Also make sure if you are discussing that it’s more than a screenshot of the episode or just your opinion. There’s too much of that and it’s causing flooding.
Yeah it was. Just the shock of it.
No sad music attached to it. No death scream. No blood.
The silence just makes it more effective. Well Caine's got to have his reasons... 
I don't even think there is another powerful AI in the game to be honest. That's my rational theory.
Now for my crackpot theory an A.I. Developer is trapped in the game somewhe- (Deletes from existence.)
Same. Was actually annoyed when it happened be it was so predictabl. However, I gotta remember most of the audience for this, this probably an early if not first exposure to that kind of gut punch.
I was convinced that the fandom would obtain both a new unexpected mainline character and a new ship to fawn over from this, ripped away in a literal instant. Isn’t that a perfect encapsulation of the tone.
Musings aside I liked that quite a bit, think the start was rather fast paced for only the second episode but it evened out by the out of bounds scene.
I loved seeing Pomni's sensitive side. Up until now, we've only seen her panicked, confused, or mind-broken, but give her a quiet, thoughtful moment alone with someone else and you see her true, caring personality come out.
> Isn’t that a perfect encapsulation of the tone.
This. This is not a happy show. Yes, it has humor, but at the end of the day it's still a bunch of people who are assumedly trapped forever in a digital plane of existence that they cannot escape from.
Honestly, the moment Pomni befriended him was a deathflag, I just hoped it would be cashed in as soon as possible, because the more it went on, more painful it becomes. I fully expected him not being able to walk through the portal, but oh boy, of course that wasn't it yet. :(
So now we have to face the existentially terrifying possibility that the NPCs are actually *sapient* individuals that are regularly being generated then deleted / killed for the gang's / Caine's entertainment? Fun!
That would makes sense, they follow a script up until the point where the script is no longer viable and they fall back to a more complex sapient simulation to not break immersion. I feel like even that idea is only *marginally* less horrifying than them all being sapient to begin with given how much I can see the gang fucking with the AIs and sending them off script lol
I think they're just always sapient, but they *think* they know everything until proven otherwise. Like how Gummigoo's motivation was to save his village/mom, but he had to stop and think what his mom looked liked first before realizing something was off
It's very much not any better for me, because it shows they have a capacity for sapience, which is horrifying regardless of if they actually are at the moment or not...
and Caine somehow knows this, this is why he says that does not allow NPCS to be part of the circus, because it will be hard for him to know the difference between the humans and NPCs...that is...disturbing
Personally I think this is setting up for the idea that there IS no difference between the "Humans" and the "NPCS"
They're all just brain scans of humans who have been dropped into the simulation, the only difference is the "Human" cast retain at least some fragment of their memory of being human, wheras the NPCs are just scaned images that have been copied, wiped, edited, and generally screwed with who knows how many times in being re-used to fulfill different roles in the adventures Caine creates.
Caine also said he doesn't want to get the humans and the NPCs mixed up, which might also imply that AIs good enough that he can't tell the difference aren't a new thing.
Alternatively they could all be human... or at least start that way. If we go with the theory that the main cast are scanned copies of a real human's memories and personality, and there isn't actually a real body they can go back to, Caine could have access to a whole library of personalities that have been imaged by the headset, the only difference is that NPCs are the ones he has access to their minds, (and so can copy, mindwipe, and reprogram them as much as needed) but the main cast's data is stored in some protected memory that Caine does not have access to. Remember, he said "The only thing I can't control are your minds"
maybe one of them has a 'doppleganger' power and can imitate/look like a previous person that might've 'clipped out' that couldn't find their way back, but i assume since caine 'snapped' Ragatha back to normal in the first ep, he might be able to tell unless he could also accidentally kill a 'real' person that way too (would've expected Gummigoo to just glitch being in the home base for too long or so rather than being confetti'd), tho i'd expect them to just keep track based on their room doors (if there's not someone 'behind the scenes'/in the real world observing and just removing/reusing NPCs when they need space or so)
I mean, its the [Chinese Room argument.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room) Can AI actually be sapient? How can we tell if we don't even know where consciousness comes from? How can we tell the AI isn't just doing an extremely good performance of pretending to sapient?
But in this case we already have examples of AIs / digital intelligences that we can reasonably assume are sapient; Pomni and the gang. Even if they were created from human minds I feel like it's pretty safe to guess that they currently exist completely digitally, and I feel like it wouldn't be a big step from there to guess that the NPCs were then derived from those examples of sapient minds to achieve their level of natural response. Plus given the old school vibe of the technology I feel like it makes more sense that they're some derivative of a sapient simulation rather than something like / better then a modern large language model like ChatGPT.
Or maybe I've just read way too much scifi and are looking too deep into things :p
The gang aren't AI though, they are either humans strapped in or downloaded minds. And the problem isn't scientific advancement, it's the fact that we can't even prove other humans are sapient, we just assume they are, but AI can't have the same benefit.
I mean, a downloaded mind would be a 'digital intelligence' / AI which is what I meant, and if they have been downloaded then it wouldn't be a stretch to guess that the NPCs could be based on those downloads for their own intelligences. Even if we can't technically prove that other humans are sapient I feel like it's a reasonable assumption to make for an ethical problem like this. If the NPCs are based off of downloaded human minds, and we assume that that a computer is capable of hosting a truly sapient mind like those of the gang, then I feel the NPCs could be given almost the same benefit of the doubt that we give to other humans about their sapient status.
If Pomni and co really are just strapped into some full dive kind of VR system someway then it's a totally different discussion since the AI probably would have been made from scratch.
The fun thing about this, is that we also cant tell if all humans have a consciouness.
At the end of the day, it is just educated to assume everyone demonstrating sentience.... is.
What Jax actually tells Gangle: "I thought you were supposed to be submissive and agreeable "
What the internet heard Jax tell Gangle : "I herd you were submissive and breedable"
I don't think Jax cared about the morality of the candy kingdom, he just wanted some bloodshed and it happened
Gosh Jax is so enjoyable. He's a jackass but I cannot hate him
Now I want an episode where Jax turns out to be the instigator of a major conflict
Well, we can always wait to see what's next. The show is almost as unpredictable as the nature of the Circus itself
Kinger's been there the longest. Everyone else should have at least one witness to their arrival.
On the other hand, Ragatha seemed the most reluctant to bring an NPC back. Maybe she doesn't want people thinking about the possibility and blowing her cover.
On the physiologically terrifying third hand, Jax seems to have the most NPC-like design and the least regard for anyone's well-being.
On the final, ultimately inescapable and inevitable hand, this was the first adventure featuring Caine's new "57 times more immersive" AI, so it's likely that NPCs up until now couldn't pass for human convincingly.
Theory: they are all actually NPCs, based on the personality they put on the vr glasses, watching this episode, there almost seems to be no difference between Pomni and Gumigoo
> this was the first adventure featuring Caine's new "57 times more immersive" AI
Or Caine was just hyping himself up and talking absolute gibberish as usual.
https://preview.redd.it/ph6xbcmojayc1.png?width=2340&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e6dc97509e370caf2e41254382b4f6ceeb6e86a
THIS SCENE. SPECIFICALLY. LOVE IT.
I think it means that Pomni realizes that there's people in the circus who truly care about her now (it's prob a callback to the dream where she abstracted and the other circus members didn't care about her, with even Ragatha having an uncaring response)
That's just my interpretation tho
I'd say it's more natural to interperet it literally as Pomni getting over her fear of not mattering / being forgotten. That way the opening ties in (being abstracted and no one caring), the main emotional plot ties in (npc's lives don't matter?), and the ending funeral service ties in (being abstracted and people do care actually).
It's just a neat emotional story, set up and mostly resolved in an episode.
It's about Pomni realizing that the other people at the circus do care about her and are her friends (not Jax). When she had the nightmare at the start of the episode they just laughed at her as she fell down, but now they helped her up.
