EB-THE-GAMER

I've never particularly liked Jax as a character. I sort of found his antics funny but that was up until I realized that I was supposed to take his mistreatment of the rest of the cast seriously. Then I more appreciated him in his role as something of an antagonist. He didn't really have any more or less plot relevance to the overarching story up until episode five (which I was fine with) and then after that he started to center stage. I was also fine with this. I liked the way his character seemed to be going. Pre episode 9 I was pretty sure that we would get a further exploration of him tying in the repression of his identity, I thought that was where everything was headed and, again, great.

And, that's what we got! I've honestly really warmed up to how he's a cautionary tale about repression and how it can hurt those around you and yourself. The latter to the point of suicide. I rather like it and find it relatable.

However, what I don't like is how I feel a bit lied to? The pilot of TADC made it seem like this was going to be ensemble cast style dark comedy/psychological horror. Between that, the premise, the characters and the weird, 90s inspired janky setting, I was hooked! It's super unique. And that's what it was, with the episodes sort of being used to explore the cast and how they got to this point and how they're coping (or not coping.)

And then, come episode 7, 8 and then 9… it really mostly just became about Jax. We learn so much about his character and very little about anyone else. And, unless I'm mistaken, you would only know that he was going to be the main character along with Pomni from a post by Gooseworx on a social media platform. That seems like a very strange way to get such critical information about how the show is going to be written! Jax's story itself is laid out pretty obvious in retrospect, but his plot relevance seems to come out of nowhere, especially considering that the final episode is about him. That's my main gripe, really. In what was set-up to be a show about a cast of characters become a show about one character and their arc.

Again, I like Jax's story well enough, but I also really wanted to hear more about literally anyone else.

Furthermore, some of the writing choices in the finale confuse me especially considering the person driving the plot is kind of a mystery.

Pomni. All we really know about her was that she urbexed, she was an accountant for super market chain, and (within the confines of show itself and not any supplementary material) that's it. That is a strikingly low amount of backstory given to our protagonist. Like, yeah, sure, we learn about her and everyone else at the end of episode 9 with Caine's presentation but that's all at the end, and as she says, that's Abigail. She's Pomni. And, who is Pomni?

No clue! She's kind of an enigma! Her decision making also mystifies me! She seems to just do things. Obviously she's made out to be a very compassionate person but why. The only clue is what Kinger says in episode 9, about her adapting well and how she should be there for the others. [sic] Sure, yeah, but how did she adapt so well? Why more than anyone else? Why is it on her to do these things BESIDES what happens directly in front of us. Kinger gives her a great pep talk in episode 3 but should that define her going forward? She had, what, 25 years of life experience up until this point and even if that's hazy she more than anyone would be able to pull from that based on her being so new. If we just knew more about her, I'd be satisfied, but she's a little bit of a blank slate to me. It really feels to me she is mainly used to drive the plot. And that's fine if her character leads to motivations that lead to driving the plot, but I really couldn't tell you why she decided to do that thing with Jax in the hallway other than... she's just that compassionate? She cares that much? I guess? And if that was it and then maybe that was lampshaded or explored more then, fantastic, but up until this point the most she does in episode 4 is where she asks if Gangle has someone to talk to. She's not offering to be that person, she's just asking if she has anyone. Then, later, she does show compassion by offering to close for her but that's a pretty huge jump from that to the scene in the hallway.

Oh, and, that segment in the hallway...

Why did she decide to go alone to confront Jax? And, what was her plan? Either she was just going to hug Jax's abstracted form to do… something, or she somehow KNEW that she was going to essentially enter his mind palace. There was no set-up for that in the show! Why did that work? Why was the corrupted mind file of Jax laid out out as a series of rooms, hallways and doors with coherent representations of his psyche? Was it supposed to be a blend of their mind files? If so, why is abstraction such a big deal if Jax is in there anyways?? They're brain scans, so there's no spiritual explanation for this. If Jax is able to TALK to POMNI then what MAKES him gone?? And, how could she access his memories to the point of watching them like a movie? I understand not everything needs to be explained, but all of that just comes out of nowhere, as if it was used just to service the plot.

And, If at any point Pomni showed a modicum of emotion that wasn't determination, if at any point she was unsure about what she was doing or HOW she got there, then I would've been fine with it. But she just trudges along, hellbent on showing Jax empathy.

The message is great. Jax's story is well written. But everything around it makes no sense and I feel like I'm expected to do a LOT of heavy lifting to string these emotional beats together into a coherent story. And, most of all, I can't help but wish we got a little more from everyone else.