The thing that bored me about Shadow and Bone

The thing that bored me about Shadow and Bone

The Opinion Peace

Let me start this piece off with a peace offering to anyone who is a fan of the books and by reading this title are automatically offended. It is not my intention to offend any fans, in fact, I am a fan myself, of things. So, the opinion that I have is solely on the Netflix adaptation of the books. I haven’t read the books and therefore am not at all well versed on the differences between the two. Having been a huge fan of the Twilight books way before they ever hit the big screen, I am well aware of the damage a live action adaptation is capable of doing to a great book series. Now that I have said that let me also say I have no idea if the things I highlight in this opinion piece are in the book or if they are in the book as they are portrayed in the series.

The relationship between the two main love interest on the show, Mal and Alina.

This relationship was hyped up so much for the series that the inevitable let down of the not too interesting, none existent, semi existent sparks between the two best friends seemed entirely lack luster from the start and didn’t gain much steam or interest from me as the story moved forward. The not so obvious relationship between General Kirigan and Alina which came as a complete shocked to me actually got me way hotter and more bothered than I would have ever imagined. The fact that these two actually made it happen was surprising for one because it was completely obvious from the start that Kerrigan was actually the Darkling. I mean it doesn’t even seem like they tried to hide the fact that he was dark and creepy, so it was really surprising to me when the reveal came and it was set up to be some huge shocked to the audience...like sure Jan total surprise. Anyway, Alina and Kirigan had amazing sexual chemistry and that is why I got way too invested in these two characters and their steaming interactions. As soon as I really start getting comfortable with the obvious ship that was about to sail with these two sex birds on it, they pull the plug on them and not for the obvious reason which is her best friend who she is obviously destined to be with but because she finds out right after they finally get it popping- kind of- a little that he is in fact the Darkling. So, what this relationship between Kirigan and Alina really shows me is that not only am I absolutely bored with the will they- won’t they best friend, innocent, childhood love of Alina and Mal but also that I am too ready to throw it all away to have the Darkling come back in some way and him and Alina start it back up even if that means Alina turning to the dark side for a bit just to see some more of their chemistry. But of course, they had to do something so that the fans don’t actually ship the Darkling and Alina because baby, let me tell you, I was all ready for it. It’s just the feminist in me couldn’t really allow the Darkling to come back after his selfish desire to win resulted in some pretty intense abuse towards Alina. If they would have written Kirigan as having genuinely fallen in love with Alina and then maybe having real difficulty bridging the gap between his own dark desire and his love of the innocent Alina then yeah, that would have worked for me and my ship but instead, they had to make sure that the audience knows that Alina will choose Mal and the Kirigan is in fact the bad guy, no redemption for him and no bringing back that relationship or love triangle that never really got off the ground. Anyway, at the end of the day the point is Mal and Alina bore the crap out of me and yes, they will end up together because why wouldn’t they, that is the way the story is written.

Lachandra Jordan