TV Review: Shadow & Bone Brings YA Fantasy To Netflix

Watching Shadow & Bone, premiering April 23 on Netflix, I felt like I was watching the Shadowhunters go on a Lord of The Rings’ expedition via the Hunger Games…. Yeah! It is an intensely dark, magical show that’s own darkness can feel like a fascinating shroud. At just 8 episodes, a lot happens, but yet it appears slow because of its own grimness. Still, out of Netflix’s most recent attempts at fantasy, like Cursed or The Witcher, Shadow & Bone pushes the network to fully capture the darkly, imaginative minds of YA fantasy.

The Young Adult Fiction world is… well…. Kind Of Crazy! We love witches like, Sabrina, dream of buff guys that would fight for their kingdom/ us with hammers and swords, The Witcher, and truly believe we could resolve any Victorian-murder mystery with our wit and banter, Enola Holmes. It is a world of “Can Do!” mixed in with supernatural traumas, of which Shadow And Bone has its fair share. It follows Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), our heroine and a powerful Grisha; because nothing says YA fiction like creating a caste system of magical beings that are isolated and endangered. Yet, the Grishas are a layered group that have gone from an oppressed history to one of honor and reign, in certain areas, “thanks” to General Kirigan (Ben Barnes). Confident with his own superpowers and ideologies, he enamors Alina, and guides her on destroying a literal cloud of darkness called The Shadow Fold, of which only light can end it. Hence, everyone’s fascination with Alina and her “Grisha” power is because she literally is a prophetic light.

Li’s is perfect as our lead; capturing the struggles of being a young girl orphaned and isolated from the world; surround only by others equally abandoned like her like, childhood friend Mal (Archie Renaux). It is a YA trope that I completely embrace; a young woman, with no family and few friends, who arises because she is “special” and has the spirit and power to destroy a greater evil. Yet, what makes the show, particularly/ attractively dark, is that it is about monsters and loners and how the latter unite to defeat the former. With so many volcra (shadow demons) running around, along with witch-hunters, every episode carries a high-level of endangerment, of which we find characters such as, Inej (Amita Suman), Jesper (Kit Young), Danielle Galligan (Nina), and Kaz (Freddy Carter), trying to fend them off while realizing no one wins a war by themselves. Seeing how these different characters humorously and heroically unite allows for some breathe under the evil fog lurking.

Personally, I enjoyed Shadow & Bone, especially because it doesn’t hyper-focus on the expected love triangle between Alina, General Kirigan, and Mal. While the sparks and tension fly, the show does well to build these characters as separate entities trying to figure out where they stand in the battle between light and darkness. This allows audiences to both admire the actors, immerse in the storyline, and get excited for a potential, second season that will further their relationships. If Season 1 is about how individuals find their space and power, then Season 2 will be about them building the power of community.