Ah, The Amazing Digital Circus.
I first became a part of the fandom after Episode Four released.
I binged all four episodes and was there day one for every subsequent episode.
As the years passed, and Gooseworx’s story drew closer to its inevitable conclusion, I decided to do a ranking of all the episodes.
After watching The Last Act in theaters and then recently watching the finale again online, I think I have a good enough idea what my final ranking is.
There will be full spoilers, so do not read this ranking if you have not seen the entire show.
Also, you may have noticed this post is titled “From Weakest to Best”, rather than “Worst to Best.”
This is because I do not think there is a bad episode of The Amazing Digital Circus.
Sure, there are some issues, which I will get into but, overall, they are all great.
So, the episode in last place is still good even if it is my least favorite.

9. Episode One: Pilot.

Yes, I think the Pilot episode is the weakest of The Amazing Digital Circus’ nine.
That being said, it was still a great way to start this story.
Pomni serves as our introduction to the Circus, Caine, and all of the other humans trapped there, along with the ever-approaching threat of Abstraction.
She is made instantly relatable through her panic and desire to find an exit.
It is not just her though because Gooseworx does a great job of getting us interested in the supporting cast.
Jax’s bullying, Ragatha’s desire to help, Kinger’s insanity, Gangle’s timidness, and Zooble’s complete lack of interest in Caine’s adventures, much to the AI’s frustration.
All of these character traits are set up wonderfully, making for a compelling Pilot that builds well into the following episodes.
It is also fun to look back at this episode and see how much the animation improved over time.
The only criticism I really have for the Pilot is that it does seem a bit scatterbrained at times, but it is still introducing us to the world so that makes sense.
I may consider the Pilot to be The Amazing Digital Circus’ weakest episode, but it was still a great way to start, and the episodes only got better from here.

8. Episode Five: Untitled.

Speaking of scattered, Episode Five, Untitled, is exactly that.
Now this is not entirely a bad thing, since seeing various adventures pitched by the characters was fun.
My particular favorite was Jax’s President Pomni Adventure.
Why?
Well, because it gave it gave a shout out to New Zealanders of course!
Oh, and Gangle?
We New Zealanders threaten people with a haka, better start practicing.
In all seriousness, there are many other good adventures in this episode from the funny ones to the character focused ones where we get further insight into Ragatha and Jax.
Untitled is also the episode where the show begins its strong focus on Jax as a character, with our first bit of foreshadowing towards him and Ribbit’s friendship and falling out.
The ending also teases “Abel” who will reveal himself a few episodes later.
Untitled is a fun episode, if one that feels a little over the place at times.

7. Episode Four: Fast Food Masquerade.

It was shortly after Episode Four released that I became a fan of The Amazing Digital Circus.
So, this was the point I caught up before the wait for Episode Five, and what a funny episode to finish on.
Watching the cast of the Circus work at a fast-food place surprisingly provided a lot of laughs, whether it be from Ragatha on the Stupid Sauce, or Gangle realizing that Jax is right about the clock being broken.
Speaking of Gangle, this is her episode.
We get great insight into what her life was like before she unwillingly joined the Circus and get a deep look at her struggles with depression.
It is also the episode where Pomni begins to step up as the unifying character in the Circus, as evidenced by her locking up for Gangle after finally being able to say goodbye to Gumigoo, which she was denied in Episode Two.
This is also the first episode where Zooble joins in on an Adventure, and they give a sinister tease of what is to come when they say, “The only thing holding Caine back is that he likes us.”
If I had to name a problem with Fast Food Masquerade, it would be that it felt like the episode set an expectation for each character to get their own episode focused on them, like Gangle did, only for Jax to take up most of the screen time going forward.
Not to say what we got with Jax later was bad, it was good, but I do wish we got more from characters like Ragatha and Zooble.

6. Episode Seven: Beach Episode.

Beach Episode is essentially a massive troll episode from Gooseworx.
They take almost every theory fans had about the Circus, teases them with Abel arriving and introducing a possible escape, only to pull the rug out from under us by revealing it was all one big adventure designed by Caine.
Out of all the torturous adventures Caine made, this one is probably the cruelest because it gave the characters the false hope that they might leave the Circus.
The twist was also well set up, with various hints like that Abel was the only one sympathetic to Caine and distrusted Kinger.
Heck, even Jax called the twist verbatim before he agreed to help.
As for Jax himself, he very nearly abstracts in this episode, and it is expectedly horrifying and trippy.
We also get more teases to his backstory with the flashes during his panic attack, followed by his attempt to keep everyone in the Circus.
The only thing stopping this episode from being higher is that a lot of the things Beach Episode set up don’t really amount to anything by the end.
There was nothing significant about Scratch, or Caine being implied to deliberately alter the characters’ minds.
That being said, Beach Episode is still a great one, with a fantastic rug pull.

5. Episode Nine: Remember.

Before I rewatched the final episode online, I thought “Remember” would be among my least favorite episodes, potentially even the one I considered to be the weakest.
This was because, after watching it in the theater, I had a number of issues.
So, I was surprised to find myself enjoying it a lot more on my second viewing, without my expectations getting in the way of things.
There are still some problems, like the confusing editing of Caine’s time in the Void, and what I feel to be a lack of setup for his redemption.
However, the things I liked about the finale only shined more on my second watch.
For starters, Gooseworx nailed the ending’s main theme of finding meaning in a stagnant life.
The revelation that the characters are digital copies resulted in the moving scenes of them looking at the online profiles of their real-world selves, followed by the final shot of them all unknowingly gathering at the same bus stop.
And then there is Jax.
Yes, I do wish other characters got more screen time in the finale, but what Jax got is great.
We see the formation and crumbling of his friendship with Ribbit, along with a look at how he views each of the characters, through how he believes he would react if they abstracted.
This goes from the insanely dark scene of him strangling Pomni, to a looney-tunes style skit with Zooble.
By the end of Jax’s scenes, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
He did nothing to redeem himself, but I still found him to be deserving or pity… or should I say I found her to be deserving of pity.
The episode heavily implies Jax is trans and Gooseworx themselves confirmed this online.
Granted, Jax is still closeted (even to herself), so that is I why I am referring to her as him throughout this list.
Overall, “Remember” is a pretty great finale for The Amazing Digital Circus.
Sure, it has problems, but the themes of the ending are great and the deep dive into Jax’s mind is undeniably interesting.
Not to mention the animation is fantastic.
If you had issues with the ending like I did, I recommend you rewatch the finale.
You might find yourself gaining a more positive outlook, like I did.

