Shadow and Bone

The special effects in this are pretty top notch. Those shadow monsters are bad ass.

Also, if this show was just the gunslinger, gimp and assassin vs the Irish mobster it would be better.

Khane said:

The special effects in this are pretty top notch. Those shadow monsters are bad ass.

Also, if this show was just the gunslinger, gimp and assassin vs the Irish mobster it would be better.

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What's funny is that you can recognize him as "Irish". They straight up ripped off all the costume designs from RL cultures. I agree though, the Crows are probably the most interesting part of the show.

They squandered a lot of potential here, 'cause the whole concept of the Fold, a divided society, and how they handled the magic could have been really great. However season two takes an unlikeable character (Alina), makes her even more unlikeable, throws in retarded levels of plot armor, and ramps up the wokeness to max.

Frenzied Wombat said:

What's funny is that you can recognize him as "Irish". They straight up ripped off all the costume designs from RL cultures. I agree though, the Crows are probably the most interesting part of the show.

They squandered a lot of potential here, 'cause the whole concept of the Fold, a divided society, and how they handled the magic could have been really great. However season two takes an unlikeable character (Alina), makes her even more unlikeable, throws in retarded levels of plot armor, and ramps up the wokeness to max.

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I don't think this show ramps up the woke. It doesn't feel like it goes in that direction at all honestly. It's just a YA story like wormie and others have pointed out. Which means the dialogue is kinda cheesy and the plot is incredibly formulaic.

Khane said:

I don't think this show ramps up the woke. It doesn't feel like it goes in that direction at all honestly. It's just a YA story like wormie and others have pointed out. Which means the dialogue is kinda cheesy and the plot is incredibly formulaic.

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So season 2 opening with a locale that is entirely black, wearing literal African garb, where they live in total peace and worship their Gishra as treasures, and all line up to defend Alina from the 100% white First Army didn't feel like overt political messaging to you? Heartrender wench arguing with the Fjorden dude over the role of women? But yes, the dialogue is also cheesy and seems to be a lot worse in season 2, but I'm struggling to keep watching past episode 3.

Frenzied Wombat said:

So season 2 opening with a locale that is entirely black, wearing literal African garb, where they live in total peace and worship their Gishra as treasures, and all line up to defend Alina from the 100% white First Army didn't feel like overt political messaging to you? Heartrender wench arguing with the Fjorden dude over the role of women? But yes, the dialogue is also cheesy and seems to be a lot worse in season 2, but I'm struggling to keep watching past episode 3.

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That's a 60 second scene dude. Let it go.

Trying to get through this as well. As others have said, The Message-ing is dialed to maximum. Girls getting it done: Check. Everyone "good" is diverse and/or part of a "persecuted" irl class: Check. All the bad people are white men: Check.

I have been trying to watch it as a DnD campaign, where the DM is making it up as he goes, in response to player actions and that's why it's a bit wonkey.

Unfortunately the dumb writing is starting to be a little bit too much. The worst so far is in episode 4 (the farthest I have gotten): the Gimp tells Pecker where his son is, after his "brilliant" master plan is done; then Pecker and goons... just walk out w/o taking the Gimp with them to verify and then kill? Fucking retarded...

Also, they named one of the main villains Pecker, so they are saying his name all the time. Joke names should be relegated to small side characters.

Nah man his name is Peco. This show is so cheesy they named a main villain... after a cheese.

I'm still trying to figure out how she got rid of the antlers. Are we supposed to infer that when she stabbed kerrigans token that just made the antlers go poof or something?

The fight choreography in this is laughably bad. Sand snakes bad

How did they write a story wherein all the characters are fun and enjoyable except the main character?

Foggy said:

How did they write a story wherein all the characters are fun and enjoyable except the main character?

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The only thing I remember about the first season is I hated the main character and the secondary characters were enjoyable.

Foggy said:

How did they write a story wherein all the characters are fun and enjoyable except the main character?

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I mean thats fairly common. the protag is the audience insert. bland, knows nothing. everyone else is interesting.

look at twilight series. hell, luke is the most boring in Starwars and Empire. every sitcom with everyman dad. point break. neo for 95% of The matrix. harry is far and away the least interesting character in harry potter. jake sully in avatar.

Authors usually do it if they want the audience to insert themselves into the world in the position of the protag. the more character the protag has, the more its THEM doing things, and not you imagining yourself in their position.

Frenzied Wombat said:

I'm still trying to figure out how she got rid of the antlers. Are we supposed to infer that when she stabbed kerrigans token that just made the antlers go poof or something?

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I watched the series with interest because the effects are actually well done for the most part. That was the first question I asked myself when season 2 started. Apparently the budget cannot afford the antlers? The writing is hit and miss. They could have just left off the whole Heartrender/Fjordan story line. You could just fast forward through that entire angle and nothing is lost. It was odd seeing moments where the main character could have just used her ability but for budget reasons she did not. The "Armies" were pretty lack luster with a number of 50-75 on each side. That is not even a battalion, much less a regiment, brigade or division.

Regretfully the show is pretty forgettable once watched, even with the effects being pretty well done.

The highlight of season 2 was the gas chamber and the kung-fu chick's interaction with her dementia husband, which almost felt authentic and touching. That and the red wedding rip off ending. Maybe I was dozing, but was there any explanation for pirate boy's new Shadow friend, or Sun Queen using a Shadow Cut?

wormie said:

Sun Summoner was probably corrupted by whatever she did to bring back her boyfriend. The king is corrupted by the Mordor blade.

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Yeah I wasn't sure whether she actually used the forbidden "magic" or whatever, because there was no verbal or visual indicator really. She just kinda touched him and he came back to life. And I musta missed Pirate Boy being stabbed altogether.

The most annoying thing about Alina, besides being a cookie-cutter 2D pigtail tugger right out of the Sands of Time, is how many times she just sat around looking anguished as her friends get ripped apart, only to finally blow off a sun-blast at the last possible moment. Not just the ending, but throughout the entire series. For someone supposedly so epically powerful, she certainly wasn't depicted that way.