Highlights
- Netflix cancels Shadow and Bone and its spin-off due to a combination of factors, including performance versus production cost.
- Season 2 of Shadow and Bone suffered from rushed storytelling and failed to give characters the necessary development.
- The decision to rush Season 2 may have been influenced by a desire to focus on more successful novels in the Grishaverse series, but this ultimately hurt the storytelling.
Netflix recently announced that Shadow and Bone has been canceled and will not be moving ahead with a third season. The show is based on the books by Leigh Bardugo and, unfortunately, the Six of Crows spin-off series has also met the axe. The news came alongside other cancelations, including Glamorous, Agent Elvis, Farzar, and Captain 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. The original Deadline report claimed 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.
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Shadow and Bone Season 2 Had Shoddy Writing
The success of Shadow and Bone Season 1 can be attributed to quality writing. The creators of the show wanted to include the characters from Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone books, as well as those from Six of Crows duology. The integration of both stories worked. The season adapts the first book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy 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 Storm and Ruin and Rising) to conclude Alina’s fight against the Darkling. But cramming two books, alongside the Crows’ storyline with all its new characters and 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’ trajectory in 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 from Crooked Kingdom end up preceding the ones from Six 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 like King of Scars and Six of Crows, both of which have seen greater success than the Shadow and Bone books. Nikolai Lantsov’s arc in King of Scars has 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 make sure 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 of Crooked Kingdom’s most 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.
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