Shadow & Bone: Two Shows At The Price of One

Shadow & Bone is a Netflix fantasy series adapted from the popular YA book series by Leigh Bardugo. Since its conception, the show was meant to set up an interconnected fantasy universe – dubbed the Grishaverse – by combining Bardugo’s Shadow & Bone trilogy AND follow-up series Six of Crows duology. 

(Major spoilers ahead, so don’t proceed if you haven’t seen Season 1 of Shadow & Bone)

The first season premiered in 2021 to good critical acclaim and high viewerships. Jessie Mei Li stars as Alina Starkov, an orphan who discovers that she’s the mythical Sun Summoner, a sainted figure in the fictional country of Ravka. For centuries, Ravka has been plagued by the presence of The Fold, a dark, sinister enclave that stretches across the middle of the country, splitting it in half. Following the revelation of her power, many sides come after Alina, including (in a departure from the books) the Crows trio of Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter), Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman), and Jesper Fahey (Kit Young). Amid the chaos, Alina falls under the spell of General Kirigan (Ben Barnes), an enigmatic Shadow Summoner who is later revealed to be Darkling, the immortal evil guy who created The Fold many centuries ago. With the help of true allies, Alina defeats Darkling and continues her journey to destroy The Fold once and for all. In the very last scene of Season 1, we find out that Darkling has, in fact, survived. Of course. 

Season 2 picks up immediately after the first one ends. After parting ways with The Crows, Alina and Mal (Archie Renaux) set sail across the sea to 1) evade Ravkan forces, who now think she was in cahoot with The Darkling, and 2) search for more amplifiers for her power. But their cover is quickly blown, and they end up in the captivity of Nikolai Lantsov (Patrick Gibson), a freewheeling pirate with an agenda of his own. Meanwhile, the Crows are back in Ketterdam and discover they’re now wanted for murder. 

The return of Shadow & Bone finds the show in mixed form. On the one hand, the visuals and performances remain just as solid. On the other hand, this season’s storylines feel more disjointed. The decision to merge Six of Crows into Shadow & Bone timeline seriously strains the show’s pacing, especially because The Crows completely outshine Alina’s storyline. When The Crows are on, the screen crackles with more energy, propelled by the amazing chemistry between the gang. Their heist storyline also offers up the excitement that cannot be found in Alina and Mal’s slow crawl of the amplifier search mission. The fact that they take away Darkling’s charisma by making him straight-up evil also severely dampens the dynamic between him and Alina, a HUGE factor in why Season 1 worked. Mind you; Ben Barnes is still as wonderful as ever; it’s the writing that lets him down. 

Don’t be bracing for cancellation just yet, though. Netflix appears to have a vested interest in the broader world of Grishaverse, with a proper spin-off of Six of Crows in the works. Still, nobody wants the flagship series to wobble before that expansion becomes a reality. As it is now, a Six of Crows continuation appears more enticing; it bodes well for that part of the show but not this one. Thankfully, given Netflix’s deep investment in Bardugo’s creation, it’s not yet too late to correct the course.