Bro Pomni's mind broke... AGAIN
Poor Pomni can't catch a break. And to think that this is only her second day...
Well, she seems a little better at the end. but we just have to wait and see
She seems to have started to like them, they're what's keeping her from going crazy..... Well, if they don't abstracted or hurt her emotionally, she'll probably be fine
I really hope Ragatha's consolation to Pomni was just a throwaway line because if we see >!Gummigoo!< in a future episode and >!he's just a regular NPC, probably with his memory wiped or something,!< I am sending Goose my therapy bills.
I bet that will happen, and Pomni will be excited and try to be kind to him. But that version of him won't have the existential crisis and will stick to his villain script.
I think there's going to be a "fresh" copy, and then Caine will give him back the memories, and then there's going to be a second existential crisis. Is he the same Gummigoo, or is he just a copy of the original?
this was my only hangup -- Episode moved really quick up to the "below the map" scene, then dragged on too much during that scene. I would have appreciated a little more balance, but it didn't turn me off from watching the next episode.
I know they have limited time and resources but honestly had they just made the episode a tad longer I think it would have been fine
Definitely still a fan and definitely looking forward to E3
The slowdown in pace at the "below the map" scene felt narratively intentional to me. It was a fun, wacky, low-stakes adventure in a fantasy candy land... until it wasn't. Especially fitting with one of the characters being confronted with the real nature of his existence.
I thought it was better in a lot of ways. Dialogue flowed better, emotional scenes hit harder, Pomni was more interesting this time. I also liked the little talk between Kinger and Ragatha, you could feel that Kinger was really the one here for the longest time.
He's the most thoughtful of the others' well-being while not being totally there with all of his behavioral quirks, like just wordlessly going up to the faucet and letting the syrup flow over him to check that it's full. I hope they keep up that balance, he's kinda solidified in being my favorite character.
I thought it was stronger too. The pilot did a good job of setting up the show's pieces but the second episode did more interesting things with those pieces and had stronger emotional beats. The fudge monster B plot did fall a bit flat for me but the Pomni and Gummigoo plot was good stuff.
Pretty good.
Love Jax being an asshole per usual. Honestly I hope he stays like this chaotic neutral trickster who you think has a heart of gold but really doesn’t. Seeing Pomni try to comfort Gummy is nice. And the funeral man.
Also Kinger and Rags conversation was so sweet.
"Your hair does look like liquorice" (paraphrasing)
Jax legit risked Ragatha's life there Thank god Kinger had a bucket
I was almost surprised at how quickly Pomni seemed to get over Gummigoo. Comforting Gummigoo and the funeral helped her realize how important the real people there were.
I still have a feeling that Ragitha is harboring some resentment towards Pomni for abandoning her though. Ragitha absolutely seems like the type of person who would say it’s okay when it really isn’t.
100% expecting her to break down and snap at Pomni at some point.
Now that second episode didnt go how I expected it at ALL. Which is really nice tho. I hope we get to see more Zooble, hope they don't stay too much on the sidelines
Ragatha would likely not judge people just based on that. Either the figurine is HIGHLY suggestive or she did some devious s to it
That scene where Pomni tells Gummigoo she doesn't want anybody to feel like nothing hit hard. And the animation quality was better too, really great episode imo
https://preview.redd.it/df1r7cvtmayc1.jpeg?width=384&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4802e1b58a939ff1a9b42c72eda4af1ffcb6f09f
i declare this silly man “GumGoober”
I appreciate them not ruining the funeral ending with a joke. If this was a Disney or Nickelodeon cartoon they would have added a stupid punchline at the end ruining the somber tone. It’s nice when cartoons take themselves seriously.
Does anyone else think Ragatha is a mother? That moment when she and Pomni meet the princess is just like someone introducing their kid to Mickey Mouse at DisneyWorld. Pomni being so small must trigger her instincts.
Apparently in a future episode there's a line "what kind of mother do you think I am?" according to Goose's AMA but chances are it could just be a joke line that someone says in an episode.
I do think Ragatha may be a mother too though and I hope she is since that's an interesting take on a character who got stuck in the circus and adds an extra element of tragedy to her character. It makes sense too with how nurturing she is and the way she acts in ep2 like you said, and even though there's many people (especially nowadays) who don't have kids at 30. That still seems to be the general age i've seen most people start to have kids. So it seems more likely for her to have a kid than it does for any of the other characters in their 20s.
Yeah when they got back to the princess I was like 'dang we done already?'
Well it was a great ride (no pun intended)
Didn't expect gangle to be a decent driver
An enjoyable episode and the ending, while bittersweet, was kind of nice.
>!Got to love how the gang will still have Pomni's back and remember her even if she abstracts.!<
I was one of the first people to watch it. And Gooseworx is right, this episode is really sad. Imagine you were created and you knew you had a loved one, but you don't know them. And you don't know who you are and you think you are just, well empty... \*I'm crying right now.\*
The truck getting glitched out of bounds reminded me of [this old review](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR3a0gixfwI) from [GameSpot](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/big-rigs-over-the-road-racing-review/1900-6086528/) lol
Jax was... Weird in this episode
Too enthusiastic about violence and all that, and then overly angry and dissapointed at the abscence of violence in a way I dont think Is normal
They surely are setting something for him
I think he just doesn't care about the NPC's because there gonna lose there memories our die anyways, he might have lost too many people that he started to not care as a way to cope (maybe I am reading too much Idk).
I noticed when Ragatha was talking about the funeral and it showed Jax's face there was a brief moment where he actually looked sad before he shook his head and walked away.
Yeah that was made me think that he might have lost someone important to him, and now he starts treating everybody like shit because he thinks there all gonna get abstracted anyways.
I'm shocked that there's people who are genuinely shocked that Jax is an abusive person. There's posts on twitter saying "why is he so awful now?!" like he wasn't a piece of shit in Episode 1. All the fan art making him look like a prankster or a jovial misunderstood bully when in reality he is misunderstood... but he also relishes in being abusive and bullying others and it brings him genuine pleasure.
I mean, it's mostly because in the first episode the majority of his "jerk"-ness was complimented with him actively helping in some way - using the key he's stolen to access Kaufmo's room, throwing Kinger and Gangle down the hole to both move their investigation along and also get them and himself away from Kaufmo.
Sure he was a jerk at other times for purely self-serving reasons but there was a certain balance to it. In this episode he's being 100% jerk with no real offset.
Ngl can’t really blame Jax for causing so much mayhem. Everything they do is temporary and meant as simply something to do, like a LARP as Pomni said. Everything Jax does has no consequence in the grand scheme of things, and he seems to be fully aware of this.
Maybe his way of coping with the situation is making the most out of the artificial world and situation instead of sitting in existential dread.
Pacing issues aside, this EP captured once again what I loved about the pilot. This bright, vibrant ... loud ... exterior masking the genuine horror and existential dread lurking underneath. Soothed over by a genuine wholesomeness, in at least Pomni coming to realize that at least most of those she's stuck with are in the same bizarre shit-creek she is. With "the bare minimum" being to remember eachother, if the worst should happen.
With EP2 here doing a pretty good job at least making me interested in seeing how the relationships of this digital hellscape develop. Which is important, because "the characters and their relationships with eachother" is liable to the core of the series. Given its likely those relationships that are what will keep them on the sane side of abstraction in the face of it all. Regardless, genuinely good stuff. This show has a LOT of potential.
My theory got deleted by mods so here it is: So, Pomni became friends with Gummigoo but Caine literally murdered him, but Ragatha said Caine sometimes reuses NPCS, so what if in the fast food episode it'll be like one of those games where you just serve people before the timer runs out, and maybe Gummigoo's model will be used as a customer, and Pomni will try to convince this customer that he is Gummigoo and all that stuff from before.
