Season 2

I don't remember the last time I felt so conflicted over a TV Show. Maybe never.

Books spoilers ahead, btw.

If I see this just as a Show, I was thoroughly entertained and invested. If I watch this as an adaptation, well that's really depending on what book you are looking at.

Season 1 was actually pretty great. I had my doubts when they first announced that the Crows would join the cast, but despite changing the timeline of the stories, it really worked well. The characters of Six of Crows were introduced in a prequel kind of way with their storyline intertwining with that of Alina and it gave us some fun crossover opportunities that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. The actual first book, Shadow and Bone, was also done quite well. I admit, apart from great world-building and introducing some fantastic characters, the original Grisha Trilogy are my least favorite books in that universe Leigh Bardugo built. The Crows Duology are some of the best books I've ever read and the King of Scars books are right behind it. So, I didn't mind the changes made to the trilogy. Especially Alina and Mal were done so much better.

Going into Season 2, the trailers made it already clear that this wouldn't just be Siege and Storm added with some Crow shenanigans, but also Ruin and Rising. Totally fine by me, because apart from introducing characters like Nikolai, Tamar and Tolya, most of the second book is focused on romantic tension and lots of angst. Barely anything happens until the end. Combining it with the third book always made sense, because otherwise there wouldn't have been much story to tell.

I think they did most of Siege and Strom well and pulled very much a Catching Fire here, by taking the middle book and improving on it in almost every way. Gone is a lot of the teen angst and story and character growth are more at the center. Mal especially benefits from it because he is allowed to be his own character instead of Alina's whiny boyfriend.

They tweaked some aspects of it, but again that is fine and worked very well. Only issue I have regarding that is the treatment of Sturmhond, Nikolai's alter ego, who is treated as such in the books, but just Nikolai in a different coat on the show. I don't blame actor Patrick Gibson for that though, he is great as Nikolai and Sturmhond is on the writing.

It's Ruin and Rising when the problems start. Or rather it's the entire final episode that goes completely off rails.

While the involvement of the Crows (and we get to them) changes the status quo a bit (honestly, it does feel like Kaz and his Crew could've taken down the Darkling alone at this point) it makes for a very action packed and fun penultimate episode. The rest however feels like that every person who complained about Alina's initial ending and happily ever after in the books just won by whining loud enough.

I'm one of those people who enjoyed her ending in the books. I think choosing a quiet life and being with the person she loved after all the horrors of war made sense for her. Same goes for the consequence of losing her powers. It didn't weaken her, something Rule of Wolves also showed, it just took her into a direction of living freely for the first time in her life. Same goes for Mal.

The show completely changed that. Not only was the Darkling's death rather underwhelming compared to his book counterpart, Alina didn't sacrifice her powers. A newly resurrected Mal falls into an existential crisis (granted, that one makes sense) and leaves her to become the new Sturmhond. I think the writers confused Sturmhond briefly with the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride here. Sturmhond is Nikolai, not a title.
Alina stays in Ravka to form the triumvirate with Genya and Zoya (David is missing or dead and I am confused about this decision) and can now use the shadow cut and is apparently turning evil. Or at least loses herself to her powers.

Choices were made, people. They did fine with the Grisha Trilogy until this final episode. This ain't it, folks.

But let's move to Ketterdam for a moment.

I mentioned before that I liked the inclusion of the Crows last time and would they have done another prequel-esque story here, it would have been fine.

They got a lot of things right, don't get me wrong. Them getting to know and befriending Nina worked very well. Wylan's introduction was a lot of fun. Matthias in Hellgate was handled well. I liked the Shu Han heist that re-introduced them to Alina's storyline and I think would that have been it, it would have been fine.

The elephant in the room is Crooked Kingdom, the second book in the duology.

Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom are masterfully build up upon with so many great twists and turns and emotional payoff. Now, why would you get the really stupid idea to take a lot of the second book, without any build up, and cram it into a season that has a completely different focus? Not only was it disconnected to the rest of the storyline, it also ruins so much for a potential spin off.

My best guess is that, despite the show doing well, the producers are afraid that Netflix won't greenlit the spin off because they love to run with their axe through everything these days and wanted to do as much with these characters as possible. Fine, I can understand that to a point... and as just part of the TV show it kinda works (apart from the disconnection to the rest and it feeling slightly rushed) but as an adaptation of two of the best books in the fantasy genre, it is atrocious.

