Hello, you lovely people. I'm back again to share some Shadowhunters tidbits and I may possibly be here to stay now, so that's exciting.
Last week's episode saw the anticipated Seelie Court scene with the start of some real troubles between Clary and Simon, and the tease of a new beginning for Clary and Jace, and the Downworlder cabinet meeting with newly appointed Head Of The Institute, Alec, and downworlder representatives. This week's episode is pretty much as per the synopsis; a slightly Simon-centric episode, with the transfer of Valentine from the Institute following Luke's mystery phone caller influenced attack on Valentine.
So, the A plot for
A Problem Of Memory follows Simon, who is definitely one of the characters on the show who deserves a major focus in an episode (along with Magnus and especially Luke), as he drowns his sorrows following last week's Clace kiss, by getting 'vampire' drunk. Unfortunately for him, getting 'vampire' drunk for the first time leaves him with a raging hangover, a bloody t-shirt, and the murder of a girl he spent some time with the night before. Simon, and those around him who are aware of the situation, struggle to accept the evidence before them, and try to find a way to disprove what seems like a loss of control with extreme consequences for Simon. With no one to turn to for help, and with the attention of the police on him, Simon has to piece together exactly what happened before he's caught. Personally, the main reveal in this plot was a little bit too obvious for me, but it does lead to a very Buffy-like showdown, which I actually really enjoyed.
In this week's secondary plot, Izzy gets to lead a mission with assistance from Jace. It's really nice to see Izzy step up into a leadership role, especially after the turmoil she's had with her Yin Fen addiction and with Alec now running the Institute. We're truly seeing her make some progress, first with tutoring Max, now with leading missions, and I hope she doesn't encounter any setbacks in the back half of 2b, although I really suspect she might. In this episode though, she makes some really good decisions when it comes to the transfer of Valentine, but unfortunately, not everything goes to plan for her.
Elsewhere this week, Clary and Simon try to figure out what her kiss with Jace means for their relationship, which gives Alberto Rosende a great chance to showcase some emotional acting, and Alec tries to get to the bottom of what exactly is wrong with Magnus. I'll have to warn you, it's a bit of a teary week for some of your favourite Downworlders, and yes, Harry Shum Jr is absolutely brilliant.
In an episode with a slight cliffhanger ending, this is an installment almost entirely devoted to memory; referencing past lines characters have said, trying to recall what has been done previously, trying to stop someone from remembering something, and being unable to forget a harrowing memory. Whilst I would have loved to see some other recurring characters in this episode, such as Maia who could truly shine in this episode if her backstory from the books is being followed, it was really interesting to see a character from each main storyline this week struggle with a lack of memories. What scenes are you most hoping to see in 'A Problem Of Memory'? Remember to tune in Monday at 8.00 on Freeform.
And with that I'm going to leave you with a few teasers to tide you over until Monday:
- Aline is introduced this week, and she seems incredibly clued up about a certain character's actions.
- Alec mentions a warlock other than Magnus, which could possibly be a hint to their suspected introduction in 2b.
- There's a pretty cool fight scene involving Simon.
- A line from
This Guilty Blood (2x01) is reused and referenced.
- Sebastian somehow ups the creepy factor at least tenfold.
- "There is nothing ugly about you."
