#tadc9

kinger says "it's times like these they'll need someone like you to reach out to," and it's notable that jax was the only one who didn't reach out, or wasn't reached out to. also gangle seems more like she's apologizing to jax, which is interesting. an interesting theme i didn't notice the first time was how there's almost the theme of "you need to force people to get better." ragatha's monologue where she accepts to not bring up ribbit is shown to distance her from jax, same with ax trying to reach out but not being able to earlier in the episode.

gOD I LOVE THE LIGHTING AND ANIMATION. the first scene's animation is a bit weird, i think jax just generally looks weird with the lighting, but everything else is completely peak. i like how pomni has noir lighting when she's holding the gun, it sets a very different tone. i think that the "pomni entering jax's abstraction" segment is similar to the initial abstraction segment from episode 7, where it almost looks like parts of the brain. couldn't really confirm in the theatre though.

OOKAY TIME FOR MY FAVOURITE PARTS!!!

at the end of gangle's segment, she's standing in the same way that she does when she enters the circus, showing how little jax's interpretation of gangle has changed since she entered.

jax cutting his own head off at the end of the zooble segment is interesting.

in the jax quartet segment, it's interesting how jax censors himself, as if he can't see a life beyond this.

jax traumadump segment. rewatching this, it feels a lot more trans coded. like, "i was less of a man than him," "something deep and personal," "personal, degrading insults," "at the end of it all she hugged me." yknow, feminine solidarity and allat. and then. yknow. the bow. "YOUR SECRET'S SAFE WITH ME"??? and then as soon as kaufmo, a male, comes by, he rips off the bow. two memories before the snow place, ribbit approaches jax in the same way that jax approaches pomni before he abstracts. more in regards to the possible theme of "reaching out to someone," jax hesitating to knock on ribbit's door. also, rewatching it, yeah the "isn't she lovely" is entirely focused on jax, not pomni. so yea. also also, jax says "i hate you" to pomni, but earlier in the gangle segment, he almost interprets gangle saying "i hate you" as "i love you."

gangle crying with her happy mask on is so powerful. it really shows how much she's grown, that crying doesn't completely ruin her. she can cry without spiralling into a depressive episode (sad mask.) which is just such a great visual.

it's interesting that, when caine says "they tried to delete me," he hits the same pose and the camera is at the same angle as when he says "don't they know who i am?" as if showing that his vengeful side is still there.

looking at this again, i still stand by my theory that this is caine effectively re-training himself, but now i kinda see an additional metaphor in how caine doesn't get anywhere by using the same blue squares anymore. he has to use different shapes, try something new, to get anywhere.

there's an interesting parallel between how caine is shown as a human in the console, but the humans brain scans are a mess. he acts like a human, looks like a human, but still is not a human. humans are messy and erratic. "i can't create them." also, caine is the only character who is given a "second chance." ribbit, kaufmo and jax all have one shot, but caine is resurrected. he is afforded that luxury by virtue of not being human. it kinda feels parallel to how we put so much expectations on ourselves? i dunno.

in the pilot, caine's first action is damaging, vaguely traumatizing pomni. now, his first action is to fix pomni, to help pomni and the group. it's a nice parallel to end his character development.

the ending showing how the circus has changed is probably my favourite part. narratively, it doesn't do much, but it just makes me so happy. gangle excitedly showing caine her drawings while she has her sad mask... auuuughh its so peak... also gangle is eating a burger and fries, like spudsy's... so peak.