3% recap: Here's what happened in seasons 1-3 of the hit Netflix show

Netflix’s dystopian hit 3% has returned to the streaming site for a fourth and final season, inviting viewers to revisit a creepy, dog eat dog world, reminiscent of The Hunger Games.

The Brazilian TV series takes place in a society in which 20-year-old individuals from an impoverished “Inland” are given the opportunity to participate in “The Process” and gain access to the wealthy “Offshore”.

Three seasons of the gripping sci-fi series have already rolled out on Netflix, with the final instalment dropping in the UK today.

But a lot has happened since the end of season three, which premiered in June last year.

So, if you need your memory jogged, let’s look at what’s been going on for the past three seasons - and there are spoilers ahead, of course...

Season 1

Season one introduced viewers to the slums of the Inland, where residents are brought to a Processing Centre to see if they are fit for making the 3% of applicants who make it Offshore.

No one is born there - only those from Inland who pass the "Process", a series of gruelling tests designed to determine who is fit for living in the paradise, can move on to Offshore.

But the system is inevitably corrupt, hence why only 3% make it through - with many disappearing and even dying in the process.

There is a rebellion growing from an organisation known as The Cause, who seek to end the Process and redistribute Offshore’s wealth.

One of the protagonists, Fernando, was seeking to go Offshore to regain use of his legs. However, Fernando’s goal was foiled in season one because he was simply too kind-hearted and trusting.

Fernando’s last task was to design a test himself for people going through the Process, but he failed the moral quandary he created. When Ezequiel, head of the Process, lied to him and said Michele failed and would be heading back Inland, Fernando believed him and immediately failed his own test.

Michele went onwards, but Fernando had to remain.

At the end of season one, Michele revealed her secret; she was actually a member of The Cause.

Tasked with killing Ezequiel, under the impression that her older brother had died during the Process, she was eventually captured and tortured before she discovered The Cause had lied to her.

Ezequiel revealed her brother was alive Offshore, so Michele left Fernando behind, double crossing The Cause and heading Offshore herself.

Meanwhile, Marco went a little bit off the rails, killing most of the remaining contestants before supposedly dying himself in Phase 3.

Rafael also passes the test and is taken Offshore with Michele, while Joanna is offered a position under Ezequiel - which she refuses, leading to her elimination from the competition.

Season 2

Season 2, as expected, brought with it a whole load of new stakes and new twists.

Marco was revealed to be alive, and spends the season hunting down Joanna.

Fernando’s father is disappointed in him for failing his own test in season one and missing out on his chance to make it Offshore - while Michele is taken to a rehabilitation facility, where she swears she has rejected The Cause.

Upon discovering her brother was imprisoned for murder Offshore, Michele rescues him and discovers that Offshore is collecting data from Inland citizens for unethical research.

She blackmails Nair, a member of the council, to provide her with the information she needs to create her own Inland version of Offshore, and recruits Fernando to help her build her vision of a new society.

Meanwhile, Joanna becomes the leader of The Cause, after Ezequiel was discovered to be a double agent for them - avoiding being caught by accusing his assistant Aline of being a traitor.

Season 3

Roughly a year after the events of the second season, the show returns to find Michele hard at work on her new utopian society the Shell.

Joana visits and finds the community is somewhat thriving, but soon, Michele finds the Shell running out of food in the wake of a sandstorm.

In an attempt to ration the diminishing supply, Michele designs a system that reeks with dark irony; she designs a “Selection” to keep only 10% of Shell citizens.

Eventually, she loses control of the Shell. It is revealed that Marcela created a subliminal message that would order Rafael to sabotage the Shell.

Joana plays the recording of the order in question for all to listen, turning the Shell population against the Division.

André and Michele split after realising their opposing views are blinding them. Meanwhile, Marcela is caught and locked up while trying to save her grandson, after Marco tells his mother that his son will never go to the Offshore.

Marcela then receives a note while in prison saying she has an ally inside the Shell.

All hell seems ready to break loose when Andre and the Division take over the Council declare war, while Marco, Rafael, Xavier, Gloria, Elisa, Michele, Natalia and Joana recalibrate and agree that they should attack destroy the Offshore with an EMP - just as the Founding Couple did with the Continent years before.

3% season 4 is available to stream on Netflix now