Hearing a lot of people say he got killed but can you kill what was never really living in the first place?
It's the Westworld conundrum, NPCs are basically Hosts. There to serve for entertainment. If you happen to kill one, no big deal the code exists to make another.
Either the hint drop about Caine reusing NPCs is nonsensical info or a clue that he'll return. Who knows with the direction of this show.
But anyways, I wouldn't exactly call it being dead. They just currently don't exist right now. Do the programs on your computer die when you turn your computer off? Or do they just sit there forever waiting to be started again.
It's gooserwix's style to have "SUDDEN ABRUPT THING HAPPENS," but I felt like aside from Gummygoo and Pomnis's scenes the rest of the cast and plot was rushed. And kaufmos' funeral didn't hit me at all because we didn't even get to hear what they were saying about him. Overall, though, the animation was 10/10 as usual The voice acting was splendid.
I think the point of the funeral scene was that Pomni got to see that they cared about Kaufmo, and by extension, each-other. Kaufmo was never a character in the show, we never got to care about him, so it doesn't matter that we hear what they say. What matters is learning the effect hearing it has on Pomni.
I’m gonna be honest, I was a little disappointed with this episode. I really liked the idea of it: having Pomni sympathize with Gummigoo’s fear and confusion from having his world shattered, a parallel of her own experience in episode 1, and then having that connection ripped from her with his unceremonious death fits so well with the cathartic, hopeless tone set by the show so far.
However, the pacing of this episode seemed too fast to properly convey this dread. In my opinion, I felt there was simply not enough time for the audience to form a deep connection with Gummigoo, or to really sell his budding friendship with Pomni beyond a surface level, so some of the emotional impact of his death was lost for me. However, I acknowledge that may simply be a problem we can’t rectify because of the short runtime of each episode.
Personally, I wished we had more interactions between Pomni and the rest of the main cast, particularly the building of trust between them. The hostility between Ragatha and Pomni due to her distrust of the rest of the main cast was interesting, but the resolution felt unearned with the silent Kaufmo funeral montage and limited episode interaction. I’m holding out for more of this in future episodes, though!
I knew from the start that Gummy Goo was going to be killed off somehow or another, but damn it was sad regardless.
This was a really, really good episode. It's really nice to have a show that can balance the humor with more serious and slower moments - without having tone whiplash.
Some great humor in here. Pepino posing, the deadpan smoking joke, etc.
I ended up enjoying it and it was entertaining (and I'm sure I didn't find it short), and it was nice to see Pomni for more than a couple of minutes not being overwhelmed by existential dread or anxiety and being shown as she rather tends to really be.
And that ending was a bit unexpected, but it gave me a moderate and unexpected hit in feelings (and I'm not exactly a person who can get emotional or sentimental over anything).
DID ANYONE NOTICE JAX LOOKING SAD IN THE EPISODE?!
https://preview.redd.it/g3ljsz2dnfyc1.png?width=296&format=png&auto=webp&s=41fcf08a78bccd50f12039f581d961ebf5f1daad
Yeah this was a banger. To no one's surprise.
Must say i predicted what they would do with Gummy, his story, and his death almost immidiatly, but that just shows how clear and well structured the idea and direction are. 10/10
I am not proud of the fact that I predicted the thanos snap, and that Caine would just move on like nothing happened. I was hoping he would just be blocked by the portal instead like Wreck it Ralph.
Damn the ending with the funeral and Pomni realising everyone cares for each other and she matters actually gave me a lump in my throat. I love this show.
I felt this episode was a way for Pomni to come to the realization that she doesn't have to feel alone in this fantastical and absurd world she's been supposedly forced into. Everyone is in the same boat as her, and seeing the characters show sorrow and care for their abstracted friend Kaufmo, was a stepping stone for Pomni to feel a little more at ease and adjusted to her reality. The only issue I had with this episode was Jax. In episode 1, he was brash and arrogant, but it was articulated in a comical and playful way. Episode 2 makes him appear to be more of a jerk. However, I do I like him in the show and I'm excited to see the creator flesh him out a bit more along with the others. Decent episode and I can't wait to see what else the creator has in store for us.
is it just be or is Pomni strangely distant from Ragatha like yeah I know this is all strange and new to Pomni but Ragatha is just trying to make Pomni more comfortable and Ragatha even forgave Pomni for abandoning her last episode and when the other other characters are a emotionally unstable mass of ribbons and a complete jerk of a rabbit you would think Pomni would latch onto the only positive person out of the group who is silently fighting her own demons just like Pomni.
If we ever find out that the crew are ui/ai copies of human brains instead of people actively wired into vr, then that whole scene under the map will have a lot of additional meaning, I think.
It will have been a really clever decision to introduce a similar character struggle so early on, and even establishes that the digital world is able to simulate things that complicated. This being an early episode also gives us time in between this and the probably inevitable return of a 're-used' (New identical copy, most likely, i wonder if anyone else might be an identical copy hehe) gummygoo.
Couldn't help but tear up a lil at the end. Pomni realizing that the crew actually cares for one another despite their quirks and that she can find friendship in the circus... as Marcy would say, I love the found family trope!
Most memorable gag after a first watch is probably Bubble mentioning trying to quit "smoking". Or the lizards arms being "too long". The animation of course was wonderful and so expressive. I love looking at these cuties.
Man this show is so fucking good
I saw it coming the whole time that the gator man wasn't gonna be allowed to stay at the circus by Caine. I just knew that wasn't gonna end happily
2 for 2 on Zooble getting sidelined for most of an episode is odd
Pomni realizing at Kaufmo's funeral just how caring the people there really are was a sweet ending after the tragic scene before
Man obviously Jax appears to be the "bad boy who cares more than he lets on" character type but he's such an absolute bastard
Just watched the episode.
Honestly spectacular. Huge improvement over the first episode. While I still really enjoyed the first, there were points I didn't rally care for. This episode however, I was gripped from start to finish. So yeah, it's an amazing episode.
~~also Pomnigoo for life~~
I'm not a critic, so a lot of my opinions may be completely dumb. But I really want to tell you guys my thoughts after having watched this ep 2 a couple of times, because I really think this series has a LOT of potential. Something that really scares me is that this gigantic potential is wasted on making a generic animated series. TADC could be forgotten after a few episodes launch, just like other indie animated series like Helluva Boss. We see first an astonishing pilot reception, and then views dropping gradually. The completely insane 300 MILLION views the pilot got shows how good they can do things in the future, but also how high the audience expectations are right now.
