Great series. 8s - 10s all the way, until this episode. They should have let it finish on episode 7. This one was just much ado about nothing, except trying to scrape together enough to get it renewed. Very disappointing. This series is good because of the writing of the novels. I highly recommend reading the novels.
Excuse me? Excuse me? Excuse me? DarkAlina? Sorry. DarkAlina? Sorry. DarkAlina? Sorry. DarkAlina? Sorry. DarkAlina?
spoilers for all the books ahead as well:
i was with this for a LOT of it. fine with the changes because i accept it’s a different story. but david’s death and mal and alina’s changed ending have made me actually furious. when they were like “aww we’re a triumvirate” i actually screamed like. alina undercuts nikolai’s rule. what was the point in all that if mal and alina don’t end up together. how can we have the zoya nikolai slow burn we deserve if alina is still there. how can we have a brilliant six of crows if they know each other’s secrets??
i’m not mad that it’s not like the books. i’m mad that they’ve changed it and it’s BAD.
As watcher I really like what I see. As a reader tho I am pissed off to last 2 episodes. Especially this one
This episode is such an anticlimax for the season. Episode 7 is the finale to be honest and this episode just overstays it's welcome with 'where are they now scenes'. There are maybe 20 minutes of interesting stuff in over an hour off playtime.
I still haven't read the books. But... I have to say I expected something different for this season. Especially when it comes to Alina and Mal. Some very bad decisions were made and the dark consequences will surely come, and there is goes the assumption of heroes and villains and all that. Overall, just a fair season.
The sturmhund colours look better on a blonde, but Inej looks amazing in ropes.
The bee though. I’m guessing the bee was significant somehow. As well as the shadowbeast-inflicted wound.
It would have been a good ending to the (cancelled) show, unfortunately the ending pushes for a season 3. One could of course read the books, if invested in the story, however the characters in the show are just a tad more likeable :upside_down:
now lets kill ALINA AND BURN HER BODY :slightly_smiling:
I cried at the end..sad that the power, as she's been warned, might corrupt her.
Lots of little emotional pay-offs during the episode, or, little moments with large emotional pay-offs.
Question: When she got Mal to come back to this side, did she use merzost, or did she just ask nicely? Because it didn't seem like he heard her say, "Please," but I'm unclear if she crossed that line she swore not to cross. It was pretty clear Nina wasn't cool with whatever she'd done. Thanks!
Should have ended here with the 2nd season. But no they have to milk it again, season 3 incomming. The ending was a bit strange and looked up a summary of the books. The books ending was better.
Decent show, not amazing, but watchable.
While thing felt like a huge waste of my time. I only enjoyed Nokoli. Alina sucks and is the most annoying person ever. I honestly didn't think she was any better than the Dark One. She has the same mindset as him.
Review by Aniela KrajewskaVIP 8BlockedParentSpoilers2023-03-18T22:11:38Z
Warning: some mild spoilers for the books ahead!
As someone who loved season 1 so much that I proceeded to read all the books in the Grishaverse (and ended up becoming a HUGE fan of the books), watching season 2 was kind of like a fever dream. I've been waiting for it for 2 years, basically counting down the days, and now that I've binged the whole thing I feel overwhelmed and underwhelmed at once.
Season 1 already wasn't a very faithful adaptation since the Crows don't exist in the original trilogy at all and their storyline and the way it intersected with Alina's was completely made up for the show, but it worked nicely. In season 2, they took even more creative liberties, and the result is basically a huge remix of no less than 4 (FOUR!) books (the remaining two installments in the Shadow and Bone trilogy + both Six of Crows books to some degree). It's just... way too much to cram into eight episodes. I understand the decision to add the Crows into the show since the S&B trilogy IMO doesn't have enough material to fill that much screentime (especially the second book, Siege and Storm, which is weirdly paced and not that much happens), but they really tried to do too much too fast. They also messed with the book timeline and chronology beyond recognition, especially in regards to the Crows. The Ice Court heist from the first book in the duology is set up in the last minutes of the finale with Kaz talking about "their biggest job yet" and the jurda parem reveal, but at the same time they... basically blew the plot of the second book (except watered down) on the whole Pekka Rollins conflict from the first half of the season? Choices were made.
I also have to criticize the fact that the writers seem so eager to get their SoC spin-off that they are completely uninterested in properly exploring Alina's story. And don't get me wrong, the S&B trilogy is probably my least favorite series in the Grishaverse, and the Crows are BY FAR the most popular characters in this fandom, and I actually liked s1 Alina much more than her book counterpart, but there were still so many elements in her arc and her relationship with the Darkling that were worth exploring in more depth on screen. Their dynamic in the books is complex and Alina struggles with the pull towards darkness and towards him much more. In the show, it seems that she's made up her mind about him being beyond redemption and stuck to it the whole season, which is kind of boring since it doesn't allow for character growth. She has some very brief moments where we see the conflicting emotions, but overall it's not really given much spotlight. Considering that the show is called Shadow & Bone and Jessie Mei Li is the first person on the call sheet, they could've done a better job of properly telling the actual Shadow and Bone story.
(But I do have to say, I appreciated the ending they gave Alina in the show compared to the book. The corruption arc of Alina Starkov is certainly a compelling setup that I'd love to see explored further.)
There were a few aspects of the trilogy that were well done. Genya's arc was beautiful and Daisy Head SLAYED (best acting this season alongside Ben Barnes and Freddy Carter). Nikolai was pretty much perfect, as were Tamar and Tolya. Zoya, my favorite bitch, was given a tiny bit more screentime, which is a win in my book. On the Crows' side, Wylan's introduction and Nina's incorporation into the group were both great. The cast has always been this show's strongest part for me and it's genuinely incredible how perfectly everyone embodies their characters. I just wish the Crows' arc had been done better and that they hadn't blown every impactful emotional beat from the books so willy-nilly, and I wish we'd spent more time exploring Alina's mindset and her connection with the Darkling.
Overall, this was kind of a mess, but there was some good stuff in there and the cast really delivered for me. The main reason why I still want a season 3 (though we all know how cancellation-happy Netflix is) is because the actors are just an amazing bunch and I love watching them, even if the writing and the story leave something to be desired. I'm curious to see how they would proceed with adapting the book material now that they've majorly changed the S&B ending. At this point, I basically approach the show like I'd approach a fanfic, and that way, I actually had a pretty good time watching this season, especially with friends who are not book readers. As long as you can separate the book canon from the show canon and don't expect a word-for-word adaptation, it's a fun ride. It could've been improved with some better writing and cramming less stuff in there, though.