This makes me wonder how would glados run the circus
Make Zooble into a turret guarding the entrance. What entrance? Exactly.
I am probably repeating myself too much, but the worldbuilding on this show really sucks:
We are 7 episodes in and we still don't know what actually was TADC in the real world, if it was a legitimate product or some obscure site malware that got online, if it was a singleplayer adventure or a VR chat style game, which bits of the circus were actually advertised by the creators and which bits Caine made out. Info the characters could easily relay to each other but the writer holds it back in favor of cheap twists that can easily be called out if at least the viewer knew the basic of what is going on.
Other thing the also bothers me is that we barely know the nature of the non-Caine AIs in the game (Sun/Moon/Bubble), what makes them different of the NPCs and Caine himself, why they annoy him so much, as of now they are only treated as joke characters and the viewer just has to accept it.
And finally how barely any of the events that happened before Pomni got into the circus is worked on, the abstractions are just treated as lore bait (the Ribbit one is being teased for 3 episodes straight now) and characters barely mention any interactions with previous dwellers of the circus. Despite characters being with each other for quite some time it just looks like they met each other yesterday, Gangle with the self-insert, Kinger with Ragatha, relationships that should be slowly built over the time on the circus before Pomni arrived, but instead appear out of nothing just to surprise the viewer.
It's simply how mystery box storytelling works. Notice how, instead of resolving anything, the latest episode cuts off with everyone staring at where Caine was? Ooh, isn't that dramatic? It tells you nothing, but it sure is dramatic. That's the point, it prioritizes drama over story, narration and consistency. There was a dramatic cutaway ending in episode 5 as well after showing Abel. All the lorebaiting is the grand mystery box that, rather than actually explaining anything and letting it inform the rest of the story, leaves critical information unknown until the very end for the sole purpose of dramatic reveal. It's why I strongly believe why Ep8 will end on a dramatic cliffhanger, and why nothing will actually get revealed by Ep9. Hell, actual basic setting information may actually be withheld until the
next season if the sales are good enough, because that's what it's good for: buzz, engagement, merchandise sale. Actual good narrative? Fuck no.
It's also why none of the characters can really talk about their prior life, or remember anything, nor interact in a meaningful, built-up way, because it would take away from future dramatic reveals. I don't think it's a problem of planning that the last episode sucked; it's a fundamental problem of approach, and how (sane) people more used to traditional narrative view it. This has been planned for at least two episodes. This was all it ever was. The primary purpose of the storyline was dramatic reveal, not cohesion or story or character consistency. Suspension of disbelief isn't a problem, either; nobody except diehards actually pays attention. You'd have to pay attention for your disbelief to be stretched, or to notice any error. The audience puts this on in the background while they doomscroll or whatever, then rate it a 10/10 twist afterwards, so this is appropriate. Likely the
only thing not planned was the whole beach episode thing, which further diluted the episode.
As a byproduct, mystery box storytelling is incredibly bloated, both because it delays satisfaction and because it prioritized meaningless jokey-joke interactions. Seven episodes and barely anything has been established on top of the pilot? That's not unusual. The fact that this is going to be only 9 episodes only makes this more egregious and, again, is the reason why I think they'll milk it more afterwards. Not revealing there'll be a second season may be a part of it, but also may be withheld from Gooseworx himself because he cannot shut the fuck up. If he's the head writer, it really shows, because this is some shit writing.
Should've stuck to pure animation, buddy.