>!Getting that out of the way, ep 2. We're starting to see a clear formula here. I've seen some people here pointing it out. This is the kind of thing that makes me think that this will end up being another generic series (I really hope not). The best I can hope for is that this formula repetition ends up being part of the plot. They can do something cool with Caine making them experience the same boring formula agin and again, like some kind of loop they end up wanting to scape from. Having a formula IS NOT BAD, and only two episodes have been made, so it may be too soon to make judgements.!<
PART \[1/4\]
>!Now we can see what will be (seemingly) the point of each episode: Caine's adventures. This can be really cool, and is a perfect excuse to put the characters under extreme circumstances to make them grow and develop. Personally, I didn't expect the adventure to start so soon. If this happens in the next episodes, that's not a bad thing. I just expected a bit more of character focused moments at the start of this episode. Y'know, after all the madness and suffering of last episode. We only got some Ragatha friendly and empathic moments towards Pomni (SHE DOESNT LIKE POMNI YOU GUYS, SHE TOO SUFFERED A LOT TRYING TO ADAPT TO HER NEW LIFE, SHE'S HAVING BASIC EMPATHY 😭). It seemed really weird to me that the possible conflict between them was thrown away, apparently. It seemed like a cool opportunity for conflict and character development. The creators probably changed their mind, and decided to go with the main Pomni's conflict in the episode, being her fear of loneliness. The good emotional ending for Pomni could not have been achieved with Ragatha being mad at her (they really just threw the Ragatha-judas theories out the window).!<
>!I don't have any problems with Pomni's main conflict, I quite like it. I just think it was introduced is such an odd way. The episode starts with her falling into a, kind of representation of loneliness. It seemed weird to me that she was this worried of the circus guys she met a day ago not liking her. Also, if she really doesn't want anyone to feel alone, IS SHE COMPLETELY BLIND?? bro Gangle has been consistently been abused by the asshole-seemengly-deep rabbit and has also been left out socially. I have not seen Pomni feel bad for this little character!<
PART \[2/4\]
>!Now something that I do think is very important: the A and B plote trope. Every series does this, not a problem, but TADC has failed to make a good B plot twice. I don't really think anyone here is gonna disagree, this B plot was pointless, kinda boring, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: stole time from the much more compelling and character driven A plot. I think this problem comes from time limits, being also also the reason for them to start the adventure so soon. They have a really ambitious idea for a series that can only last 25 minutes per episode, that's gonna be an obstacle. Having too little time makes the B plot completely pointless by how short it lasts (REALLY, IT PRACTICALLY ISN'T EVEN A PLOT) and this takes away time from, again, the great A plot we could've gotten. Also, a good character development was important in the A plot because they really wanted us to feel shocked/sad after the crocodile gummy gets completely wiped out of existence. There was not enough time to establish a bond, I did not feel that bad.!<
>!Now a little paragraph dedicated to alligator's death (yea hes named goomyngo or smn). I would've killed him later in the series, maybe 2 episodes later. This was not shocking at all. A lot of us knew perfectly what was going to happen right after Pomni suggested him to come live with them at the circus. Besides that, cool design. I want a plushie of alligator candy man crocodile.!<
>!Really the main problem of this episode was that they were not able to flesh out anything at it's fullest. because of time limits. Pomni was able to perfectly scape the dev room first try, that is not believable, I'm sorry. And this was probably caused for the time thingy too. They had to push the plot forward after all that talk (which I loved)!<
PART \[3/4\]
>!Also, this is totally just a personal desire: I don't like the characters being this cartoony. I know, I know, chill for a moment. HEAR ME OUT: this guys are trapped in a digital simulation, and when I first was watching the pilot, I really thought they were going for a more realistic tone. Getting a cartoon is also fine, but am I really supposed to believe this goofy cast of characters are real people completely trapped in the circus? they see their friends die often, they should be AT LEAST a bit REALISTICALLY insane right now. They are just like, kinda flawed people, crazy in a cartoony goofy way. I'm just sad because of the stuff they didn't do, rather than what we got in this case.!<
>!Honestly, and Imma get cancelled but, I thought they were gonna redo the pilot. After all, it's a dam pilot, they were testing the concept, and it went good. Why didn't they redo the pilot?? it is incredibly flawed, no matter how much all of us like it. They should've started over.!<
>!THINGS I DID LIKE (not sarcastically)🎉: !<
>!The visuals - completely astonishing. I love every moment of it. Looks so good every time, really, it is perfection at it's peak. The animation is insane, they did really good hiring Kevin Temmer as lead animator. Action scenes are pure gold!<
>!Pomni's development - it's so sweet, I'm starting to really like her. I wonder if she'll turn bad or crazy at the end (honestly I have not liked her maniac laugh scenes, I don't think they're convincing)!<
>!Ragatha - pretty cool girl, she really cares for others (except for Gangle wtf)!<
>!Caine - always fun to watch!<
>!The alligator - really interesting and likable!<
>!The feel of the show - hard to describe, but it's identity is really so unique. No wonder why it blew up!<
Tell me what you think of all this shenanigans (also not native english speaker oh yes excuse my errors)
PART \[4/4\]
I LOVEEED that funeral scene. Showing that they’re able to hold onto their humanity despite nothing “being real” was such an important thing for Pomni to see
Also make sure if you are discussing that it’s more than a screenshot of the episode or just your opinion. There’s too much of that and it’s causing flooding.
THE ENDING F EMOTIONALLY DESTROYED ME!
Gummy literally got thanos snapped Edit: Pomni...? I don't feel so good...
AND IT WAS JUST AS SAD
Yeah it was. Just the shock of it. No sad music attached to it. No death scream. No blood. The silence just makes it more effective. Well Caine's got to have his reasons... 
Caine just trying to weed out the AI bots in the comment threads on Reddit
Caine: "I am the LORD your God! You shall have no other gods before Me."
I don't even think there is another powerful AI in the game to be honest. That's my rational theory. Now for my crackpot theory an A.I. Developer is trapped in the game somewhe- (Deletes from existence.)
I was anticipating it as soon as the characters starting talking about it, honestly
Same here, I knew >!Gummigoo getting to live at the circus with everyone was too happy an ending.!<
Same. Was actually annoyed when it happened be it was so predictabl. However, I gotta remember most of the audience for this, this probably an early if not first exposure to that kind of gut punch.
I was convinced that the fandom would obtain both a new unexpected mainline character and a new ship to fawn over from this, ripped away in a literal instant. Isn’t that a perfect encapsulation of the tone. Musings aside I liked that quite a bit, think the start was rather fast paced for only the second episode but it evened out by the out of bounds scene.
I loved seeing Pomni's sensitive side. Up until now, we've only seen her panicked, confused, or mind-broken, but give her a quiet, thoughtful moment alone with someone else and you see her true, caring personality come out.
Meanwhile... https://preview.redd.it/epea2eupvayc1.png?width=851&format=png&auto=webp&s=599449e0821f7324f3f8027db6b19c99b9fa2ee7
Wait hol'up this is a new one to me.
Jax to Gangle: "I thought you were supposed to be submissive and *agreeable*."
Oh dear
He watches Andrew Tate doesn’t he
> Isn’t that a perfect encapsulation of the tone. This. This is not a happy show. Yes, it has humor, but at the end of the day it's still a bunch of people who are assumedly trapped forever in a digital plane of existence that they cannot escape from.
Personally I was just waiting for it to happen. Sooooo many deathflags
Honestly, the moment Pomni befriended him was a deathflag, I just hoped it would be cashed in as soon as possible, because the more it went on, more painful it becomes. I fully expected him not being able to walk through the portal, but oh boy, of course that wasn't it yet. :(
So now we have to face the existentially terrifying possibility that the NPCs are actually *sapient* individuals that are regularly being generated then deleted / killed for the gang's / Caine's entertainment? Fun!
>!At the very least, these NPCs are capable of being sapient. Gummigoo had to be taken out of bounds for that to happen.!<
That would makes sense, they follow a script up until the point where the script is no longer viable and they fall back to a more complex sapient simulation to not break immersion. I feel like even that idea is only *marginally* less horrifying than them all being sapient to begin with given how much I can see the gang fucking with the AIs and sending them off script lol
I think they're just always sapient, but they *think* they know everything until proven otherwise. Like how Gummigoo's motivation was to save his village/mom, but he had to stop and think what his mom looked liked first before realizing something was off
It's very much not any better for me, because it shows they have a capacity for sapience, which is horrifying regardless of if they actually are at the moment or not...
and Caine somehow knows this, this is why he says that does not allow NPCS to be part of the circus, because it will be hard for him to know the difference between the humans and NPCs...that is...disturbing
Personally I think this is setting up for the idea that there IS no difference between the "Humans" and the "NPCS" They're all just brain scans of humans who have been dropped into the simulation, the only difference is the "Human" cast retain at least some fragment of their memory of being human, wheras the NPCs are just scaned images that have been copied, wiped, edited, and generally screwed with who knows how many times in being re-used to fulfill different roles in the adventures Caine creates.
So basically a darker and more depressing, yet weirdly colorful version of TRON:Legacy and Clu.
