The first half of Link Click’s third season has officially wrapped up, and overall, it was great and solid. But with everything great, there are also some not-so-great things. Here is what worked, and what didn’t work so far this season. There will be spoilers for Link Click Season 3 Part 1.
The Great
Xia Fei
The biggest highlight of this season was Xia Fei. Introduced during the Bridon Arc, Xia Fei was introduced as a friendly face to Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang. However, it is soon revealed that he is a very reluctant ally and spy for Liu Xiao. Season 3 expands on this and reveals that Xia Fei is not entirely in the know and struggles with his role. But by the end of the season, he seemingly betrays Liu Xiao and his group by allowing Qiao Ling to help Wang Qing.
We also learn more about his backstory as a child, revealing he knew Wang Qing and Vein while he was a child, although he does not remember this in his adulthood. Out of the cast, his arc was the most satisfying to see, and seeing how he interacts with the other characters was great to see, especially with how he and Qiao Ling interact throughout the season.
Lu Guang’s Past
One of the biggest questions since the beginning of the series was what Lu Guang’s history was. The first episode of the season focuses entirely on that question, and it doesn’t disappoint. We learn Lu Guang is an orphan being used by a corrupt man for his power to blackmail the wealthy. He is unfortunately abused and starved if things go wrong. One day, he meets a young boy on the train tracks, and though things start out rough between the two, the friendship becomes Lu Guang’s only reason to smile. Lu Guang and the boy, who we learn is a young Cheng Xiaoshi, grow closer and discover Cheng Xiaoshi’s power.
They promise to meet the next day with a photo of Lu Guang so he can learn who his parents are, and when cops arrest Lu Guang’s guardian, Lu Guang flees to their meeting spot. However, Cheng Xiaoshi never arrives, and the authorities find Lu Guang. Lu Guang spends the next few years in a group home where rumors are spread about him. Lu Guang, who is now in high school and does photography, arrives at a basketball court where he sees Cheng Xiaoshi, instantly recognizes him, and breaks down.
After being hit by the ball, Cheng Xiaoshi helps him, and when Lu Guang says his name, Cheng Xiaoshi has no recollection of who Lu Guang is. The backstory answers nearly every question of who Lu Guang is and what shaped him to be the character we know today. It also explains why his friendship with Cheng Xiaoshi means so much to him, to the point of changing the timeline to avert his and Qiao Ling’s deaths at Vein’s hands.
Cheng Xiaoshi’s Solo Dive
The final batch of episodes has an extreme focus on Cheng Xiaoshi doing something risky in search of answers. He talks to Captain Xiao and learns his dad was involved in a murder case. When left alone with the crime photos and CCTV photos, he jumps into the CCTV picture containing his dad. He learns that when he was young, Cheng Xiaoshi was nearly murdered by a family friend after being accused of seeing something he shouldn’t. His dad, Cheng Weimin, sees this and frees his son, and Cheng Xiaoshi and Cheng Weimin fight the man, which results in the man’s accidental death at Cheng Weimin’s hand.
It’s here that Cheng Xiaoshi learns something about his dad. Cheng Weimin has the ability to erase and alter memories, and Cheng Weimin uses it on Cheng Xiaoshi to erase the events, which has the adverse effect of also erasing his memories of his promise with Lu Guang and Lu Guang as a whole. He learns of his past friendship and learns why his dad fled to Bridon. He also breaks a rule given to him by Lu Guang while in a dive. He jumps into another photo while still in the current photo and is confronted by his mom, who has also dived. This leads to Cheng Xiaoshi being lost in what his mom dubbed the Jungle of Time and keeps jumping into previous photos he has used before.
Over the course of this journey, he comes to different truths. He comes to appreciate his found family more, with him tearfully hugging Lu Guang and Qiao Ling once he is back. He may also come to terms with the fact that his parents may never be back. This whole portion of the season was the best part of its story and allows Cheng Xiaoshi to get his own answers after being kept in the dark the entire season.
The Not-So-Great
An Oversaturation of Characters
Season 3 features a much larger cast of main characters compared to previous seasons, with 10 characters featured as main characters. And that’s not counting characters in supporting roles. The issue with this comes from the fact that most of the cast don’t add to the plot or are pushed to the sidelines. Jae Lee and A Yuan, new characters introduced this season, don’t do much this season.
A Yuan is simply a tool used to give the villains an edge when convenient, and Jae Lee doesn’t really do anything until the last 3 episodes. Li Tianchen also doesn’t really do much either, aside from a brief confrontation with Qiao Ling over her inheritance of Li Tianxi’s powers. And even Cheng Xiaoshi himself feels sidelined in favor of Lu Guang and Qiao Ling up until he dives solo at the end of the first half of the season. Lu Guang, Qiao Ling, and Xia Fei definitely take the spotlight this season while everyone else just feels like fodder to the story so far.
Liu Xiao’s Messy Motivations
Liu Xiao’s motivations are somewhat elaborated upon this season, and it definitely leaves more questions than answers. Liu Xiao is seemingly after a register from the Bahati School that contains info on more people with powers, despite Wang Qing, Xia Fei, and possibly Jae Lee being the only survivors. This leads to him reviving a forgotten society of people with powers called Saros. But he also has an obsession with finding out Lu Guang’s secret after their brief meeting at the airport. The midseason finale ends with Cheng Xiaoshi’s mother giving Liu Xiao the register and requesting someone be killed in exchange. With obtaining this register, his obsession with Lu Guang, and wanting to rebuild this society, it’s hard to correlate all these motivations into one goal, and it makes it hard to follow.
An Overabundance of Powers
This issue somewhat goes hand-in-hand with the character issue, though not as bad. But it feels like we are at a point where every major character seems to have a superpower of some sort. On a personal level, with so many powers being commonplace now, it detracts from the mystery of where these powers come from and just how rare they are. Of the main characters, only Xia Fei and Vein don’t have powers.
There are hints and theories of Xia Fei having some sort of pyrokinetic or electrical ability and being the reason for the Bahati fire, but that remains unconfirmed as of right now. We also learn that Cheng Weimin has a memory-altering ability and that he has a register filled with people who have abilities, who were also students at the Bahati school. Qiao Ling also awakens to her inherited ability and uses it in this season. Overall, it just feels like there is a lot going on with powers, and with so many, it does lose its charm just a bit.
Overall Thoughts of Link Click Season 3
With this season as a whole, the good definitely outweighs the bad. The season was truly enjoyable, and it was amazing getting answers to some questions that have been around from the very beginning. Though the pace is slow, the season is longer, which allows things to linger for the 2nd half, which will air in 2027. There are excellent character moments and story beats, but like before, the good of the season helps the bad stand out just a bit.
You can watch all episodes of Link Click over on Crunchyroll!
Leave a Reply