Castlevania is returning tomorrow on Netflix, and I have been in the middle of a rewatch that reminds me why I enjoy the series: the mythos, the animation, and the fun characters—well, “fun” in some cases. Love you, Isaac (Adetokumboh M’Cormack). As I prepare for my binge-watch, here are some of my hopes, fears, and desires for the upcoming season.
Hopes:
- Team Vamp Ladies get to slay:
I don’t expect the Council of Styria—Striga (Ivana Milicevic), Morana (Yasmine Al Massri), and Lenore (Jessica Brown Findlay)—along with their fearless leader Carmilla (Jamie Murray), to succeed in creating a vampiric empire of their own, with Hector (Theo James) on their side. No, things can’t be that bleak, but I do hope that their deaths are with dignity. I have come to really love the women of Castlevania because they are all dynamic. Even Lisa, whose death marks the moral turn of the series, is compelling in her Beauty and the Beast vibes as she enters Dracula’s castle.
If Carmilla and her ladies must die, I hope they get to do so in bloody splendor.
- Alucard finally smiles again:
Yeah, I’m tired of Alucard (James Callis) being sad—not in a mean way, but last season, one of the most disappointing factors was him being separated from Trevor and Sipha (Richard Armitage and Alejandra Reynoso). Big mistake. Huge. One of the big things about this series is family, and Alucard’s family includes these messy bastards. I have enjoyed seeing him come into his own, but I want him to see that part of being his mother’s son is going out to being among mankind—rather than just being locked away in a tower, like the beautiful bishonen he is.
- Characters come first:
Speaking of, when it comes to plot, Castlevania is pretty basic. Kill the monsters. Fight the corrupt church. Have a complicated relationship with some villagers. It works, and it leaves room for character building, and that is what will be key to nailing this fourth season. We have a rich collection of talent and characters here to explore. From Isaac’s morality and complexity about killing humans, Carmilla’s trauma being fuel for her war, to Sipha herself being dragged deeper into the darkness that is humanity alongside Trevor. That doesn’t even get to Hector and everything he needs to unpack. We have a lot of stuff to wrap up.
Fears:
- Exposition overload:
One of the biggest criticisms I have of Castlevania is that it loves that first-half setup game too much. Don’t get me wrong; I eat up the slow storytelling crumbs, and it usually leads to something special, but there has been a lot of set up. With ten episodes left to do everything, we don’t need five episodes for straight setup again, especially when we have half a dozen key characters we need to focus on and then another half dozen supporting players that matter.
- Everyone Must Die ending:
Maybe it’s the softy in me, but I don’t think the best ending is the darkest one. I don’t think death should be the endgame for every character, and I hope, for once, a season can end with just a splash of optimism. I think the audience deserves it.
- Dracula comes back (again)
This is probably gonna happen in some way, but I found Dracula’s death so effective in season two. I was rewatching his final scene with Alucard with my partner, and we both got emotional when Dracula realized he was killing his own son. It was a great scene, and I don’t want his corpse brought back to die again in something that will be less impactful.
Desires:
- Thruple:
Yeah, whatever, I am not here pretending that I’m a bigger person. I want Trevor/ Alucard/Sypha to be together forever and enjoy it. Now, mind you, I don’t mean purely sexual, but I think that the three are strongest together. They need each other and are the first family of Castlevania. If it will not be canon, well, I still have fanfiction.
- Isaac gets a “happy” ending:
Isaac is a character I didn’t expect to love so much when he was first introduced, but between M’Cormack’s fantastic voice acting and the amount of pathos infused into this Black man who longs for love, while feeling that humans are incapable of that affection, is dope. I want him to be at peace … somehow.
Alright, see you all tomorrow for my thoughts on the final season of Netflix’s Castlevania.
(image: Netflix)
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