My disappointment with the The Amazing Digital Circus Ending — (SPOILER!!)
Just as the title of the article states, this article will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the final act for yourself, it’s currently on theaters, and in addition to that, it will release on YouTube on the Glitch Productions official YouTube channel on June 19th.
The Amazing Digital Circus Final Act just dropped on theaters, and I got to see it in it’s full glory, and well to be honest with you. I was actually quite disappointed.
The movie itself wasn’t quite bad, and I would say I was really hyped but I feel like the pacing, the story, and overall ending felt………..hollow.
If you haven’t had a run down, here is the joist. And yes, it will have Spoilers.
Rundown Of The Final Act
So after picking of from the last episode, episode 8 hjsakldfhl, where Caine is killed or deleted. (However you want to put it), and the cast is left stuck in the circus with no way to leave.
Starting off from where episode 8 left off, the gang than tries to work together to find a way to escape the circus, and eventually Kinger finds a way to make geometries in the circus using their minds.
And start to rebuild the circus, from what I can infer.
Jax also seemed to be quite unhappy, and paced around a lot, and it seemed like he wanted to talk to Pomni, but couldn’t.
Eventually we see a scene, of one of those abstracted creatures running around, and in this part, I thought it was either Kinger, or Ragatha who abstracted.
For some reason, I didn’t really think Jax would be the one to abstract, especially from rumors of Jax being the main villain I heard from theories from Film Theory.
But later I realized it was Jax, and I was kind of surprised.
Than Pomni finds Jax, in the hallway, from where they enter their room, Pomni shots out all the lights, and makes it dark, and from episode 8, we learnt that the abstracted creatures can be tamed in the dark.
Pomni than hugged Jax, and was able to access his mind, where she found various bizarre memories. Like a Loony Toons skit, and one showing Jax wanting to have sex with Gangle.
Eventually finding memories of Jax, talking to Komfo and Ribbet, where he reveals that his parents split up, and he lived with his abusive mother. And one day, after his mother after a fight tried to hug him, he panicked, and pushed her over.
Causing her to fall, and presumably die, however she could’ve just pretended to do that, or been knocked unconscious. It’s unclear, but Ribbet does hint to it.
Jax shares his story with Ribbet, but instantly regrets it, and the next day, he starts acting very rude towards Ribbet, trying to avoid talking about the incident, and eventually Jax causes Ribbet to abstract.
Komfo follows suit, and Gangle, and Pomni eventually enter the Circus.
We learn that Jax used to be kind, before the incident with Ribbet.
Eventually Pomni finds Jax in his memory, hiding under a lamp, crying, and Pomni slowly moves towards him, hugging him, and just as she does, Jax in the circus, outside of his mind, triggers flash bangs, probably left over from prior episodes, causing him to go feral again.
Just as he does, Zooble comes and pulls Pomni, and helps build a massive fort for Jax to be in.
Meanwhile we also see Caine secretly watching the gang from afar, and showing how he regreted what he had done. Showing him, going through their mind-files to search on them on the internet.
Eventually he reappears and ask for forgiveness, and finally reveals their real names.
And shows their real selves enjoying their real lives, unbothered, while a copy of their digital mind had been placed in the circus, not their entire body trapped like many thought earlier.
Here is their real names.
Pomni = Abigail Brooks, Jax = Leeroy Mateo, Ragatha = Suzie J. Ackerman, Gangle = Zoey Raghavan, Kinger = Grant Best, and Zooble = Riley Verselis.
The characters seeing their real names, and real life versions enjoying their life, finally realize they can’t return to the real world, and just accept their life in the circus.
Caine also tries to make it more bearable, by trying to listen and understand them.
Get ZAPPIN NEWS’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Eventually they capture all the abstracted creatures, and put them in the dark aquarium, in a tamed state, including Jax, and run the circus.
My Thoughts On The End Of TADC
Honestly after seeing all that, and all the other prior episodes from the Pilot to the last act.
I am actually quite disappointed. Not at the show as a whole, don’t get me wrong, all the episodes prior to episode 9, was amazing, however, episode 9 really felt rushed, and felt like it was trying to put an end to the series.
The whole thing from how fast Jax turned from friendly to rude over night, felt off. Not normal human behavior, and the fact that Jax tormented Ribbet and Komfo to abstraction, and no one did anything and just stood, didn’t stand right.
I also felt that Jax’s backstory, and everyone's backstory could’ve been explored a bit more. And perhaps we could’ve gotten some more on screen time with Ribbet and Komfo more.
Perhaps even seeing Scartch.
I and many others also hated the fact that how despite Jax’s face showing up in various advertisement of the final episode, and emphasis seemingly being put on Jax, and many theorizing Jax being the main villain after Caine left, and seeing him playing such a small role after, it really made me sad.
Some of the more personal issues that I had personally, was the fact that Jax got abstracted.
I genuinely sobbed when I saw this, and even more so, when I learnt they weren’t bringing him or any of the other abstracted characters back.
Since Jax was my favorite character, I felt robbed almost. I also felt a bit upset that the characters weren’t able to leave the circus. And I know, Goosewerks was trying to go for a tragic, unconventional ending, and this is what indie animation was about.
However I still feel like the ending could’ve been a bit more fulfilling.
How I Would’ve Improved It
I personally first off all would’ve extended to the show for a second season, allowing each of the characters stories to be more flushed out, and allowing for more gradual revelation of the story.
As I mentioned, the 9 part series was very fast paced. Especially the final episode.
Even if I hadn’t done a second season, I would’ve at least given Ribbet, and Komfo a bit more screen time. Perhaps found a way to bring back Jax and other abstracted creatures.
And made it so that Jax played a more prevalent role in the end, and perhaps taken over as the new bad guy of the show.
And perhaps changed the pacing a bit to allow for a more gradual story telling.
I and many others definitely feel the final act was disappointing, however I still did enjoy it, just upset of where it lead to. And I hoped it would be a lot more. Honenstly, this left a sour taste on my mouth.
What Might Have Caused The Downfall
While not confirmed, I sense that a part of the reason that potentially lead to this, is due to the issues that the creator of the show, Goosewerks felt.
It turns out, ever since the Pilot, and first episode back in 2024 released, Goosewerks has been getting Doxxed, hacked, leaked, online, and harassed by fans.
It seemed like out of everyone, the fans were the most toxic, and it lead Goosewerks to completely want to abandon the project and never return to such projects in the future.
Goosewerks and the other voice-actors had to deal with fans constantly asking about the future of the show, and when the next episode will come out.
It really makes me sad, cause I see such an amazing show come out of the indie space, only for the fans to make such a ruckus, and cause the creator of the show so much pain.
And I really hope Goosewerks realizes this, and decides to look beyond it, and create more great shows like this.
Honestly I doubt a equal or second season is possible, but we can still expect short form content, Goosewerks said.
Conclusion
In conclusion, The Amazing Digital Circus, along with other indie animated shows currently extremely popular, which leads me to believe that more shows like this will come out.
But that also means other creators might face similar issues as Goosewerks, and I really hope the fans try to understand that this is not Disney, but an entire small team working together, and I hope they can have some patience and respect for the creator of the show.
I also hope hurdles like what Goosewerks face doesn’t discourage future indie animators away from the craft. And I hope to see more shows like this.
If you enjoyed the article, please check out some of my other work.
