Topic: The Unoffical TV Show Mega Thread

Well that turned out to be a very surprising episode all the way through. While I believed the brain scan theory, I didn't expect it to be outright confirmed in the episode, and certainly not right off the bat (it gave me similar vibes to Image_Friend just appearing at the start of Deltarune Ch. 3 like it was nothing). Still, it was very interesting to see the characters react to this revelation which acts as yet another disconnect they experience from their own humanity. I like how later on in the episode Zooble says how Gangle's complex emotions about Jax shows that they're still human.

Of course, probably the biggest surprise of all was Jax's abstraction, and not only that, but the nonchalant way it was presented. He's just gone. Now Jax is my favorite character, so you can be sure that this was a gut punch for me, but it does make sense. He's clearly been super unstable for some time, and the brain scan reveal was likely the straw that broke the camel's back. I think it does a really good job of displaying how delicate mental health situations can be: in episode 7, Jax is saved from abstraction entirely because Pomni conveniently thought she needed Jax to get a key to open the Chinese Room, an extremely minor decision on her part with massive benefit; Episode 9 sees an inverse, with Pomni making only the slightest hesitation to talk to Jax and allowing him to walk off, where he would soon abstract.

Then with Pomni entering Jax's psyche, it's fascinating just how much Jax makes caricatures of his fellow humans to preserve his sense of being "nothing more than a cartoon character." As someone who has only relatively recently started to be more comfortable opening up to people, seeing Jax push Ribbit away when he got scared that he revealed, to the point that she would eventually abstract was heartbreaking for me. It's even sadder seeing how it wasn't an isolated event: when he opened up to his Mom or to Pomni, he pushed them away too (literally he pushed them). His traumatic memory of pushing his Mom to the ground also recontextualizes the recurring thing he does where he just looks at his hand, it's a sign that he's feeling guilty. Finally, with Pomni hugging Jax deep down in his mind space was really beautiful and bittersweet. The whole time I was just praying for it to be possible for him to de-abstract. While that didn't happen, it's nice that he can at least be at peace in the darkness of his own tent.

Caine's appearance was yet another huge surprise, and it's nice to see him have a small redemption arc. (One thing I was pretty confused about, the part where Scratch just appeared on the stage without elaboration... what was the deal with that. After the episode ended I had to ask my friends to make sure I didn't hallucinate it)

Then the ending on the same meal scene as Episode 1, but now with Pomni truly happy, even if she's trapped in the Circus, was excellent.

Overall, I'm really happy with how the episode turned out (even if I was waiting until the very end for Jax to de-abstract). It perfectly hit all the right emotions and made for a very satisfying conclusion to an incredible series.