‘Castlevania’ returns with its best season yet as the demon-slaying animated series pushes its characters and story to delirious new heights.
“It’s us against the world. Same as it always was.”
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest has turned into a famous meme as the game’s hero complains about “what a terrible night to have a curse” it is, but let’s disabuse the notion that there’s still some kind of “video game curse” when it comes to adaptations. Sonic the Hedgehog was the top film in the United States, The Witcher TV series went far beyond expectations, and now Castlevania has just delivered another excellent season to what’s already been a sterling adaptation of the long-running gothic horror video game series. Castlevania’s television series has been so impressive that it truly caught audiences off guard. It’s far better than one would expect it to be, both in terms of a video game adaptation, Castlevania animated show, and an action-horror hybrid series in general. Each season of Castlevania has been increasingly polished and brought even more to the table, and that’s even truer this season, which is easily Castlevania’s best yet.
The third season of Castlevania begins in a unique position with the death of Dracula now in the show’s rearview mirror. Dracula’s death easily could have marked the end of Castlevania, which is what makes its appearance so early in the series such an exciting surprise. This malevolent tyrant was built up to be the ultimate evil and now that he’s out of the picture, the next big challenge for Castlevania is to follow-up Dracula with a villain that’s as entertaining and powerful. Fortunately, there are literally dozens of Castlevania games with unbelievable evils to pull from and it’s not as if death has ever held back Dracula from making a return in the series. Many shows of this nature can stumble during this transitory period, but thankfully Warren Ellis’ scripts and Sam Deats’ direction for the show’s third season immediately have a vision in mind that doesn’t lose momentum from what’s come before it.
This season is also Castlevania’s longest at a respectable ten episodes. The season definitely doesn’t squander this extra time and as a result the show is able to craft its most impressive and layered story yet. It’s satisfying to see the series get this upgrade and even though the show’s second season doesn’t disappoint, this “full” season makes what has preceded it feel like an extended prologue in some ways. The Dracula chapter of the story is over and now Castlevania can really begin.
Season three of Castlevania functions as a loose adaptation of the game Curse of Darkness, which is canonically set after Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse. A month has passed since Dracula’s demise and Trevor and Sypha find themselves making an extended stay in the little hamlet of Lindenfeld. However, their travel destination seems to be ripe with a sinister underbelly and suspicious figures, most of which are associated with the priory and the church. Prior Sala and the other church members are eager to find those that killed Dracula and resent that his death has closed them off to a certain aspect of existence. As Trevor and Sypha head forward on their journey, they must also avoid the suspicions of those around them and make sure they don’t trust the wrong people. Dracula’s death has caused a lot of instability in society and Trevor and Sypha carefully try to figure out how to navigate through these changing times.
It’s also rather fascinating to see how Alucard’s isolated new life wears him down and just how seriously his level of guilt consumes him. It’s not surprising to see that he doesn’t exactly cope well with this slowed down existence, but his madness takes on some unexpectedly comedic turns. In fact, this season’s sense of humor is in prime form. Castlevania has never struggled to see the inherent silliness in itself and doesn’t miss the opportunity to be the butt of its own joke. This season leans even harder into that angle and it’s kind of remarkable how much of a punching bag Trevor becomes to everyone’s insults and how he’s just learned to accept it. Several of Sypha’s barbs towards him even made me laugh out loud. There’s no shortage of action and monster slaying, but the carnage flows even better when it’s juxtaposed against this silliness.
Trevor, Sypha, and Alucard are seasoned experts when it comes to demon annihilation and Castlevania makes that clear from how they mock their opponents and dispense just as many quips as they do attacks. They’ve fallen into a bit of a routine that they’re eager to shake up, but it’s the perfect tone for Castlevania. It’s easy to have so much fun with all of this gothic adventuring when the characters themselves have such a ball with it. The chemistry between these characters is off the charts and the romance between Trevor and Sypha has never felt more genuine and tender. Both Richard Armitage and Alejandra Reynoso are now even more comfortable in these roles and it’s so satisfying to see how much they’ve made these characters their own at this point.
