‘Shadow and Bone’, Season Two, a Faithful Adaptation of the Grishaverse?
Did I just binge the entire second season of Shadow and Bone on Netflix? Yes, I did. Now, it’s been over two years since I’ve read the trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, as well as the follow up duology Six of Crows. And slightly less time reading the final duology, King of Scars and Rule of Wolves. So perhaps that’s why, at first, some of the changes and departures from the source material didn’t bother me as much. But they really messed with the timeline. I feel like they’ve really expedited the Six of Crows storyline. Additionally, they seem to have cut a lot from Siege and Storm and Six of Crows. I get it, but as a huge Grishaverse fan, of course that hurt a little.
Be warned, there will be spoilers in this review!
I have to say, they’ve done such an exceptional job with the new castings of this show. Even if they weren’t exactly how I envisioned them while reading the books, the actors have done such an incredible job embodying these characters. I’ll admit I was a little skeptical of Nikolai and Tolya’s castings, but overall, amazing. I do wish Nikolai was just a teensy bit more snarky and had a tiny bit more swagger. Don’t get me wrong, Paddy is great, but Nikolai is my favorite character in this entire series, and I needed just a bit more from him (I wrote that thought before finishing episode eight). The mirror scene?! I take it all back. He’s amazing. I do wish we wouldn’t have skipped over Sturmhond so fast—it felt like we missed a lot of scenes from the books.
Inej (another favorite), is a total badass as per usual, and I LOVE how she brings out the soft side of Kaz (yet another fave). I mean, honestly, at this point, they’re all my favorite. Wylan was perfection—exactly how I pictured him. I love these characters so much. The Baghra character changes I actually thought were great. Ben Barnes is the most delicious villain ever, but I didn’t feel any sympathy for him in this season like I did with season one. One thing that did drive me nuts, is the continuing reference to him as ‘Kirigan’ rather than ‘The Darkling’. Alina refers to him as that once the entire season. It’s such a big part of the books, so I’m sure that change has something to do with making it more palatable for audiences not familiar with the books.
One of the things I love most about this show is the respect it has for the source material in the little details that fans of the books will recognize. A great example of this is how they incorporate the actual copies of the books in scenes. An old copy of Shadow and Bone was in season one, and now in season two, we have Mal consulting a copy of The Lives of Saints. I love this little nod to Leigh Bardugo.
I also really enjoyed the different title animations at the beginning of each episode! What I was disappointed in though, was a pretty major departure. David’s assumed death?! I’m still hoping it’s not true. We don’t lost him until King of Scars in the books, and that’s still several books away, so I was so confused they did this. He has to help Nikolai with his inventions, he has to see his love for Genya flourish! I did love the little moments we did get from him, especially when he told Genya, “But what’s inside you…it’s steel. It’s brave, and unbreakable and doesn’t need fixing. You don’t need fixing.” I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Speaking of other things that broke my heart…Matthias in Hellgate prison. He had almost no time on screen this season, which was a deep disappointment for me, but I understand. I’m looking forward to seeing the five Crows become Six. There was a nice little nod to that from Jesper in one of the episodes. And apparently there might be a Six of Crows spin off in the works depending on how Shadow and Bone, season two is received, so please, please stream away! I need it!
Overall, I did enjoy watching, and if you love the Grishaverse, you’ll still probably enjoy it. Although, I will say, it’s probably a lot more enjoyable for someone who’s never read the books.