If Netflix releases any television series involving beasties, spookies, the macabre, or just about anything else relating to high fantasy, it’s almost guaranteed to chart well on the platform. Either that, or a new season of You, which continues to maintain its dominance in the number one stop in the Netflix Top 10 this week.
Coming in thick and fast in the number two spot, however, is the second season adapting Leigh Bardugo’s books, Shadow and Bone, pulling in over 50 million hours viewed in its debut week. It was followed by the docuseries MH370: The Plane that Disappeared, then the third season of Outer Banks. The first season of Shadow and Bone rounded out the top five.
It would seem that thirst for the show’s villain General Kirigan (aka the Darkling) managed to rope audiences right back into what turned out to be a very jam-packed season of plot developments in Bardugo’s Grishaverse, among other things, of course.
For the most part, the series follows Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) on her journey from discovering her abilities as a magic-wielding “Grisha” to her quest to save the world, all the while steering clear of those that would seek to harm her. If you’re new to the series, it seems like the perfect way to fill the Witcher, Rings of Power, or House of the Dragon-shaped hole in your life.
The series as a whole has been received quite well, with Shadow and Bone currently sporting a very respectable 87 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.