Shadow and Bone - Netflix - April

[DireWolfSpirit]

I was really impressed with the Bermudian actress that was in show trailers. Shame her character was killed so quickly.

Genesis Lynea, 31, plays the magician Natacha in the fantasy Shadow and Bone.

Her character makes an entrance in the first episode as she comforts troops as they sail through a shadowy monster-filled realm called the Fold.

The magician tells the troops: “Here’s how it goes – we go into the Fold, it gets dark but we like it dark, that keeps us from drawing attention. That’s how we travel.

https://www.royalgazette.com/article/article/20210504/bermudian-actress-lands-role-in-netflix-fantasy-series/

[dog-days]

Ditto. She had real charisma. Was disappointed that she was removed so finally and quickly from the series. 

I found a the lead love interest a bit bland, but okay. After reading some reviews of the books online, it turns out that he was bland because in the books he was a jealous, hypocritical arsehole that none of the readers liked, so the show did him the favour of removing his personality. 

[Corvinus85]

Finished. It was fine. As tropey as it gets, and with some actual cliche storytelling, mainly the Nina/Matthias plot, which I didn't the understand the purpose of until the neatly wrapped end.

Spoiler

 

The plot was filled with small deus ex moments. At least that's how the show really portrayed it. Is there a prevalent theme in the books about manifest destiny, or something like that? I'm not talking about the grand destiny of one becoming a living saint. For example, Mal escapes from his chains in the camp because Milo the goat happens to wander in front of the tent, with Jasper's bullet necklace still attached. Or Alina just happens to jump in the coffer of the stagecoach the Crows were planning to steal. And at the end, they all converge on the same ship leaving Ravka, to allow for Nina's story to mix with the others. Why are Mal and Alina on the same ship? Weren't they supposed to make their own way?

I wish the show had made more effort in explaining Grisha magic. They call it science, which I call BS. The only explanation we get is that the Grisha don't conjure anything, they use what's there. OK, so that means the airbender types understand how air molecules work? How does an Inferni actually use what's there to become a human flame-thrower? And if you use what's there, that means that what's there is finite, and it gets displaced. So when Kirigen summons shadows, does that mean that all of a sudden shadows physically disappear from where they're supposed to be? It's magic, and the author/showrunner shouldn't try to be clever about it. Alina unlocks her powers through a quick training montage which include Bragha smacking her arms with a stick and some book reading. Very superficial, but can't really expect much from such a story.

Ben Barnes plays a good villain, but he's in danger of becoming type-cast in villain-with-slashed-face roles. 

The Crows were the best characters, they need a little more development.

I don't understand what Alina's value is to people outside of Ravka. Why did Dreesen sent the Crows to kidnap her?

 

 

Edited July 15, 2021 by Corvinus85

[felice]

5 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

  Hide contents

I don't understand what Alina's value is to people outside of Ravka? Why did Dreesen sent the Crows to kidnap her.

 

Spoiler

Aside from her uniqueness, she's a threat to anyone who benefits from the Fold, and incredibly valuable to anyone for whom crossing the Fold is necessary.

 

[williamjm]

6 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Finished. It was fine. As tropey as it gets, and with some actual cliche storytelling, mainly the Nina/Matthias plot, which I didn't the understand the purpose of until the neatly wrapped end.

  Hide contents

The plot was filled with small deus ex moments. At least that's how the show really portrayed it. Is there a prevalent theme in the books about manifest destiny, or something like that? I'm not talking about the grand destiny of one becoming a living saint. For example, Mal escapes from his chains in the camp because Milo the goat happens to wander in front of the tent, with Jasper's bullet necklace still attached. Or Alina just happens to jump in the coffer of the stagecoach the Crows were planning to steal. And at the end, they all converge on the same ship leaving Ravka, to allow for Nina's story to mix with the others. Why are Mal and Alina on the same ship? Weren't they supposed to make their own way?

 

None of those things you mentioned happen in the books, mainly because the Crows never set foot in Ravka.

