Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instrument |1x03 | Review & Discussion | Faith

This Review WILL contain SPOILERS

You can review my other Shadowhunters reviews HERE

Originally, I wrote an episode 2 review but once I hit the publish button, half of my review was deleted and I did not have the motivation to re-write it so I decided  that I was just going to continue on with the third episode review.

Right now, I feel like I am in the minority. I truly feel like these episodes are improving, yes there are many, many flaws that I can pick out but I'm trying to be positive about this whole situation. I really want this show to succeed. I quite enjoyed this episode, I thought that it was an improvement. Many people didn't, they thought that it was worse than the first two episodes. I am going to discuss my thoughts and opinions on this book as well as what I thought was good and what was bad.

One thing that I really didn't like about this episode was how sexualized this episode was. I am fine with a little bit of romance as long as it makes sense. The big problem I had was the fact that Isabelle went to Meliorn to get information out of him by sleeping with him. Isabelle is this incredibly strong character in the books, and in the TV show they are capturing her boldness but to me they're using her as this sexual icon for the show. I don't think it's appropriate for Isabelle to sleep with Meliorn just for information. It seems like they're making her so willing to be with anybody she wants and personally I don't enjoy that because that's not the Izzy I read about in the books. Also that whole scene between the two, was just so awkward. The scene just seemed like it was trying to hard to be sexy. It was not played out well, it made me cringe. I don't have a problem with Meliorn and Isabelle having a sexual relationship, its the reasoning behind it that I have a problem with.

While we were in the Hotel Dumort, Simon and Camille have this weird thing that I don't know how to explain. It didn't make sense. I don't know if this was the writers idea or the director of this episode but what was the point of this? Is this how Simon turns into a vampire? Is intimacy the new way for turning humans into vampires? Is this American Horror Story?

Besides that, I really loved the actress who played Camille. I thought she really embraced her character. However, the actor who played Raphael. He is exactly what I pictured in my mind while I was reading the books. The lines he says are a little bit weird and awkward like most of the lines in this show. I just found Raphael to be more of this cunning character and in the show he always just seems not amused and angry. Also when Raphael was talking to Jace and he said "Jace Wayland... Remember who your friends are." It sounded so Hunger Games, like Haymitch would say that.

I have a lot of hope in Dom and Katherine as Clary and Jace, in this episode I do believe that they are more comfortable in their characters. Again, the lines are pretty cheesy and could use improvement. But I really do think that they are improving in their performances. Something that has been going on with this relationship is their chemistry. Honestly, I think they do have chemistry, there is the potential for more chemistry to come in but they do have that spark. The thing is, I feel like their chemistry is shown most when the romance is not being forced. I feel like the writers and the creators of the show are trying to push the romance too far. It's not that there is any insta love because there isn't. It's just that they're trying to push it on to the new viewers, on to us and it's not really working that well.

The encanto (is that how you spell it?) was so cringe worthy. I felt so bad for Clary, and it didn't make sense on why Jace would let that vampire do that to her. Also, the word "baby" was overused.

Something I love about Jace's character in the show is how protective he is of Clary. In the books, it's a little bit different but I like this side. I think the relationship is working for now. For me, the best part of the episode was the demon bike scene. I really, really loved it especially when they take off into the sky. In that moment, their relationship really shined. It seemed so genuine. They both just looked so happy and I thought it was pretty cute. I think this scene worked because the romance wasn't being pushed and sexualized.

I am okay with this show being a tad more sexual than the books because I understand. No I am not a fan of it. The way they are playing it out is not very good, it's not natural it's too lusty almost. It needs to feel more natural and not so--slow motion--be in the moment kind of thing.

The fight scenes in this episode seemed really slow. I don't know what it was but everything just looked slow. Maybe it's because I watch too much Arrow because I'm expecting those intense fight scenes when they're not.

Another big problem in this episode was the script! There was a very small improvement but it all still sounds unrealistic. The actor's are more comfortable saying them on the screen and it doesn't come out as awkward as it did in the first episode but it's still sounds so ridiculous. Something I noticed about the lines is that it sounds so cliche. It's almost as if the writers are trying to target the audience they are looking for by trying to sound hip or modern. First of all, I don't think anyone says "You rock," or "Planet Bongo."

Even though I do think this episode was an improvement I still have a side thought that this was one of the weaker episodes due to all of the lines and forced romance. Again, I don't mind a little extra romance as long as it seems a little bit natural!

The writers are capturing Clary's stubbornness really well. I do believe that they made a lot more confident than she was in the first book and I don't really know how I feel about it yet. I don't know about other people but I am gaining so much more confidence in Kat as Clary. I definitely think that she'll continue to grow and become more comfortable with her character.

I think the weakest parts of this episode were the lines and everything being sexualized. Yes, I know the show runners have said that it was going to be a little bit more mature than the books, and I don't have a problem with that. The problem I have is the way it is being portrayed in the show. First of all, it's unrealistic. Second, they're making Isabelle as this character who uses herself as this sexual weapon and I don't really like that.

At the moment, I know it may seem like I really disliked this episode. I really didn't, this was probably one of my favourite episodes between the three that have been aired. I might be in the minority but that's just my opinion.

Overall, I thought this was a good episode. The weakest parts are still the script and the sexualization of everything. I don't think they needed to do that, if it was done properly maybe I would have been okay with it. I just don't see how it's supposed to attract new viewers because that's not working for the show. You know, maybe it was a different director and maybe he or she had a different vision and wanted this? I would rate this episode a 3 out of 5 stars.

What did you think of episode 3?

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

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