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.
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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