Shadow and Bone season 2

Shadow and Bone season 2

The first season of Shadow and Bone pulled off a near-impossible task: it successfully combined two separate stories and sets of characters (from the novels Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows) into one cohesive series of episodes. With the second season, the writers had to do it again with an even larger cast to play with, this time pullIng from several of Leigh Bardugo’s books, including the companion series The Lives of Saints. Several of the stories and characters have been scattered, tweaked, and expanded within the season but, somehow, remain fluid and entertaining in the storytelling.

Overall, the writing remains strong, despite struggling a bit to merge so many characters and storylines into eight episodes. The main focus has always been Alina and Mal’s journey to destroy the Shadow Fold, but they know they cannot do it alone. They seek help from privateer/pirate named Sturmhond (Patrick Gibson) and his crew, which includes mixed-Shu-Ravkan twins Tamar (Anna Leong Brophy) and Tolya (Lewis Tan). Newcomer Gibson, who probably faced the most pressure from book fans playing Sturmhond knocks it out of the park with his ability to shift his performance from cocky and stubborn to endearing and sensitive as the character demands. Although he doesn’t serve as a love interest, there is definitely potential there, and he is shown to be worthy of Alina’s affection because of his righteous magnetism – and it doesn’t hurt that he’s equally as handsome as he is charming.

#ShadowandBoneseason2