I’d never seen anything like the first season. A supremely well-crafted nailbiter when it was not a meditation on the human condition and gross socioeconomic disparities (and their brazen exploitation). Grim magnificence. Stood very well by itself.
Never really understood the protagonist’s motivation in the second season. There were several ways in which he could’ve achieved his objectives without resorting to the stupidest course of action possible. But then again, the show was a global sensation and needed to be milked for every ounce of shareholder value it could generate. There needed to be an entire new season. So let’s pepper some sense of justice and moral immediacy over the moronic masterplan our jaded boy chooses to resolve his trauma from Season One and pull more episodes. People are here for the rollercoaster, they won’t care. I certainly didn’t.
(Spoiler below)
The third season was as unnecessary as it was terrible. A self-indulgent, nonsensical plotline afraid of a terminus (Steven Moffat pulled the same garbage at the finale of Sherlock). It’s abundantly clear that they blew the budget by the time it came to hiring actors for the sadistic “VIPs”. Also features the calmest CGI baby ever1. His highly likely dimwittedness aside, there was zero logical need for our hero to sacrifice himself. Even within the improbable world of the show, very little of the plot made sense in this season.
There’s talk of a prequel (of course). I’m getting off this rollercoaster. Enough’s enough 🎢