Tag: ben barnes

Best of 2021: Performances

tv, year end reviews

For the Best of 2021 performances, each person in this category did something unforgettable, something indescribable, and left us in awe.

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Nina Zenik and Matthias Helvar in Shadow and Bone Season 1.

Shadow and Bone 1×06 “The Heart is an Arrow” Review

tv, tv reviews

“The Heart is an Arrow” and humanity is so often complex in the same way that it is striking. Shadow and Bone’s sixth episode gives us reunions and answers—it leaves us with questions and a lot of moments of exceptional character development. The show is great in the beginning, but really, the last four episodes are where it sets sail and does so gorgeously even in the wreckage. While the previous episode showed us who a lot of these characters are, this one shows us who they are to each other. Yes, the path is clear for each of the characters, but

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Scene Breakdown: The Bastard of the Barrel Escapes from the Shadows: An Ode to Agency in ‘Shadow and Bone’

scene breakdown, tv

Of all the confrontations that fans of Shadow and Bone had been waiting for, this was one of them, and though a shorter scene than a lot of others, what’s most surprising is how intricately it set apart two men in power. (However different said power might be.) (Before anyone jumps at my throat, I like The Darkling as a villain. And I don’t normally like villains. Ben Barnes is riveting as the smug, manipulative Shadow Summoner (who has chemistry with everyone and everything), but in these scenes especially, the villainy is coming through. Which as is, it’s great.) However,

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Shadow and Bone 1×05 “Show Me Who You Are” Review

tv, tv reviews

“Show Me Who You Are” is one explosive, nuanced title for the amount of stuff that erupts in this episode and just how much we start to see through these characters along with their relationships. And it showed viewers exactly who these people are without telling us too much. (Which is a first for this show that previously featured a lot more telling with some characters.) The Winter Fete is here, and The Crows are in, but before we get to see through their disguises, let’s dig into Alina coming into her own and accepting her role as The Sun

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Shadow and Bone 1×03 “The Making at the Heart of the World” Review

tv, tv reviews

What is the heart of the world in this universe? What “making” are we talking about? The Fold? Heartrenders? The chemistry between everyone on this show? I don’t know, I never actually figured it out but regardless, I’m here for it. “The Making at the Heart of the World” kicks off with Alina dreaming of a stag (the stag) and when she’s awakened, she’s bombarded with the Little Palace staff, but incoming Genya Safin (Daisy Head), who’s by far one of the easiest characters to love on this series from the moment she graces our screens. The staff continue to

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Shadow and Bone 1×02 “We’re All Someone’s Monster” Review

tv, tv reviews

“We’re All Someone’s Monster” opens up with a flashback to Mal and Alina’s Grisha test indicating that they ran and hid because Alina didn’t want to be separated from him in case she was Grisha, and that’s just precious. We’ll keep saying this, but this friendship is a beautiful thing and so damn pure, it’s a solid way to start the episode and paralleling it with General Kirigan’s (Ben Barnes) introduction as he asks Alina who she is. When Alina can’t say anything more than the fact that she’s a cartographer, Kirigan asks Zoya to explain what happened, which leads

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