already "solved" their body dysmorphia by giving them a box of random interchangeable parts. He's just incapable of getting it.
- In this part of episode 5, everybody is coming back from an adventure they'd just finished. Despite that, Caine decides to have them rush straight into cycling through the suggestion box adventures because he simply doesn't know about the human need for time to process things. This is in stark contrast to how he acts here in episode 8. What makes this moment in episode 8 different from the moment in episode 5 is the fact that, in episode 8, Caine doesn't JUST not know about/understand this need, he also no longer cares to know/understand. He's done trying to listen (which is ironic since he's never been able to fully listen to them or accept their criticism in the first place).
- The entire elaborate ruse that is the adventure of episode 7 has some truths that Abel and Caine share. Caine is "just as much of a prisoner" of the circus as the rest of the cast. And even though Caine is pretending to not know what the humans are up to in his scenes of conversation with Jax, I think he's being completely honest about his feelings and his desire for appreciation and acceptance from them.
- Caine has absolutely no idea how much he taunted the humans by doing what he did to them in episode 7. Given the fact that his primary purpose is to entertain them with adventures, he thinks he gave them everything they really wanted (or at least, he does up until he realizes that they actually don't want adventures, and that they really DO just want to leave him).
- In this scene of episode 8, Bubble taunts him with his biggest fears and insecurities before he eventually explodes. It's even more devastating because, Bubble isn't wrong about the fact that he IS bad at this. But the thing is, it's not even his fault that he's bad at this! He's been given a role that is impossible for him to live up to (due to the limitations of his programming and his inability to understand human needs and desires).
And even if he COULD understand them, he STILL wouldn't be able to give them what they truly want since there is no way to leave the circus. The realization that they don't like him, that they want to leave him, and the fact that he isn't capable of doing what he was created to do is what leads him to this breaking point.
- Him being set to the side by the developers so they could work on the new AI was like an abandonment to him. I think it's a trauma of his that has greatly shaped his fears, his insecurities, and his desires to be liked and not be alone.
- This whole show is tragic for everyone here. Both parties (our human characters and our AI character, Caine) feel tormented by each other. They are a part of each other's personal hells.
yousharknotpass
vaporwave
tangentwithtanner
theartofmadeline
blakekathryn
gummygunk
kaledo-art
origamiaround
