TV Review: Shadow and Bone Season One (spoiler filled review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! Today I'm going to be doing a TV show review. This is the first one of these that I have done on my blog. The TV show I'm reviewing is one that came out back in April.

I'm reviewing Shadow and Bone, the Netflix TV adaptation of the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo. If you haven't watched this show and wish to, I'd highly recommend not reading this. It will be full of spoilers.

Let's get into the review!

First, let's talk about the poster they made to promote the show. It's actually quite gorgeous. We have everyone in the main cast here. 

The girl at the top who's the largest person on the poster is Alina Starkov (played by Jessie Mei Li). The man on the right in her hair is General Kirigan/The Darkling (played by Ben Barnes). The guy below Alina, resting on her neck is Malyen Oretsev (played by Archie Renaux). 

The remaining three characters who are smaller than the other three are The Crows. The largest one between The Darkling and Mal is Kaz Brekker (played by Freddy Carter). The girl below him is Inej Ghafa (played by Amita Suman). Finally, the guy with the top hat is Jesper Fahey (played by Kit Young).

At the bottom of the poster we have the antlers of a deer, meant to represent the Shadow and Bone trilogy, and a crow, meant to represent the Six of Crows duology, which the writers merge in this show beautifully. 

Right above the title, we have buildings. The towers in the back are the towers of the Little Palace, one of the main settings, and the shorter building is supposed to be in Ketterdam, another one of the main settings.

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Okay. Can we just talk about the Pekka Rollins scene in Episode 2, We're All Someone's Monster? He literally stole Kaz's cane, threatened to kill him with said cane, and then just tossed the cane on the table. I watched this scene, and I was so furious, but not with the writers for having one of these villains. Because of this, Pekka Rollins is such a good villain. I'd argue that he's worse than book Pekka Rollins.

Also, I really liked the part in Episode 6, The Heart is an Arrow, where Matthias tells Nina that it's not natural for girls to fight to which she responds, "It's not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall and yet, there you stand." This quote was used in Six of Crows, and when I heard it in the show, I was smiling widely and laughing quietly to myself. 

The interesting thing about this show is that it is a prequel to the events of Six of Crows. However, unlike the book, the show doesn't go into any of the character's backstories, save for Nina and Matthias, which is mentioned in Six of Crows. This show tells the story of how Matthias ended up at Hellgate, a Kerch prison, while the book tells how The Crows break Matthias out of this prison.

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There are a few scenes in this where it seems as if the writers/Freddy Carter forgot which leg was Kaz's disabled leg, which did annoy me a few times. It seems like Kaz's left leg was the one that was broken in the show. In a few scenes in Shadow and Bone, Kaz is holding the cane in his right hand, and even limps occasionally with both legs, alternating which one in each example scene. 

Kaz is introduced with the crow head cane in his right hand and later in the same scene when speaking to Rotty, wherein he walks and limps with the cane in his right hand. 

When the shot changes (though the scene stays the same), he's holding the cane in his left hand, and when he's walking up the stairs in the next shot, he's walking with the cane in his right hand. In the latter instance, it's likely because the stairway railing is situated on the left hand side, but still. 

It's confusing when the shot shifts and Kaz's cane switches hands. I wasn't sure which leg was his bad one, as both were not broken. I originally thought it was his right leg, then I looked closer and thought it was his left leg. 

The official Six of Crows art by Kevin Wada shows Kaz's cane in his left hand, which seems to imply that Kaz's bad leg is his right one (canes are supposed to be held in the hand opposite the leg that's injured/disabled). So why does Kaz's cane in the show keep switching from his left hand to his right hand, and vice versa? It left me very confused and annoyed with the directors.

Official Kaz Brekker art by Kevin Wada

In Episode 5, Show Me Who You Are, Kaz looks to clutch/massage his bad leg. It shows his hand against his right leg, leaving me very confused as to which leg is  his disabled one. A cane is meant to be held in the hand that is on the opposite side of the injured leg, so the cane would be pretty much useless if he uses it in his left hand while his left leg is the injured one. In the scenes where he holds and walks with the cane in his right hand--if it's his right leg that's injured--then that would render the cane useless as well.  

On a separate note, for not being disabled/needing a cane, Freddy Carter does very well at portraying a disabled character. I just wish that the use of the cane was more consistent. 

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Overall, this show is very enjoyable. All the characters felt like their book counterparts, and the acting was very well done. I found it interesting how they merged the two book series. It made the story fresh and new, while still being the same at its core. It was very well done. 

Like the books, my favorite character is Kaz, though Inej is a close second, and Jesper was hilarious in the show. The only thing I got frustrated with was the switching of the cane thing I previously mentioned. 

Shadow and Bone is a pretty faithful adaptation of these series, moreso for Shadow and Bone than Six of Crows, solely because this is a prequel to the events of Six of Crows. It's one of the best book-to-screen adaptations I've ever watched.

I give Shadow and Bone 4.5 out of 5 stars. It'd be 5 stars, but the cane thing did get on my nerves one too many times.

That's it for this review! I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