User blog:The Six-Fingered One/The Psycho Finale: A Look Back

The Psycho Finale (Psycho Kid Kills Father + Psycho Kid Flees Country) were the two final psycho videos in the Psycho Series. Not only were they filled with excitement and series finale-tier climax, they were a very fitting conclusion and a farewell gift to the viewers of McJuggerNuggets (the Juggies). Also, they were the 49th and 50th episodes of the Psycho Series -- thus bringing the amount of Psycho episodes to a comfortable end.

The Cool-Off Episodes
From "SOLARITY!" to "Final Transmission.", what I refer to as the "Cool-off" episodes (or vlogs) were an approximately week long series of videos utilized as a "cushion" before hitting the wall that was the Psycho Finale. Besides acting as filler (and to elongate and add onto the buildup for the ending), the cool-off episodes still greatly added to the plot of the Psycho Series. They do not deserve the hate they have received by so many viewers -- being discarded as "boring" or "cringeworthy". Beyond this shell, they acted to show Jesse's rapid descent into insanity (beyond what we have seen up until this point). Besides this, we saw a much more belligerent and militaristic version of Psycho Dad, character development in Demma (and individually Damien and Emma) -- as well as their deaths, and the return and final appearance of Corn.

"i'm a psychopath." has a very unique title. It is unlike both the vlog system "EXAMPLE!" and the Psycho video system "Example". In it, Jesse reaches a breaking point and writes "i'm a psychopath." on the walls of his studio-hell. By this point, Jesse is gone, despite the front he upholds to Corn.

In "MOMENT OF PEACE & SILENCE", Corn temporarily breaks Jesse out of his studio-hell and brings him his "lunch". After a discussion between the two, Jesse foreshadows his plans and asks if Corn will be his getaway driver. Immediately, this infers Jesse is planning something nefarious. Corn declines, and helps Jesse return to the new RiDGiD Studios. The "lunch" Corn brought Jesse was obviously something else, and several viewers picked up on its significance days before the finale. Apart from this, the title "MOMENT OF PEACE & SILENCE" is purposefully missing the usual exclamation point at the end. "Final Transmission." attempts to throw up viewers about the "lunch" by showing Jesse eating a sandwich at the beginning -- despite it taking place a day later (the bag could have had the sandwich in it, but obviously that's not all of its contents).

Psycho Kid Kills Father
Now onto the first part of the Psycho Finale. The video begins how the Psycho Series began -- with Jeffrey Ridgway filming and then looking for Jesse. We have not seen jeffrey film a Psycho video in a long time. Jeffrey stumbles upon Psycho Dad, who is PLAYING A VIDEOGAME in the living room -- this may be another parallel to Psycho Dad Destroys Xbox, as well as Psycho Dad enjoying a guilty pleasure. After going to the new RiDGiD Studios, Jeffrey finds Jesse in his studio-hell -- and is freaked out by all the writing on the wall. Beside Jesse, on the ground, is the American flag -- which was what was containing the revolver since its debut in the series; this obviously signifies that the "lunch" Corn brought Jesse was indeed the revolver, confirming the speculation. This also acts as a Chekov's gun, as the gun had been one of the things Jesse took with him when running away after the events of "Psycho Dad Demolishes Gaming Room".

Jesse then forces Jeffrey to continue recording, as he forces him back upstairs. Jesse then confronts Psycho Dad at gunpoint -- and removes the NES from the television. Jesse screams at his father to give him the combination to the safe. After a back-and-forth argument between the two, Psycho Dad firmly tells his son the numbers. It is important to note that during this entire confrontation, Psycho Dad was not scared -- and even crossed his arms. He is stubborn and firm, even faced with moments away from death. Before leaving to the safe, Jesse asks Psycho Dad if he has anything more to say to him. After a bit of silence, Psycho Dad reveals that he honestly believes that the videogames have corrupted Jesse. In a fit of anger and confusion, Jesse shoots Psycho Dad in the chest and then threatens to shoot Jeffrey. He then steals the camera from him and runs downstairs to the safe.

Upon opening the safe and gaining his moneybag back, Jesse moves the camera toward the safe and pulls out a framed image of the Ridgway Family. To me, this acts as multiple things:

First, it acts as a sort of mirror into Jesse's heart. Rather than showing a reflection of himself, it is acting a a reminder to what he has just done -- and what he's done in the past, to his family. It is his actions staring him in his face -- and the burderns of his broken family.

