Jesus, when I say this episode didn’t just hit us in the feels, they suckerpunched us all in it! This episode in particular of Shadowhunters, brought a complete upset to the entire fandom. This episode also had a lot of nasty themes, so I warn you before you read this if you have triggers with abusive relationships, and torture then I suggest you give this review a wide berth.
Also, my usual warning about my predilections and biases are still ongoing, but I’m also going to add-on to it right now so I can save both you and me some later grief. I’m not a huge fan of Clary, or the current love triangle between Jace/Clary/Simon, Clary/Jace, or Clary/Simon. So please click the back button if you have an issue with that.
And after this episode, I pretty much despise Victor Aldertree , and Raj is not my favorite person right now. so once again, If you have issues with this, and can’t handle someone talking shit about your fave. Please leave now. You have been warned, and trolls were not be tolerated in my comments or mentions.
Now that I have all that out-of-the-way, let’s start off as always by talking about the things I loved about this episode.
What I Loved About This Episode
Yet again, Dominic Sherwood’s acting was just fantastic. I said this before, but it bears repeating: Sherwood has been giving us his a-game this season, and I’m so proud of him. Jace’s arch continues to be the most gut-wrenching for me personally to watch. And as someone who was pretty apathetic towards Jace last season, that is saying something.
Another story arch I still found myself enjoying was Simon’s, and how the writers continue to develop Simon and Magnus’s friendship. I love how Magnus opened up about his past with Camille and his own issues with loneliness and depression. I know I have been squeeing about Dominic Sherwood’s acting, but I’m going to take some time out to give Harry Shum Jr. some much-needed kudos for his excellent acting. This scene was so poignant and his acting was completely understated and on point.
I’m also giving Kat McNamara (Clary Fray) some good kudos for her acting, especially towards the end of the episode where she finds her mother dead, murdered by a possessed Alec. Again, Clary has never been my favorite character but I found myself very emotional watching that scene and for a brief moment I was standing in Clary’s shoes.
I also really enjoyed the bit where Alec and Clary teamed up. Alec didn’t like her, but he was willing to actually work with her, and I was living for the banter between Alec and Clary. I will also add, Emeraude Toubia was so awesome as a demon and she was generally scary and bad ass and that is totally a credit to her acting as well.
Beyond the acting, I think I found my favorite scene was the scenes between Raphael, Simon, and Magnus. We really got to some paternal/big brother Magnus feels this episode. I especially loved when Magnus confronted Camille and managed to break away from her emotional manipulation. I was choked up when Magnus choose Raphael and Simon (his adopted family) over Camille. I think Magnus’s choice was a long time in coming, and I was very happy to see him finally moving on from Camille.
Speaking of Magnus, my second favorite scene was, of course, the scenes early on in the episode between Magnus and Alec. They were just so couple-y and cute discussing their first date and I totally love how Alec manages to make Magnus into a totally smitten goober with just a look. Also, can I take a fangirl moment to squee at all the touching? Because I was living for all the times Magnus touched Alec!
And speaking of ships, we got some much needed emotional scenes between all of my other favorite secondary ships. Raphael/Simon, Clary/Isabelle, but most importantly we finally got a Jocelyn/Luke kiss!
I was basically jumping up and down in pure unadulterated glee when that happened, and I think you could have heard my scream all the way in Antarctica it was so loud!
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