Shadow and Bone “Show Me Who You Are” Review
Shadow and Bone is finally out and we couldn’t wait to start our roundtable reviews. If you still haven’t started watched the highly anticipated show of the year, check out the books, read our article here and start now! This is Shadow and Bone “Show Me Who You Are” Review.
Q: During this episode we see the beautiful friendship between Alina and Genya grow, as well as a hint about what we’ll see later on – “Be careful of powerful men”. What makes their friendship so special?
D – I think part of what makes their relationship so special is that Genya is very much Alina’s first ever female friend. Growing up she only ever had Mal, which meant she didn’t have anyone she could confide in about things she couldn’t discuss with him. I think the developing friendship with Genya is a key one going forward.
M – I think that even though their friendship started as something planned by a third person, it became something special for the two of them. They’re both strong women and they make a perfect duo, exactly what they were needing. It’s a very important relationship and they both learnt something from each other.
R: Their friendship is everything just like the quote Genya mentioned. Powerful men are a loose cannon. You’ll never know what they’re up to. They pretend to be someone else most of the time. Be careful. Talking about this friendship again, I completely agree with Dan on this one. Alina never had a female friend before and now she’s able to fully enjoy all these little things she could never have with Mal or any other male friend. They kinda complement each other and just have a good time together. Trying to forget about the things around them sometimes. One dynamic duo for sure.
J – I absolutely adore their friendship. Seeing their friendship blossom and progress surely has been one of my favorite parts in the books except for the main storylines, so I was excited to see how it will start off in the show. Turns out, I did not get disappointed. Infact, Daisy and Jessie have great chemistry and play off each other quite well!
Q: Alina feels more and more confident in herself and in her powers. We can see it in the way she interacts with the Darkling and during the demonstration of their powers in front of the royals. But her life changes abruptly when Mal arrives and Baghra explains things as they are . What did you think of this dynamic? Was it a shock watching it as reading it in the books?
D – It all went along very nicely to get the characters to the points they each needed to be at for the big final push of the season, so I very much enjoyed watching it all play out. It wasn’t as shocking as when I read it in the books, because we knew what to expect and also because a show told in the 3rd person really helps to enlighten an audience, versus a book told in the 1st person.
M – In the books it was definitely more of a shock than in the show of course, but I really enjoyed it either way. It fit perfectly with the narrative and was portrayed perfectly in my opinion. It was just a matter of how they’ll be able to take that to the screen and they didn’t disappoint.
R: I truly enjoyed reading and watching this one. Pretty good scene and as Dan already mentioned, the big final push is coming and they need to be ready. Obviously I was happy seeing Mal again interacting with the Darkling and Baghra while also getting into another fight again. Short advice: Don’t go on a mission with Mal or you’ll most likely end up dead in the end.
J – I agree with the others. I also really enjoyed the scene and interaction and even though I knew what was going to happen, I didn’t feel like knowing the context and spoilers took away the suspense.
Q: Moving on to the crows, their plan works perfectly well even though there have been challenges along the way. A very important thing happens in this episode though – Inej’s first kill. Other than doing it to save Kaz’s life, it also happened in a chapel, a sacred place to her. Emotions were all over the place, so how did you feel during this scene?
D – Ah I love the Crows. Their plan did work out well, despite setbacks – which is just what Kaz would have accounted for (as we saw). Inej’s first kill, why she did it and where are all going to be VERY important going forward. I’m going to be honest and say that I really enjoyed the scene haha! Knowing what Inej eventually becomes… loved it.
M – I loved seeing the plan taking place and how Kaz also planned the obstacles in between. About the other moment – the scene was really amazing. I’ve loved how they showed how much it meant to Inej what she just did there. Definitely one of the highlights of this episode. I think that it shows the kind of relationship they have and that they understand each other perfectly.
R: I guess I don’t have to repeat myself because you guys already know how much I adore the Crows. However, this scene kinda got me. The way Kaz looked at Inej after he saw the knife in the man’s head. Completely shocked and overwhelmed in an emotional kinda way. I guess everyone around her will tell her that she had no choice but to do this. Otherwise Kaz wouldn’t be alive right now. And he does mean a lot to her. It’s just because of her that he’s healthy and alive right now, but she still killed someone. This will probably haunt her for a very long time.
J: I felt ALL THE THINGS during that scene and I still do whenever i rewatch. Like Rike has mentioned, this scene and the acting in it was perfection. The way Kaz looked at Inej was a simply beautiful shot. This scene was my favorite scene out of the whole episode and definitely holds a special place in my heart.
Overall rating:
D – 8.5 – mostly for the important story progression. Also the Crows.
M – 9, definitely my favourite episode in the season.
R: I’ll go with a solid 8 because of my boy Mal and the Crows.
J: 7 – Even though I enjoyed all the episodes, this was my least favorite one.
You can read our latest review here and our exclusive interview with Angus castle-Doughty and Andy Burse here. See you soon for a new one!
