SPOILERS AHEAD
Shadowhunters returned after last week’s average premiere and fell short yet again due to the same reoccurring issues. The episode picks up right after the premiere’s shocking ending where Jocelyn attempted to shoot Jace, except Valentine stepped in the way to take the hit.
Clary and the gang return to the Institute where herself and Jocelyn get into an argument over Jocelyn’s actions. Jocelyn explains Valentine’s experiments to Clary, and then uses the cringe-worthy memory sharing rune. In the flashback, we see Jocelyn with baby Jonathan, who has completely demonic black eyes, which would be an obvious sign to anyone as to whether they are good or evil. Baby Jonathan then makes a flower shrivel, just to show how truly evil he is. Since this wasn’t in the books, as the show has gone off on its own path, it’s unclear if they are setting Jonathan up to have some evil magical power.
As mentioned in last week’s recap, the show comes across disjointed with its plot and camerawork. For example, the scene between Clary and Jocelyn ended awkwardly as it cuts to the title sequence or even shots not lining up properly and making scenes feel very jumpy. Victor Aldertree questions Simon about the vampires and maybe it’s the British accent, but the scenes he has been in so far feel quite genuine.
The conflict between Alec and Clary feels very reminiscent of their book counterparts. With that being said, it feels as though Alec could have been a little more forceful in his words, or perhaps because of Magnus, he is being a little more restrained.
Cut to new scene at a random dojo with flickering lights and disappearing people. We then find out Valentine is taking people who are young and athletic, because they’re better soldiers. Also, hooray for Aldertree finally acknowledging Clary’s lack of training.
Due to the past few scenes, Clary is feeling sad and this is quite clear with the slightly overly dramatic music playing. Isabelle comes to attempt to comfort her, but Clary realises what has become of her life and decides to leave. Who knew orange hair stood out so much in New York and that its inhabitants only wear monochrome clothing?
Raphael returns in this episode as the Clave wishes to speak to him about Camille and this was a highlight as the exchange between himself and Simon just felt good. Another highlight scene features both Alec and Isabelle at a fight club, where Izzy then kicks ass. Both the characters came across more themselves with Alec being protective and Izzy being utterly sassy.
While Magnus and Simon are both lovable characters, having the two sharing the same scene for so long becomes a little tedious. Simon learns to finally encanto, which now means he can also control animals. However, it was nice to receive more background on Magnus’ character and his desire to help fresh Downworlders, just as he helped Raphael in The Bane Chronicles.
Dot reappears in this episode, and for some reason, Clary isn’t concerned to see her again, let alone her being covered in black veins. So naturally, she follows Dot through a portal leading to Valentine’s ship. Don’t forget the utter relief upon discovering Clary couldn’t actually see the future and instead was spelled by Dot. Hopefully she was spelled to deliver that awful line ‘You took me on my first motorcycle ride’.
Another tracking method for Shadowhunters, how many are there now? Fans of the book may 
be aware Luke’s mother is Sister Cleophas, one of the Iron Sisters, but it seems odd she would break the Law to give Luke a piece of Adamas. Typically they join the Iron Sisters and don’t see their family again. The Adamas is then used by Alec to track and see Jace through their parabatai bond, but there can be serious repercussions.
The fight scenes remain impressive, but the inclusion of slow-mo effects ruins them. The episode then ends abruptly and on a sub-par note with Valentine killing the female werewolf. It felt like there should have been another scene, but there wasn’t.
Overall, the episode missed the mark again, more so than last week. There were a few scenes where it became a little confusing and may have needed a rewind to make sense of it all.
Shadowhunters returns next week with ‘Parabatai Lost’, where we will be introduced to Maia and see the team attempt to save Jace and Alec from the effects of the Adamas stone.
One Comment