When Alice in Borderland wrapped up its second season back in 2022, fans were confused about whether that conclusion spelled an end for the show. After all, while the series offered a pretty final answer to what had happened to Arisu (Kento Yamazaki), Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), and the others, it also presented us with the possibility of a third run in the form of a new card: the Joker. Haro Aso, the man behind the original manga series that inspired the Netflix show, teased the existence of this card but never envisioned this entity creating its own game. Though there is a sequel series to his Alice in Borderland, titled Alice in Borderland Retry, it features a one-off Nine of Hearts game, and not a Joker. Still, Netflix’s adaptation went on, and when Season 3 premieres, we’ll get the answer to our questions regarding this new entity and how Arisu will come to face off against it.
Using just one or two elements from Aso’s Alice in Borderland Retry, as well as some elements from the original series that didn’t make it to the first two runs, Alice in Borderland Season 3 opens with Arisu and Usagi participating in a series of interviews for a study on the afterlife. The two are living their best lives as a couple after leaving the hellish Borderland behind, but there’s still something nagging in the back of their minds—something that will eventually draw them back to that place between life and death. With a new cast of characters by their side, Arisu and Usagi will have to find an exit (and each other) if they ever want to see the world of the living again. As they fight for their lives, viewers are treated to even more elaborate and gorier games, but are they actually any good?
‘Alice in Borderland’ Season 3 Gets Off to a Strong Start
Alice in Borderland Season 3 starts strong. Some of its initial premise is a bit absurd, but it’s nothing that audiences can’t overlook in the name of the magic of television. For a while, it seems like the series is going to avoid that Game of Thrones curse that so often dooms adaptations that go beyond their source material. Likewise, the show promises to avoid the excessive grandiosity of Season 2, which sacrificed a lot of character development for big face-offs in even bigger sites. The first few games are showy, of course; one wouldn’t expect anything different from a card that presents itself as even more threatening than the face cards. But they also feel simple, with a diminished group of players that it doesn’t take long to get attached to, even if it is somewhat easy to tell who the redshirts are.
However, something shifts as the story goes on, and it shifts so abruptly that you can almost split Alice in Borderland Season 3 into two parts: one that features fun games on a smaller scale, and one that gets so go-big-or-go-home that it becomes impossible to even track what the games are about. Rules become too intricate and change in the middle of play, something that might make sense for the follies we expect of a Joker, but that will undoubtedly deal a blow to the audience’s attention span. The real charm of stories like Alice in Borderland is that they also give the viewer the sense that they could escape the game if they were thrown in the arena. There must be a secret strategy, a vantage point, something that we can see as a clear route to victory. In Alice in Borderland Season 3, these pathways become virtually invisible as the episodes advance, and the way things are handled in the finale doesn’t make it any more palatable.
It’s hard to discuss season finales in reviews. After all, we don’t want to spoil the experience for the prospective viewer, but merely give an idea of whether the show is worth it or not. Still, when things get as chaotic as they do at the end of Alice in Borderland Season 3, we can’t help but add a side note about it. Suffice it to say that the story does not have a satisfying conclusion, opting for spectacle and inexplicable choices instead of narrative cohesiveness. Characters change their minds about important plot points out of the blue, and the show gains a magnitude that it sure isn’t ready to deal with.
Character Development Suffers a Lot in ‘Alice in Borderland’ Season 3
The show’s characters suffer most from the absence of a source material to adapt. Some of the new players introduced by Alice in Borderland Season 3 have interesting backstories, with one in particular standing out with an arc about whether people are capable of change. However, the way the show presents these characters feels artificial and poorly thought out. It is only as they are about to face a life-and-death decision that the writers remember that viewers should get some backstory. The problem is, we should be caring for these particular people from the get-go, so why wait until their lives are on the line to feed us information about them?
There are some saving graces. For shippers who enjoy their pairings a little more on the toxic side, Alice in Borderland Season 3 sure offers a great alternative to the squeaky-clean relationship between Arisu and Usagi. As for the main couple of the show, the writers do give them an excessively clichéd plot that seems engineered to tug at your heartstrings, but, ultimately, that becomes the least of its problems. It’s not as egregious as Arisu becoming a sort of Chosen One for some citizens of the Borderland — citizens that aren’t even properly developed and whose reasons we fail to understand.
Indeed, Alice in Borderland Season 3 has many, many flaws. Nevertheless, it is not a bad watch. It has its moments of fun, emotion, horror, and love. The series still offers pretty entertaining episodes as a whole, with thrilling games and interesting dynamics between at least some of the characters. However, this third run certainly does not live up to the greatness of Alice in Borderland‘s first season. It doesn’t even fall in the same category as the more messy Season 2. It is by far the weakest link, and we can’t shake the feeling that the absence of an original source has something to do with it.
