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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
20
Mixed:
11
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews
ColliderApr 21, 2021
Season 1 Review:
That's the real magic trick a show like this has to pull off — creating a universe that feels fresh to newcomers, without alienating them or feeling too confusing. Like so many things in life, the key ingredient turns out to be the people involved. And in the case of both the fictional characters and the cast and crew, the people of Shadow and Bone deliver.
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Apr 21, 2021
Apr 21, 2021
Season 1 Review:
It lands across the board with its production value, tone, visual effects, and engaging characters, culminating in an exhilarating season finale which all points to a potential large-scale hit. Of particular success is how well Heisserer and his writers set up the required mythology in eight episodes without being exhausting, all the while deftly laying their emotional foundation: the bond between Alina and Mal.
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IndieWireApr 23, 2021
Season 1 Review:
The success of “Shadow and Bone” Season 1 is that it works so effectively as the first installment of a potential trilogy. By the end, as the show is addressing ideas of hypermilitarization, class stratification, and the fraught nature of prophecy, it’s apparent that there’s more going on inside this season than is readily available on the surface. Here’s hoping there’s a chance for even more to shine through.
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The Daily BeastMar 16, 2023
Season 2 Review:
Shadow and Bone Season 2 rewards those who take the time to find their footing with a high fantasy adventure for the ages. There’s a slew of new characters on deck here—most delightfully, a merry band of privateers—but even more enticing are the increasingly fraught bonds between our central characters.
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RogerEbert.comApr 23, 2021
Season 1 Review:
The performances are steady, the episodes well-paced, and the dialogue, outside of all the world-building jargon, is sharply composed. Altogether, “Shadow and Bone” maintains a sense of interior place for the characters dealing with plot developments as varied as mean girl dynamics, geopolitical posturing, and body horror, and the well-balanced nature of this first season makes for a promising introduction into this franchise’s fantastical universe.
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The TelegraphApr 21, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Shadow and Bone is good clean fun with a vengeance (with the potential exception of a coyly-shot gay sex scene). Those who watched Game of Thrones for the nudity and cruelty may find it lacking that spicy kick, but this is fantasy with heart, a towering imagination and a genuine new take on the genre. It could be a real phenomenon for Netflix.
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Apr 21, 2021
Season 1 Review:
For the most part, though, “Shadow and Bone” doesn’t bite off more than it can chew, focusing its energy on fleshing out its characters and universe in a way that could sustain it beyond any single book. ... Li’s Alina, a heroine as believably vulnerable as she is bold. Should Netflix give its “Shadow and Bone” enough time beyond this installment to unravel its many tangled threads, there’s little doubt that this version of Alina can sustain it.
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Mar 16, 2023
Season 2 Review:
It’s when he [Barnes] gets to tap into The Darkling’s deeper feelings—in particular, during a scene with the wonderful Zoe Wannamaker as Baghra—that you feel you understand this man, even if his every action is still wrong. It’s this understanding and insight—a combination of great writing and excellent acting—that makes this season, despite its missteps, worth watching.
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Mar 16, 2023
Season 2 Review:
The show has its issues — some vague plot development, some cheesy dialogue. Yet it remains a series that's so easy to root for, thanks to its bevy of compelling main characters, a charming cast, and its willingness to go on an adventure with its premise (and source material!).
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Apr 23, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Shadow And Bone is an engrossing experience, if not an especially novel one. The series plays a bit with our expectations of the genre, including the makings of a hero and of redemption. But even when we can see the turn, it’s no less riveting. That might be its greatest trick.
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Mar 20, 2023
Season 2 Review:
How—or whether—the changes from the source material will ultimately pay off (or help the series get back to its more character-driven roots) is a question only time can answer, but Season 2 never quite makes the case that these shifts are necessary or exciting enough to make up for rushing through this part of the story.
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Apr 23, 2021
Season 1 Review:
As "Shadow" unfolds, it's frustrating to see the rushed and haphazard way in which the world is built and the characters are introduced. Every bit of exposition feels incomplete. I can see the holes in the plots and characterization, and my knowledge of the books easily fills them in. But summer reading can't be required for a TV show. It's not until midway through the season that things start to fall into place for novice viewers.
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Mar 16, 2023
Season 2 Review:
Mei Li and Renaux truly give their all, imbuing Alina and Mal’s relationship with the right amount of earnest pining and steaminess. But the show still falls back on YA tropes, failing to ramp up the sexiness in the right way. ... Shadow and Bone accidentally lets The Crows snatch the spotlight, making every moment they’re off the screen — and there are a lot of them — annoying. ... Shadow and Bone isn’t great. But you can’t call it boring.
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Apr 21, 2021
Season 1 Review:
For every line intended to clarify how it all works, Shadow and Bone seems to accidentally do the opposite. ... Eventually, when all, or at least most, of the characters come together in various formations late in the series, Shadow and Bone’s design does make some sense. ... Shadow and Bone is at its best when it is small and fun, which is what does eventually happen with the Kaz story, or when it’s big and clear.
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The IndependentApr 21, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Overall, Shadow and Bone leaves you with the unusual impression that the weaknesses in the TV version might be more to do with the source material than the treatment. Between the silly names and mythology, this is a thorough, detailed production, with crisp special effects and likeable lead performances from a diverse bunch. We get glimpses of several interesting characters, but on the whole, they are relegated in favour of the main tale.
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Apr 23, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Add Shadow and Bone to the long list of efforts to establish new fantasy series in the post-"Game of Thrones" era, in this case with a fairly generic tale of a war-riven world and a young woman who learns she has spectacular powers and an epic destiny. As constructed it makes for a moderately watchable binge once you've committed, but no great loss if you don't.
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Apr 26, 2021
Season 1 Review:
Shadow and Bone fails to deliver any of the charm and emotional engagement of a Game of Thrones (when that show was at its best), or even a Winx Saga (which is objectively terrible, but in an enjoyably ridiculous way). Again and again, Shadow and Bone forces unearned story beats and melodrama. Its character-building is lackluster; its worldbuilding is mostly incoherent, and its script careens from one-liner to one-liner without much substance in between — all while the weak writing torpedos the efforts of its talented cast.
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