Shadow and Bone showrunner Eric Heisserer revealed why season 1 did not include more kissing. Shadow and Bone is Netflix's recently released adaptation of Leigh Bardugo's best-selling books. Bardugo's Grishaverse includes the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology. Rather than adapt each book one by one in order, the Netflix series weaves all of Bardugo's books together in an interconnected narrative. They seem to have been successful, as season 1 is being praised as potentially the next Game of Thrones.
Netflix's Shadow and Bone was first announced in 2019 with Arrival screenwriter Eric Heisserer as the creator, executive producer, and showrunner. Source material author Bardugo also serves as an executive producer on the series, which indicated early on the show would try to remain faithful to the books. Just as the first book in her series, Netflix's Shadow and Bone is set in the Kingdom of Ravka and follows Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), a young cartographer who discovers she has magical powers, but season 1 also brings Six of Crows characters into the fold, including Kaz (Freddy Carter), Inej (Amita Suman) and Jesper (Kit Young).
In a recent interview with Collider, showrunner Eric Heisserer discussed all things Shadow and Bone, touching on why season 1 did not include more kissing. Fans were especially displeased the show excluded a romantic moment from the books in which Alina and Mal (Archie Renaux) kiss. Though the line from the book, "I'm sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. But I see you now," is included in the show, it ends with a smile rather than a kiss. When asked why the show did not include more kissing, Heisserer replied:
Well, the good news is I have plenty of plans for so much more kissing if we go forward in the future with the exception of Kaz and Inej, which, that's verboten. But I will say that several key relationships in this are a bit of a slow burn and you want to honor that. You want to have somewhere to go with it. It's not true for everybody, but I will just leave it at that.
Though Netflix has not officially renewed Shadow and Bone for a second season, Heisserer already seems to be making plans. During the interview, Heisserer also revealed plans for Wylan Van Eck, a key character from Six of Crows, to be introduced in season 2. These answers from Heisserer strongly suggest Shadow and Bone will be renewed for a second season, with some sources claiming it has already.
At his point, a Shadow and Bone renewal seems more than likely considering the popularity and critical acclaim of season 1 coupled with Bardugo's already well-established fanbase. Those behind Netflix Shadow and Bone also have quite a bit of source material to use to make future seasons just as intriguing as season 1. Hopefully, as Heisserer hinted at with his answers, fans will get to see a kiss between Alina and Mal in future seasons of Shadow and Bone.
Source: Collider