A woman gets trapped in a crazy virtual world along with five other humans and are now subject to the whims of wacky AI and their own personal traumas.
No but in a background scene we see a crossed out image of an anthropomorphic dog that has presumably abstracted (this story's nightmare version of death).
Gangle, typically a pushover who gets bullied by Jax, subjects Jax to brutal training for slacking off at his job, and asks Caine to punish him if he does poorly.
Ragatha accidentally gets the Sauce That Makes You Stupid in her eye, causing her to act drunk/high for the rest of the episode. The customer who ordered the Stupid Burger presumably also got drunk/high from eating it.
Rape isn't mentioned but there is a scene that could be interpreted as a metaphor for raping someone on a date. It's the one where Jax takes Caine out for lunch or dinner. There isn't any nudity, graphic content or anything in the show supporting this interpretation but its structure and context is very similar to date-rape. Quick warning because its narration is VERY similar, here it is. Jax pretends to Caine that he wants to be friends. Caine is overjoyed and agrees. Jax asks him a question that makes him glitch and akin to being unconscious or in a ''high'' state. Jax digs into Caine's throat to grab the key that's in his throat. Caine wakes up during this and asks him what he's doing.
A very brief line by Pomni ("He just wants me to suffer") may mean Caine, but could also be interpreted as her remembering an abusive ex-boyfriend. However, it's neither confirmed or denied as of Episode 5.
Kinda. The "training" Jax undergoes restrains him and forces him to watch an unsettling video. Jax generally reacts to the extreme monotony of the fast food shift as if he's being tortured.
The characters are trapped in bodies that are not their own. Characters are unable to die leading to GBH happening quite casually. Characters can "abstract" which involves a frightening and involuntary transformation.
A bunch of wooden model NPCs get eaten by the Gloink Queen. SPOILERS Gangle also gets hit by a truck, but that just ends her shift early rather than actually killing her.
Artist mannequins make up most of the background characters. Episodes 5 and 6 feature one as a recurring gag character, while episode 7 features one as a major character.
Zooble expresses a dislike for their digital body as they're never satisfied with how they look. This is implied to be one of the reasons they refuse to go on adventures with the other players. With them being uncertain of their gender identity and canonically using any pronouns, it could be interpreted as dysphoria as well.
Zooble talks about how they feel uncomfortable with their body. Zooble’s gender is ambiguous, so it parallels the similar struggles of transgender and nonbinary people.
Mild spoilers- Jax gets distressed when being forced to wear a maid dress to such a degree that Zooble comments they've "never seen (him) that upset before". Though the situation is played partially for humor, it isn't entirely funny.
Caine welcomes the viewer to the Circus, then introduces himself and Bubble. Jax looks directly into the camera when Pomni suggests that she's just having a weird dream.
Kinger is the oldest human and quite forgetful, though his faculties are much better in dark spaces. This is very likely a side-effect of being in the Circus for so long and not dementia, though it could still be triggering for some.