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hiddlesgirl · 7 years ago

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SH 215: A Problem Of Memory

Another great episode, a new character, some emotional scenes and a huge shock. I really liked the emotional scenes involving Magnus and Simon, they both made me cry and they both made some progress towards emotional stability. I love that we are seeing Izzy continue to grow in strength and confidence; she is giving out some great advice too.

We open with Simon being in a bad place emotionally, he is still extremely upset about what happened with Clary, feeling confused, conflicted and raw. The vampire Quinn buys him plasma; plasma is the largest component of blood which is rich in nutrients, it is often used to help treat immune and blood disorders, as well as burns, shock, trauma to name a few. To vampires it seems to have the effect similar to a shot of vodka. Think of blood like a vodka and coke, mixed the vodka isn’t as potent; but take vodka on its own and the effect is stronger; in this case the vodka is plasma.

Quinn then takes Simon to a bleeder den; a place where mundanes willing let vampires feed on them; I liked the set and the lighting. Simon feeds on a girl named Heidi, he is a bit wary because he doesn’t know if he will be able to control himself after what happened with Jace. I felt sorry for Simon, but the situation was understandable; his feelings are a mess and we all do stupid things when we’re hurting.

If you did not freak out about seeing Alec wake up, shirtless, on Magnus’ red sheets then you are lying. Not quite the bed scene we were all hoping for but maybe we’ll get there, and we can’t complain about seeing a shirtless Alec right? I really loved how Alec stretched his arm across the bed, feeling for Magnus and immediately sat up when he noticed his absence; and the sound of his voice when he called out Magnus’ name, all raspy and rough from sleep (I’m dead).

It is clear that Magnus is being tormented by the memory of his mother’s suicide, a side effect of being tortured. I liked the flashback scene, I love that we are getting to know and see more of Magnus past, even if it is extremely painful. I know that his mother’s death is different from the books because in the books she hung herself whereas in the show she stabbed herself; there could be a few reasons for this. One, to see a body hanging is quite a graphic thing and would probably be a bit more traumatic from the audience than seeing someone stabbed (which is a regular occurrence on the show); plus it may have been too graphic for the child actor they would have to have for the scene, or too graphic for the network (Freeform) which is owned by Disney. Two, without the keris we wouldn’t have had this build up since 2A, it is unlikely that a piece of rope would have lasted for centuries plus a noose is less conspicuous than a dagger, we wouldn’t of had that moment of Simon trying to use the keris to open Camille’s box too. Three, there maybe be another piece of the puzzle we haven’t seen yet as to why she used that dagger, or chose to stab herself as the way to take her life.

We get another example of Magnus using make up as an armour too, when he was alone looking in the mirror he had no makeup on, but when he faced Alec is had full makeup with eyeliner and eye shadow. It is clear that he is trying to present a normal front and trying to hide his pain, even from Alec.

I love the domestic vibe of the scene; and yes I did squeal when Alec said ‘I love that face’, it is such a sweet line and moment. Alec says that it is the fourth morning in a row that he has woken without Magnus being in bed; so for at least four days straight he has been sleeping at Magnus’. I think that this is a great indicator for their relationship, they feel comfortable sharing their space and sleeping with each other; Alec also feels comfortable sleeping away from the Institute despite knowing that people undoubtedly know this which shows a lot about how far he has come in terms of being comfortable with his sexuality and relationship with Magnus.

He expresses his concern for Magnus; he knows that something must be bothering him. I adore their conversation about Alec’s ‘adorable little snores’, Alec’s slightly offended expression and Magnus imitating little snores is so freaking adorable. I love their morning kiss, it is so sweet and domestic.

Magnus deflects from himself by asking Alec about Luke and while it is a genuine concern it is mainly a way to divert Alec’s attention; as Alec begins talking Magnus slightly dissociates, or zone’s out, and I really like they edited it, muffling Alec’s voice so that you experience what Magnus was experiencing. Alec once again voices his concern, he knows that Magnus is acting differently and wants him to be able to talk to him, but doesn’t push too much; it is very clear that Magnus is still very effected by what happened to him. I also loved that Magnus touched Alec’s deflect rune, I love that rune okay.

I liked that Izzy told Jace to leave Clary and Simon alone; right now they need to figure out their feelings and what that means for their relationship. Jace’s interference would only make it worse, especially for Simon. It’s okay for Jace to have feelings for Clary but he needs to let her figure out her relationship before he gets involved; it wouldn’t be fair to any of them, especially Simon.

Alec asks Jace for reassurance about his decisions as Head because he knows that his actions with the Downworld meeting are controversial; and he has felt slightly conflicted about Luke. He wants to know that Jace supports him, especially because Jace was the one to give him the job, he doesn’t want to fail or disappoint him. Alec is just learning to trust his gut more and have faith in his own decisions, so once in a while he just needs reassurance from another Shadowhunter, from his Parabatai, that he is doing a good job and the right thing.

Izzy is giving more sage advice to Clary, to give Simon time; time to process what happened and how he feels about it. Clary is adamant that she needs to fix it now, she keeps denying her feelings for Jace which is not helping the situation, and she needs to be honest with herself, so that she can be honest with Simon. Izzy is right, having feelings for two people at the same time doesn’t make you a bad person, but Clary needs to be honest and not mislead Simon because it will only hurt him more in the end.