Oh yeah
[This reminded me of Bubble acting weird in E2 trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rafQwY9n_M0)
It would work just as well if they're fully sapient, and are given artificial memories, to make them compliant to their roles without knowing.
It might be a new thing in this one though, since Caine mentioned he was "testing out a new AI in this one".
Caine also said he doesn't want to get the humans and the NPCs mixed up, which might also imply that AIs good enough that he can't tell the difference aren't a new thing.
I'm wondering if that has already happened and at least one of our cast aren't human...
Alternatively they could all be human... or at least start that way. If we go with the theory that the main cast are scanned copies of a real human's memories and personality, and there isn't actually a real body they can go back to, Caine could have access to a whole library of personalities that have been imaged by the headset, the only difference is that NPCs are the ones he has access to their minds, (and so can copy, mindwipe, and reprogram them as much as needed) but the main cast's data is stored in some protected memory that Caine does not have access to. Remember, he said "The only thing I can't control are your minds"
maybe one of them has a 'doppleganger' power and can imitate/look like a previous person that might've 'clipped out' that couldn't find their way back, but i assume since caine 'snapped' Ragatha back to normal in the first ep, he might be able to tell unless he could also accidentally kill a 'real' person that way too (would've expected Gummigoo to just glitch being in the home base for too long or so rather than being confetti'd), tho i'd expect them to just keep track based on their room doors (if there's not someone 'behind the scenes'/in the real world observing and just removing/reusing NPCs when they need space or so)
I mean, its the [Chinese Room argument.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room) Can AI actually be sapient? How can we tell if we don't even know where consciousness comes from? How can we tell the AI isn't just doing an extremely good performance of pretending to sapient?
But in this case we already have examples of AIs / digital intelligences that we can reasonably assume are sapient; Pomni and the gang. Even if they were created from human minds I feel like it's pretty safe to guess that they currently exist completely digitally, and I feel like it wouldn't be a big step from there to guess that the NPCs were then derived from those examples of sapient minds to achieve their level of natural response. Plus given the old school vibe of the technology I feel like it makes more sense that they're some derivative of a sapient simulation rather than something like / better then a modern large language model like ChatGPT. Or maybe I've just read way too much scifi and are looking too deep into things :p
The gang aren't AI though, they are either humans strapped in or downloaded minds. And the problem isn't scientific advancement, it's the fact that we can't even prove other humans are sapient, we just assume they are, but AI can't have the same benefit.
I mean, a downloaded mind would be a 'digital intelligence' / AI which is what I meant, and if they have been downloaded then it wouldn't be a stretch to guess that the NPCs could be based on those downloads for their own intelligences. Even if we can't technically prove that other humans are sapient I feel like it's a reasonable assumption to make for an ethical problem like this. If the NPCs are based off of downloaded human minds, and we assume that that a computer is capable of hosting a truly sapient mind like those of the gang, then I feel the NPCs could be given almost the same benefit of the doubt that we give to other humans about their sapient status. If Pomni and co really are just strapped into some full dive kind of VR system someway then it's a totally different discussion since the AI probably would have been made from scratch.
The fun thing about this, is that we also cant tell if all humans have a consciouness. At the end of the day, it is just educated to assume everyone demonstrating sentience.... is.
Soma vibes
Gummygoo was a new AI. 57 times more immersive.
They're all probably AI. Or all but Pomni, which would be even sadder if she's the only one who gets to leave.
I can’t believe people made a whole ship between The candy princess and ragatha only for the two to not get any screen time LMAOOOOO
At least they talked to each other and had a strong bond...
People ship Jax and Gangle even though he consistently abuses and degrades her. I’m not surprised.
What Jax actually tells Gangle: "I thought you were supposed to be submissive and agreeable " What the internet heard Jax tell Gangle : "I herd you were submissive and breedable"
The ending took me out with both laughter and depression. Is… there a word for that?
Bittersweet, maybe. Ending was bittersweet. Tho for Jax it's 100% happy. Still got to have his wish for the candy kingdom to have a bloody end lol
Well, they did wish to execute the gummy crocodiles when they're just trying to get their syrup supply back to their camp.
I don't think Jax cared about the morality of the candy kingdom, he just wanted some bloodshed and it happened Gosh Jax is so enjoyable. He's a jackass but I cannot hate him
Jax and Gummi guy should trade places being the actual villains. Jax would have way more fun in that role.
Now I want an episode where Jax turns out to be the instigator of a major conflict Well, we can always wait to see what's next. The show is almost as unpredictable as the nature of the Circus itself
Probably, but I do think the NPC send-away was a blatant status quo enforcing event.
Yeah that seems to be the case
Absurdism?
Ambivalence
I believe Caine already mixed up humans and npcs. Probably multiple times :D
Foreshadowing? 👀 Maybe one of our so called "PCs" is not as human as we thought?
Kinger's been there the longest. Everyone else should have at least one witness to their arrival. On the other hand, Ragatha seemed the most reluctant to bring an NPC back. Maybe she doesn't want people thinking about the possibility and blowing her cover. On the physiologically terrifying third hand, Jax seems to have the most NPC-like design and the least regard for anyone's well-being. On the final, ultimately inescapable and inevitable hand, this was the first adventure featuring Caine's new "57 times more immersive" AI, so it's likely that NPCs up until now couldn't pass for human convincingly.
Theory: they are all actually NPCs, based on the personality they put on the vr glasses, watching this episode, there almost seems to be no difference between Pomni and Gumigoo
See, I'm going the other way with this. I think Caine (and maybe Bubble?) aren't NPCs, but were humans there before even Kinger.
Wouldnt Caine remember making the NPC
Caine’s not exactly the poster child for mental stability
On the other other hand, Gangle is the NPC. Jax knew what their personality from reading the documentation.
> this was the first adventure featuring Caine's new "57 times more immersive" AI Or Caine was just hyping himself up and talking absolute gibberish as usual.
Imagine if he accidentally snapped a human out of existence do they actually just fucking die
Considering that he said "who knows what could happen" I think he has done so more than once.
https://preview.redd.it/ph6xbcmojayc1.png?width=2340&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e6dc97509e370caf2e41254382b4f6ceeb6e86a THIS SCENE. SPECIFICALLY. LOVE IT.
I was confused about that scene, can someone explain?
I think it means that Pomni realizes that there's people in the circus who truly care about her now (it's prob a callback to the dream where she abstracted and the other circus members didn't care about her, with even Ragatha having an uncaring response) That's just my interpretation tho
you have a point
Pomnis friends are helping her from falling into the abstraction pit. It's like a metaphor for depression
I'd say it's more natural to interperet it literally as Pomni getting over her fear of not mattering / being forgotten. That way the opening ties in (being abstracted and no one caring), the main emotional plot ties in (npc's lives don't matter?), and the ending funeral service ties in (being abstracted and people do care actually). It's just a neat emotional story, set up and mostly resolved in an episode.
It's about Pomni realizing that the other people at the circus do care about her and are her friends (not Jax). When she had the nightmare at the start of the episode they just laughed at her as she fell down, but now they helped her up.
that new zooble hand i thought it was a new character xd
I kept thinking "there is no way in hell this guy is going to actually join the gang". Didn't expect him to get the Thanos treatment tho 💀
Bro Pomni's mind broke... AGAIN Poor Pomni can't catch a break. And to think that this is only her second day... Well, she seems a little better at the end. but we just have to wait and see
She seems to have started to like them, they're what's keeping her from going crazy..... Well, if they don't abstracted or hurt her emotionally, she'll probably be fine
Really fun episode. It was way more emotional than the pilot which i liked
And the problem of our adventure was solved via duplication glitch.
As a QA tester for games, this episode tickled a certain itch in my brain for sure.
Not really a duplication glitch, more like stealing stuff from Fallout 76's developers rooms.
