“Fine. Make me your villain.”
These are the words that come out of the Darkling’s (or General Kirigan, if you’ve only seen the show) mouth in the penultimate episode of the first season of Shadow and Bone. And yet, I have seen countless people on the internet already calling for his redemption. Spoiler alert (but not really if you’ve read the books), that’s not going to happen.
Now you’re probably wondering, “Why did Kara decide to talk about a show that came out in April right at the end of the year?” Trust me, I’ve had these thoughts locked and loaded for many months, but they came up again this week because I just finished season two of You, and I wish that Ben Barnes would discuss the Darkling the way that Penn Badgley talks about Joe Goldberg. It goes a bit deeper than just the way that Ben Barnes talks about the character, and this is where I get into my biggest beef with this adaptation.
Shadow and Bone is the first book in The Grisha Trilogy written by Leigh Bardugo. The first season is based on this book, while also adding characters from Bardugo’s second duology in the Grishaverse, Six of Crows, in an original storyline. The story follows Alina Starkov, an orphan girl who discovers that she is a Grisha with the rare power to summon light. Her appearance brings hope to Ravka, as they believe that she is their savior and can rid them of the Shadow Fold which has torn the country apart.
In the books once Alina learns of her powers, she is brought to the Little Palace where she lives and trains with other Grisha. She must leave behind Mal, her childhood friend. When she arrives at the Little Palace, the Darkling gives her special attention, telling her that she is the answer to his hopes to destroy the Fold and reunite Ravka. Isolated and believing that Mal no longer cares about her (because the Darkling stops all of their letters), Alina falls for the Darkling’s charms and manipulations only to later learn that he does not want to destroy the Fold, but expand it so that regular people will become more reliant on him and his Grisha army.
The show follows this similar pattern, although my biggest issue with it is that it romanticizes Kirigan far more than the books ever did. The show poses the conflict between Mal, Alina, and Kirigan as a love triangle of sorts, when in the book it is fairly clear that the Darkling is never a viable romantic option for Alina because he is manipulating her to further his own agenda. He only cares about Alina insofar as she is the conduit to help him get what he wants.
To the show’s credit, I do think the casting of Ben Barnes amidst a group of actors who are all in their early to mid twenties works in their favor. The Darkling has been alive for over a hundred years, so there is a large power imbalance between him and Alina that should not be forgotten. But at the same time, when I watched the scene in episode five where Kirigan and Alina sneak away from the party, it bothered me how it felt like two lovers stealing a moment alone. Whereas when I read the book and that scene arrived, I felt my skin crawl as I read about a powerful man taking advantage of a young girl. There’s a huge disparity in the way the Darkling is portrayed, and I do question the decision to make him seemingly less predatory when that was the entire point of the character.
Back to my original point. Kirigan is a villain. He is the main antagonist, even if at first he does not seem like it. Lately though I’ve noticed a disconnect between people wanting to enjoy a villain, but also wanting to see the good in that character. Some characters just aren’t good, and I think the Darkling is one of them. It’s still okay to like them, though! We can enjoy them while also thinking critically. I believe Leigh Bardugo’s original intentions were to show us a man who is seemingly harmless, which makes it all the more insidious when it turns out the Darkling is using Alina. This is not his first time using a woman like this in the many years he’s been alive. He knows exactly what he’s doing.
If the show takes a similar route to the books in season two, it will become even clearer that Kirigan has no redeeming qualities. I can understand why people are drawn to him, seeing as he’s played by an attractive actor. It’s okay to like the villain, but we also have to remember that it’s not every story’s intention to make us feel something for them or give them redemption in the end. Do you think Joe on You is going to get redeemed? I sure don’t, but I still enjoy watching him murder people. When all is said and done, we’re allowed to enjoy characters even if they behave terribly. It would be boring if every show on TV were like Ted Lasso where everyone experiences growth for the better. Some characters are meant to be villains and stay that way, and we just have to be okay with it.
Podcast News
Today marks the one year anniversary of Supernatural breaking the internet with Cas confessing his love for Dean:
If you want to hear our thoughts on that bizarre moment on the internet as well as the pilot of Supernatural, take a listen to our podcast episode.
Other TV News
IATSE has set a date for the ratification vote of their newly negotiated contracts. Voting will begin November 12th and the results will be announced on November 15th. If members vote no, negotiations would begin again, so a strike has not yet been avoided completely.
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