Wanna know my opinion? My honest to god opinion, as a native Brazilian who got to understand every bit of dialogue in the entire leaked movie?
I liked it. I liked it a lot honestly.
The criticism I've been seeing the most was "Jax got too much screentime compared to Ragatha, Zooble and Gangle", which is fair and it's actually true, but I personally didn't mind that much because I feel like we already know them. We've gotten to know Ragatha, Zooble and Gangle already, in previous episodes; Jax was the only one whose backstory was not explored (except maybe Scratch, and I'll get to that later).
Overall I think my favorite part about Jax's finale is that he did face the consequences of his actions in the end. He was an asshole of such degree that Pomni and Ribbit both left him, and because he refused to commit to reaching out to them and actually apologizing or working on himself, he let it go too long until it was too late and there was no going back. He abstracted, he got Ribbit (and arguably Kaufmo) abstracted, and he can't take it back.
(A scene that caught my eye was near the beginning, when he almost reached out to Pomni, but hesitated and left instead. Early season Pomni probably would've stopped him (or tried to stop him) from leaving, and might've saved him; the start of that episode was so grim, man. I wasn't surprised when Jax abstracted (everything was pointing to that end, anyway), but I was sad, because it could've been avoided)
Death/abstraction wasn't a redemption for him, he didn't get saved from his own demise. He could have reached out, but didn't (multiple times!). He could've been bold and let his friends in, but didn't. In the end, he really was a wounded coward who bit whoever got too close (because the last hand to hold him hurt too much). He's tragic, and despite all the hate he gets, I liked his finale.
I'm glad that Leeroy got to move forward though. Heh. Good for you, dude.
Also, should I have been using she/her for Jax? Ehhh... Apologies, I'm genuinely too lazy to edit all this AHDHSHDHS
I also like that the abstracted don't return. It really emphasizes that this is the one point of no return. I do however really like that the abstracted got a spot just for them!! We know Pomni could reach out to AbsJax in the dark, and Kinger did the same to AbsQueenie, so I wonder if they all sometimes reach out to their lost ones...
Overall I'm pleased. And I'm pretty annoyed/upset/defensive about the stance that Goose had regarding Jax's finale got so much hate. I've seen a lot of hate thrown against him, mostly around the reason "he was an abuser, he deserved worse. He shouldn't have been forgiven– worse, he shouldn't have gotten sympathy, and shouldn't have been painted in a sympathetic light by Goose". Additionally, I've seen critics saying that the ending was cookie-cutter in the "friendship is magic" way, like "TADC should've been for kids if the ending was just gonna be some MLP friends forever bullshit"... and that is where I get kind of upset; because to me, it's so demeaning to imply that any ending that sends a message of "the world, the people, can be kind" or "even the worst people are still people if you care to look" always get painted as childish. Why is it so childish, immature, ridiculous? To have an ending where they do find happiness in their own way, heal in their own way, together?
I AM glad that Goose painted Jax in a sympathetic light, because normal people don't view aggressive people/abusers/defensive people as people, but as monsters. They do have reason for it, because no one wants to be near someone who hurts others, but isn't it dangerous to reduce a person to "monster who shouldn't get any sympathy and any sort of empathy from the showrunner or fellow characters"? And furthermore I AM glad that despite painting Jax as sympathetic, she STILL didn't give him a happy ending. Jax was NOT in the final table, he did NOT get to partake in the final scene and was NOT able to keep a spot between the final cast because he was unable to get past his own flaws. He chose to be an asshole instead of letting others in, until it was too late. He deserved to be seen as a person, but also deserved the ending he got. I am very content with this ending and despite what many people say, I find it beautifully complex. GGs, Goose.
Now, onto the other subjects... What was that thing with Scratch 😭 that was the one scene that genuinely confused me! It looked like Caine had revived Scratch, but... no, I guess not?
And I admit I was ecstatic to see Caine get himself a redemption. Dude, he did what Jax did not. Caine hurt everyone, got punished for it, recognized his own mistakes, made an effort to try and see everyone else's side, apologized, was forgiven but not trusted. "forgiveness is given when one asks for it. Trust, however, must be earned". I really liked that.
Something that caught my eye was the Abel-Caine glitch thing. Lots of people also criticized that scene, because it felt like Caine was removing his bad side and therefore cutting off his complexity. It's true that if Caine had kept the part of him that felt entitled to be adored, and chose to be kind anyway would have been more complex. I do mourn that. But I also think it's unfair to say it was badly written because the Blue side of him is also said to be a source of his power, and he chose to remove that part of himself. I know it hurts that Caine isn't as complex as he could be, but I find it so important that he CHOSE to give up that part of himself to be with the others. He CHOSE to make himself vulnerable and CHOSE to lose the part of him that makes him powerful but unstable. Again, he did the thing that Jax did not.
Overall, guys, I'm just content. I'm particularly so happy that Caine is alive AHAHAHDHAHSHAHA I DON'T CARE IF IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, DUDE. I GENUINELY DO NOT GIVE A DAMN IF IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. I AM 100% WILLING TO IGNORE THAT PLOT HOLE IF IT MEANS MY SHAYLA GETS TO LEARN HOW TO CONNECT WITH OTHERS AND REJOICE OK. SUE ME. Caine my son I am so happy you got your happy ending. explodes 💥💥💥
