Newtopia Episode 3 Review: Unnecessary Fluff and Stupidity

In the last two episodes of Prime Video K-drama Newtopia, Young-joo and Jae-yoon find themselves facing a very surprising nemesis as a zombie outbreak leaves Seoul devastated. While Young-joo rushes across the city fighting against hoards of zombies to meet Jae-yoon, the latter fights against the outbreak inside the hotel to reach his fellow soldiers. Will the two of them finally reunite in Newtopia episode 3?

The series has 8 episodes and will be released from 07 February 2025 to 21 March 2025. It is based on 인플루엔자 by Han Sang Woon.

Newtopia Episode 3 Recap

Picking up from last week’s episodes, thankfully Jae-yoon uses his quick thinking to stop the hoard of zombies from eating them before the door gives way. As a result, he saves Soo-Jeong and Chef Jung from being eaten alive along with In-ho. On the street, Young-joo goes to the police station and finds no one there but reunites with Alex once again.

At the military base, the soldiers and remaining civilians must come up with a plan to save their lives after the zombies break free and come up the stairs. However, the real problem crops up when Chef Jung turns into a zombie and the others must protect themselves before he bites them. In a surprising twist, In-ho is the one who kills Chef Jung. Unfortunately, another soldier, Chul-woo, ends up dying as well.

Later, all the soldiers get their phones back and talk to their loved ones, while Young-joo, Alex and Jin-wook are able to find something to eat. However, when she finally gets Jae-yoon’s texts, she leaves their hideout to go meet him. Meanwhile, Chul-woo becomes a zombie and attacks Hyung-bae. The pandemonium causes Sergeant Jung to finally shoot Chul-woo down while the others try to save Hyung-bae.

Newtopia Episode 3 Review

What I always wonder when it comes to zombie movies or shows is whether or not the concept of zombies exists in their universe. Have they seen zombie movies where anyone who is bitten by an undead also turns into an undead? In Newtopia, most people were immediately aware of zombies when the outbreak started, so I am a bit confused about how some people are still acting unaware of what is happening around them in episode 3.

The military personnel, especially, seem unbelievably stupid, making nonsensical decisions in the face of adversity. And, I like comedy in zombie horrors, but turning characters stupid doesn’t seem like the way to go. Realistically, every character would die in such a situation, but the plot armour is thick around some characters in this series which is keeping them alive till now.

Anyway, another episode where nothing really happens. It’s so disappointing. I feel like this could’ve been a good movie with a smaller runtime. Episode 3 felt like nothing but a filler that could’ve been shown in 5 minutes. However, we get 50 minutes of literally nothing happening.

Also Read: Newtopia Season 1 Reviews