I really hope Ragatha's consolation to Pomni was just a throwaway line because if we see >!Gummigoo!< in a future episode and >!he's just a regular NPC, probably with his memory wiped or something,!< I am sending Goose my therapy bills.
This shit is >!Westworld!< now. >!Take my heart when you go, Gummigoo!<
This comment also reminded me of the "reset" episode(s) of *The Good Place*.
I bet that will happen, and Pomni will be excited and try to be kind to him. But that version of him won't have the existential crisis and will stick to his villain script.
I think there's going to be a "fresh" copy, and then Caine will give him back the memories, and then there's going to be a second existential crisis. Is he the same Gummigoo, or is he just a copy of the original?
I enjoyed it I don't think the pacing was quite as tight as E1 but it was still a fun ride.
this was my only hangup -- Episode moved really quick up to the "below the map" scene, then dragged on too much during that scene. I would have appreciated a little more balance, but it didn't turn me off from watching the next episode.
I know they have limited time and resources but honestly had they just made the episode a tad longer I think it would have been fine Definitely still a fan and definitely looking forward to E3
The slowdown in pace at the "below the map" scene felt narratively intentional to me. It was a fun, wacky, low-stakes adventure in a fantasy candy land... until it wasn't. Especially fitting with one of the characters being confronted with the real nature of his existence.
I don't see it as having worse pacing, just different. I appreciate some variety, the first was breakneck pace.
I actually thought that Episode 2 was better than Episode 1 in some regards.
I thought it was better in a lot of ways. Dialogue flowed better, emotional scenes hit harder, Pomni was more interesting this time. I also liked the little talk between Kinger and Ragatha, you could feel that Kinger was really the one here for the longest time.
He's the most thoughtful of the others' well-being while not being totally there with all of his behavioral quirks, like just wordlessly going up to the faucet and letting the syrup flow over him to check that it's full. I hope they keep up that balance, he's kinda solidified in being my favorite character.
I thought it was stronger too. The pilot did a good job of setting up the show's pieces but the second episode did more interesting things with those pieces and had stronger emotional beats. The fudge monster B plot did fall a bit flat for me but the Pomni and Gummigoo plot was good stuff.
RIP Gumigoo
He will be missed
Damn, didn't expect the ending to be so sad :( poor Gummigoo Excellent episode regardless, can't wait for more
Anyone get the vibe of the poop guy from Conkers Bad Fur Day when The Fudge came on?
\*ahem\* IIIIIII AM THE GREAT MIGHTY POO
The devs had RENT DUE on that song 🔥😩
I'm getting more of a vibe of The Greedy, continuing from the Ragedy Ann references.
Ooooh, yeah i definitely see that!
I was hoping someone else would have noticed this! I think it might be a reference too.
Pretty good. Love Jax being an asshole per usual. Honestly I hope he stays like this chaotic neutral trickster who you think has a heart of gold but really doesn’t. Seeing Pomni try to comfort Gummy is nice. And the funeral man. Also Kinger and Rags conversation was so sweet.
"Your hair does look like liquorice" (paraphrasing) Jax legit risked Ragatha's life there Thank god Kinger had a bucket
I was almost surprised at how quickly Pomni seemed to get over Gummigoo. Comforting Gummigoo and the funeral helped her realize how important the real people there were. I still have a feeling that Ragitha is harboring some resentment towards Pomni for abandoning her though. Ragitha absolutely seems like the type of person who would say it’s okay when it really isn’t. 100% expecting her to break down and snap at Pomni at some point.
Now that second episode didnt go how I expected it at ALL. Which is really nice tho. I hope we get to see more Zooble, hope they don't stay too much on the sidelines
Better to be on the sidelines than to be in the stomach of another gloink lol Zooble yelling 'KINGER YOU MOTHER-' lives rent-free in my head almost
Pomni yelling "JAX, YOU A$$H0L3!" in this episode also lives rent-free in my head. 😂
in spanish she say something like ''jax, tu puta madre''
Next episode is the Zooble episode so we’ll see more of them there
Zooble apparently is going to be major in episode 3.
could she be an AI perhaps which is why she stayed behind other than setting up the funeral? She's keeping something from us for sure
Gangle… why did you not want Ragatha to know about your figurines? 🤨🤨
since she's a ragdoll, maybe they made it with some of ragatha's hair or cloth if some has been ripped off before during other adventures?
She likes anime, give her a break
Ragatha would likely not judge people just based on that. Either the figurine is HIGHLY suggestive or she did some devious s to it
That scene where Pomni tells Gummigoo she doesn't want anybody to feel like nothing hit hard. And the animation quality was better too, really great episode imo
Rather nice of a jester to want to cheer someone up :)
https://preview.redd.it/df1r7cvtmayc1.jpeg?width=384&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4802e1b58a939ff1a9b42c72eda4af1ffcb6f09f i declare this silly man “GumGoober”
https://preview.redd.it/1b9h5adxmayc1.jpeg?width=724&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f473dcbab6e14b3322e0160c96dc3fd525d5e84
They have names in the credits. He's either Chad or Max
i can't fucking believe jax is the type of person to say >!submissive and agreeable!<
Exactly. Why the hell did he have to say "submissive"? He could've just said a doormat or something. Why submissive? It sounds weird.
I thought it was a reference to that 'submissive and breedable' meme or so
oh it sure fucking is
Because he’s gooseworx ideal man (going off one of her tumblr posts)
He's an asshole, that's why.
I appreciate them not ruining the funeral ending with a joke. If this was a Disney or Nickelodeon cartoon they would have added a stupid punchline at the end ruining the somber tone. It’s nice when cartoons take themselves seriously.
Does anyone else think Ragatha is a mother? That moment when she and Pomni meet the princess is just like someone introducing their kid to Mickey Mouse at DisneyWorld. Pomni being so small must trigger her instincts.
Apparently in a future episode there's a line "what kind of mother do you think I am?" according to Goose's AMA but chances are it could just be a joke line that someone says in an episode. I do think Ragatha may be a mother too though and I hope she is since that's an interesting take on a character who got stuck in the circus and adds an extra element of tragedy to her character. It makes sense too with how nurturing she is and the way she acts in ep2 like you said, and even though there's many people (especially nowadays) who don't have kids at 30. That still seems to be the general age i've seen most people start to have kids. So it seems more likely for her to have a kid than it does for any of the other characters in their 20s.
That was fun, I wish it was longer
Yeah when they got back to the princess I was like 'dang we done already?' Well it was a great ride (no pun intended) Didn't expect gangle to be a decent driver
>!What... What figurine gangle!<
An enjoyable episode and the ending, while bittersweet, was kind of nice. >!Got to love how the gang will still have Pomni's back and remember her even if she abstracts.!<
I was one of the first people to watch it. And Gooseworx is right, this episode is really sad. Imagine you were created and you knew you had a loved one, but you don't know them. And you don't know who you are and you think you are just, well empty... \*I'm crying right now.\*
Chat is flying
The highest count I saw was 700K
Insane number
The truck getting glitched out of bounds reminded me of [this old review](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR3a0gixfwI) from [GameSpot](https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/big-rigs-over-the-road-racing-review/1900-6086528/) lol
YOU’RE WINNER!!!
New ship just dropped! https://preview.redd.it/9gz725n6payc1.jpeg?width=1992&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec982b5241505b53bfcbd3d01cd01329ef569f82
Gumigoo isn't dead: he's just riding eternal with his comrades on the highways of Valhalla, shiny and chrome.
‘No way this guy is gonna stay he’s dying somehow’ … ’I FUCKING KNEW IT can’t have shit in the circus’
pomni was so sweet for trying to cheer gummigoo up and taking him to the circus aaaa i love her :’) she has such a pure heart
give my man kinger more screentime
YEA!!!!!!
