I’ve been sitting down with the South African series Shadow over the Christmas holiday. As soon as I started in on the series it was over. Let’s dive into this blur of a series.
Shadow Season 1 Review
Johannesburg is a town rife with crime. The police are having trouble handling all of this. An ex-cop—Shadow—never stopped delivering justice but his methods would be more extreme. Now, that isn’t to say this is a hyper-violent, grim, gritty, gory show. It’s just that Shadow’s methods would be outside of what police would cool with. Shadow isn’t afraid to run into a drug dealer or blackmailer’s headquarters and wreck shop. Has he left more messes for his best friend who still on the force? Yes! It’s what these vigilantes tend to do in series.
The most important thing about Shadow is that he lives with congenital analgesia, meaning he can’t feel pain. He’s not a superhero or anything, he could still die or get injured but in hand-to-hand fights and the like, he’s not going to feel the pain. He uses this as an advantage heading into dangerous situations. There are also moments of romance in Shadow’s life and comedy when he deals with his best friend. These parts allow for a break from the core of the series which would push it into case-of-the-week territory.
Verdict: 7.5 out 10
Now and days, it’s very easy for a series to go grim. It’s interesting to see a show that doesn’t go full-on towards that end. The main characters are interesting while a few criminals were—mediocre. I suppose that’s how I would describe them. The thing is, this varies. Some episodes have an interesting criminal with a few layers to their story. Then you’ve got the first guy who blackmailed women who started off the season. At any rate, it’s a show with quick shifts in tone but these shifts don’t seem jarring or sudden. This was the first thing that hit me from the first two episodes of the show.
Of course, the second thing is pacing. Shadow’s pacing wasn’t bad at all. I mean, I certainly didn’t feel like a lot of time passed while watching it. As I’ve said before, it doesn’t have to be fast-paced. However, once we get to the end, business really has to pick up. Shadow opens cooler than the underside of the pillow and finishes hot at the end. Concrete 7.5 out of 10. Check it out.
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