How to fix the Netflix fantasy "Shadow and Bone" as Season 2 crashes to Earth

"Shadow and Bone" highlights the story of a young soldier who uncovered an extraordinary magical power in the first season, a power which makes her a living saint – the Sun Summoner– and which may heal her magically fractured world. That character (the luminous Jessie Mei Li as Alina) is at the shining heart of the story, but as heroes can be a little earnestly too perfect, some other characters often steal the light. That would be the thieves: their leader Kaz (Freddy Carter) the "Bastard of the Barrel," kind assassin Inej (Amita Suman) and sharpshooter Jesper (Kit Young).

 

Let's see more of them. Carter is doing a YA "Peaky Blinders" level performance here in his portrayal of a tortured young crime boss, delivering lines like "If you die, we don't get paid," and he deserves more screen time, as do the lovable Jesper and empathetic Inej. 

 

In the first season, the trio – with assistance, including an emotional support goat – pulled off a dashing heist. It was thrilling, funny and fun. That kind of criminal mastery is largely missing from the second season. So is the adventure. We get some thrills with a convertible airship and a search for powerful, magical beasts, known as amplifiers, but breaking the law? It doesn't happen nearly enough. Give us more sneaky, smart, illegal stuff in a big way.

We need some thinking big in the next season and we need some scaling down too, particularly when it comes to the characters. There are too many. There are so many new characters in Season 2, it's difficult to keep them straight. If only the season came with player cards, like baseball. But there are more faces here than a baseball team. As Decider put it, "Even said superfans might find themselves a bit befuddled!" 

 

Who is everybody and why do they matter? Part of the problem may lie in the fact that Season 2 of the show tries to cram major elements of a whopping six books into eight episodes. Odd that we're missing so much action, but we're certainly also missing much character development, especially for the many new faces. Rash privateer Nikolai is a standout, due to a stellar performance by Patrick Gibson, but probably also due to the fact that he has a lot more time than Tolya Yul-Bataar (Lewis Tan), Tamar Kir-Bataar (Anna Leong Brophy), Adrik (Alistair Nwachukwu), Vladim (Shobhit Piasa) … the list goes on. And on and on.

Back to the more category. A newer character who does make an impression is the likable Wylan (Jack Wolfe), a plucky and soft-spoken demolitions expert who has a history with Jesper, even though the thief tries to deny it at first. Their relationship is a wonderful example of a queer couple on TV and we're definitely shipping them. But where the show veers from the books is that Wylan and Jesper are already established in the Netflix version. We miss the lead-up to their love. We miss the slow burn, the long knowing looks, the crush.

 

"Shadow and Bone" needs more yearning in general. Alina and her childhood friend / love Mal (Archie Renaux) have gotten together, and the in-person relationship became a little humdrum this season. We need more lovers apart. Weirdly, a couple severed by prison have little chemistry. Heartrender Nina (Danielle Galligan) calls Matthias (Callahan Skogman) the love of her life (wow, that came out of nowhere), but then just seems to forget about him while he languishes in a cell?

Along with a ship-full of new characters, we have new monsters which really emerge this season. The Shadow Monsters, also known as Nichevo'ya, were created by big bad The Darkling (Ben Barnes, gamely hamming it up with cool scars). They can't be shot or burned by fire, and that should be scary right? They sound pretty scary, a squeal-y combo of "The Last of Us" clicks and low guttural moans, but their appearance is more in line with a Dementor, wispy and cloudy and vague. Not inspiring terror and not really inspiring at all.