Shadowhunters | Dust & Shadows | 2x05 | Review & Discussion | Faith

Clary takes desperate and extreme actions after the attack on the Institute leaves her devastated.

This review will contain SPOILERS!

You know whats interesting? Shadowhunters continues to exceed my expectations when I have such little hope in the episode. I went into this episode fully expecting to hate it, and to dislike everything but I really only disliked one thing and was very happy to see some book related content in the show! Having seen episode 4 as well as this one, I am already liking the new writers/showrunners. I truly feel like they have a better understanding of the world, the characters and the dialogue is far, far better than it was in the first season. And I hate to say it but I believe they more respect for the original content than the original writers.

An aspect of the show that I find very interesting is that they're pulling various things from the books and while it's not necessarily from City of Ashes, it is still book content. The reason why I find this interesting is that they're pulling different details, and scenes from the books that correlate with the shows storyline which is very clever in my opinion. And doing this, including the book content feels very natural and not forced unlike last season where all the book content felt forced which is probably why there was so little of it. It's so refreshing to see a small fragment of the books in the show even if it's not from the actual book we believe it to be based on. The show is very much a blend of the books, and so far I am liking what we're seeing.

Including the book content is still keeping the "element of surprise" the show runners would like to give even the book fans, but is still satisfying our needs to see the books come to life.

A very important plot point in the book a lot of people were afraid we weren't going to see was Clary's rune power. I am happy to say that we finally got to see it in this episode! Some people were sad that she sees a vision, but in my mind a vision is not very different from her seeing it in her head. Honestly, it's pretty much the same thing. Not only did they showcase her ability, but it made sense in the show. A lot of the times, there are a lot of questionable things but with the situation Clary was in, it made sense for her to use her ability in that moment.

Here comes the one thing that I didn't like about this episode. Now, looking at it now it isn't really a bad thing that I disliked it considering the circumstances but overall, it was just super strange. Alright, so Clary wants to get her mom back and with that thought in her mind she finds a warlock who is willing to do so. A little bit later, the warlock asks her to do a favour...And that favour is to carry a shadowhunter, demon hybrid baby. And in order to do that, the demon obviously has to impregnate her and that is what made me so uncomfortable. It just felt so gross and very out of place of the show. It was very, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I just really hated that entire plot line. That is all I will say on that.

Last season, Jace and Clary's relationship was very rushed and forced. That with the horrible script and the lack of development of the characters resulted in a disappointing portrayal of the Clace relationship. I can say with confidence that I am believing Jace and Clary's relationship in this episode---this season. It just feels like the relationship from the books, and the portrayal is better and the chemistry is growing. I feel like once they're revealed to not be siblings as Sebastian is coming in very soon, romantic Clace is going to knock original first season clace out of the water because of how the show is developing their characters and relationship.

Another thing about their relationship is that I can feel Jace's romantic love for Clary and I can sort of see that Clary is trying to suppress her feelings and see Jace as a brother. I don't know if I'm just telling myself this or if it's actually happening. They had so many great moments in this episode that really touched my fangirl heart. This just makes me very excited for the Seelie court scene!

Speaking of Jace, we got book Jace in this episode and not only that it was so believable. I was so shocked when I laughed at Jace like what? I only laugh at book Jace but wait---we're seeing book Jace! The arrogant, cocky and sarcastic Jace! I've always known Dominic Sherwood would be a good Jace I just don't think the show had a good script originally.

Did I mention I love the new writers and show runners? Also, Todd Slavkin liked one of my tweets, AKA one of the showruners AND he previously worked on Smallville which is one of my favourite shows.

Let's talk about Simon. For the past four-five episodes we've been leading up to this moment of Simon telling his mother he's a vampire and for a second I thought she was just totally going to accept her son but THEN, BUT THEN she called the doctor? So right now, it feels like she thinks her son is insane which will probably and hopefully lead into her not accepting Simon. But I can't wait to see where this story arc goes.

Now on the theory Aldertree is Sebastian... This episode is only further proving everyone's point. I mean at this point it seems so obvious. I really hope he isn't him, you know maybe he's just working with Sebastian because it would be so stupid to recycle the same plot twist as last season. It's stupid. It's stupid. And did I mention that it would be stupid? With how pleased I am with the new writers, it would be disappointing to do what we're all thinking. And I honestly do not believe that it would be their decision---it just feels like something the original writers would do. 

We got a funeral in this episode which is something I never I thought I would see in Shadowhunters. It was very interesting to watch and was very happy to see that they spoke in Latin I believe?? 

Well, that is all I have to say about this weeks episode of Shadowhunters! I hope you are liking it as much as I do.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

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