Post-Movie Thoughts

First off, thank you to my local theater-going crowd for being extremely respectful. I was so worried that I wouldn't experience the movie to the fullest due to some riled up crowd but my fears were never realized thankfully and makes me want to see more movies solo day of release. Now into my episode specific thoughts, which are not that in depth but wanted to discuss it with you guys to fully digest the finale.

The reason I say that is for me personally, I was a little let-down by the episode. Now that is current me saying this with crazy high expectations within my first watch of the finale, but I felt like I was wanting something bigger out of it. I was also a bit confused with some moments which is another reason for writing this. I'll go into more detail, but just to get it out there; I rate the finale a solid 7/10.

My expectations for the finale were really based on the quality of the past 2 episodes, like Episode 8 set up so many plot points to explore that I was beyond excited to see how they would play out. Some were answered, but others were unfortunately left a bit ambiguous such as Kinger's/Scratch's backstory, the Second AI entity, and other such examples. It just felt a bit rushed through that it didn't really satisfy me as being a series finale for such a good show. It also confused me a bit due to the rushed nature, which I will explain on more. Besides this, the music and emotional moments hit home for me personally which was what I was expecting. Now onto my confused ramblings that I hope you guys have answers for...

To begin, why did Jax abstract off screen??? Like I'm not a Jax fan, but it felt a bit odd that one moment he is there, then he is in abstracted form the next with Pomni and Ragatha somewhat not surprised he did. I can't be the only one that finds this lame for the amount of focus Jax got in regards to him almost losing it before the finale. We saw entire visual scenes of him letting go just for him to lose it off screen in the finale. I know that they eventually "save him"(Abstract Pet or some shit???), but I mean c'mon really???? Besides this in spite of me liking the majority of the emotional scenes, some of the Gangle/Zooble scenes felt a bit repetitive and unnecessary. The first one of them accepting that they are scans are fine, but the latter one with Zooble feeling guilty/sad about Jax was not needed in mind. I wished they played a much more active role in the finale, beyond emotional beats and some dialogue. Next, the Caine in the Void scene really didn't make sense in the context of Episode 8. He was seemingly fully deleted from the Circus, which includes the Void but he was just chilling there for some period of time. He then breaks through a few firewalls to get to the scans, and this is the part which confuses me the most. Scracth's file is brought back then he is back into the circus not to be seen again in the episode again. I don't know if I was zoning out during this scene or imagining things , but I have no clue what it meant or how it related to the episode at all. Like I notioned previously, he frees the second AI entity from himself and it is never expounded on or mentioned later. I have the vaguest idea of what it was, but a lame way to see it present in the episode. Lastly, the entire circus being brought back to life without Caine made no sense to me. The Circus fell apart due to Caine being ripped out of it, like intertwined with one another to the point of needing one another to exist. The gang build the tent and somehow everything is fixed back to normal?

After all that negativity, I will conclude with the major positives. I loved exploring Jax's psyche, it was my favorite part of the Finale. Seeing each trait/behavior given a character of Jax was so good, and I wish this idea was repeated with the other's such as Gangle, Zooble, and Ragatha. The end slide show was sweet, and I like seeing Pomni accept her digital form as much as her real form. The finale also accomplished in the message Goose was trying to convey from the start; that life within an indifferent and cruel world can be better by connecting with others to find peace within yourself.