The Family Man Season 3 Review: Waiting Four Years for Seven Episodes Left Me Wanting More

After a grueling four-year wait since Season 2 wrapped up in 2021, The Family Man Season 3 finally dropped on Prime Video on November 21, 2025. I binged all seven episodes in one sitting, and honestly? I'm left feeling gutted—not because the show was bad, but because it ended exactly when things were getting good, leaving me stranded in one of the most painful cliffhangers in recent memory.

The Setup: Darker, Bigger, More Personal

The season opens with Srikant Tiwari (Manoj Bajpayee) in a complicated place. His family finally knows he's a spy, but instead of bringing them closer, the secret has poisoned everything. His marriage with Suchitra (Priyamani) is strained despite attempts at normalcy. His kids, Dhriti and Atharv, are struggling—facing bullies, getting suspended from school, their social media existence collapsing under the weight of their father's double life.​

Then comes the mission: a geopolitical crisis in Northeast India involving Project Sahakar—India's covert response to China's Project Guan Yu. The stakes feel different this time. This isn't just about stopping a terrorist attack; it's about preventing a war that could drag in world powers.​

But here's where the season hooks you: Srikant gets framed. A mole inside the government leaks intelligence, and suddenly he's not the hero—he's the suspect. He's forced to go on the run, protecting his family while being hunted by his own colleagues.​

Jaideep Ahlawat's Rukma: The Villain That Haunts You

If Season 2 gave us Kulkarni as a mentor figure, Season 3 introduces Rukma (Jaideep Ahlawat), and he's terrifying in ways that feel personal. He's not just an antagonist; he's a dark mirror to Srikant. Ahlawat's performance is magnetic—every scene with him radiates intensity and unpredictability.​

What shocked me was how the show humanizes him. He genuinely cares for his late girlfriend's son. He's not evil for the sake of it. He's broken, motivated by something deeper than just money or ideology. That complexity makes him infinitely more dangerous than a typical one-dimensional villain.​

The confrontation between Bajpayee and Ahlawat in Episode 2 is apparently the action highlight of the season, and having watched it, I completely understand why. Their fight choreography feels personal, desperate—two men willing to destroy each other.​

Where the Show Stumbles (And It's Frustrating)

Let me be honest: the seven-episode format is not enough for what Raj & DK are trying to accomplish. The geopolitical backdrop is detailed and ambitious, tackling Northeast India's socio-political complexities with genuine depth. But sometimes it feels like the show is explaining too much, prioritizing plot exposition over the witty, dark humor that made earlier seasons feel special.​

The spark between Manoj Bajpayee and Priyamani—which made their marriage feels like the emotional core of the series—is missing this season. They're going through the motions. Some subplots feel unnecessary (looking at you, Shreya Dhanwanthary's romantic subplot). And Vijay Sethupathi's special appearance, while adding weight to the narrative, doesn't quite land convincingly.​

The pacing occasionally staggers under the weight of too many threads to tie together—moles, international conspiracies, family drama, personal vendettas. The tightness that defined earlier seasons feels diluted.​

That Ending. That Gutting, Infuriating Ending.

Here's where I'm genuinely angry: the finale builds to an incredible climax in Myanmar where Srikant races to stop Rukma's plot—a scheme to capture Indian soldiers and trigger a war involving China and other powers.​

Srikant succeeds. He frees the soldiers. He averts the military escalation.​

But then comes the personal battle. The confrontation between Srikant and Rukma ends with Srikant severely injured. Rukma escapes. Srikant stumbles out of his jeep, takes a few steps into the forest, and collapses. The screen fades to black.​

We don't know if he's alive.

The show deliberately doesn't tell us. The entire season—this massive buildup over four years—ends on an ambiguous cliffhanger that sets the stage for Season 4. And I understand why they did it narratively. It raises stakes. It creates suspense. It guarantees we'll come back.​

But emotionally? It feels like a betrayal.

The Personal Story Still Unresolved

What makes me most frustrated is that the personal storyline ends unresolved. Srikant's family situation remains in limbo. His relationship with Suchitra hasn't reached any meaningful conclusion. His kids' futures are uncertain. Rukma and Meera are still out there, their network intact.​

We get professional success (he stops the war) but personal catastrophe (he might be dying). It's bleak in a way that doesn't feel earned—it feels like a placeholder.

What Worked (Really Worked)

Don't get me wrong: Manoj Bajpayee remains the emotional bedrock of this series. Even when the writing falters, his performance—the weariness, the desperation, the fractured loyalty between duty and family—keeps you invested. Priyamani delivers quality work even when her scenes feel underutilized. And Nimrat Kaur's Meera is layered and morally complex in ways that make her a formidable force.​

Raj & DK have created something special here: a show that blends geopolitics, family drama, and spy thriller conventions while treating Northeast India with far more depth than mainstream Hindi television typically offers. The first two episodes are genuinely excellent. The action sequences (particularly the Episode 2 fight) are spectacular.​

The Waiting Game Begins (Again)

Based on the release pattern—Season 1 in 2019, Season 2 in 2021, Season 3 in 2025—we'll probably be waiting another three to four years for Season 4. And while the cliffhanger is clever, the wait feels cruel.​

I wanted resolution. I wanted to see if Srikant survives. I wanted to understand what comes next for his family. I wanted the show to feel complete, even if a new season follows.

Instead, I got seven episodes of buildup that ends the moment things get truly interesting.

The Family Man Season 3 is gripping, ambitious, and frequently excellent. But it's also frustratingly incomplete—a season that feels less like a conclusion and more like a paused chapter in a book you can't finish reading for years.

Rating: 7.5/10

Why it works: Manoj Bajpayee's performance, Jaideep Ahlawat as a terrifying villain, ambitious geopolitical storytelling, Episode 2 action sequences.

Why it doesn't: Seven episodes feel insufficient, missing spark between leads, unnecessary subplots, that gutting cliffhanger ending, four-year wait to resolve nothing.

Recommendation: Binge it if you're invested in the series. But go in knowing you're signing up for heartbreak.