[karaddin]

Bit of a bump to an old thread before I check the lit forum - I'm nearing the end of the second book of Six of Crows and wanted to shout out everyone that expressed affection for it in here, it's great and I'm surprised by how resonant a character Jesper is for me. I'm listening to the audio book rather than reading and each of the voice actors fit quite well with the appearance of the actors in the series, which is a nice bonus.

@Corvinus85 it's been a while since I read the books so I'm not sure if this is the case in them, but (no book spoilers)

Spoiler

In the show they refer to the Darkling and Alina as summoners, distinct from and more powerful than normal Grisha and I think that's the answer to your question - they aren't merely moving what is already there, but actually creating. It's also stated as why they do/will have a much longer life than even Grisha - he's hundreds of years old and still looks in his 30s.

Also even if you ignore the quite specific way her power interacts with the fold, her powers are very potent for war - particularly in combination with the Darkling. Seems reasonable for their neighbours to want to kill her or abduct her just on those grounds.

 

[Ran]

Decided to resuscitate this thread as the second season has been out awhile. For various reasons, only managed to get it started today, so only seen the first episode. I liked it pretty well, and was reminded that the production values are quite nice (especially in terms of costume and sets), and all the actors are quite well-cast and entertaining. And, when they show a CG vista of a city, it looks like a city.... and the VFX definitely looks better than what could be expected compared to some other unnamed fantasy show with a larger budget.

I also appreciate that it isn't an attempt at "Netflix's Game of Thrones". It's not afraid of color.

I looked back over my critiques from last season, like the score being too forward and dominating and the extensive use of epistolary narration, and both of those things seem to no longer be an issue. 

Now, there were some things that left me scratching my head:

Spoiler

I don't understand why soldiers from Ravka are in Novyi Zem and I certainly don't understand why they seem to be running around trying to snatch people with apparent impunity. Maybe this was explained last season?

Inej vanishing while at least one of the Stadswatch goons directly had his gun on her was a bit silly, but maybe the books play her ability to vanish like a bit of a joke.

 

[Werthead]

I haven't finished it yet (on Episode 6) but it's continuing what it was in Season 1: a very watchable, semi-YA* fantasy show and a solid adaptation of reasonably solid books.

*Not much in the way of sex, but very occasional bursts of extreme violence make me wonder what really the audience is they're going for here.

[Ran]

Annnnd... it's cancelled. No season 3. The lack of conversation here on the board may indicate why -- barely anyone watched it, compared to the 1st season, and the various strikes took a toll as well when it came to deciding whether to renew or not.

I see I didn't even discuss the rest of the show. The ending was pretty poor, as I recall, though.

[Corvinus85]

3 minutes ago, Ran said:

Annnnd... it's cancelled. No season 3. The lack of conversation here on the board may indicate why -- barely anyone watched it, compared to the 1st season, and the various strikes took a toll as well when it came to deciding whether to renew or not.

I see I didn't even discuss the rest of the show. The ending was pretty poor, as I recall, though.

heh, I watched season 2 much later than its air time and I couldn't find this thread to share my thoughts. I know I posted in one of the Watch threads some months ago. Not surprised about the cancellation.

[Rippounet]

Never managed to finish it. Something was off, but couldn't quite put my finger on it.

[karaddin]

Season 2 felt like they had already been told they were cancelled and tried to throw too much into it that didn't all fit together. I'm disappointed because I still enjoyed it despite that and thought the cast were great together.

[williamjm]

1 hour ago, karaddin said:

Season 2 felt like they had already been told they were cancelled and tried to throw too much into it that didn't all fit together. I'm disappointed because I still enjoyed it despite that and thought the cast were great together.

I think the show always felt like two different shows squashed together into one and season two additionally trying to cover the second and third books of the Grisha trilogy did lead to it feeling a bit disjointed at times. I think the Crows were the most entertaining part of the story but that did mean they had to invent a lot of plotlines for them. It's a pity they didn't get to adapt Six of Crows as the third season, which should have been the highlight of the show.

