The third season of Aarya follows the story of the protagonist, now at the center of the drug cartel who has to deal with the cops and a few enemies that she may have made along the way. Will she survive the onslaught? The story here is compelling and gritty while unfolding at a break neck pace. There are a chain of events that unfold this time around that do not really provide any respite while consistently keeping you on your toes. The only time the writing dips is in its final act that ensured that the show didn’t end on a high but instead on a whimper. The screenplay standing at 8 episodes of 30 odd to 40 odd minutes are intense with the twists and turns and quite gritty for most parts of the runtime up until the routine final act that doesn’t quite nail its conclusion.

The drama opens with the introduction of the protagonist who happens to be shot by a stray bullet. This foreshadowing of the timeline from the end was a promising start wherein the viewers’ interests would definitely pique. Soon, the drama shifts to an earlier timeline wherein the protagonist is independent in handling her business without even showcasing a grain of remorse to her enemies within her group or outside. Yet, there is a good amount of empathy in her character that is reflective of her behavior towards her near and dear ones, with whom she continues to share a warm relationship. The writers introduce a constraint in the form of an old friend turned foe from the previous season who would stop at nothing while wishing to extract revenge on Aarya for the murder of his wife. Needless to say that the cops along with other parties of the drug mafia form the third dimension, all of whom must either be controlled or eliminated by Aarya.

The proceedings are engaging and engrossing particularly with the extended kidnapping sequence at the start of the season. The writers keep you on tenterhooks by dabbling with the shifting dynamics between the characters that automatically allow the stakes to rise in the drama. The intensity of the show is right up there particularly in the first half of the show even as bodies begin to pile up around the protagonist all over again. All of it leads to a resounding conflict resolution at the halfway mark that perfectly blended with the character motivations of the protagonist. This, while things were nicely setup for the home run in the second half of the show which unfortunately faltered in its final act.

Things did look bright in the second half of the show with a conflict less owing to the death of a character. However, the intensity was pretty much prevalent. My issue here though was the conflicts introduced were met with an immediate conclusion in the very next scene. Perhaps, the resolution could have been a little more layered while flirting with the gradually shifting character dynamics leading to the final act. Even the brief conflict involving new perpetrators did not have enough meat to truly call them the perfect nemesis for the protagonist. This equation in particular was exposed in a simplistic final act that ensured that the show ended on just a whimper. Here, I am unsure on whether the universe would expand to a few other characters but the conclusion for a character like Aarya felt a little underwhelming. Overall, the screenplay is definitely compelling although a little simplistic with its conclusion that still accounts for a good watch.