5 things Seasons 3 of Alice in Borderland and Squid Game have in common

When Squid Game exploded worldwide in 2021, it became more than a Korean thriller. It turned into a cultural event that made survival dramas mainstream for a global streaming audience. Netflix transformed the show into a juggernaut, winning major awards, inspiring memes, Halloween costumes and endless think pieces about capitalism and despair.

Yet a year earlier, Alice in Borderland had already begun shaping the template with its own Japanese twist on life-or-death games. At first it was a cult hit that steadily built a passionate international fan base, growing stronger with each season.

By the time 2025 arrived, both titles had evolved into powerhouse franchises. They were no longer regional curiosities but global hits with simultaneous worldwide releases, dubbed and subtitled in dozens of languages.

Each new season dropped as an event with watch parties, live reactions, trending hashtags and YouTube breakdowns. Season 3 of Alice in Borderland and Squid Game carried the weight of huge expectations and met them with bigger sets, riskier storytelling choices and some uncanny overlaps in what played out on screen.

These five parallels are not about theme or metaphor. They are concrete moments that viewers everywhere could point to, snapshots that shaped how each season felt and why people kept watching.

A pregnant woman forced to play

Both shows begin their latest season by throwing a (visibly or not) pregnant woman into an environment designed to kill.

In Squid Game Season 3, Jun-hee walks into the first round despite carrying a child. She's not protected or excused by the system, which forces her to run, climb and outthink opponents while the camera shows every breathless struggle and protective hand on her belly. Other players notice, some try to help, but the rules remain merciless.

Alice in Borderland Season 3 mirrors that cruelty, but in a subtler way. Usagi is pregnant, though it isn’t visible, and she’s still pulled into games that demand speed, strength and sharp calculation. There’s no special treatment here. She has to rely on fleeting alliances and her own will to keep going. The show frames her vulnerability in stark, physical terms: here is someone who should be safe, but safety doesn’t exist in the Borderlands.

Placing pregnancy inside a death match sends an immediate signal that this season would break boundaries. It's an unflinching visual choice that says no life stage, however fragile, would be spared.

A baby caught in the survival arena

The danger does not end with birth. Squid Game Season 3 follows Jun-hee’s pregnancy through to delivery, and the newborn becomes a living stake in the game. There is no sanctuary for the child. Its existence shapes the finale, where Gi-hun’s last act is to try to secure its survival. The system’s indifference makes every moment with the baby more unbearable.

Alice in Borderland Season 3 also places an early pregnancy in harm’s way. Usagi is a player who’s only at the beginning of her pregnancy, yet the games don’t pause or create safe zones. Instead, they force others to decide whether they’ll protect or sacrifice a life not yet born in order to survive. The show uses real, physical fragility to make its cruelty feel immediate.

Seeing pregnancy in worlds built for slaughter such as in Squid Game and Alice in Borderland is uncomfortable in the most literal way. Both shows rely on that unease to deepen tension without ever needing to explain it.

A final scene teasing a spin-off through a waitress named Alice

Neither story wraps up neatly. Alice in Borderland Season 3 ends with a suggestive scene in an American diner. A waitress serves customers wearing a badge that says 'Alice' and just before this a global quake suggests the Borderland could spill beyond Japan. There is no voice-over or explanation, only a sharp image that hints the game is about to expand.

Squid Game Season 3 closes with its own international hook. A recruiter appears overseas, casually playing the same style of invitation game that once trapped Gi-hun. The cameo is brief but powerful, showing the nightmare has crossed borders and that the franchise could follow.

Both finales choose the same kind of ending. Each uses a single silent tease to turn one country’s nightmare into something global and open-ended. It's an easy visual to grasp and a clear promise of more.

The protagonist returning after once escaping

Survival is not the end for either lead. Arisu has already fought his way out of the Borderlands and built a new life, but Alice in Borderland Season 3 begins with him being pulled back in. He goes willingly because Usagi’s life is at stake. Every step he takes is colored by memory of what came before, making his return feel heavy and inevitable.

Gi-hun in Squid Game Seasons 2 and 3 walks the same path. After winning and reclaiming his old life, he cannot ignore what he knows. Instead of staying free, he deliberately turns back toward the organization that once nearly killed him. His choice to reenter is not about greed or thrill. It's about unfinished business and the need to face what still exists.

Both arcs are simple to follow and visually striking. Two survivors step back into hell after proving they could leave, making it clear that survival alone is not enough.

Tower-based death games with brutal drops

Each season climaxes with a game built around dizzying height. Squid Game Season 3 ends with the infamous game of towers. Contestants climb and fight across unstable high structures while the threat of falling to instant death hangs over every move. The camera pulls back often to show just how far there is to drop, making every step feel lethal.

Alice in Borderland Season 3 builds a similar stage for one of its final games. Players must navigate a towering arena where missing a jump or losing balance means vanishing into the void.

The set design is stark and open, built to make viewers feel the vertigo and danger in real time, where survival becomes a battle against gravity itself, where one wrong move sends you to certain death.

Why these parallels between Squid Game and Alice in Borderland matter

The overlap between Alice in Borderland and Squid Game is not about copying style. It shows how each series pushes its survival premise further for a global audience.

Pregnancy and infancy bring raw vulnerability. Returning heroes prove that trauma does not end with escape. Unsettling suggestive finals tease promises of a larger universe.

For Netflix these choices also reveal a strategy. Both shows demonstrate that global audiences embrace high-stakes, foreign-language thrillers when production is ambitious and the hooks are obvious. Whether on purpose or not, echoing certain moves keeps fans hungry while leaving room for expansion. Each series now functions less as a single story and more as the core of a growing franchise.

As a result, Alice in Borderland and Squid Game have outgrown the label of niche Asian survival dramas. They have become global tentpoles that dictate trends, break viewing records and redefine how streaming platforms build event television.

The third seasons of both Alice in Borderland and Squid Game prove that the death game format can evolve, shock and expand without losing clarity. The deadliest games may already have ended on screen, but these finales make one thing clear: for both worlds, the next round is only just beginning.