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Shadow and Bone Season 1 Review

Shadow and Bone is a fantasy series that premiered its first season on Netflix in 2021. It’s a very good new genre show for the service.

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“I’m old enough to know the only way out is through“

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Based on the book series that has many fans, this show is definitely more intended for those who read the series. I haven’t and I still enjoyed it quite a bit, but my lack of knowledge did hurt the viewing experience in the first half of the first season. This season has only eight episodes, but they are quite long episodes, so eventually you get quite a lot of quality entertainment.

My main issue with this season is its slow start. Well, not slow in fact, but messy rather. Not only that famous, incredible fifth episode do we get a truly strong installment, and not until then does the show hook viewers properly, which is a huge problem as by then there are only three episodes left to go. There were simply too many characters, overly intricate world building and too many subplots, thus I got lost quite a bit at first.

Eventually though, the season arrived at a solid pace and once I got to know the characters, I’d come to appreciate this very intriguing, highly entertaining fantasy story. The casting was excellent on Shadow and Bone as all of these actors are little-known and basically newcomers, but each and every one of them delivered in spades. The standouts are Jessie Mei Li, Kit Young and the terrific Ben Barnes in what constitutes a fantastic return to form long after his turn in ‘Prince Caspian’.

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Alina Starkov is annoying at times and she has her flaws, thus she’s not a standard protagonist, and I liked that a lot. I would have liked to have seen her use her powers more, but thankfully the second season will fix that. Her romance with Mal is undercooked, but still a solid emotional arc for the show. Her dynamic with the villain is the best and he is just the highlight of the show. Cool, suave and very manipulative, he is powerful and just an intimidating presence throughout. His backstory and his mother are also really well explored.

Kaz is quite likable, Inej is very cool and Jasper is a bit too arrogant, but it works in the context of the show’s sometimes lightweight tone. The three form a really wonderful crew and most of the humor stems from their fun exchange. Zoya is also quite memorable herself, but the most strained and still wonderful subplot is the one between Nina and Matthias. She is a witch and he is a witch hunter, so their unlikely romance is not only fascinating, but also genuinely full of sexy sparks. It’s the best, most lovely romance on the show.

Shadow and Bone has terrific special effects. I personally wanted more fantastical elements, more fights and more magic and creatures. More is the name of the game here, and I hope the second season fixes that. This one focused a lot on dialogue and world building, which is fine in and of itself, but the action is also sorely needed.

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Still, the action scenes are excellent, the Fold is very intriguing and some fights are instantly memorable, especially in that great fifth episode. I liked the dialogue a lot, though it was overwhelming. The direction, editing and score are all fine, but it is the costume and production design that steal the show as everything looks very much like early 20^th century Russia, which was a refreshing, original setting for a US fantasy series.

Overall, the first season of Shadow and Bone definitely has a clunky, overly expositional first half, but the second half fixed that with memorable action scenes, fantastic costumes and sets, all well crafted storylines and strong character development. It’s a good first season, but this has the makings of a much greater show that it could become in the future.

Worst Episodes: A Searing Burst of Light and We’re All Someone’s Monster.

Best Episodes: Show Me Who You Are and The Heart Is an Arrow.

My Rating – 3.9