Alice in Borderland Season 3

Alice in Borderland Season 3 — When Expectation Outruns Execution

📝 Review (WARNING: Potential Spoilers — I’m Not Saving You from Emotional Damage)

So, Season 3… I came in hyped. Seasons 1 and 2 had me hooked, heart racing, snacks flying everywhere, and I thought, “Okay, they’ve got this. Let’s go.” Instead, it’s like they stretched a perfectly good noodle into something… sad. Tension? Meh. Mystery? Recycled. Emotional punches? Somewhere behind me while I’m mid-snack, wondering why I bothered.

Arisu and Usagi are back, doing their thing, but that spark? Fainter than my willpower after a late-night snack run. And then Matsuyama Ryuji (Kaku Kento) shows up with his intense, obsessive energy and I’m sitting there thinking, “Bro… she literally didn’t ask for this.” The returning cast tries, bless them, but the new faces are basically walking extras in a story that already knows its ending. It’s like watching a rerun with slightly different clothes.

The “Joker” stage had some potential for mind-bending chaos, but instead… philosophical babble and over-complication. I rolled my eyes so hard I think I pulled a muscle. Rules that no one seems to remember, tension that fizzles before it lands, and me clutching snacks like life support. Classic Borderland? Not quite.

Still… there are flashes of nostalgia, a heartbeat or two that makes you remember why you fell in love with this series. But mostly, it drags. Recycles tension. Makes you mourn the brilliance of Season 2.


💭 Bottom line: “Netflix, I love you, but this one… yeah. Misfire. Sometimes the perfect ending is the ending you already had. 6/10, nostalgia points only, and extra snacks for survival.”

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A Continuation That Forgets Why It Worked in the First Place

Not all stories need to continue beyond a certain point, and this is one of those cases where it really feels like it shouldn’t have. You can sense the lack of necessity in this extension, it exists because they could, not because they should.

One of the biggest hurdles for this genre is plot armor, and it’s painfully present here. When you already know who’s likely to survive, it’s hard to stay fully invested. Despite a strong cast and a few interesting ideas, the story doesn’t bring much freshness to justify its return. Most of the characters feel one-dimensional, with some barely developed enough to care about, while others who had potential are sidelined in favor of the leads.

The games themselves are fine, but the show often bends its own rules... Sometimes to protect key characters, sometimes just to force a dramatic “wow” moment that feels way too over the top. It breaks immersion and makes certain scenes feel more ridiculous than tense.

In the end, it’s hard to recommend. I would’ve preferred an entirely new set of characters and a deeper exploration of the concept rather than a recycled continuation. There’s still entertainment value here, but it lacks the spark and unpredictability that once made it exciting.

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My bad for thinking Netflix would give this show a proper ending

Let's talk about what made the first two seasons so engaging. First, the characters. Interesting, nuanced and layered. In s1 & 2, one moment you were rooting for a character, the next moment you were wishing them a painful death. You weren't fully aware of their mindsets and THAT'S what made them so enjoyable. That's what made them feel real. You couldn't underestimate any of them. But this season, the characters they introduced were so, so generic. Everyone had the same storyline. Sad backstory, dependent on either arisu or usagi to get through the games and whenever they didn't listen to those two, they died. I'm supposed to believe the same people who wrote chishiya and kuina came up with these characters? Don't make me laugh. And the games. The main reason why majority of fans love this show. God, they absolutely butchered the games this season. The stakes weren't high and they just weren't as thrillng as before. Netflix took all that was intriguing about this show, threw it out the window, gave us something that seems like it was written by chatgpt in 2 minutes and expected us to be satisfied with it. They saw a non American show get worldwide recognition and just had to get their greedy, money hungry, white hands on it. Fuck you Netflix.

