Netflix’s Alice in Borderland returned with its third season at the end of Summer 2025, an unexpected move since Arisu and Usagi’s journey in the first two seasons already felt complete. As a result, the third season seemed like an unnecessary addition. Nevertheless, it introduced a unique concept that worked well, arguably better than Squid Game and its potential American spinoff, which already looks promising.
However, this season also features several elements that make little sense and have left fans unsatisfied. These moments vary in nature, with some questioning the entire concept of the series, while others feel like unnecessary additions. Here, we highlight three such moments that expose the flaws in an otherwise ambitious season.
3) The Train Game
No matter how many death games Alice in Borderland has featured, there was always some way of overcoming them, whether it meant a single survivor or everyone making it through. However, the train game with poison made absolutely no sense, as it was based entirely on luck with no definite answer. This game featured Ryuji, Usagi, and their group, including a train enthusiast, only for it to be revealed later that the poison release in the train cars was completely random, with no pattern or logic.
This feels especially flawed because the game was adapted from the manga. In the manga, there were four train cars, with only the last one containing poison, and the concept was about overcoming death by facing it head-on in the first three cars. In contrast, the series’ version lacked logical structure, raising the burning question of how Arisu and his team even survived it. Unfortunately, we will never know.
2) Usagi’s Unborn Baby Suddenly Counted as a Player
It is only in the final game of Alice in Borderland that Usagi learns she is pregnant, and it is then revealed that the unborn baby is also considered a player. This doesn’t align with the rest of the series, especially since none of the previous games hinted at her unborn child being counted as a participant. The Train Game would have been the perfect opportunity to establish this, perhaps by including an extra set of gas masks as a subtle hint.
As a result, its sudden incorporation in the final moments feels forced and inconsistent with the structure of the games, which are the core element of the Borderland. Looking back, Usagi’s entire character arc also feels underdeveloped; her desire to find her father and uncover the truth is never fully addressed, leaving her motivation for entering the Borderland misplaced and unresolved.
1) Boundary Between the Living and the Dead
With the finale of season 2 of Alice in Borderland revealing that everything the characters experienced in the apocalyptic world was due to them being on the verge of death, existing in the Borderland, the space between life and death, the series delivered its best concept for explaining the strange occurrences. After Arisu and Usagi returned to their lives with no memory of what happened, it solidified that the Borderland was separate and could not be aligned with the living world.
Season 3, however, breaks this structure. Banda is now shown as a citizen of the Borderland with the power to enter the living world and invite new players. Ann, one of the key players from the first two seasons, somehow retains all her memories and even interacts with Banda. The season also implies that Arisu and Usagi now remember their experiences as well. This completely undermines the boundary between life and death that the first two seasons had firmly established. With the introduction of the Joker and the Watchman, the line between the two realms is further shattered, and without any clear explanation, this becomes Alice in Borderland’s most glaring issue, one that makes absolutely no sense.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