A lot of emotional moments from these characters are half-assed because the proper build up is missing. How can you tell the second part of a story without the first?
It's like doing The Empire Strikes Back but without the original Star Wars. Sure, Season 1 introduced these characters and made audiences care, and I assume non-book fans will be fine with it, but as a fan of the books, it feels like a proper slap in the face. Some changes when adapting a book to screen are necessary, these however were not.

Kaz's backstory, the relationship between Kaz and Inej, Tante Heleen, the entire story with Pekka Rollins - all half-assed because of...reasons, I guess.

Inej is especially done dirty. Her character arc and trauma feel completely erased in favor of her romantic relationship with Kaz. And look, I love their relationship. It's beautiful and unique, but it is not the focus of her character. By killing off Tante Heleen in a throwaway line, so much is taken from her. Replacing her parents with a random brother, making her part of the Sturmhond crew in the end, takes away so many moments from her that I have no idea how they want to salvage this should the spin off happen. At this point I don't even see how they want to re-introduce her to join the Ice Court Heist, if the show gets renewed (or spin off greenlit).

I'll give them Jesper and Wylan though. Why their relationship is build up better and perfectly in the books, they just won me over on the show. The chemistry between Kit Young and Jack Wolfe is just amazing and every scene with them was just adorable and serotonin inducing.

The real shame is that the characters work so well together. They deserve their story properly told. Same goes for the King of Scars duology which also seems at risk here by keeping Alina in the story like they are doing.

The show has such an amazing cast. They shine together on screen as well as off screen and for them I still wish for a renewal or spin offs or whatever. They deserve it.

Looking at it just as a TV Show, it's definitely one of the better fantasy shows around and easily defies any teen drama clichés with it's rich world-building and well written characters. It's production value also increased.

As a book fan I'm disappointed. As a book fan I can't wrap my mind around the decisions made. As a book fan I want better things for these characters and I want the full amazing story written so masterfully by Leigh Bardugo told. The ending of this season unfortunately feels like some alternate take (the Grisha version of Marvel's What If so to speak) inferior to the original.

I do admit that as a TV watcher I'm intrigued with the possibility of this direction though.

I try to be fair here, I try so separate Books and Show, but it's very hard in that case. I think it's always easier to do so when you watched the adaptation before reading the source material.

As I said, I'm conflicted. I liked a lot about this season. I also disliked a lot. I think I really need some time to make up my mind.

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Season 2 Review (SPOILERS):
For context, I've never read any of the books and don't know anything about them, but I did watch the first season when it came out. What drags this show down for me is that I never feel all that invested in the characters. They haven't really done much with the writing or performances to make me care about most of the characters in the show beyond a surface level, so that makes the personal stakes fall flat. It's got that low level TV production feel for the most part but I actually think the production design, special effects, and cinematography look good at times or at least were better than what I would expect. The story feels a bit disjointed between the various characters but by around the midpoint of the season they start to bring the various elements together into a more focused narrative that was decently executed. However, there are issues in the script for sure. For one the pacing regarding the main story of finding the amplifier was very lopsided. Alina get the second one early on and then spends the rest of the season looking for the third one so the pacing felt off in that regard. There are also some incredibly convenient and cheap things that happen this season that feel forced and unbelievable, and some thing aren't explained very well or just don't work. For example, why was Alina so devastated when she found out Mal was the Firebird? She knows that you don't have to kill the amplifiers to use their power, but everyone was acting like it was a death sentence for Mal. Even when they get to the fold at the end, she just touches him and it works. Killing him after that did make sense in the moment, however, so that part worked well. But again, I don't particularly care about the characters so I didn't feel anything in that moment and the way they paced it between episodes killed any emotion they were going for. Plus he just ends up alive anyways so it felt all for nothing (aside from Alina tapping into that dark magic or whatever to bring him back which seems to have lasting consequences for her, so that part wasn't too bad I suppose). With all of that being said, I did still get decent enjoyment out of this, albeit on a surface level. Some of the characters pop and are fun to watch, particularly Kaz and the Crows, and I actually ended up enjoying the addition of Nikolai this season. Some arcs for the characters feel okay, for example I actually like where Mal is at by the end of the season, but don't think it particularly felt earned. A lot of the entertainment value hinges on the action and violence, and while some of it is drab, some of it has that stylized and energetic feel that I found enjoyable. All-in-all, this second season didn't do much for me but I don't think it was severely mishandled and it comes across as a passable show that I don't mind binging. A lot of the lore is still very fun and the exploration aspect is what works the best for me.

5.6/10 -- Meh