Shadowhunters: Day of WHOA!

Please note, the following article may contain spoilers for those not familiar with the books or haven’t watched the show.

Whoa!  Am I the only one going, “Holy cow!  Thank you!  That was the episode I was waiting for!”?

For die-hard novel fans, Day of Wrath may not be your cup of tea as there were some major deviations from the series.  Hodge is in the City of Bones vs. Idris, and Jace replaced Simon in that jail scene.  Jocelyn…is…um… I can’t say it!  Just watch the episode!

But even if the episode deviated from the series by a huge Keanu Reeves “Whoa”, it felt like one of the most honest adaptations yet.

I’ve always liked the show’s depiction of the City of Bones, but tonight’s episode felt even grittier, creepier, bonier than before.  In fact, Clary had her moment of Whoa looking over the Moria-esque cave of staircases and tunnels.

When she found Jace, the pair had an honest scene where you felt the pain that their incestuous relationship, although innocent, has caused for them.  Jace tore my heart out when he said, “You’re my weakness … There’s no together for you and me, Clary.  There never can be.”  Gah!  For those who know the series, you know where this ends, but this moment still killed me.

Next the episode moved into a sweet scene between our other lovebirds: Alec and Magnus.  Alec was bashfully awkward.  Magnus was Magnus, not a sappy lap dog.  Thank the Angel.

There was also legitimate shadowhunting in this episode.  Yup, I know.  Seems hard to believe, but The Institute and the Shadowhunters are actually in the world to hunt demons.  And they got back to it.  Clary played Robin to Alec’s Batman on the streets on NYC.

While Jace was locked jail and Clary was running to keep up with Alec, Simon was trying to find a way out of dinner plans with his mom.  Oh, Simon.  Always grounding us in reality.  He broke the news that he’s on a liquid diet, which finally clued his mom into what is really going on: damn hippie cleanse.  “That’s why you look so anemic.”

One of my favorite scenes of the night was when Simon and Raphael had a show down in Magnus’s foyer.  Although this isn’t in the books, it did feel ripped from the pages because what is Magnus’s flat if not a refuge for everyone in the series?  In fact, Magnus says as much to Camille at the end of the episode with the other heartbreaking line of the night: “The Downworlder’s I take under my wing are my [children].”  Downworlders and soon Shadowhunters, if the show is to follow the books.

For nay sayers, no, the episode wasn’t perfect.  There was a huge continuity error in the City of Bones when Valentine tries to extract Jace from jail.  A Silent Brother goes down by his cell but it is Aldertree that appears to be lifted up from the ground (due to editing), and when they cut back to the long shot the Brother’s body has up and disappeared making it truly appear that he transformed into Aldertree.

Another jarring moment was when Jocelyn and Clary were heading to this BIG briefing that apparently EVERYONE at The Institute was supposed to be at.  And if you recall my reviews from Season One, there are way too many people at The Institute.  But just as Clary and Jocelyn are about to enter the briefing, Alec confronts Clary and states that she needs to go shadowhunting with him and Izzy because they are a man down and everyone else is on patrol.  Wait.  I thought everyone else was at the briefing?

I also had a thought for the fandom.  Where are Luke’s runes?  Did they disappear when he became a werewolf?  This may totally be answered in the novels, but I don’t remember.  It hit me tonight as he was doing is NYPD Blue routine.

Watch Shadowhunters Monday nights at 8pm/7pm on Freeform, and join me each week for Shadowhunters 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.

On Twitter follow Chris @ACCooksonWriter and Rebecca @DownWorldNovel.

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Photos courtesy of Freeform.