AfterShadow and Bonesticks the landing of its final episode, it’s worth a look back at how the story began. It’s a truly staggering amount of development, both character and plot, to occur over one season. So many arcs conclude, but it’s almost more impressive to count up how many are still in motion. The story ofShadow and Boneisn’t over, but the season 2 finale is a strong conclusion.
Showrunner Eric Heisserer steps back in towrite the season finale, this time with the help of Erin Conley. Conley has been credited as an assistant in previous episodes, but she seems to have worked her way up to a full writing credit.
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Episode seven is almosta wall-to-wall final battle. This extravaganza of action set pieces is concluded in the season finale, but it isn’t mirrored. By contrast, “No Funerals” is a quiet, emotional sendoff for a series that still has stories to tell. At the conclusion of “Meet You in the Meadow,” Alina found herself at the wrong end of the impossible choice she was forced to make. Mal, the predestined amplifier who would give her the power to save the world and also the love of her life, lies dying in the darkness. She must take his life in order to destroy the Fold, but she’d give anything to save him. As the dust clears and all theglowing magic stuff fades, Mal is left dead and Alina is able to finally banish the Fold.
The resolution of the show’s final physical conflict takes up about fifteen minutes of the hour-long episode. Alina takes the power she’s given and uses it to defeat Kirigan. The rest of the episode is unraveling the dense web of character relationships as everyone decides where to go next. The kingdom of Ravka has a new king and queen,the Crows have theircontrol over the Barrel back, and a substantial chunk of the cast hops on a ship to take to the high seas. Some heroes die, others are forever changed, and nothing is ever really resolved. In many ways, it’s reminiscent of a filmlikeReturn of the King, which seems to end several times before it’s technically over. A dozen “goodbyes” later, the show prepares itself for the big risk that everyone knows it has to take at the end.
Shadow and Boneseason 2 has a lot of narrative and character resolution in it. A lot of loose ends are tied up, a lot of arcs satisfyingly conclude, and a lot of questions are answered. However, the series still ends on a cliffhanger. Of allthe shows on Netflix, this one seems pretty safe, but more secure bets than this one have gone down under the streaming service’s confounding strategy. It could’ve been somewhat satisfying, but the final few minutes prepare the audience for a hugely important new chapter in the narrative with a lot of new information. This is only a problem if the show gets canceled before it’s able to resolve itself. The novels obviously have a lot more material to work through, but whether the franchise gets to continue its journey remains to be seen.
It’s hard to find many things thatShadow and Bonelegitimately fails at. It’s taking on a lot, often more than anyone reasonably asked of it, and it succeeds in almost every notable way. The design aesthetic is fantastic throughout. The action never fails to be engaging. The romance subplots may be a little trite for some, but it’s playing right within the boundaries fans expect. The show tries to do a lot and succeeds on almost every count. Fans will almost undoubtedly want to see all of these characters again. They’ve been through a lot, but there’s still so much fun to be had with a cast like this.Shadow and Bonetacklessome surprising topics in this season, but it never feels like it’s talking down or preaching to its audience. Some fantasy series succeed because the audience loves exploring the world they take place in. This one will succeed because people love the characters they get to explore it with.
With the mainGrishaversetrilogy out of the way, there are around four more books of content left for this series to attempt to work through. The series has deviated from the books in many large and small ways, but there’s still a lot of great material on the page. Fans can’t know whether they’ll get to enjoy the rest of those stories on the screen, but they can rest easy knowing they got two great seasons of TV out of the deal.Shadow and Boneisn’tperfect, but it’s a solid YA fantasy story for anyone with a love of magic powers, old-timey heists, or adolescent love triangles.
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