Editor's Note: The following contains full spoilers from Shadow and Bone Season 2.The final moments of Shadow and Bone Season 2 indicated the Netflix series is planning to continue the show following Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows storyline. The bulk of the show is centered around Alina's journey to destroying the Fold, with snippets of Crow action alongside it. Some of the scenes are taken directly out of the duology, but because the majority of the plot is omitted, the impact is dulled. While it's interesting to see characters from the two series interact, especially since they were originally written in different timelines, the Crows aren't given enough screen time for us to fall in love with them. From stunted character development to rushed romances, being on the sidelines was to the Crows' detriment, and they are more than deserving of their own show.
The Crows Consistently Had Out-of-Character Moments
The show tried to emulate the book's characters and their idiosyncrasies but due to the new storylines devised for the Crows, some of the decisions and lines were completely out of character. Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter) is notorious for his cutthroat nature and acute mind throughout Ketterdam although in both the novel and show his sordid past is slowly unraveled. The Netflix series decided to humanize him, eliminating some of the more savage scenes in the book like gauging out the eye of Inef Ghafa's (Amita Suman) attacker. Instead, he trusts her to inflict vengeance upon her attacker herself.
Choosing to humanize or change a character isn't the issue here; the problem is departing from the character's core values, and in Kaz's case, it's not agreeing to anything unless it furthers his own agenda. Yet when Nina Zenik (Danielle Galligan) seeks them out, Kaz immediately helps her gain entry to Hellgate prison in return for her Heartrender abilities. What is out of character is his promises to help her break out Matthias Helvar (Calahan Skogman). In the novel, Kaz had known Nina for over a year and despite her constant begging, only decides to plan Matthias' escape once he needed him. Once he sets his mind on something that directly benefits him, he wastes no time accomplishing it. He certainly does not make far-fetched promises about the future.
Similarly, during the Crows' mission in Shu Han, Inej dreams of an intimate moment with Kaz after being dosed with a hallucinogen. In contrast, Kaz experiences being drowned by his brother, Jesper Fahey (Kit Young) spends time with his deceased mother and Tolya endures the pain of losing his sister. Each drugged member sees scenarios that involve meaningful and defining relationships from their lives. Although Kaz has defined Inej's new life as the Wraith, there are so many more plausible contenders for her delusions like her long-lost family or her traumatic experience at the Menagerie. Her decision to leave Kaz and search for her family in the last scenes exemplifies how significant they are to her.
As a show with so many powerful female characters, we assumed it would avoid the tradition of women being preoccupied with their love lives, so her vision is a complete shock. Trying to compress the Six of Crows storyline alongside Shadow and Bone forced the writers to create new subplots that diverge from the books, but that doesn't give way to diverging from character consistency. Having their own show decreases the margin of error for these blatant digressions and allows for more cohesive character development to justify moments like these.
Pekka Rollins Is Supposed To Play a Major Role
Within the first half of the second season, Shadow and Bone showcases the downfall of Pekka Rollins (Dean Lennox Kelly) in an intense series of events that take place over two episodes. Throughout the Six of Crows novel, Pekka remained an ever-present, threatening entity whose power pervaded every corner of Ketterdam and dictated every one of Kaz's decisions. He is the final boss who Kaz could only dream of defeating, "brick-by-brick."
But because of the Crows' limited screen time, Pekka's presence was severely underplayed, resulting in an anti-climactic demise. Although the concluding scenes at Hellgate suggest Pekka's future involvement, Kaz's iconic revenge just doesn't have the same impact that it would in their own show. In fact, his bluff was borrowed from the very first pages of the novel where Kaz faces off with another gang boss and threatens to burn down his lover's mansion. Kaz's quintessential rivalry with Pekka should be at the forefront of their own show, giving it the legendary status it deserves.
Six of Crows' Romances are Sorely Underdeveloped
Every Bardugo fan knows the tension of Kaz and Inej's "will they or won't they" romance, something that was greatly missed in the show. Once again, the crime of restricted screen time diminished the palpable excitement of watching their sweet moments among their action-packed ones. Admittedly, it was a relief to see the show include the bittersweet line: "I will have you without your armor, Kaz Brekker, or I will not have you at all," but like Pekka's downfall, it didn't pack the punch it did in the novel. This effect permeated throughout the other Crow romances as well from Jesper and Wylan's (Jack Wolfe) frivolous courtship to Nina's sudden obsession with pursuing Matthias.
To make Jesper and Wylan's pairing plausible, the show revealed they had previously spent a night together, depriving us of the awkward but heart-warming interactions they had in the books. Whereas Nina's characterization was adapted into something more romantic, insisting she was already in love with Matthias. The books portrayed a more balanced version of Nina, who felt responsible and guilty for causing Matthias' arrest, guilt that had festered for a year before she could set him free. Either way, a Six of Crows show would reduce the necessity for rushed relationships, not only allowing for extreme emotions that make sense but also for us to fall in love with them.
It’s Hard to Root for the Underdog in Shadow and Bone
Rooting for the underdog has always been a popular trope that has proved to be successful time and time again. The entire appeal of Six of Crows is rooted in this trope with Kaz's rise from a naive boy to a feared gang leader, his rivalry with Pekka and the Crows' fight against the overpowered Grisha that are addicted to jurda parem. The odds are always stacked against them, but they always find a way to survive and win. But since the show decided to keep Alina's (Jessie Mei Lee) powers and involve her in the jurda parem crisis, there is a markedly weakened notion of rooting for the underdog. The Six of Crows has such vast potential for a successful and engaging series but Shadow and Bone is stealing their thunder. As regular humans ourselves, it would almost be inspiring to witness a bunch of poor outcasts conduct elaborate heists and defeat magical Grisha with only their wits and manpower. At a time when the "eat the rich" theme is prevalent on the screen like in You, Glass Onion, and The Menu, there is no doubt that Six of Crows would be successful on its own.
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