Shadow and Bone 2×08 “No Funerals,” is the type of finale that wraps some arcs up nicely while leaving others in dire straits.
Tag: kaz brekker
Shadow and Bone 2×05 “Yuyeh Sesh (Despise Your Heart)” Review
Shadow and Bone 2×05 “Yuyeh Sesh (Despise Your Heart),” has a myriad of problems, but it shines with character development.
Read more
Shadow and Bone 2×04 “Every Monstrous Thing” Review
Shadow and Bone 2×04 “Every Monstrous Thing,” is a cohesive episode that finds better pacing in moving the story forward for all characters.
Read more
Shadow and Bone 2×03 “Like Calls to Like” Review
Shadow and Bone Season 2, Episode 3, “Like Calls to Like,” is one of the show’s strongest narratives, adding depth to the characters.
Read more
Shadow and Bone 2×01 “No Shelter But Me” Review
Shadow and Bone 2×01, “No Shelter But Me,” is a reminder that though these characters think they’re alone, people are looking out for them.
Read more
Relationship Deep Dive: Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa
Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa’s love story is one of the greats in showcasing the importance of emotional intimacy and trust.
Read more
Best of 2021: Characters
The best of 2021 characters are the ones who’ve had the most growth. The characters who’ve stayed with us throughout the year.
Read more
Binding Wounds and Removing Armor: A Moment of Intimacy Between Kaz and Inej in Crooked Kingdom’s Chapter Twenty-Six
In a book like Crooked Kingdom that is essentially love stories interwoven into a heist, no two people are as intimate as Kaz and Inej
Read more
Shadow and Bone 1×08 “No Mourners” Review
“No Mourners” concludes Shadow and Bone’s first season almost as we’d expect it, a little rushed in its climax, but it gives us incredible moments of character development, so you’ll hear no complaints from me. Choice is a predominant, ongoing theme throughout the course of this season, and the finale reiterates its importance with reflection and moments full of loud whispers. It sets up the oncoming arcs for our favorite characters with storylines that work and feel incredibly natural in how they’re developing. Alina Starkov is the heroine of the season, the Saint, the Sun Summoner, and the one whose choices matter
Read more
Character Deep Dive: Kaz Brekker
Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason, but he always has plenty—meticulously crafted plans, a purpose for everything, and tremendous heart.
Read more
Shadow and Bone 1×07 “The Unsea” Review
As far as season penultimate episodes go, “The Unsea” is easily on my list of favorites. It isn’t flawless by any means, but it’s a magical showcase of vulnerability while focusing on the importance of freedom. It’s the episode that sets almost every dynamic up remarkably while still leaving a lot of room to dissect the grey areas that play into the complexities of these characters. There’s never inherently good or evil in shows within this genre, which make the analytical scope of working through them so large and inviting, it’s a thrill for me. And surprisingly, in an episode
Read more
Shadow and Bone 1×06 “The Heart is an Arrow” Review
“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
Read more
Scene Breakdown: The Bastard of the Barrel Escapes from the Shadows: An Ode to Agency in ‘Shadow and Bone’
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,
Read more
Shadow and Bone 1×05 “Show Me Who You Are” Review
“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
Read more
Shadow and Bone 1×04 “Otkazat’sya” Review
“Otkazat’sya”—otherwise known as orphans, the abandoned ones. An appropriately title for an episode that showcases the fact that contrary to what Baghra tells Alina, needing people is not a weakness. Shadow and Bone’s “Otkazat’sya” really looks into the idea of loneliness and how it translates into the communities that are built, along with the bonds that are fortified. It looks into why friendships matter and it looks into why these stories, interwoven with each other work so well on the series because it’s seen through all the characters almost obviously. We talk a lot about how asking for help actually requires great courage,
Read more
Scene Breakdown: Knives, Trust, and Loyalty in Shadow and Bone’s “Otkazat’sya”
When Inej gives Kaz her knives in Shadow and Bone‘s “Otkazat’sya,” it serves as a rather obvious showcase of trust. Trust is a convoluted spectacle at times, a labyrinth of endless security that relies heavily on excavation—searching, cherishing and cementing. It seldom requires words in this form, it’s either buried deep or boldly on display, and when there are words, they are a parallel to what’s been established before. Trust is hard to come by, it is a rare state of ease and a deliberate exhibition of emotional revere, a promise that entails, this is it—this is a constant. Sometimes,
Read more
Shadow and Bone 1×02 “We’re All Someone’s Monster” Review
“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
Read more
Scene Breakdown: A Moment of Vulnerability in Shadow and Bone’s “The Unsea” Between Inej Ghafa and Kaz Brekker
“Crows don’t just remember the faces of people who wronged them. They also remember those who were kind. They tell each other who to look after and who to watch out for.” Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa‘s moment of vulnerability in Shadow and Bone‘s “The Unsea” might just be the most intimate scene in the first season. Brick by brick. Word for word. Glance after glance. There is so much vulnerability and beauty in this scene, I can write my entire thesis on it. It’s not just a moment between two characters who have rarely opened up to others, but
Read more
Shadow and Bone 1×01 “A Searing Burst of Light” Review
Welcome to the Shadow Fold, Grishaverse. The time is now, the day is here, and we’ve got a lot to breakdown with Shadow and Bone’s first episode,”A Searing Burst of Light.” First things first about these reviews, I have not read the Shadow and Bone trilogy, my expertise in both book and TV verse lies with the Six of Crows duology. And for the sake of these reviews, I’ve done a bit of research here and there, but for this season, my point of view when it comes certain parts will be based strictly on what the adaptation tells us. “A Searing Burst of
Read more
Character Deep Dive: Inej Ghafa
Inej Ghafa is the girl who feeds the crows, the girl who’ll scope high above to protect those who need her.
Read more