I agree it was enjoyable despite its flaws and it had a strong cast. At least it had a somewhat conclusive ending, even if they were setting up future stories. It does however leave one character in particular with a dramatically different ending to the books.

[Ran]

What's funny is they dumped out a game just a week ago:

Clearly, they'd spent the money on it before they decided to cancel it. I actually don't think they knew, going into S2, that they were on the bubble. As the article notes, the viewership was really woeful, it lost any momentum it had, and the strikes added other difficulties.

ETA: Ah, found my brief thoughts on the 2nd season, and yeah, seemed to think it wasn't clear it was getting a third season and also thought it was pretty clumsy at the end. Shame, really, it had some nice production design and VFX work, and I liked most of the actors.

Edited November 16, 2023 by Ran

[Werthead]

It was a pretty solid show, but the integration of the Crows into the OG trilogy was both awkward (because they're not meant to be there, and feel shoehorned in) and necessary (because without the Crows, the OG trilogy is pretty MOR, although with some excellent ideas), and the pacing was all over the place.

It was annoying it was cancelled, but I'm rather more annoyed that The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself (aka Half-Bad, to which it was inexplicably retitled to months after release) was cancelled. It was a stronger show with much better direction and atmosphere, and some interesting spins on the "urban fantasy standard." I'd check out the books but apparently they're much less weirdly idiosyncratic than the show (which is a key part of its appeal).

[Zorral]

On 11/15/2023 at 6:06 PM, Rippounet said:

Never managed to finish it. Something was off, but couldn't quite put my finger on it

It never jelled for me, and season 2 -- I quit early.  It was just -- too much stuff, ingredients that never came together to make the dish that was imagined.  And, well, kinda boring.  But that's because there's been so much fantasy, sf, superhero, etc. all the tropes have been done to death, maybe at least for older viewers who were there in their own youth.

Edited November 20, 2023 by Zorral

[karaddin]

I thought the Crows fit into S1 a lot better than S2, there just wasn't a satisfying narrative spot for them when you're already trying to jam books 2 and 3 into one. The Crows plot on its own that was clearly set up for S3 would have fit TV much better I feel.

[Pellert]

Hmm.. Sounds like a pity (PS, have not read the books).
 

For sure, it’s not the most epic fantasy show I’ve seen, but I quite enjoyed S1, as a “passable” fantasy-show, not great but far better than many other adaptions or fantasy works (Shannara, Legend of the Seeker, Dungeons and Dragons (even though it’s probably not a fair comparison), to mention some ).

I have not gotten around to see S2 yet, so for someone that has not read the books, how is the ending of S2? Is it any point to watch it to have some sort of closure and conclusions of the plots/stories - or does it end with cliffhangers and a clear point to wrap everything up in S3? 

[williamjm]

11 hours ago, Pellert said:

For sure, it’s not the most epic fantasy show I’ve seen, but I quite enjoyed S1, as a “passable” fantasy-show, not great but far better than many other adaptions or fantasy works (Shannara, Legend of the Seeker, Dungeons and Dragons (even though it’s probably not a fair comparison), to mention some ).

I have not gotten around to see S2 yet, so for someone that has not read the books, how is the ending of S2? Is it any point to watch it to have some sort of closure and conclusions of the plots/stories - or does it end with cliffhangers and a clear point to wrap everything up in S3? 

The compressed the second and third books in the trilogy so season 2 ends at the ending of the third book (although there are some significant differences in how it ends). This does mean that it wraps up the main Darkling vs Alina storyline so there is closure there, although it does also has some set-up for the stories in the two sequel duologies so not everything is wrapped up.

[felice]

4 hours ago, williamjm said:

although it does also has some set-up for the stories in the two sequel duologies so not everything is wrapped up.

It felt like half the final episode was spent setting things up for the next season that we're not going to get.