Netflix Castlevania Season 3 - Does It Live Up To The Hype?

Losing Dracula

Comparing season 2 to 3 is like trying to answer whether Superman or The Incredible Hulk is stronger. It comes down to interpretation and an endless analysis of details.

However, I ask you the question of why even try. Both characters are examinations of what it means to be human with godlike power, they are two sides of the same story.

Step back and stop comparing them, and you can appreciate them for what they are. It is the same with our new season - by forever comparing it to the near perfection that was Season 2, you will only prevent yourself from seeing the truth. Season 3 is in all aspects a superb successor to the high expectations we had, and a truly amazing addition to the Castlevania saga.

So, how did the creators match the epic scale of the conflict between Dracula and mankind?

Simple, they didn't even try.

Attempting to endlessly top the scale and hype of previous work is how television can become a shadow of its former self. Consider how many of your favourite series lost their spark by trying to maintain the same pace over many years.

The Castlevania creators made the perfect decision in breaking the new series down into smaller stories, no individual story matching the scale of the original because they don't need to. Alucard's story of life in mourning is sombre and melancholy, Trevor & Sypha's adventure in the village of Lindisfell is down to earth and amusing, Hector & Carmilla's return to Styria is brutal and vicious.

Isaac's story is the winner in this series. It is philosophical at the core, and delivers the same hard hitting dialogue we have come to expect.

New characters added to bolster these narratives are excellently written, and in many scenes even steal the show from our regulars. These are not characters added in a cheap attempt to add fresh material, these are well thought out individuals with stories of their own, and fit in superbly with out existing characters. These stories are largely self contained, although interact in some unexpected ways.

Their smaller scale does nothing to diminish their impact; Each asks a different question of us and allows us to view the world in our own way. One of our stories builds into the dramatic conclusion at the seasons end, the others are built up and allowed to mature for Season 4.