4. Episode Two: Candy Carrier Chaos!

After enjoying the Pilot episode of The Amazing Digital Circus, I immediately jumped into the second, Candy Carrier Chaos! and was met with an ever better one.
The Pilot teased the adventures with the Gloinks mission, but Episode Two showed how deep they go, as Pomni and the rest are tasked with saving the Candy Kingdom from a group of thieving Australian, gummy crocodiles, led by the NPC Gumigoo.
Oh, Gumigoo, poor, poor Gumigoo.
Gooseworx did a fantastic job of making us care for this NPC who gets an understandable existential crisis upon learning the reality of his existence.
He is also the first true connection Pomni made in the Circus, making his deletion at the hands of Caine all the more shocking and tragic.
However, this does lead into Pomni gaining her first moment of hope upon attending Kaufmo’s funeral, realizing that her horrible nightmare of being forgotten after abstracting will not come true.
As for the rest of the episode, it is solid, with a lot of good gags, like the numerous knives in the war-rig.
Speaking of which, as someone who believes Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the greatest action movies of all time, the homage to the film with the adventure was a lot of fun.
It is with Pomni and Gumigoo’s brief but tragic friendship that the true heart of Episode Two lies though, making Candy Carrier Chaos an immediately memorable episode.

3. Episode Six: They All Get Guns.

After dissatisfaction with his adventures boils over, Caine appears to give up and the characters are given the simple task of, well, shooting each other.
From here, the group splits into teams of two, each of which have their own emotional moments.
We see the bond between Gangle and Zooble grow, eventually leading up to the reveal of their relationship in the credits of the final episode.
Kinger gets his own darkness moment with Ragatha, where he once again proves himself to be the dad of the Circus.
And then there are Pomni and Jax, who seem to bring out the good in each other.
Jax convinces Pomni to embrace the wackier sides of the Circus, while Jax seemingly lets someone in for the first time since Ribbit… only to quickly ruin it due to his own trauma.
The fallout between the two is dramatic, with Jax putting up walls to Pomni’s every attempt at friendship.
It is not all drama, however, because I think They All Get Guns is actually the funniest episode of the series.
My favorite joke is Kinger’s “I’m right behind you, aren’t I?”
That made me belly laugh when I first watched the episode.
Episode Six also sets the stage for Caine’s breakdown following the Favorite Character Awards, where he learns nobody voted for him.
Emotional, funny, and with plenty of foreshadowing for the future, “They All Get Guns” is a great episode.

2. Episode Three: The Mystery of Mildenhall Manor.

I said in my review of The Last Act that Kinger was my favorite character in the show.
The Mystery of Mildenhall Manor was the episode that established that for me, and my high opinion of him did not change throughout the entire series.
Episode Three sees Pomni and Kinger trapped together during a horror adventure, which Caine strangely thought Zooble would like.
As a fan of horror video games, I chuckled at the multiple gags focusing on the convenient tape recordings.
Since the adventure takes place in the dark, this is also where we see Kinger’s sane side, with him coaching Pomni through the horrors they face, thus establishing his father figure role in the Circus.
It is through learning of this side to Kinger, along with the story of his wife, that convinces Pomni to open up with the other Circus members, starting with Ragatha.
Speaking of, the cut from the horrifying adventure to the pleasant adventure her, Gangle and Jax went through also got a laugh out of me, as did the therapy scenes between Caine and Zooble.
For being a funny but also moving episode which made Kinger my favorite character, The Mystery of Mildenhall Manor takes the second spot on this list.

1. Episode Eight: hjsakldfhl

With a title that sounds like it came from Caine’s random name generator, Episode Eight is my favorite of The Amazing Digital Circus.
Right from the beginning, the penultimate episode sets itself apart from the others with the way it portrays the origins of Caine and the Circus.
The visual storytelling with the red and blue dots are great, followed by the reveal of what Kinger and Ragatha’s entrances into the Circus were like.
From there, the episode cuts to the present, where Caine pays off Zooble’s warning from Episode Four.
What follows is absolute chaos as Caine literally tortures the cast through song.
Alex Rochon sings his heart out for this scene, delivering the best vocal performance of the show.
Caine’s torture of the cast eventually evolves into Kinger’s plan to fix him, resulting in the callback to the Pilot with Pomni, followed by her and the others calling Caine out for his actions.
Caine is terrifying when he glitches into a giant, before Kinger accidentally “deletes” him.
I put delete in quotations because Caine is revealed to be alive in the final episode.
Honestly, part of me wishes Caine had really died here.
It would have been poetically tragic.
He could not understand the characters, due to being an AI, and this led to a psychotic break where he was accidentally killed.
Reviving and redeeming him lessens the impact of that somewhat, although not enough to remove this episode from the number one spot.
With the most intense storyline of the show, great visual storytelling, and a very catch villain song (which I have listened to a lot on Spotify) is it any wonder I consider hjsakldfhl to be the best episode of The Amazing Digital Circus?