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explanation of the ending

The second season was perfect in my opinion, a third wasn't needed but I still didn't dislike it. The ending was a bit vague so I'm here to explain it. The Borderlands are (as the Joker explained) places between life and death and if you survive there you will also live in real life but if you die well you will really die. You end up in the Borderlands because there are natural disasters like what happened in Tokyo. In the series we move to Los Angeles where we see a waitress with a sign that says Alice and we hear on TV that a natural disaster also happens in America so in short the ending meant that there would be an Alice in Borderlands American BUT, Netflix confirmed that there won't be one and honestly I prefer it not to be.

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A Return Nobody Asked For

This show just keeps getting worse with each season. Season 3 feels completely unnecessary, like it exists only because Netflix didn’t want to let go. The first game actually caught my attention and reminded me why I liked Alice in Borderland in the first place, but everything after that went downhill fast. By the time we reached the final game, it was so dull and dragged out that I literally fell asleep. That alone says a lot. What used to feel tense and creative now feels recycled and overcooked, like reheated leftovers from seasons 1 and 2.

One huge red flag for me was the return of characters who already died in previous seasons. That completely broke the internal logic of the show. Weren’t we clearly told that if you die in Borderland, you die in the real world too? Suddenly undoing that rule just feels lazy and confusing. Maybe the manga explains it better, but as someone who only watches the show, it felt like the writers were making things up as they went along. The emotional stakes were also weaker this time, especially with Arisu and Usagi. Their bond used to be the emotional core of the series, but here it felt sidelined and oddly unbalanced, which made it hard to care as much as I used to.

Visually and acting-wise, the season is still solid. The cast really tried their best, and some moments worked purely because of strong performances. Ryuji had potential, but like many new characters, he never fully got the space to shine. And don’t even get me started on the Joker, after all that teasing, it ended up being the weakest and most underwhelming part of the season. Overall, it’s not completely unwatchable, but compared to the first two seasons, it’s clearly pale and weak. If you’re already invested, you’ll probably watch it anyway. But if you’re new to the series? I’d strongly recommend stopping at season 2 and pretending season 3 never happened.

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Unnecessary Sequel

If i thought watching S2 was the screenwriter dumbing me down with those ridiculous philosophycal crap, this S3 made me feel like being zombified by them.

1. The whole season being triggered by quack professor obsessed with the afterlife, a crackhead enough to take down 2 people for him to get the useless answer that, mindfckingly, he never got til the very end. Like whaaaaaat?

2. A woman with a good husband and happy life who’s so hung up with her lost father that she’s willing to venture into the world she fought so hard to leave just to see him again. Like whaaaaaaat? If he’s dead, you won’t find him in borderland cuz that’s the land between death and life, and it’s not possible that he’s been in between life and death cuz it takes at most 2 minutes of dead heartbeat to traverse between that life and death, and he’s been missing for months (or years). And if he’s alive somewhere in the wilderness, then he would definitely NOT be in borderland. There’s just no way for him to be in the borderland so where is the sense of having Usagi following the professor to go to the afterworld? The professor isnt even a therapist she mightbhave wanted to consult with, so how did he convince her to go with him? She’s that fcked over her father’s disappearance that she’s willing to throw away the good life she has now, the good life that she was convinced her father would want her to have back in season 2, which is the reason why she fought so hard to get back to. How could someone who had gone through that, realize the meaning of life and found happiness suddenly throw everything again to follow this quack professor she knew days before just for the unplausible possibility of finding her dad again in the borderland? Where is the logic and sense in that? That’s a total mindfck the writers did on us the audience there.

3. There is no explanation whatsoever as to how the borderland citizens (the gamemasters) could influence real life people to want to come the afterlife, up to the point of arranging the death games in the real world. Like how? Nothing explains this.

4. The dramatic scenes on this one is even cringier than season 2. Of course why not we just opt for the couple straining themselves trying to hold hands between two moving trains when you can simply just jump across and hug? That gap was a no brainer for Usagi the mountain climber, but nope, lets just try hold hands instead 😒🙄 what a drama trope. And how did this badass spiderman FL suddenly needs to rely on a crippled man to get through the games? Guess japanese shows also suffers from cdrama plague of dumbing/powering down FLs just so the next male character could shine. OMG such cringeful of tropes they threw in there.

