Summary
Netflix recently announced thatShadow and Bonehas been canceled and will not be moving ahead with a third season. The show is based on the books by Leigh Bardugo and, unfortunately, theSix of Crowsspin-off series has also met the axe. The news came alongside other cancelations, includingGlamorous,Agent Elvis,Farzar,andCaptain Fall.
As the announcement came soon after the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, viewers might be tempted to believe that the strikes were the primary reason for the cancelation. The reality, though, is a little more complicated. Theoriginal Deadline reportclaimed that the balance of series performance versus cost of production also played a part in the decision. However, bad ratings and viewership numbers don’t come out of thin air. The truth is that Season 2 of Shadow and Bone had some glaring writing flaws. And better writing could have saved it.
The success ofShadow and BoneSeason 1 can be attributed to quality writing. The creators of the show wanted to include the characters from Bardugo’sShadow and Bonebooks, as well as those fromSix of Crowsduology. Theintegration of both storiesworked. The season adapts the first book in theShadow and Bonetrilogy and comes up with a new storyline for the Crows that wasn’t in the books at all. The story gives both sets of characters enough spotlight and intertwines their tales realistically — the Crows become relevant to Alina’s journey.
Season 2, on the other hand, is a narrative mess. It adapts the latter two books of the trilogy (Siege and StormandRuin and Rising) to conclude Alina’s fight against the Darkling. But cramming two books, alongside the Crows’ storyline with allits new charactersand side-quests, becomes too much for the show to handle. As a result, Alina’s story is rushed. The quick pace doesn’t allow her to sit with her emotions as much as race through them. In fact, none of the characters are afforded this luxury because of the insistent focus on plot. Complex characters like Nikolai (a prince pretending to be a pirate) and Tolya and Tamar (Shu heartrenders who believe Alina is a Saint) are never explored due to lack of time. Thanks to this, the entire arc loses its impact.
Similarly,the Crows’ trajectoryin Season 2 adapts parts of the second book in their duology,Crooked Kingdom.It also introduces completely new material that brings them to cross paths with Alina again. However, the adapted sections are told in a different order than the one from the books. The story suffers in multiple ways because of this decision.
For one, the big bad villain from the duology — Pekka Rollins, whom Kaz has dreamed of defeating since Day 1 — shows up early. The tantalizing arc of Kaz’s burning desire to bring Pekka down is pretty much wrapped up in just four episodes. Secondly, Kaz and Inej have a spotlight on their relationship. The season includes scenes from both books, but those fromCrooked Kingdomend up preceding the ones fromSix of Crows. It’s frustrating to see momentous incidents and meaningful conversations happen without all the developments in the first novel, which gives them significance in the first place.
For viewers who haven’t read the books, these changes might not come across as major issues. In fact, all the actors have done a fantastic job portraying their characters. However, only book readers know how difficult it was for Inej to decide to hunt slavers. And only book readers will know how important it was for Kaz to get back at Rollins. Without the necessary development, these scenes lack the punch they could have had.
Why Was Season 2 Written This Way?
The problem is that the entirety of Season 2 was rushed. It’s almost like the creators wanted to quickly wrap it up, so they could then focus on meatier novels likeKing of ScarsandSix of Crows, both of which have seen greater success thantheShadow and Bonebooks. Nikolai Lantsov’s arc inKing of Scarshas been particularly praised, while the Crows are loved for the found-family trope in their books. Characters from these novels seem to have a more dedicated fanbase as well.
In an interview, Showrunner Eric Heisserer explained the pressure from Netflix to verify the Crows were involved:
One of the mandates that we received from Netflix going into Season 2 was, “We loved the way that the Crows’ storyline integrated with the Alina storyline eventually, and you have to perform that magic trick again.”
Unfortunately, the magic trick didn’t quite turn out as he intended. If the inclusion of some ofCrooked Kingdom’smost compelling scenes was meant to make fans happy and increase ratings, it did quite the opposite. Ultimately, Season 2 was overstuffed and unbalanced. With slower pacing and space for characters to be fleshed out and naturally grow, better writing could have saved the Grishaverse even better than Alina.