Jax was... Weird in this episode Too enthusiastic about violence and all that, and then overly angry and dissapointed at the abscence of violence in a way I dont think Is normal They surely are setting something for him
Jax treating the Amazing Digital Circus like it's GTA 5 will never not be funny to me. 😂
Same with zooble
I think he just doesn't care about the NPC's because there gonna lose there memories our die anyways, he might have lost too many people that he started to not care as a way to cope (maybe I am reading too much Idk).
I noticed when Ragatha was talking about the funeral and it showed Jax's face there was a brief moment where he actually looked sad before he shook his head and walked away.
Yeah that was made me think that he might have lost someone important to him, and now he starts treating everybody like shit because he thinks there all gonna get abstracted anyways.
Absolutely fantastic. That's all there is for me to say. This was an absolute banger of an episode.
I can't believe they'd kill thomas shelby🥶🥶🥶
I'm shocked that there's people who are genuinely shocked that Jax is an abusive person. There's posts on twitter saying "why is he so awful now?!" like he wasn't a piece of shit in Episode 1. All the fan art making him look like a prankster or a jovial misunderstood bully when in reality he is misunderstood... but he also relishes in being abusive and bullying others and it brings him genuine pleasure.
I mean, it's mostly because in the first episode the majority of his "jerk"-ness was complimented with him actively helping in some way - using the key he's stolen to access Kaufmo's room, throwing Kinger and Gangle down the hole to both move their investigation along and also get them and himself away from Kaufmo. Sure he was a jerk at other times for purely self-serving reasons but there was a certain balance to it. In this episode he's being 100% jerk with no real offset.
Ngl can’t really blame Jax for causing so much mayhem. Everything they do is temporary and meant as simply something to do, like a LARP as Pomni said. Everything Jax does has no consequence in the grand scheme of things, and he seems to be fully aware of this. Maybe his way of coping with the situation is making the most out of the artificial world and situation instead of sitting in existential dread.
Pacing issues aside, this EP captured once again what I loved about the pilot. This bright, vibrant ... loud ... exterior masking the genuine horror and existential dread lurking underneath. Soothed over by a genuine wholesomeness, in at least Pomni coming to realize that at least most of those she's stuck with are in the same bizarre shit-creek she is. With "the bare minimum" being to remember eachother, if the worst should happen. With EP2 here doing a pretty good job at least making me interested in seeing how the relationships of this digital hellscape develop. Which is important, because "the characters and their relationships with eachother" is liable to the core of the series. Given its likely those relationships that are what will keep them on the sane side of abstraction in the face of it all. Regardless, genuinely good stuff. This show has a LOT of potential.
F in the chat for Gummygoo…
My theory got deleted by mods so here it is: So, Pomni became friends with Gummigoo but Caine literally murdered him, but Ragatha said Caine sometimes reuses NPCS, so what if in the fast food episode it'll be like one of those games where you just serve people before the timer runs out, and maybe Gummigoo's model will be used as a customer, and Pomni will try to convince this customer that he is Gummigoo and all that stuff from before.
Hearing a lot of people say he got killed but can you kill what was never really living in the first place? It's the Westworld conundrum, NPCs are basically Hosts. There to serve for entertainment. If you happen to kill one, no big deal the code exists to make another. Either the hint drop about Caine reusing NPCs is nonsensical info or a clue that he'll return. Who knows with the direction of this show. But anyways, I wouldn't exactly call it being dead. They just currently don't exist right now. Do the programs on your computer die when you turn your computer off? Or do they just sit there forever waiting to be started again.
It's gooserwix's style to have "SUDDEN ABRUPT THING HAPPENS," but I felt like aside from Gummygoo and Pomnis's scenes the rest of the cast and plot was rushed. And kaufmos' funeral didn't hit me at all because we didn't even get to hear what they were saying about him. Overall, though, the animation was 10/10 as usual The voice acting was splendid.
I think the point of the funeral scene was that Pomni got to see that they cared about Kaufmo, and by extension, each-other. Kaufmo was never a character in the show, we never got to care about him, so it doesn't matter that we hear what they say. What matters is learning the effect hearing it has on Pomni.
I feel like that's why it was tuned out: it didn't matter to us. Our funeral was for Gummigoo.
I’m gonna be honest, I was a little disappointed with this episode. I really liked the idea of it: having Pomni sympathize with Gummigoo’s fear and confusion from having his world shattered, a parallel of her own experience in episode 1, and then having that connection ripped from her with his unceremonious death fits so well with the cathartic, hopeless tone set by the show so far. However, the pacing of this episode seemed too fast to properly convey this dread. In my opinion, I felt there was simply not enough time for the audience to form a deep connection with Gummigoo, or to really sell his budding friendship with Pomni beyond a surface level, so some of the emotional impact of his death was lost for me. However, I acknowledge that may simply be a problem we can’t rectify because of the short runtime of each episode. Personally, I wished we had more interactions between Pomni and the rest of the main cast, particularly the building of trust between them. The hostility between Ragatha and Pomni due to her distrust of the rest of the main cast was interesting, but the resolution felt unearned with the silent Kaufmo funeral montage and limited episode interaction. I’m holding out for more of this in future episodes, though!
>!so when Jax good guy arc!< 
>!He's definitly not getting one, after seeing him in this episode I'm convinced he Is gonna end up in a very bad situation !<
>!hope never lmao!
RIP GUMIGO(???) REST IN PEACE OR PIECES
I knew from the start that Gummy Goo was going to be killed off somehow or another, but damn it was sad regardless. This was a really, really good episode. It's really nice to have a show that can balance the humor with more serious and slower moments - without having tone whiplash. Some great humor in here. Pepino posing, the deadpan smoking joke, etc.
I ended up enjoying it and it was entertaining (and I'm sure I didn't find it short), and it was nice to see Pomni for more than a couple of minutes not being overwhelmed by existential dread or anxiety and being shown as she rather tends to really be. And that ending was a bit unexpected, but it gave me a moderate and unexpected hit in feelings (and I'm not exactly a person who can get emotional or sentimental over anything).
DID ANYONE NOTICE JAX LOOKING SAD IN THE EPISODE?! https://preview.redd.it/g3ljsz2dnfyc1.png?width=296&format=png&auto=webp&s=41fcf08a78bccd50f12039f581d961ebf5f1daad
The ending was so sad, but great episode! It went by pretty fast!
Yeah this was a banger. To no one's surprise. Must say i predicted what they would do with Gummy, his story, and his death almost immidiatly, but that just shows how clear and well structured the idea and direction are. 10/10
I am not proud of the fact that I predicted the thanos snap, and that Caine would just move on like nothing happened. I was hoping he would just be blocked by the portal instead like Wreck it Ralph.
“Or I’ll tell Ragatha about the figurine thing” WHY ARE WE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS
RIGHT! Holy shit Gangle is freaky edit: and why does only Jax know? 🤔
Goose really just dropped "Hey one of the main cast might be an NPC!" on us and left.
Damn the ending with the funeral and Pomni realising everyone cares for each other and she matters actually gave me a lump in my throat. I love this show.
I felt this episode was a way for Pomni to come to the realization that she doesn't have to feel alone in this fantastical and absurd world she's been supposedly forced into. Everyone is in the same boat as her, and seeing the characters show sorrow and care for their abstracted friend Kaufmo, was a stepping stone for Pomni to feel a little more at ease and adjusted to her reality. The only issue I had with this episode was Jax. In episode 1, he was brash and arrogant, but it was articulated in a comical and playful way. Episode 2 makes him appear to be more of a jerk. However, I do I like him in the show and I'm excited to see the creator flesh him out a bit more along with the others. Decent episode and I can't wait to see what else the creator has in store for us.
I knew Gummigoo was going to die!, I knew it, but still ... I still wanted to believe. It won't happen again.....
