Blood and Water season 3 review: Compelling threequel improves upon its predecessor

‘Blood and Water’ season 3 follows Puleng and Fikile facing a diabolical new enemy while trying to dig into their past and dealing with everything from heartbreaks to life-threatening encounters.

Story

‘Blood and Water’ season 3 begins with Fiks wanting to know about her biological father and asking Thandeka about him. The latter doesn’t want to divulge that information just yet, though.

Meanwhile, Fikile also wants to know where her mother Nwabisa has gone missing. They eventually learn the painful truth of her death at the hands of a new enemy — Lisbeth Molapo.

The antagonist is a wealthy woman with all the influence and connections. She’s the top executive of a modelling agency which is a front for trafficking operations.

She’s also the one who kidnapped Fiks in her childhood, as well as the mother of Karabo aka KB.

While Fiks and Puleng begin their investigation into the former’s biological father, they also increase their efforts at digging into Lisbeth and her role in all the stuff that has transpired.

They meet the results of meddling too much with the powerful woman when she gets Puleng severely injured in a car accident and her father Julius, dead.

Puleng only becomes more determined in her investigative efforts but Molapo strikes again and gets her kidnapped. She’s held in captivity along with many other trafficking victims and also meets Janet.

Meanwhile, the friends and family of Puleng increase their efforts at finding Puleng and rescuing her. In the process of taking down Lisbeth, Fikile is shot and needs a liver transplant, which, thanks to her biological father who finally pulls through, she receives.

Puleng also survives the ordeal, thanks to her own as well as her friends and family’s bravery. The villains of the story ultimately get what they deserved as season 3 of ‘Blood and Water’ comes to a close.

Performances

‘Blood and Water’ season 3 really benefits from an ensemble of actors that do know their job, and they do it rather well.

In addition to a marvellous batch of performances from the leads, the supporting characters in the third instalment of the series are equally great at delivering their performances.

Positives

A crisp runtime greatly and positively impacts season 3 by having all the unnecessary clutter common with dramas to be done away with.

The story is much more tightly knit and the focus, albeit shifting temporarily to the ‘teen’ genre of the show, remains steadfastly on the big case at hand, providing for a much more compelling binge.

The last episodes are where the third season really comes into its own and embraces the thriller genre really well.

Negatives

With loose threads and unresolved arcs aplenty, ‘Blood and Water’ season 3 leaves out on a slew of things it could’ve covered or at least touched upon with a better sense of finality.

Some conclusions feel rather unsatisfactory, like Lisbeth and Detective Vaans’ final reception of the justice they deserve.

Their arrests make for two duds of a climax, where receiving some blows from the protagonists before their detention might have lent the finale a bit more cathartic flavour.

Verdict

‘Blood and Water’ season 3 is a concise and crisp run of six compelling episodes, where high stakes and the thrill surrounding the central characters succeed in clinging the viewer to their seat.

With better writing and execution of the thrilling bits of action, season 3 is a definite improvement upon the show’s sophomore instalment.

Blood and Water season 3
Blood and Water season 3 review: Compelling threequel improves upon its predecessor 1

Director: Travis Taute, Mmabatho Montsho, Thati Pele, Nosipho Dumisa-Ngoasheng

Date Created: 2022-11-25 13:30

Editor's Rating:
3.5

Also read: Blood and Water ending explained: Is Lisbeth Molapo arrested?

More from The Envoy Web