Please note, the following article may contain spoilers for those not familiar with the books or haven’t watched the show.
My two major revelations from the Season 2 opener for Shadowhunters are “Holy cow, they got three male leads shirtless in one episode!” and “OMG, can you please turn the music down?”
All joking aside, what was with the audio? Am I the only one who had issues understanding the cast because the mix on the music was so loud? There were times I rewound my DVR (which is kinda funny to say as tape rewinds, not DVRs, but I digress) more than once to catch a line Izzy or Clary said and gave up understanding their conversation. I’m all for music in fight sequences, but the techno tunes felt out of place and ruined the dialogue.
Overall, the episode felt a little disjointed, not exclusively due to the music. There was a lot to catch up on, which can make viewers feel like we were jumping all over the place. Jocelyn’s awake. She has no clue Clary’s a Shadowhunter. She has no clue Clary knows about her father. She has no clue her son is alive. And holy crude, Simon’s a vampire too! Good thing she still trusts Simon to have absolutely no mojo in the dating arena that she can lock her impulsive daughter in a boathouse with a vampire.
Then Jace had to get caught up on his history, learning why Valentine pretended to die as Michael Wayland leaving his son an orphan and that demon blood courses through Jace’s veins and that he’ll always want Clary because of it. But ewww … she’s your sister!
And that only covers two characters of this huge ensemble cast. No wonder we felt like we were portaling all over New York City like a warlock with dementia.
Speaking of warlocks, I’m so grateful Magnus was not a doormat for Alec to wipe his problems on. Magnus did too much groveling last season. This episode he wasn’t having it. “At my house there’s steak and vodka. I’d rather be there.” Read between lines, Alec, that’s with or without you and your parabatai whining. It was one of the few LOL moments for me.
Leave it to my other favorite Downworlder to deliver more comedy for the episode. Simon had a nod to The Shadowhunter’s Codex when he mentioned it would be great if there was a handbook, like Shadowhunting for Dummies. For fans of Cassandra Clare’s novels who are struggling with the fact that the show is not following the books exactly, you do have to acknowledge that the writers know the series well enough to add these moments for diehard fans.
The garden in the Institute also made an appearance, which had me wondering if our dreams of Jace and Clary’s midnight kiss might still come to fruition.
In my last article I thought we’d see more Clary/Jocelyn tension as daughter and mother fight for independence vs. protection. Ha! I was wrong. Instead, Jocelyn is taking the whole mother/son feud to a new level by firing a crossbow at Jace. Sometimes I wonder if we could get the whole family – Jocelyn, Valentine, Clary, and Jace – in a room with Elyse and Steven Keaton maybe they could work it all out.
I do have one major issue with this episode. Isabelle states that they should be checking the waterways, like the Hudson, for Valentine and Jace, and Luke informs Victor, the new head of the NY Institute, that his badge opens resources that could be beneficial to the Shadowhunters’ search. But nope. No one thinks, “Hey, maybe we should fly a police helicopter around the water to see what we find.” I’ll tell you what you’d find. A tanker within spitting distance of Manhattan full of newb Shadowhunters training in broad daylight.
Shadowhunters – 0. NYPD – 1.
Watch Shadowhunters Monday nights at 8pm/7pm on Freeform, and join me each week for Shadowhunter recaps. Special thanks to TMI fan groups for their support, like The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, Mortal Instruments Fangirl!, and Thank You Cassandra Clare on Facebook.
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What I’m wondering is, after the werewolves tossed Simon in that boathouse, did Luke just shrug when he got back and saw the proclaimed “worst vampire” gone? And was he there when Jocelyn locked her daughter in there with Simon and again just shrug? Or did he come back later (from… where?) and go “hey, who put a deadbolt on my boathouse?! I told you I got a problem with deadbolts! That’s it! I’m ripping the door off its hinges so none of ya can do that again!” Boom, door ripped off. “Ha! Take that!” Cause, you know, using bolt cutters it totally overreacting.
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OMG, where was Luke during all of that! I wondered that too when they chucked Simon in the boathouse. Didn’t Luke walk away with intentions of returning to Simon. And Luke is the alpha wolf, so would his pack really go against him like that? And poor Simon. I really want Izzy to start showing him some interest so he isn’t always the laughing stock of the Downworlders. BTW, I think Luke was patrolling the waterways NYPD style and decided to not tell the Shadowhunters where Valentine was b/c holding grudges is apparently really important in the Shadowhunter world.
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