Summary
The virus plot hardly matters. It’s where the characters end up and why; providing a fruitful ending rather than one based on significant action-led events.
This review of Netflix’s The Rain season 3 contains no spoilers. The series will be released on the platform on Aug 6, 2020.
We comprehensively covered the series — check out the episode recaps.
Let’s take a moment to understand what Netflix has provided during a strange 2020 and what they are releasing for August — from The Umbrella Academy Season 2 to Lucifer Season 5 and in the middle of these two major series’, wedged nicely like a delicious starter, is The Rain Season 3. Streaming platforms are winning but Netflix is leading the war as we enter a world that will be changing forever.
The Rain was a grower for me because I could not quite grasp the absurdity of it but then it just so happened that Season 3 was timely — the story is no longer a stretch of the imagination. At this rate, anything could happen, literally anything. Netflix has decided to end The Rain gracefully after fans demanded an extension and ending to Rasmus’s story. The engaging cast returns and performs wonderfully to end the story.
It feels like we are living in an era where it’s proven how stories shape our perspective; how stories become comfortable in our existence based on our experiences. 2020 serves as a reminder that stories are built around our reality. The Rain in 2020 will resonate with a deeper meaning, especially for teenagers.
The Rain Season 3 is a mixture of hope and despair as the characters seem exhausted by a world that weighs heavily on the unfair side. In the space of two seasons, there has been plenty of tragedy; in Season 3 you can sense that the war scars have deepened and there’s this willingness to “get on with it” as conclusions lurk around the corner. Simone is desperate to look beyond the wall while Rasmus is desperate to prove that he’s the cure, hosting himself in the depths of Apollon.
Amongst the release of Season 3, there were whispers in my head on whether or not it would be able to squeeze in such an ending — the series format is an unusually low number of episodes with 40-50 minute wedges but the replicated format works formidably. It goes to show that the usual 10-12 episode format can be overkill rather than a necessity. It doesn’t overindulge helplessly scratching away at plot points like the never-ending 13 Reasons Why.
The Rain Season 3 bases itself entirely on emotional character decisions. It understands the human obsession to make choices based on a feeling at any given time rather than a long term solution — it’s beyond reason, exposing our inner weakness. The virus plot hardly matters. It’s where the characters end up and why; providing a fruitful ending rather than one based on significant action-led events. Similar to Dark Season 3, there’s a precedent set — create longstanding, worthwhile characters and the rest will sort itself out.
With the stakes heightening and the sense of an ending coming, The Rain Season 3 answers its own question; it needed to end but end well, and the third installment justifies that decision to not create any more stories out of this wonderful group of hopeful but depressed characters. Netflix ends another series gracefully.