Second, it shows a deeper side to Psycho Dad's character. Psycho Dad may act and speak one way -- as an old-fashioned, hard-headed jerk who thinks he is doing right, but is blindly destroying all his relationships and nuclear family. The fact that the framed image of the family is in his safe means that he cares very deeply for them, and it holds deep sentimental value in his heart. You put things you don't want taken in a safe. That picture could have literally just been on his desk, nightstand, table, etc. No -- it was in his Safe. The very safe he tried to keep locked until death.

Jesse then runs upstairs and is confronted by Jeffrey, who warns that he will call the police in 5 minutes. Jesse then steals Psycho Dad's truck and drives off. As he is driving down the driveway, a temporary transition occurs that shows (what I believe to be a security camera)'s angle at Jesse leaving. It is centered in the living room, showing a dead Psycho Dad on the ground. This is, of course, a parallel to "Psycho Dad Destroys Xbox", which Jeffrey records Psycho Dad pulling in from the living room.

The video ends with Jesse escaping the Ridgway Residence and then emptying out his moneybag. He then realizes only two stacks of money are left, and the video cuts to black as Jesse screams.

It is important to note that during all of this, Psycho Dad is not wearing his hat. He was even enjoying a videogame, which seems to mirror the events of "Psycho Kid Destroys Xbox" -- with Jesse and Psycho Dad's roles switched, and the stakes raised by a million.

Psycho Kid Flees Country
The second part of the Psycho Finale begins with a montage of Jesse: A psycho-tier freakout, showing Jesse begin to smash his father's sunglasses angrily. After this, it only increases in intensity. He beats a pillow relentlessly, storm around, find a rope and tie a noose, drink a shot (WHICH IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, as it is when his character breaks his no-alcohol rule -- showing that his reasoning and morals have totally fallen apart), endure a shower freakout. An injured Uncle Larry is also seen during this, with a single tear. A following scene shows a parallel of when Psycho Dad was in the hospital due to the events of "Psycho Dad Chucks Super Nintendo". A micro-montage showing many notable scenes from the Psycho Series is then witnessed. A deceased Psycho Dad is then seen lying on the American flag that was used to wrap the gun that killed him (symbolism if I've ever seen it). The scene changes to show Jesse's face, and another angle reveals he is about to hang himself. He takes an eagle-esque pose to step off what is holding him up, but then he backs out and removes the noose.
 * Putting on Psycho Dad's hat (symbolizing Jesse's fulfillment of becoming a psychopath, and then some)
 * As well as his glasses
 * Buying a very fitting hoodie (EAGLES!)
 * Boarding a plane and then arriving in Zurcih, Switzerland
 * A tour of his new home
 * And most importantly...

After an explanation and talk to the Juggies, Jesse gives a final "Keep it Ridgid", and snaps his fingers. This is to signify that he is out of his character. He gets up nonchalantly, in direct juxtaposition to his previously psychotic and completely upset demeanor, and walks into a separate room -- where a non-injured Uncle Larry and Terry are. Jeffrey then runs from where the camera was and high-fives his brother. Before the video ends, a non-deceased Jeffrey, Sr. walks into view and hugs Jesse. The video ends with a fitting "RiDGiD Studios (2012-2016)" text card at the end.

Overall
The ending was about as perfect as it could be. He tied the series together in a nearly flawless conclusion. It has been foreshadowed that Jesse would eventually use the gun to either intimidate Psycho Dad or kill him (which was both; Jesse even said he only intended to "scare" Psycho Dad, but obviously he lost his cool when Psycho Dad blamed his son's psychotic behaviour on videogames). The title of the vlog, "WHAT I COULDN'T DO..." (the one where Larry reveals he attempted to murder Psycho Dad) was, in my opinion, a major indicator that Jesse had some deep, buried plans of killing his father. However, with being virtually stuck in a room doing his passion for over a week -- Jesse met his breaking point.

The whiteboard, as I have mentioned in my other blog post, was significant throughout the Psycho Series. I think, retrospectively, it played another role. Jesse assumed it was there for him to always be reminded that Psycho Dad "once took responsibility"; instead, it acted as a mirror, slowly living up to Jesse's state of mind.

Also, I would like to point out that Psycho Dad -- despite dying -- won. He had the last laugh. His victory was postmortem, but he undermined Jesse's character in the end. Through Jesse's recklessness in murdering his father, he deposited immense guilt into his son. As seen in the "Flees Country" montage, Jesse was about to commit suicide (obviously for murdering his father; there was nothing else to drive him to that). He also had the last laugh, as Jesse only received a small portion of his $30,000.

I am sad that it is over, but glad that I have been graced with being able to watch this MASTERPIECE unfold since late may of last year. It has been an amazing ride, and I wish the real Jesse Ridgway the best of luck in his future prospects. I also wish his family and friends good luck in what life has in store for them.