The Vampires took central stage in this week’s episode of Shadowhunters. Jace, Clary, Alec and Izzy went into Hotel Dumort to rescue Simon, after much preparation. Simon didn’t exactly come out unscathed. While Jace and Clary’s relationship continued to develop, we also got a peek at Izzy’s relationship with Meliorn, a faerie knight. Alec and Jace got into a fight at the end of the episode over Clary, who Alec has trouble trusting.
Favorite character: The Lightwoods were once again my favorites, but if I had to choose one it’s Izzy. Half of her scenes had me speechless. The Fair Folk is known to be extremely cunning. They can’t lie, but they can twist the truth in a way that they might as well be lying. Meliorn has never been a favorite of mine, but Emeraude has so much chemistry with pretty much everyone she interacts with that I almost found myself liking them together. Almost. I absolutely loved how Izzy was able to play the Seelie game as well. And of course the fight scenes were badass.
Most improved: This week I found that the scenes between Jace and Clary didn’t bother me as much as they did the week before. I thought that the acting had vastly improved. Last week I found the dialogue often too distracting from what was actually going on, but now only the bar scene (followed by the flying bike) bothered me. The bike scene didn’t quite come out how I’d hoped. But regardless of that, I enjoyed most of their scenes. I hope they keep this up.
Questionable character: We only saw a little bit Hodge but I didn’t like the sound of his advice to Alec. It almost seemed like he was trying to stir up trouble. Now because I’ve read the books, I know where his allegiances are supposed to lie but that doesn’t mean that the writers haven’t decided to change this. According to promotional photos, we’ll be getting the Circle’s backstory soon, which will include Hodge. I hope his agenda becomes more clear than.
There it is! Last week, I waited the whole episode for a mention of the parabatai bond between Jace and Alec. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait any longer. The parabatai bond is one of the most important terms in the Shadowhunter world. It is when two Shadowhunters take an oath that they will fight together as lifelong partners and lay down their lives for one another if they have to. While Jace and Alec aren’t my favorite parabatai pair (that honor goes to Will and Jem), it is a very important aspect of their relationship. There was some friction between the two and I must say that if I had to choose sides, I would side with Alec. All he really knows about Clary is that she is Valentine’s daughter, which isn’t exactly incentive to trust her. On top of that, Jace, who Alec clearly has a crush on, follows her almost blindly disregarding the consequences his actions could have for not just him but Alec and Izzy as well. From what I remember from the Clave in the books, they definitely wouldn’t just get off with a slap on the wrist.
Favorite storyline: Simon’s storyline of the second book was kicked into gear this week. Since I doubt they’ll have him stare at people’s necks for the rest of the season, I guess this means they are moving up the timeline for this storyline. I hope this also means the triangle between him, Clary and Jace won’t last as long, but I have a feeling I’ll be disappointed. Judging from the promo of next week’s episode, Simon is going to start spiraling soon.
I don’t remember that from the books: I do not remember vampires having the ability to freeze someone like Camille did to Simon. Camille is one of those characters that are a bit vague to me. I remember that she wasn’t all that bad in The Infernal Devices but I also remember strongly disliking her in The Mortal Instruments. I guess time will tell how I feel about the TV version. She’s bound to be different from the book version since she didn’t show up in the books until the fourth one.
Honarable mention: I liked the mention of Idris, even though it made me realize I’ve been mispronouncing it for years. For those of you who were confused by the mention, Idris is the Shadowhunter home country (hidden from mundanes). It only has one city, which is Alicante and is located somewhere between Germany, France and Switzerland.
What I wanted to see: I’m not sure if the room Izzy and Meliorn were is was supposed to be at the Seelie Court but, if it was, I would’ve like to have seen Izzy entering through the Turtle Pond in Central Park. Unless all he did was set up a tent next to the pond, in which case never mind.
What I’m excited for: Even though I try to stay away from sneak peeks of the next episode before writing my review, I just couldn’t help myself after seeing the excitement around Magnus on Tumblr. Finally we’ll be getting some decent scenes and, as I expect, a lot of flirting directed at Alec. I can’t wait to see Alec turn that frown upside down.
Best quotes:
Alec: “Are you so desperate to get laid that you’d risk killing us?”
Alec: “Izzy can tell you all about them. She’s got a thing.” Izzy: “We’ve all got our things, don’t we?”
Jace: “There’s no human bond that compares to what Alec and I have. We’re bound for life. Bound to fight together, to protect each other. In battle our hearts beat as one. If one of us were to die, part of the other would die inside as well.”
Izzy: “Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword is an idiot.”
Izzy: “No accounting for taste.”
That’s it for this week. Check in again next week for an all new review and let me know in the comments what you thought of this week’s episode.
Shadowhunters - Dead Man's Party - Review
Jan 28, 2016
JC Reviews Shadowhunters
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