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Castlevania Review Season 3 A Dream Binge Watch for Moody Goth Teens

Castlevania season 3 is now on Netflix for at least a month. It's hugely popular, and not hard to see why. As ever, it's violent, bloody, gory and full of snarky wisecracks with some Gnosticism and moral ambiguity thrown in. It's a perfect show for moody Goths and angry teens – even adults who are still those at heart. Trevor Beaumont (Richard Armitage), Sypha Belnades (Alejandra Reynoso) and Alucard (James Callis) defeated Dracula in Season 2 and have gone their separate ways. Trevor and Sypha are now an adventuring couple who agree to help The Judge (Jason Isaacs), a local sheriff fight off the monsters in his besieged town.

They also help Saint Germain (Bill Nighy), a mysterious magician, solve the mystery of the portals that are linked to the monsters. Alucard sinks into loneliness and melancholy when two fighters from the East come seeking his friendship and lessons in fighting vampires. Dracula's servant Hector (Theo James) is taken prisoner by the Council of Sisters who want his forgemaster skills to create a new army to conquer humankind. Dracula's other forgemaster Isaac (Adetokumboh M'Cormack) vows to kill Hector for betraying Dracula but first has to forge a new army and get back to the West.

What makes this season the ideal show for moody Goths is how much the characters hang around wallowing in angry self-pity. Alucard is the show's poster child for this, languishing shirtless with his flawless hair in the ruins of his father's castle. Wet blanket Percy sits in the vampire sisters' prison, facing Lenore's seduction with dread and lust. Isaac has to fight his way through a lot of assholes, pausing only to appreciate the tiny handful of people who are decent to him.

Castlevania Is Warren Ellis Unfiltered

Warren Ellis' script shows he's the same writer he was when he started in the 1990s. His recurring themes are all on full display in unfiltered form in this show. Religion and the Church are bad. Authority figures are bastards. The world is full of horrible, brutal people. Everyone is in an unhappy place by the end of this season. Yet it feels fun and exhilarating, like Ellis is just happily doling out a kind of cheerful misanthropy. That has always been his biggest trope, often watered down when he writes mainstream superhero comics for Marvel and DC.

In Castlevania, he gets to indulge in it raw and unfiltered, and he's having a grand old time. The Church is corrupt and brutalizes people. Trevor Beaumont is a typical Ellis Cynical Hero with a Heart of Gold with A Smarter Girlfriend. Alucard is reminiscent of Daimon Hellstrom, a moody, lonely, Chaotic Neutral bastard. Isaac, who has his own moral code, fights worst evils than him as a personal crusade. Ellis has always been more interested in Evil vs. Evil conflicts.

Setting Up for Season 4

The big twist – and theme – of the season is Betrayal. Isaac plans revenge against the world for its continuous betrayal. The Judge's betrayal of his duty as a protector and moral figure shatters and traumatises Trevor and Sypha. Lenore, unsurprisingly, betrays Hector to turn him into her tool and plaything. Alucard is betrayed by his new friends Taka and Sumi. It's all gleefully pessimistic in an adolescent way.

Everyone you meet is horrible, so you have to be horrible too, but up to a point. Be nice to the nice people, but beware: they might turn out to be horrible. Every angry teenager's worldview. That makes it the perfect show for Netflix' teen viewers. All three season of Castlevania are now streaming on Netflix.

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