Alucard turns into a reluctant mentor to some other impressionable demon hunters, which helps give him a focus and purpose in lieu of his father’s passing. This turns out to be just as much of a learning experience for Alucard as it is for his new protégés. It’s yet another inspired way that this season finds fresh angles on its characters before they begin to feel tired. This material is wonderful, but it maybe would have been even better if they went with two characters that actually have histories as demon hunters from the video games, rather than creating two original characters. This is a minor complaint, especially with the work that the season does with Alucard’s trainees, but it still could have been fun to see characters like Maria Renard or John Morris in those roles instead.
Carmilla, and her vampiric sisters, Striga (Ivana Milicevic), Lenore (Jessica Brown Findlay), and Morana (Yasmine al Massri) make up the ruling council of Styria, but more importantly, they’re the Head Vampires in Charge who are power hungry for domination with Dracula now out of the picture. Carmilla was a decent threat in her own right last season, but the addition of this family dynamic to her evil plotting takes her character to some exciting places and helps expand on the show’s cast. Carmilla turns into a surprisingly layered character and she’s empowered by this return to her family. Her retreat home may come across as a defeat of sorts, but she ends up much more empowered this season. This season builds a lot of empathy towards the struggles that they face as they consider expanding their empire, and actually finds reasons to make the audience care about these mass murderers.
At the center of all of this is also Hector, who’s forced to be Carmilla and her vampires’ helpless slave when the season begins. This places Hector in a very interesting position in the middle of this war. He could become a major player, but his body and mind are so worn down that Hector remains a wild card through the season. His lot during all of this is easily the worst out of anyone and greatly calls back to classical vampire and Dracula lore. Lenore is the member of Carmilla’s clan that gets staffed to manage Hector and his Forgemaster abilities. She’s one of the most entertaining additions to the series and her complicated relationship with Hector is so rich and rewarding. She really rises forward as Carmilla becomes more of a supporting player to her larger scheme. In Hector’s absence, Isaac goes on a pursuit to track him down and save him from Carmilla’s clutches, but he has no idea of the changes that his friend has been going through and his journey may be in vain.
Narratively, it’s impressive to see how this season splits its focus between Trevor and Sypha’s journey, Carmilla’s plans for conquest, Isaac’s mission to save Hector, and Alucard’s quest towards redemption. That’s a lot to handle and while past seasons of the show have felt disjointed with less on their plates, the series is now in a place where it’s laid the groundwork for all of these threads to come together. These storylines each intersect with each other and while they do develop on their own, it makes the moments when they cross over hit with greater impact. This season of Castlevania handles the serialized aspect particularly well. Each episode adeptly introduces new ancillary threats and it adds a very JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders aspect to the series, which is such a perfect fit for this show.
One of the more eccentric and passionate new characters that Trevor and Sypha encounter in Lindenfeld is Count Saint Germain, who’s voiced by freaking Bill Nighy. Nighy is having a blast in this role and his character is an extremely extroverted grifter of sorts who seeks to infiltrate Lindenfeld’s priory and expose a much larger conspiracy. The priory are convinced that both Dracula and his wife are alive in Hell and are determined to find a way to make contact. Saint Germain often acts as a rogue agent and independent of Trevor and Sypha, but his goals nicely align with their own and he makes for an enjoyable, albeit odd, ally (and another fun reference to Curse of Darkness).
Another pleasant new character comes in the form of a ship captain who Isaac temporarily accompanies. Some of the season’s more esoteric and philosophical moments are reserved for their thoughtful conversations as they’re alone at sea. The Captain is largely a cipher who’s meant to help Isaac work through some of the larger questions in his life, but he makes for such an entertaining foil for him that calls back to classical storytelling. Much of the success of this material has to do with Lance Reddick’s thoughtful performance in the role. This entire season does a remarkable job with the arcs for all of its new characters and how well it integrates their stories. No one here feels superfluous, unlike Godbrand or any of the derivative members of Dracula’s army that held back the first two seasons. Every single character gets a triumphant moment to shine and it feels like a true ensemble this season.
