Neurodivergent Alley: Jesper Fahey (Shadow and Bone)

*Jesper-related spoilers.*

I had to do a little Googling to confirm, but this is the first canonical entry for Neurodivergent Alley. Because the Grishaverse doesn’t use the same terminology/diagnoses as our world, it’s never stated in the books or on the show, but author Leigh Bardugo has confirmed that she wrote Jesper as an ADHDer. I’m going to focus a lot on the show here, but I may bring in some book-specific stuff as well.

As far as ADHD representation goes, Jesper follows much of the classic archetype. He’s energetic to the point of restlessness, often spinning his revolvers as a stim; in the books, it’s mentioned that handling his revolvers is one of the only things that can help him feel settled. He’s easily distracted and can lose track of what people are saying or the task he’s been given. This is heightened by his gambling addiction, which gets him into trouble on different occasions, when he neglects his duties and heads to the tables. He’s impulsive and kind of reckless, thriving on the danger of life as a Crow. He talks a lot, sometimes compulsively, and speaking without thinking is another thing that can get him into trouble, like when he overcorrects in trying to reassure Wylan that he doesn’t think less of him for being dyslexic (yep, Shadow and Bone has all sorts of neurodiversity! More on Wylan another day.)

That’s all fairly obvious stuff. It’s easy to spot Jesper being super ADHD when he revels at the thought of a heist, or when he delightedly remembers how he knows Wylan in the middle of them being shot at. Not to knock it, though—it’s well portrayed, and Jesper is a wonderfully loveable character both onscreen and on the page.

However, there are also some less archetypal traits on display as well. Foremost for me is Jesper’s creativity. While Kaz is the Machiavellian master planner, Jesper’s quick thinking gets the Crows out of numerous scrapes (even if they’re occasionally scrapes of his own making.) This is especially evident in how we see him use his sharpshooting skills. To be sure, he’s a preternaturally good shot—unbeknownst to most of the characters, he’s Grisha, a Durast whose affinity for metals ensures that his bullets never miss. But beyond that, he uses his sharpshooting in inventive, outside-the-box ways. When Inej’s exit door is locked during their heist, he shoots the door-release lever, waiting for the exact moment the clock strikes so the guards won’t hear the gunshot. When he’s being hunted by a dangerous Grisha wearing a bulletproof kefta, Jesper immobilizes him by shooting him in the exact same spot three times, the repeated impact bringing him to his knees. It’s also in his shooting that we see Jesper’s hyperfocus, the calm that can come over him in a crisis when he’s confident in his abilities and knows exactly what to do. It’s just him and his bullets, and nothing else matters.

Finally, Jesper’s emotional openness feels very in line with his ADHD to me. He feels his emotions deeply and expresses them strongly. Whether that’s his panic when Volcra attack their train through the Fold, his sadness when he realizes Inej is planning to leave the Crows, or his glee when Alina falls into their lap right as they’re trying to kidnap her, everything he feels is plain on his face. Kaz and Inej play their cards much closer to the vest, so it’s good to have Jesper in the mix keeping things honest. What’s more, by getting his emotions out, he’s able to let them go more readily. He’s furious when Kaz’s vendetta against Pekka Rollins puts all of them in danger without warning them, but he’s sooner ready to make up, even feeding Kaz the apology he wants to hear so they can both move on.

A Few Crows Adaption Thoughts (Six of Crows / Shadow and Bone)

*Crows-related spoilers for Shadow and Bone.*

I’ve already written about the Crows as portrayed by Shadow and Bone, and once I started reading the books, my enjoyment of the Shadow and Bone trilogy didn’t stop me from anxiously anticipating the Six of Crows duology. I’ve now read the first of the Crows books, and it’s every bit as awesome as I want it to be – funny and action-packed and cool and angsty and devious. I’m glad that I still have another book of theirs to read, but now that I’ve been introduced to these characters in the series, I want to revisit their portrayals in the TV show.

When I first read Shadow and Bone, I was struck by how well season 1 of the show generally stuck to the plot of the book. There are definite changes, like Alina being mixed Ravkan/Shu, but on her side of the story, we cover pretty much all the major plot points as they occur in the book, with a little fleshing out with Mal to depict scenes he only tells her about in the novel and adding in some backstory for General Kirigan (who, in another change, goes by an actual name instead of just “the Darkling.”)

Then there are the later-book characters who don’t appear in the Shadow and Bone trilogy but were brought forward to make their Shadow and Bone TV appearances early: the Crows of Ketterdam (my beloved Jesper, Inej, and Kaz,) and Grisha prisoner Nina with her Fjerdan captor Matthias. When I finished the first three books and moved on to Six of Crows, I discovered that Nina and Matthias are actually Crows as well (along with a character we’ve not yet met on the show, making up the eponymous sixth member of the group,) and their storyline in season 1 is basically the backstory we get from them in the book.

So, Alina’s story with Mal, the Little Palace, and the Darkling, drawn extensively from the book. Nina and Matthias’s story, drawn extensively from the book. That leaves us with the Crows (again, I know there are six of them, but “Crows” is a moniker reserved in my mind for Kaz, Inej, and Jesper, so there.)

