my sauna smells like arsenic

- you’re magical, oh yeah also magic is real, a wizard told you to go learn all types of magic and you did

- there are ancient entities living in the mines and sewers beneath your feet, and they ARE fighting, just fyi

- there’s an ongoing war happening, that is probably why the economy is the way that it is btw

- animals can talk…just occasionally

- you’re haunted by the ghost of your grandfather, but rarely

- there are tiny creatures that will fix things for you in the night but only if you meet their hyper specific demands. also they’re scared of you

- Yoba is an alien (?)

- also the local shopkeeper’s daughter isn’t his she’s the wizard’s and a townswoman named Emily is a psychic, in case you were curious

(oopx contains spoilers⚠️⚠️)

TADC had a genuinely interesting premise when it was initially advertised as a psychological dark comedy with some character drama. The absurdism of the digital circus with the characters all being people with varying mental health issues and maladaptive coping mechanisms was a genuinely excellent stage for character exploration.

The groundwork for how the characters could react to the brain scans reveal was laid all the way back in episode 2. It would have been genius foreshadowing if it paid off at all in episode 9. Instead characters spend, like, 5 minutes being upset about it and then moving on.

A lot of the horror was not just being trapped in the circus, but the fact that one of the people they were trapped with is a misogynistic abuser who lashes out at every attempt to help him.

I really truly thought the finale was going to be about Jax using the newfound ability of conjuring to torment the remaining circus members. The poster with his face all over it and the Evangalion parody poster strongly hinted at something like that.

But no, instead it becomes the Jax pity party. We get an extended internal mind sequence along with several memories. And the payoff is... Basically nothing.

The mind exploration was very reminiscent of the movie The Cell. But unlike that movie, which shows the misogynistic serial killer as having genuinely horrendous trauma that truly and permanetly damaged his ability to be a well-adusted person - Jax's trauma just demonstrates that he chose the pattern of lashing out and running from accountability.

He was literally never forced into this. His trauma did not put him in circumstances that necessitated his coping mechanisms. He literally just chose that, entirely of his own volition.

And to be clear, no amount of trauma justifies abusive actions. But from a narrative standpoint, his actions aren't even explained either. He is, in Gooseworx's own words, completely irredemable.

And that's the worst part. Gooseworx intentionally wrote an irredemable character. And instead of using this twisted and darkly absurd setting to explore that horror, the entire ladder half of the show becomes dedicated to his fucking sob story.

TADC is my now ultimate example of wasted potential. And the only conclusion I can come to is that Gooseworx genuinely believes that the psychology of an irredemable misogynistic abuser is more interesting than the perils of the women and people who have to deal with him.