The adaptation of Leigh Bardugo‘s best sellers for Netflix can be considered a success. The Shadow and Bones series reaches its second season with impeccable production quality and a lot of adventure. The cast is on the same page, but when the story splits, well, I just want to know about the Crows. But we’ll get there.

Alina Starkov, now in the spotlight, is still on the run, but she’s determined to put an end to the Shadow Fold and save Ravka from destruction. Her enemy, General Kirigan, very much alive and even eviler, also maintains his plan and now has an army of shadow monsters. The clash between light and darkness has new and unlikely allies. Blah blah blah. Who cares?

How about the Crows? Kaz (Freddy Carter), Inej (Amita Suman), and Jesper (Kit Young) return home to their club, which has now been taken over by local gang leader Pekka Rollins (Dean Lennox Kelly). In another action full of dangers and twists, they need to form alliances to fight for what is theirs, besides their own lives, of course. With humor, skill, and a lot of rapport, the trio is now a quintet, and the plot of this part of the story comes out of the two books about them, Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, with fans yearning for the third. SPOILERS: The plot of the Crows will end with open questions, but a lot of emotion.

It was smart of the series to put the Crows INSIDE the narrative and not a spin-off, on the other hand, two stories running in parallel compete with each other. The cunning and traumatized Kaz Brekker, with an untrue reputation for being callous, is a fascinating character, as are his main partners, Inej and Jesper. To form the sextet we have Nina, Fjerdan, and Matthias, which brings even more richness to their adventure, even more than the rich effects and drama led by Alina.

Shadows and Bones are all about magic and adventure, not any deep subliminal messages in the narrative, but even with so many characters, it’s a good request for a weekend distraction. And of course, to be able to enjoy the Crows all over again.