Youtube Recommendations

[Darth Wagtaros]

MrBeast Inc seems locked into a model of dudebroisms though.  Could they change if they wanted to?  

[Syt]

The Amazing Digital Circus's final episode is coming in June. However, the final episode will be screened in some theaters. Which had me stressed out because it will be hard to avoid online spoilers for it. But now I see on Reddit that there will actually be screenings in Austria, and I might actually go and attend one just to get ahead of having to avoid all info on it for a week or two.

I came across this show via Jesse Cox's react content. It's animated in a colorful retro look and is about people trapped in a virtual game world run by a psychotic ringmaster. It's a mix of I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, the "Thaw" episode of Star Trek Voyager (with Michael McKean as the sadistic clown). It starts goofy, but it's primarily focused on the characters and their mental states. The first two episodes are a bit generic, but from the 3rd onwards it turns more and more serious and introspective (while still remaining very silly).

I think it's a show that benefits from going in with very little advance knowledge and from multiple viewings as there's imagery, symbols, allusions spread out throughout the episodes that become very clear in hindsight IMO. It also created some minor drama online where some "fans" got so invested in their headcanon and view of characters that they attacked the creator of the show when they went a different direction.

The show has some excellent animation and voice acting, some great jokes and offers layers of interpretation if you want to look for them (whether intended or not), from existential to religious to psychological to use of AI and virtual realities.

The last two episodes (7 and 8) have started unraveling the bigger mystery, and the 1 hour finale (episodes are usually around 20 minutes) should cap this off. Then again, the show has been known to engage in misdirections (esp. their trailers that were cut in ways that you could usually not really guess what the next episode would bring), so it might go somewhere unexpected entirely.