It finally happened.
After a grueling eight-month wait, Netflix finally pulled the trigger and canceled Shadow and Bone. The series was always a top contender for cancellation, since it was a fantasy favorite with a large fanbase, and that’s exactly the content Netflix tends to squander. It joins the likes of Lockwood & Co. and Warrior Nun in its early demise, devastating legions of fans and once again making us wonder why we shell out the streamer’s subscription cost.
I’m an outlier, among the story’s fanbase, however, in being kind of glad Shadow and Bone was canceled. Don’t get me wrong, I was a fan of the show — but not nearly so much as I wanted to be.
I’ve read the majority of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse, and I join the vast majority of the writer’s fanbase in agreeing that Six of Crows is her finest creation. It’s an excellent book, packed full of complicated, interesting characters, gritty, gripping stakes, and a brilliantly executed heist. It’s more mature and well-built than the Shadow and Bone series, and every member of Kaz Brekker’s small gang are, and always will be, among Bardugo’s best characters.
When most of us flocked to Shadow and Bone‘s first season, it was for the Crows. Some, like myself, were surprised when the plot of Six of Crows was completely absent from the first season, but the reworked narrative was actually quite fun! It was worth getting an earlier glimpse of these characters, and the way their story intertwined with Alina’s was charming and entertaining.
Season 2? Not so much. The people at Netflix once again chose to put off the Six of Crows storyline, instead shoehorning in random elements of Crooked Kingdom — the sequel to Six of Crows — and, largely, wasting a stellar lineup of characters. Characters who, by the way, are played by a truly excellent cast. I may not like how their story has played out, but damn do they embody the gang. I can’t imagine anyone but Kit Young playing Jesper, and each of his co-stars similarly shine in their roles. I’ll always wonder just where Kaz’s rock salt rasp went for the Netflix series, despite high praise for Freddy Carter’s portrayal, but I digress.
My point is this: Netflix wasn’t doing a very good job of adapting these books. Many fantasy fans, myself included, make the mistake of thinking that any adaptation is better than none at all, but Netflix is working hard to prove us wrong. I’m of the growing opinion that a bad adaptation is very much worse than no adaptation at all, and that largely comes down to one reason — if a prior attempt at a property already failed, the chances of someone else putting faith into it drops immensely. No one is going to make a second Grishaverse series while one is already on the air, which restricts us to Netflix’s single sh*tty offering.
But with its cancelation, something beautiful has the potential to happen. Shadow and Bone, despite its faults, has a passionate fanbase, and that fanbase will absolutely fight for the show. But instead of fighting for its return on Netflix, I propose we fight for its return somewhere else. Somewhere that, even if it’s just adapting Six of Crows (please SOMEONE adapt Six of Crows), will retain the stellar casting decisions made by Netflix, but also actually do justice to the source material.
I’ve been whinging about Netflix’s terrible track record with adaptations for years now, and Shadow and Bone is one of my biggest beefs. There are so many amazing moments contained in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, and the best Crows moments in Shadow and Bone are hands down the ones taken directly from Bardugo’s pages. So why — WHY — are there so few of these moments? And why, when they do crop up, are they so often altered? Netflix’s people seem dead set on the idea that they know better than the original authors, despite fans telling them, time and again, that they’re dead wrong.
So there you have it. I’m glad Netflix canceled Shadow and Bone because, without the spiraling streamer in the way, that cancellation might clear the way for an actually good Grishaverse adaptation. Now that Netflix no longer has a vice grip on the property, perhaps someone with a bit more wisdom will pick up the story and give us the adaptation we deserve.