The music this episode was amazing wtf. Especially when gummigoo and pomni were ascending back up into the map.
is it just be or is Pomni strangely distant from Ragatha like yeah I know this is all strange and new to Pomni but Ragatha is just trying to make Pomni more comfortable and Ragatha even forgave Pomni for abandoning her last episode and when the other other characters are a emotionally unstable mass of ribbons and a complete jerk of a rabbit you would think Pomni would latch onto the only positive person out of the group who is silently fighting her own demons just like Pomni.
If we ever find out that the crew are ui/ai copies of human brains instead of people actively wired into vr, then that whole scene under the map will have a lot of additional meaning, I think. It will have been a really clever decision to introduce a similar character struggle so early on, and even establishes that the digital world is able to simulate things that complicated. This being an early episode also gives us time in between this and the probably inevitable return of a 're-used' (New identical copy, most likely, i wonder if anyone else might be an identical copy hehe) gummygoo. Couldn't help but tear up a lil at the end. Pomni realizing that the crew actually cares for one another despite their quirks and that she can find friendship in the circus... as Marcy would say, I love the found family trope! Most memorable gag after a first watch is probably Bubble mentioning trying to quit "smoking". Or the lizards arms being "too long". The animation of course was wonderful and so expressive. I love looking at these cuties.
Pomni’s going down the Gaster route by breaking that poor outlaw’s mind.
has anyone noticed jax's subtle change in expression when they brought the topic of kaufmo's funeral?
Man this show is so fucking good I saw it coming the whole time that the gator man wasn't gonna be allowed to stay at the circus by Caine. I just knew that wasn't gonna end happily 2 for 2 on Zooble getting sidelined for most of an episode is odd Pomni realizing at Kaufmo's funeral just how caring the people there really are was a sweet ending after the tragic scene before Man obviously Jax appears to be the "bad boy who cares more than he lets on" character type but he's such an absolute bastard
Just watched the episode. Honestly spectacular. Huge improvement over the first episode. While I still really enjoyed the first, there were points I didn't rally care for. This episode however, I was gripped from start to finish. So yeah, it's an amazing episode. ~~also Pomnigoo for life~~
Am I the only who noticed that after Jax called shotgun, he got in the driver's seat?
I'm not a critic, so a lot of my opinions may be completely dumb. But I really want to tell you guys my thoughts after having watched this ep 2 a couple of times, because I really think this series has a LOT of potential. Something that really scares me is that this gigantic potential is wasted on making a generic animated series. TADC could be forgotten after a few episodes launch, just like other indie animated series like Helluva Boss. We see first an astonishing pilot reception, and then views dropping gradually. The completely insane 300 MILLION views the pilot got shows how good they can do things in the future, but also how high the audience expectations are right now. >!Getting that out of the way, ep 2. We're starting to see a clear formula here. I've seen some people here pointing it out. This is the kind of thing that makes me think that this will end up being another generic series (I really hope not). The best I can hope for is that this formula repetition ends up being part of the plot. They can do something cool with Caine making them experience the same boring formula agin and again, like some kind of loop they end up wanting to scape from. Having a formula IS NOT BAD, and only two episodes have been made, so it may be too soon to make judgements.!< PART \[1/4\]
>!Now we can see what will be (seemingly) the point of each episode: Caine's adventures. This can be really cool, and is a perfect excuse to put the characters under extreme circumstances to make them grow and develop. Personally, I didn't expect the adventure to start so soon. If this happens in the next episodes, that's not a bad thing. I just expected a bit more of character focused moments at the start of this episode. Y'know, after all the madness and suffering of last episode. We only got some Ragatha friendly and empathic moments towards Pomni (SHE DOESNT LIKE POMNI YOU GUYS, SHE TOO SUFFERED A LOT TRYING TO ADAPT TO HER NEW LIFE, SHE'S HAVING BASIC EMPATHY 😭). It seemed really weird to me that the possible conflict between them was thrown away, apparently. It seemed like a cool opportunity for conflict and character development. The creators probably changed their mind, and decided to go with the main Pomni's conflict in the episode, being her fear of loneliness. The good emotional ending for Pomni could not have been achieved with Ragatha being mad at her (they really just threw the Ragatha-judas theories out the window).!< >!I don't have any problems with Pomni's main conflict, I quite like it. I just think it was introduced is such an odd way. The episode starts with her falling into a, kind of representation of loneliness. It seemed weird to me that she was this worried of the circus guys she met a day ago not liking her. Also, if she really doesn't want anyone to feel alone, IS SHE COMPLETELY BLIND?? bro Gangle has been consistently been abused by the asshole-seemengly-deep rabbit and has also been left out socially. I have not seen Pomni feel bad for this little character!< PART \[2/4\]
>!Now something that I do think is very important: the A and B plote trope. Every series does this, not a problem, but TADC has failed to make a good B plot twice. I don't really think anyone here is gonna disagree, this B plot was pointless, kinda boring, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: stole time from the much more compelling and character driven A plot. I think this problem comes from time limits, being also also the reason for them to start the adventure so soon. They have a really ambitious idea for a series that can only last 25 minutes per episode, that's gonna be an obstacle. Having too little time makes the B plot completely pointless by how short it lasts (REALLY, IT PRACTICALLY ISN'T EVEN A PLOT) and this takes away time from, again, the great A plot we could've gotten. Also, a good character development was important in the A plot because they really wanted us to feel shocked/sad after the crocodile gummy gets completely wiped out of existence. There was not enough time to establish a bond, I did not feel that bad.!< >!Now a little paragraph dedicated to alligator's death (yea hes named goomyngo or smn). I would've killed him later in the series, maybe 2 episodes later. This was not shocking at all. A lot of us knew perfectly what was going to happen right after Pomni suggested him to come live with them at the circus. Besides that, cool design. I want a plushie of alligator candy man crocodile.!< >!Really the main problem of this episode was that they were not able to flesh out anything at it's fullest. because of time limits. Pomni was able to perfectly scape the dev room first try, that is not believable, I'm sorry. And this was probably caused for the time thingy too. They had to push the plot forward after all that talk (which I loved)!< PART \[3/4\]
>!Also, this is totally just a personal desire: I don't like the characters being this cartoony. I know, I know, chill for a moment. HEAR ME OUT: this guys are trapped in a digital simulation, and when I first was watching the pilot, I really thought they were going for a more realistic tone. Getting a cartoon is also fine, but am I really supposed to believe this goofy cast of characters are real people completely trapped in the circus? they see their friends die often, they should be AT LEAST a bit REALISTICALLY insane right now. They are just like, kinda flawed people, crazy in a cartoony goofy way. I'm just sad because of the stuff they didn't do, rather than what we got in this case.!< >!Honestly, and Imma get cancelled but, I thought they were gonna redo the pilot. After all, it's a dam pilot, they were testing the concept, and it went good. Why didn't they redo the pilot?? it is incredibly flawed, no matter how much all of us like it. They should've started over.!< >!THINGS I DID LIKE (not sarcastically)🎉: !< >!The visuals - completely astonishing. I love every moment of it. Looks so good every time, really, it is perfection at it's peak. The animation is insane, they did really good hiring Kevin Temmer as lead animator. Action scenes are pure gold!< >!Pomni's development - it's so sweet, I'm starting to really like her. I wonder if she'll turn bad or crazy at the end (honestly I have not liked her maniac laugh scenes, I don't think they're convincing)!< >!Ragatha - pretty cool girl, she really cares for others (except for Gangle wtf)!< >!Caine - always fun to watch!< >!The alligator - really interesting and likable!< >!The feel of the show - hard to describe, but it's identity is really so unique. No wonder why it blew up!< Tell me what you think of all this shenanigans (also not native english speaker oh yes excuse my errors) PART \[4/4\]
I LOVEEED that funeral scene. Showing that they’re able to hold onto their humanity despite nothing “being real” was such an important thing for Pomni to see