Unless there are a lot of familiar scenes to be found in the pages of the second book in their duology, the Crows’ storyline on the show is cut pretty much out of whole cloth. There are certain nods and touchstones that are critical to the book – their famous “no mourners, no funerals” mantra, snatches of Inej’s backstory, hints towards a secret about Jesper – but their actual plot is none of the things they get up to in Six of Crows. Both stories involving them pulling an elaborate (foolhardy?) heist, yes. But completely they’re different heists in different countries, under different circumstances, with different complications, for different payouts.

That means the show’s writers came up with all the Crows’ awesome scenes on their own. Jesper expertly shooting all the volcra attacking the train on their journey through the Fold. Inej making a deliberate choice to take a life in order to save Kaz’s. Kaz facing off against Kirigan and living to tell about it. Milo the goat! Given that I really enjoyed reading Shadow and Bone, just like I enjoyed reading Nina and Matthias’s backstory in Six of Crows, I’m not sure what it says about me that a lot of my favorite scenes in the show weren’t from any of the books.

But for all that, the show nails the characterizations for all three. There are some changes, like Inej’s code based on her faith, and some things that haven’t been revealed on the show yet, like Kaz’s backstory, but the writing and acting work together to bring these characters to life impeccably. Kaz is cold and ruthless, always calculating, but while he pretends to be an utter stranger to softer emotions, that isn’t true. Inej is a quiet, watchful survivor, an acrobatic spy who holds tight to her faith and isn’t easily ruffled. Jesper is brimming with life and energy, a crack shot and jittery gambler with a high opinion of himself. Each is very specific and very true to who they are in the book, and that’s managed while taking basically none of the things they do and hardly anything they say in the book. In a way, it’s high-quality fanfiction playing out on a TV show, and the show has all three of them down cold. It drops them in a new situation but captures the sorts of things each of them would say and do, how they’d react, and how various developments would shake up the group dynamic. That takes talent, and the show deserves props for it.

Relationship Spotlight: Jesper Fahey, Inej Ghafa & Kaz Brekker (Shadow and Bone)

Crows! I’ve already given Jesper plenty of love, and now it’s time to talk about all three as a unit. We’re still going strictly by show continuity – I’ve started reading the series, but I haven’t gotten up to the Crows’ first appearance yet. At any rate, this is a spectacular, motley little found family of criminals, and I can’t wait for more of them (some Crow-related spoilers.)

On the mean streets of Ketterdam, Kaz is the glowering, imposing owner of the Crow Club. He runs the place with a steely gaze and an iron grip on his everpresent cane, but his establishment isn’t his only occupation. He’s also tuned into Ketterdam’s criminal underbelly, a minor player looking to rub shoulders with the big boys. While he doesn’t have the clout or connections of other gangs in the city, there are a couple important things he does have: 1) his sharp talent for orchestrating a caper, and 2) the handy skills of his fellow Crows.

Enter Inej, a woman with a “wraith-like” ability to slip in and out of anywhere unseen, to observe or tail anyone who needs surveilling. She has the nimbleness of an acrobat, she’s quiet as the night, and she can more than hold her own in a fight, having at least a dozen knives on her person at all times. She’s joined by Jesper, who isn’t as serious as either of his friends and far more prone to trouble but who can wield his twin revolvers like no one else.

Despite having very different sensibilities, all three have an eye for deception, inklings of moral scruples amid their lawless pursuits, and a scrappy determination toward survival. All logic would suggest that they shouldn’t fit together, but they do, leaning on one another’s strengths to create an impressive balancing act of crime. Between the three of them, there’s very little that they can’t do, and even though their personalities can clash at times (especially between Kaz and Jesper,) they always have each other’s backs in the end.

One thing I really love about the Crows is that they’re nigh unbeatable but nowhere close to untouchable. Their operation is formidable, but no one could call it a well-oiled machine. As they concoct a scheme to make a deadly crossing through the Fold, infiltrate the highly-fortified Little Palace, and steal the rumored long-awaited savior out from under the powerful Grisha, all kinds of things go wrong. Sometimes they make careless mistakes and sometimes they’re hit by unexpected curve balls, but no matter what, they bend and adapt to the situation, endeavoring to scrape out a win.

And that’s just so much fun. Throughout season 1, whenever the Crows appear onscreen, I know that the action and the humor are going to be kicked up a notch. It’s so entertaining to watch them improvise as their plans go to hell, and it’s endlessly impressive to watch them go up against Grisha and come out by the skin of their teeth. That’s much more compelling to see than a group who always succeeds, and it better shows off their ingenuity, each of them separately as well as in their larger collaborative unit.

I also have a lot of affection for the whole found-family thing they’ve got going on. They come from different backgrounds and have different temperaments/beliefs, but they’ve all found one another in Ketterdam and aren’t prepared to let go of that. Although Kaz and Jesper can butt heads, they respect each other’s talents and never fail to come through for each other in a pinch. Jesper and Inej have a warm friendship – they lovingly tease one another and care for each other fiercely. And Inej and Kaz are locked into a connection that both are too wary to fully articulate, but in the end, they mean the world to each other.

All my favorite scenes in season 1 are Crow-related, and they’re the biggest reason I’m excited for season 2. The first books in the series that I’ve read are well-written and really hold my attention, but until I get through the opening trilogy, Six of Crows (the Crows’ debut book) is burning a hole in my pocket waiting to be read! “No mourners, no funerals,” indeed.