My personal and genuine opinions on TADC episode 9 and the show as a whole
honestly as much as I’d love to accept tadc’s ending, i really deeply disliked the fact that ribbit’s death wasn’t left vague. In fact, I think the show could’ve benefitted with even more aspects of it being up to interpretation. I really really wanted to like the ending and Jax, but I just couldn’t. Not after it was confirmed in a BLUESKY POST that Jax drove Ribbit to what is the equivalent to suicide. Do not get me started on how I feel about Caine being resurrected. His death was supposed to be super impactful and a big change and it was played out so much. I can’t just accept he just .. REVIVES. Like where does it come from? It felt out of no where.
I really really REALLY wanted to like Jax and the show after the finale. I tried SO hard to like it but I guess you can’t please everyone.
I will say, there are honest to god good things about episode 9. For example, the Jax and Pomni hug scene was very well done. I liked their interactions there. I also really liked the animation and visuals, it was very beautiful and it shows how far the show has come in regards to quality. I also found the scene where all the members have their real lives revealed very nice, it was very heartwarming and memorable. I also thought Ribbit was a great character and I like how they’re written. I think Jax and Ribbit’s room interaction scene was really good and I found it very sweet and endearing, and I like the subtle confirmation of transfeminine Jax in that scene.
However, regardless of how much I enjoyed some aspects of the finale, I finished the episode a little bitter, possibly even sad for it. Maybe it’s because it felt soiled by the fandom’s constant infighting, or the leaks, or the fact that it couldn’t release in specific theatre locations due to heavy censorship, I’m not sure, but all I know is that it just wasn’t something I enjoyed all that much.
I’m not even mad that Jax abstracted, I genuinely do not even mind at all , but I just felt like it came out of nowhere. (LET ME EXPLAIN!!!)
(edit: i felt it had came out of nowhere because in the episode previously, it was made a big deal that jax would not be left alone and that everyone was there for him regardless of his attitude or treatment of others. I just personally felt the reveal to be very sudden and not aligning with the buildup done in episode 8)
The implication that Jax was partially the reason to Ribbit (and arguably also Kaufmo’s) metaphorical suicide was something— while a very complicated situation —I was completely willing to explore… But the direct confirmation outside of the movie through a social media post that she really did drive Ribbit to metaphorical suicide and wasn’t just a partial reason or bystander left me… conflicted. Not completely because she drove Ribbit to suicide (though I am also conflicted about this), but also because this new information both leaves zero room for interpretation regarding Ribbit’s abstraction, and was revealed to us through a goddamned social media post, which I personally think we kind of have enough of, though this may be part to how I just have a personal pet peeve towards ‘canon lore’ being revealed through social media posts.
Anyways, point is that I feel that one of the most appealing aspects about TADC was not only its ability to get us curious, but also its character relationships, and I feel like a lot of those good qualities has gotten increasingly muddier throughout the years due to improper pacing, character focus, and inconsistent execution, wether it be through questionable writing or structural choices ((9 episodes.)) and revealing way too much information through social media posts.
In conclusion, I don’t want it to seem like I hate the show, but as much as I love how much joy it brought to me for 3 years, I still can’t find it in me to say I loved it either. I think my disappointment comes from a place of love, as I really did believe tadc had the potential to be a really great show with great themes and characters and character relationships. I really hoped the show would dive into its very interesting character relationships in more depth (Ragatha and Pomni, Ragatha and Jax, Jax and Gangle, Caine and Kinger). I really hoped thered be more exploration in how abstraction and its similar themes impacted the characters in the story… But I think my expectations were too high, and I interpreted the story and characters to be very very different, and I expected something very very very different, and I fell in love and stuck with aspects of the story that it probably never planned to focus on. I don’t even know where to start with how I feel about how Jax’s character is handled and written, so I will simply say nothing.
I think TADC had an amazing concept and themes and I really really hoped for a lot and I really enjoyed enjoying the show, and I thank it deeply for being a gateway for me to find people who enjoy my art and writing for the show’s fandom… but I have to say that I didn’t quite enjoy it in the end. I didn’t hate it, nor did I love it. I am just glad it is here and I enjoy the parts I enjoyed about it. I love that other people enjoyed or loved the ending, and I love their joy and I love their passion. But I personally don’t enjoy it myself, and that’s alright.
I’m sorry I don’t align with the opinions some of my friends and mutuals hold here about the new episode, but I just want to say that I am happy people enjoyed it. I just wanted to state my own thoughts, I don’t want to make an argument or discourse or anything, I just want to say my personal thoughts on it, both positive and negative, because I truly did love loving the show.