At this point Trevor and Sypha have killed enough monsters in elaborate ways that Castlevania knows that it needs to try a little harder now to make its fight scenes still have impact. This season impressively sets battles in unique and complex environments that lend themselves to some very creative fight choreography. A lot of the time, even the moments of pursuit and evasion manage to be as thrilling as the actual combat. This season also shows off more of the extended powers and the true strength of vampires in frightening new ways. On the other end of the spectrum, there are some remarkable sequences where Isaac and his army of forged night creatures just decimate everything in their wake. There’s such variety in the beasts that the chaos feels like the climax of Cabin in the Woods.
In addition to the fights, it’s also just exciting to see the savvy new ways that Sypha applies magic physics to her combat style. There are moments throughout the season where she flies around and operates like Iron Man and it’s extremely bad-ass. It’s a brilliant use of magic that turns the practice into something far more powerful than merely fantastical projectile attacks. It’s almost unfair how overpowered she is and what mastery she has over whatever environment she’s in. This also means that most of the best scenes from this season are reserved for Sypha’s stunning displays of magic. Of course, Sypha does eventually meet her match, but she remains the show’s MVP, even in moments of distress.
This season of Castlevania also doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the monsters that are on display. There’s a varied bestiary from the history of the games and it’s not just the same repetitive vampires or monsters ad infinitum. They really try to mix it up and push themselves, even with the random encounters that happen throughout the series. Creatures like minotaurs, werewolves, Cenobite-like demons, and vampire Samurai get into the mix and there are plenty of deep cuts that get featured, too. This season even plays around with the idea of freaking aliens.
The gore factor is also turned up even more this season and monsters’ brains and internal organs readily fly around with nobody batting an eye. Limbs get twisted into angles that shouldn’t be possible and so many bones get broken in ways that will guarantee cringes, even though these characters are numb to it all. It verges on humorous when Trevor often opts to kill a creature in a needlessly brutal and painful way, just to be spiteful and to do something different. It all adds to the extremely stylized and over the top nature of the show.
When it comes to the animation in Castlevania, season two was an upgrade from the first season, but the quality that increases this year is even more drastic. The jankiness that was present during previous seasons is now gone and the framerate is also higher. It’s not just the fight scenes, monsters, or magic that look stunning here, but episodes will spend time just focusing on nature and scenery and it’s a pleasure to take in. The series legitimately looks gorgeous now and it’s gratifying to see that the larger episode order hasn’t resulted in any kind of lack in quality.
The major free-for-all battle that the finale revolves around is easily the best work that the show has put together and establishes a new benchmark as the series moves forward. The same can be said for a segment that explores a fantastical Quantum Realm-esque gateway known as the “Infinite Corridor” and how it brings an unprecedented level of cosmic horror to the series. It’s one of the examples of how this season becomes even more supernatural in nature than before and succeeds in expanding the series’ point of view in ways that have big repercussions.
Castlevania remains a show that’s about killing monsters, as well as demons from Hell who want to take over the world. However, Warren Ellis’ scripts are elegant and go to philosophically and theologically challenging places. Episodes will take the time to slow down and have meditative thoughts on the “smell of Hell” or debates on faith, love, and spirituality that add as much flavor to the series as the creatures and fight scenes.
The first two seasons of Castlevania had a tendency to kill just as much time as they did monsters and there was a lot of unnecessary filler present. Castlevania’s third season feels like the complete opposite. In spite of the longer season, there’s no time that’s wasted here and each episode tells a worthwhile, satisfying story that contributes to the larger picture. At the same time, a larger sense of dread also builds as the events of the season culminate in a finale that exposes Trevor, Sypha, and company to the largest threat that they’ve ever faced. It’s an incredibly apocalyptic conclusion to a thrilling season. These episodes are extremely satisfying from a character and action perspective, but they also find a great story to tell that really builds suspense and pathos.
Castlevania has never been better, more confident, or in need of more episodes. Oddly, the end of the show’s second season felt like Castlevania’s end in many ways, but the conclusion of season three fills the series with tons of future possibilities. It just hopefully won’t take another year and a half to happen. That would truly be Hell.
Season three of ‘Castlevania’ premieres March 5th on Netflix.
This review is based on all ten half-hour episodes of ‘Castlevania’s’ third season.
