ugh

Given how fed up Gooseworx seemed to be with the fandom, I think the finale could've been worse. But you can put me on the 'I really don't care for Jaxx' bandwagon.

I'm vaguely familiar with the interpretation that Jaxx's 'redemption' was meant to be contrasted with Caine's (e.g. one character went snivelling into the void, while the other decided to do better), but Jaxx got far more focus than I would've preferred (I'm not sure if Jaxx's screentime was quantifiably longer or if it just felt that way) while Caine's arc felt like more of an afterthought. (Which is... ehhh, given that I'm a big fan of the concept of a frustrated demiurge who is really, really trying you guys.) As I watched the episode, my thought process was less 'oh hey here's a comparison between two characters who've done bad things' and more 'Jaxx deserves the You Need To Be Better speech from Bojack Horseman'.

And... Ah... Here's my chief complaint: Jaxx's arc did not interest me. I have consumed a lot of media throughout my wonky little life: I've already seen nine million variations on the character arc of 'I have a tragic backstory and this makes me behave like a shithead'. I also have many opinions about the value of the words 'I'm sorry' and whether or not people should tolerate someone who has a track record of behaving like an asshole. I don't think Jaxx's arc did anything new. And Pomni's attempt at saving Jaxx was probably meant to tell me 'Pomni is a good person and Jaxx is still worthy of saving', but instead I interpreted it as 'Pomni is trying to be nice at the expense of her basic self-preservation and Jaxx has already burned through one female character who tried to help'.

I'm also wondering if I'm just not a fan of scenes where characters give in to despair unless there's some narrative payoff later on or it's exceptionally well done like in I Saw The TV Glow (which, in all fairness, has despair and acquiesce as central themes, so despair and acquiescence are a feature, not a bug). If the show and the creator implied that Jaxx is meant to represent the archetype of 'trans woman who behaves like a fuckass pre-transition because she has to present a masculine facade for self-protection and the world treats this facade as acceptable, and this makes her feel contempt for herself (because hiding feels bad) and the world (because it is difficult to respect people when you think they'll only accept the fake person you are depicting!)', then I wish it had leaned into that and done something more interesting with it rather than 'boo hoo I'm Jaxx and I'm sad on the inside and this makes me act like a turd'. Bitch we are all sad on the inside, you're not special; at least be sad in a way that explores identity and relationships and, maybe, making some sort of progress towards thriving rather than surviving.