Alice In Borderland Season 1
Episode No 8 Recap And Review
As they descend the subway, many questions remain about this scene. How did their phone work when all the other electronics went out? Are they part of this game? And who is the witch?
Well, Aguni gathers the troops in the main atrium as the final stand sees him ready to kill them all. While Arisu and Usagi appear, they plead with Aguni to see why and try to find the witch. It turns out that the witch is Aguni, whom she quickly confesses.
Arisu is not so sure that this is the real truth. He sees through Aguni's facade and reveals that he and Hatter are best friends and have clashed to keep dangerous militants in check. What started as a simple affair became more complicated when the Hatter decided to add another rule to kill any traitors - turning democracy into a dictatorship.
Hatter turned on Aguni in his last game and Aguni was forced to fire back. However, that doesn't excuse him from taking the opportunity to kill everyone in sight. Anyway, in the present, Arisu thinks they can find a way to solve the game without killing the others. As she points at Momoka, she says that she might be a witch herself.
Aguni refuses to listen any longer, and as the fight rages, Asahi is suddenly killed by a laser to the head after calling himself a dealer. When An showed it, he discovered that the blade had a reverse grip, supporting Arisu's original theory that Momoka was the real witch.
Along with Arisu's impassioned pleas, the pair prepare to cremate Momoka's body when Niragi suddenly appears and starts shooting everyone. Worse, it spreads fire and the maniac laughs.
Aguni sacrifices himself and throws Niragini back into the fire; the last selfless act to save them all. When Arisu and the others go outside to cremate Momoka's body, she notices that the phone on the floor is still recording.
Under the dancing flames of the flames, Arisu tells Usagi and the others that they need to stop this; kill no more. Chishiya takes full advantage of this and grabs the 10 heart card on the table.
In the morning, Usagi and Arisu check the images on Momoka's phone. It turns out that Momoka and Asahi are responsible for setting up some games. They worked together to join various games, sometimes as taggers or to intentionally disrupt the flow of the game.
As the footage continues, the two descend the subway and into the Vendor's lair, which appears to be a series of giant structures supported by electronics and numerous costumed people. They watch all these games unfold and seem to enjoy all this bloodshed. Are these people game masters?
Usagi and Arisu take this information and go to the subway themselves to take a closer look. Various workers lie face to face on desks with bullet holes.
When all the lights go out, Chishiya and Kuina suddenly appear in the shadows and reveal that they found the same hiding place thanks to the drawing in the tagger's pocket. This is of course a direct nod back to the previous episode with the tag game. The drawing becomes a map.
Chishiya jokes that the real leader might be aliens or even God, but the lights suddenly go up as Mira appears on the screen along with various fragments of those who have died so far. He wants to give them a "gift" to participate in, a series of new games.
The next stage will appear at noon the next day, which means they have to fight again. But this time they know who their target is. As fireworks explode over Tokyo, the scene will begin as giant blimps appear with the face cards they need.
Episode Review
In another Netflix trademark, Alice In Borderland ends with a few questions answered, but mostly more questions moving forward. Most likely the EMP blast destroyed the electronics, Momoka's phone is the only working cell phone. How does the game attract these men and women? How do lasers work?
But what is clear is how much Chishiya has been hiding from others. His talk about aliens and God at the end is a direct reference to Arisu's conversation in Shibuya during episode 1. Was he listening at the time? Or does it work with a game master?
Considering he doesn't move much during a game of tag, it's not out of the realm of possibility that he's a spy. After all, we've seen him quickly switch sides at will.
It's still unclear how this translates back into the gaming world itself, but despite the cliffhanger, Alice In Borderland was a pleasant surprise this week. The ending certainly leaves the door open for where this could go next… if it gets renewed for a season 2.
Whether it is or not, the mix of different influences makes this one of the best series released this year, and a thoroughly enjoyable watch from start to finish.
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