5. I dont get the kind of attachment Usagi has on the crippled professor. He offers empty promises, telling Usagi she could find her father in the borderland but when she arrives, she wants to go right back. But when Arisu lays a punch on the bastard when they reunited, she spared no second to come to his defense, yelling that he got them back together cuz he helped her clear the games. What the heck now? Girl, he’s the one who separated you guys in the first place for his own selfish desires, he deserves more than that punch even after he ‘inadvertently’ helped you reunite 😒

6. All that trouble to lure Arisu to stay in borderland as citizen for the gamemaster’s entertainment, then in the end the master of borderland would just let him choose whether to live or to die, whichever he chose would still not make him stay in borderland. What kind of mindfck is thattttt?? So what the hell is the point of this whole shenanigans? 🤬🤬

All the above made me thought the hours i spent on this stupid show was such a waste. There is no point whatsoever of this season’s existence. I shouldve dropped this on season 1. Like for real. I’m gonna go with my first hunch for the next shows. Don’t get reeled in by curiosity, woman!

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A very unnecessary season

I loved this season but definitely is the weakest out of the three. There were a lot of things I liked about the season but definitely things I didn't as well.

I liked how amped up the games were compared to the other seasons, that being said I thought the finale game was a little boring to watch, otherwise I liked the new ones. I think these games were more challenging to figure out which was really cool to see. Arisu is always just such a fun character to watch. He's so intelligent and caring! The sets, cinematography, acting, and special affects I think really carried this season.

I think the thing this season is lacking is the emotional connection to the characters. Other than Arisu and Usagi I found it really hard to get attached to this season's characters. I think they waited too long for us to find out information/backstory on them for the audience to get attached to them or care if they make it or not. It's not that they were necessarily unlikeable, we just didn't know enough about them. I really like Rei and Nabu and some of the others, but we just didn't get to see them enough. Some of the character deaths felt like they should've been more impactful, but I just didn't care that much if they died like in previous seasons.

I wish we got to see Arisu & Usagi as husband and wife more. We didn't really get to see them together until episode four which is another complaint of mine. I did like that we got to see what both of them were doing during the time they were separated, but I wish we saw them together more. I also just thought it was weird they were still calling each other Arisu and Usagi for being together for the past five years and literally being married. You think they would use first names or nicknames at this point. You would also think they would live together. Usagi's relationship with Arisu just felt so off this season, like she didn't fully trust him. Why was she telling stuff to others that she couldn't tell her literal husband?! The whole reason she went into the game was just so dumb. Idk her character felt off to me this season.

As for the finale...the death of Jack/Joker/whatever you want to call him was so unsatisfying. They were building him up all throughout the season just to have a random character take him out. Speaking of that character, I just think he was such a pointless character. He came to ask Arisu if he wanted life or death when Arisu was obviously going to choose to live and save Usagi. His whole speech and role in the show seemed like time filler more than importance. I would've much preferred that time go to showing more of Arisu and Usagi after they got out rather than just the quick scene we got. I loved the cameos of all the characters from the first two seasons being in the finale! It was nice seeing them again because I definitely missed them this season. I think if they were all in it more, it would've made it more enjoyable.

Overall, I did like the season, but I do think this one has the least rewatch ability. I could see myself watching it once or twice more but not as many times as I've watched season one or two. Total props to all the actors though. They all killed it!! Especially Kento & Tao!

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An entirely unnecessary season

When season 3 was hinted at at the end of the second season, I remember being hella skeptical. I, like many others online, thought that Netflix would ruin a perfectly good story. And we were right. The plot in this 3rd season made very little sense, and the ruined beloved characters.

