Diandra Reviews It All-Shadow And Bone S2 Returns Girl Powered

When it comes to Shadow & Bone Season 2, its return feels like a mix between exuberantly wonderful and also too long a wait. Its been nearly 3 years since we’ve seen our Sun Saint versus The Darkling, and quite frankly both are having a swell time embracing their power. Hence, why you enjoy this season with a slight awareness that if Season 3 is 3 years away …. Ummmmmmm….. no.

I really enjoy Shadow & Bone. As a series its production is excellent, storytelling perfectly
crisp, and its characters are fascinating, especially the women this season. Netflix has been producing, and cancelling, some seriously wonderful fantasies that are women led like, Warrior Nun or the short-lived Cursed. Yet, the hope of Shadow & Bone lies in Jesse Mei Li´s role as Alina. She is powerful, determined, and kind of fills the little vacuum my beloved Daenerys had until Season 8 GOT was born from oblivion. Alina has the ripe blend of strong leadership and genuine pain from a traumatizing childhood and the manipulation of an obsessive, evil force called The Darkling.

Ben Barnes is so good as villain characters because he always gives them a level charisma and wounded puppy syndrome that makes you genuinely believe one good hug would heal them. It is no secret that Kirigan has lived a long life full of horrible acts: both committed towards and from him. Yet, his juxtaposing role is prove that characters like, The Six Crows, Kaz (Freddy Carter), Inez (Amita Suman), Nina (Danielle Galligan), Jesper (Kit Young), Wylan (Jack Wolfe), and Matthias (Callahan Skogman) are dynamically kind even if not perfect. They embody that the bad done unto you is no block to the good coming from you. Hence, this season felt like a team effort between a group of people that are not only connected in cause, to bring The Fold down once and for all, but also in code: virtue matters.

There is something so endearing about team efforts, especially when the characters are funny, misfitting, and trying their best against all odds. While the love story between Alina and the always noble Mal (Archie Renaux) is centered and reaches cosmic chemistry and cheer, this season is all about the unity between a soldier and his general. Alina´s alliance with the crows and Kirigan´s mother, Baghra (Zoë Wanamaker), becomes the heart of this season and amplifies just how dangerous and dark this fold and Kirigan can be. While Season 1 was a setup, Season 2 felt like a payoff and an immersion to a genuinely oppressed world trying to fee itself, especially with its scenes in Ravka.

Overall, Shadow and Bone Season 2 is a total win; a solid notch amidst Netflix´s growing demands for more fantasy series. As the biggest streamers on the planet, the pandemic changed Netflix’s value to feel almost vital. Yet, there is a voice and clamor for series that bring on superpowers and different worlds, and Shadow and Bone can fill that void…. Just make sure its not another few year wait!