Alice in Borderland (2023) Season 2 Official Trailer
Life or Death, Just Have Fun in 'Alice in Borderland!'
The best way to live life is to have fun in everything you do. At least, unless you end up in a weird alternate reality like the one in Alice in Borderland. In this reality, people have to “play” games to prevent their visas from expiring. Once a visa expires, a huge laser shoots down from space and into the head of said illegal immigrant. Except for politicians, the laser alone should be enough to scare anyone. The problem is that these games often result in a death much worse than just getting beamed in the head. Luckily, the viewer has nothing to fear so enjoying these games is the most they’ll have to do.
Narrowing the top Alice in Borderland games to just five is as difficult as actually participating in any of them. The criteria for this list are strict and clear: the games must be conceptually unique and have unique deaths involved. While there are plenty of cool games that take place throughout the series, there are some fillers out there.
5. Witch Hunt/Ten of Hearts
Starting strong, this particular game was the last one of the first season. Set in “The Beach,” the game had a cool concept. Working essentially as a whodunnit murder mystery, the goal of the game was to find out who had murdered a certain character and burn them in a fire. They also had an unlimited amount of guesses which all contributed to an incredible bloodbath. There’s this one group in the show that has a bunch of guns by this point and they almost immediately resort to just killing everyone to win the game. It’s a cool way of subverting expectations since the idea of a murder mystery typically lends to the same old tropes or just drags on in general. Ironically, as this is going on, another murder mystery is also established. Could they be connected?
There’s nothing too crazy about the deaths in this game aside from the sheer number. At least a hundred people are participating in this game. Things get chaotic fairly quickly. Also, keep in mind that one side has a bunch of guns so it feels like watching a war crime take place. There is a fire, however, which is slowly eating away at the resort so there is some agency. While this was one of the best games of the first season, the way it ends feels like a cop-out. On the other hand, it does lead to a pretty cool and dramatic death scene that easily tops any other death in this particular season. Spoiler alert, the person in question stabs their own heart. Keep in mind there are guns nearby and yet a knife somehow seemed more reasonable.
4. Chess/Queen of Spades
This is essentially just a game of extreme tag. Set in what looks to be an energy plant, contestants are supposed to take turns chasing each other through the sprawling plant. Split into two teams, once someone is tagged, they get shocked and are unable to move for the rest of the round. Once the round ends, however, they join the other team. The only ones unable to get tagged are the king and queen of each team. So it’s kind of a low-stakes game. Since the games are typically organized based on activity focus (spades focus on action while hearts focus on manipulation), this game involves a lot of action sequences.
In particular, expect plenty of chasing but thankfully it never gets boring or overplayed. This is due to the incorporation of parkour into many of the sequences with one character in particular being able to jump and climb her way to her opponents. The main issue with this concept is its execution. Since the team with the most members wins and only the losing team dies… why wouldn’t participants just stay with the team they think is gonna win? The only ones in any actual danger are the respective king and queen. The ending is also easy to predict considering the “underdog” is a little kid and Netflix definitely wouldn’t go there.
Despite having only one confirmed death during the game, it confirms the whole “quality over quantity” idea. The person in question does a literal backflip off of a ledge to then get hit by a laser in mid-air.
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3. Distance/Four of Clubs
This entry involves another cop out but in this case it kind of works. The objective of this particular game is to get to the goal. Each participant has a phone telling them how close they are to the goal. That last part is a crucial factor in how this game plays out. The contestants immediately start running deeper into a traffic tunnel. As they go deeper and deeper, the number on their phones is continuously growing bigger. It’s not until they reach a literal dead end that they realize their fatal error. Since their phones had initially read as zero at the start of the game, it hadn’t occurred to them that they may have already been at the goal in the first place. This is particularly ironic considering that a participant was initially left behind at the start while not knowing that this would save their life.
The deaths that occur here are random and fun. For whatever reason, the group encounters a leopard (or some other big cat) amidst a bunch of abandoned cars. A character introduced in that same episode immediately gets dragged away and eaten. Then, when it looks like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, it turns out that fate has other things in plan for them as water starts to leak before suddenly flooding the tunnel. At that point, the writers were just looking for cruel and unusual ways of killing their characters. In this case, however, that’s A-OK!
2. Balancing the Scales/King of Diamonds
The concept of this game is admittedly convoluted and difficult for the average viewer to keep up with. Everyone is strapped to a chair with a scale full of acid dangling over their heads. Participants are forced to choose random numbers until someone reaches the negatives. So it is essentially a logic-based game that also involves a psychological aspect as participants have to predict what everyone else may end up picking as well. The show is kind enough to provide a formula on how to get the right answer but still feels confusing as a viewer so it’s hard to imagine the contestants having a better grasp on it either.
Imagine having your life on the line and the only way to avoid taking an acid bath is with Algebra. The character that ends up winning had somehow predicted what another character would pick because of some minute detail and made a bunch of assumptions based on nothing but blind luck and idiocy. The way some of these characters die, however, is worth the convolutedness!
The acid-induced deaths are deliciously gory and better than one would expect from a Netflix original. It is genuinely satisfying to see the losers melt in a waterfall of acid. Compared to some of the other deaths on the show, however, it doesn’t feel too cheesy. Also, keep in mind that the acid doesn’t immediately tip over. Each loser has a short amount of time to process their loss before the first drops of acid inevitably start pouring.
1. Prison Cell/Jack of Hearts
The best game yet to be played in Alice in Borderland is Prison Cell/Jack of Hearts. This game has a lot going for it. Set in a prison, contestants must wear explosive collars and correctly guess the suit on the back of their collar. Incorrectly guessing may result in them losing their heads. Essentially, participants have to trust one another to survive. The problem is that there is a wolf in sheep’s clothing in their midst. It’s also important to point out that this is a hearts game so manipulation is the focus. The reason why this game works so well in addition to its concept is its execution.
The characters involved play a crucial role in making everything work. Seeing how these different characters interact with one another is the highlight. The writers do a fantastic job of introducing different archetypes into the game with there being a mean girl, hotheaded thug, and isolated types all being included. How they react to each other’s words and actions is exciting to see. Everyone involved is playing their own mind game with the others and it’s never 100% clear as to where things will end up.
In this particular game, contestants have to wear explosive collars that go off when they fail to correctly guess the suit on the back of their collar. Sometimes it’s obvious when someone’s gonna die since the viewer is often made aware of everyone’s suit. Sometimes, however, the show throws a curveball and a guaranteed winner ends up losing. It can also be funny to see someone confidently make a guess only for their head to immediately pop like a balloon filled with paint.
Another season of Alice in Borderland is allegedly on the way so here’s hoping that keeps the “fun” going.
Stay tuned for more Alice in Borderland updates here at Dead Talk News.
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| A lover of gore and over the top violence, no movie can make my stomach squirm. The only thing better than a bloody death scene is a well choreographed stunt. Whether it be action or horror, if it has blood in it, then I've likely already seen it. |
Sammie is an undergraduate student at Arcadia University where she is majoring in English and creative writing and minoring in media and communications. Sammie enjoys writing about her favorite movies and tv shows and hopes to have a career in the media industry.