👨🏻‍⚕️Arisu - He felt like the same person. Nothing about him was different. He was there to be his good guy, brilliant self, and that is what he did. Not even Kento Yamazaki's amazing acting could save such bland, boring characterization

🧗🏻‍♀️Usagi - They did her so dirty that it fucking hurts. I fail to understand the logic behind her trusting this random professor whom she met 2 weeks ago (as per the plot). I can understand her confessing her dreams to him - sometimes it's easier to talk to strangers about hard things than to do so with close friends or family.
But straight up trusting him enough to go away with him? To constantly protect him in the games and at times, pick his side over her husband's??? Hell nah. This isn't the Usagi we knew. She was loyal and trusting of Arisu. That's why they survived both seasons - because they trusted each other regardless of what was going on around them. This sudden shift, over a stranger no less, makes no sense

👩🏻‍⚕️Ann - Why was she here? To add another familiar face to the cast? She had no involvement in the plot. And it was never explained how she knew what was going on with the new borderland 'kidnappings', nor how she could see the psycho guy in blue.

🙍🏻‍♂️Psycho guy in blue (I forgot his name tbh) - His logic about bringing Arisu back to the bordelands was out with the birds. As someone mentioned, citizens do not participate in the games. Sure, some people stayed at the end of sn 2, but we never saw them in the new games, which suggests that they don't play.
If asked, I would say that perhaps they worked behind the scenes or maybe as plants in the games to further chaos - as we saw at the hotel in season 2(?). His whole thing with Arisu was framed as though he would actively participate in all games like the new borderland visitors (victims really). That doesn't quite work with the previous story and world-building. So, his whole plan to force Arisu to stay so he can be their entertainment was utterly nonsensical.

👨🏻‍🦽‍➡️Ryuji - And the award for the 'most selfish character goes to....🏆' *crowd boos*. His obsession had already led to the death of one woman. And now, he wants to drag another woman, Usagi, down with his madness. Also, can someone explain to me his weird attraction (?), obsession (?) with Usagi. Bro seemed like he was in love with her, and for the life of me, I still cannot figure out how that happened or why. Also, how was the man able to swim and even hold on to a struggling Usagi in such raging waters? My belief refuses to be suspended.
Another thing, when you think about it, his story doesn't quite add up. At 1st, we were told that he was obsessed with the borderlands. Then, towards the end, it changed to him being curious about the land of death, the land beyond the borderlands. This feels like terrible writing. Like they figured that they wanted to up the stakes afterwards and couldn't be bothered to make everything fit.
Also, if he was that curious about death, why not simply off himself? A smart person would know that once you truly die, there's no coming back. No coming to prove his research, receive awards for his studies... nothing. So what was all that for? Nway....The man who plays Ryuji is fine AF👀

The other new characters - I didn't quite connect with any enough to remember their names, but I will say that they weren't well-developed. Which is unfortunate, coz some did have great backstories. Namely, the drug addicted guy, the poor, bullied student, and the SAHM with the abusive husband.
The anime girl felt like she was there for the shock factor. Her backstory was confusing. The Mafia guy felt like he was written to mimic the guy who ran the hat shop with the friend, and the siblings were so badly done. The brother died for nothing

Final Thoughts
🃏What was supposed to be the message of this season? It felt like they were going for this profound message, but I for sure did not leave this season with an understanding of what that was😭
🃏They did hint at a possible fourth season in the finale, and I pray to God that that never happens. If you think I'm watching an American version of this, you're solely mistaken. I'm all for actors and people behind the scenes having jobs, but please not with this story. The people in those boardrooms and writers' rooms will continue to desecrate this story further and... No. Please, No.
🃏The games in this installment were also rather boring

Ps. I will say that it was nice to see the season 1&2 characters at the end of this season. If only they all remembered each other. I think that's the one thing I'm sad about. They all formed beautiful friendships during the course of those games, only to forget them😔

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