The scene in the boathouse breaks my heart, Simon just wants Clary to be honest with him; when he found out they weren’t siblings she told him that she didn’t have feelings for Jace and it wouldn’t affect their relationship. He wants her to be honest even if it hurts him; he needs to know how she feels so that he can decide what he wants. His line ‘Because you don’t mean it the way I mean it.’ made tears build in my eyes, he knows that she doesn’t love him to the extent he loves her and it is killing him. He knows that they do not love in equal measure, maybe not even in the same way; if the Seelie Queen had asked him no one would have come close to Clary. He says that them trying to be more than friends was a mistake, because now he knows that she doesn’t love him how he loves her. He has loved her for so long and so deeply, but he cannot bear to feel second best or to stay knowing that she has feelings for someone else. Alberto and Kat broke my heart.

I love the shot we have of the Institute; I think it was really beautiful. We learn that Jace’s mother willing went to Valentine for the injections of angel blood because she mad miscarried before and was afraid of losing another baby; her motivations are completely understandable. I am a little bit suspicious of her death, apparently she committed suicide after Jace’s dad died and her body was ravaged by wolves; but she wanted a baby so much that she went to Valentine for injections so it is a little hard to believe that she would willing end her life, and the life of her child. Maybe I am just reading in too deep and the death of her husband was completely unbearable; but if she went to those lengths to have a child I struggle to believe she would willingly end that life.

I adore the scene between Simon and Luke, that he reassures him that he with always be there for him no matter what happens with Clary. I think this is a huge relief to Simon because Luke is the only parental figure he has who knows about the Shadow World, so to lose that would severely affect him. Luke’s line ‘You’re the closest thing to a son that I got’ warms my heart so much, he is reassuring Simon that they are family and that isn’t going to change. We also learn that a girl was killed by a vampire, and Simon’s prints were on her body; it was Heidi.

I love the scene between Alec and Izzy, he is beginning to open up to her more about his feeling, relationship and ask for her advice. Again he is showing concern for Magnus, and I think that he feels that being around Valentine wouldn’t help Magnus right now. Izzy is giving out more great advice by saying not to let Magnus push Alec away and that he may find it hard to ask for help; Magnus is extremely powerful, had few friends and has lived for centuries so it makes sense that he would find it difficult to be vulnerable and ask for help. Alec thanks her but says that right now Magnus needs space; I love that Alec, while worrying for Magnus, wants to respect his need for space and doesn’t want to make Magnus uncomfortable by pressuring him into opening before he is ready.

We meet Aline, who is a friend of the Lightwood’s and Sebastian’s cousin although he doesn’t seem to recognise her to begin with; which definitely sets off alarm bells. She points out that his behaviour and disappearance is strange and has come to a shock to his family, and that he seems different. She is definitely suspicious of him, which makes us even more suspicious; there is definitely something wrong. Which we find out when he goes back to his apartment to reveal that the person in his closet is the real Sebastian Verlac; he is an impostor.

Simon goes to Raphael for help, he knows that Raphael will be less likely to hand him over to the Clave and give him a place to lay low. Right now, thinking he killed someone, he is too ashamed to go to Luke who is a Cop, he isn’t talking to Clary and almost everyone else he knows is either a Shadowhunter or involved with one. So Raphael is really the only person who he has left to turn to, however Raphael wants to know how Simon became a Daylighter. Despite everything that is happening right now Simon will not betray Jace and put him in danger, he knows that it’s not Jace’s fault that Clary has feelings for him and that Jace doesn’t have any malicious intent towards him. So although Simon is hurt and getting rid of Jace would maybe solve his issue with Clary, there is no way that he would willingly give information that would cause harm to come to him. Simon doesn’t have it in him to willingly hurt someone, especially Jace who he has come to trust, saved his life and they have almost become friends. I admire Simon so much; despite his own pain he will not betray or hurt Jace.

Aline voices her suspicions to Sebastian, but they are soothed when he tells her about her girlfriend Caroline. He uses this information to reassure her and get her to relate and sympathise with him. It is great to have another LGBT+ person on the show, she seems to be an interesting character and I hope we get to see more of her. I love her coat and weapons holster by the way, badass.

We then see the real Sebastian escape the apartment, driven by the knowledge that the cousin he trusts is at the institute; he knows that if he can reach her he’ll be safe. I have to give kudos to Will for his acting, to portray to very different people in one episode is amazing; his body posture, expressions and demeanour changed for each character, I am very excited to see more of him in the rest of the episodes.

We find out that Simon didn’t kill Heidi because it was bites on her feet that were fatal, and Simon has a foot phobia; he finds out that it was Quinn when he goes back to the bleeder den. He is angry that Quinn is so nonchalant about killing her and is adamant that he is going to turn him over to the Shadowhunters; Quinn starts a fight. I really like this fight scene, it is rare we get to see Simon fight and I loved it; the choreography was really good and it looked realistic. When Simon killed Quinn it seemed that the other vampires were a little afraid of him; with his Daylighter status and showing that he is not afraid to kill other vampires, he has shown that he is not to be messed with. It will be interesting to see his interactions with other vampires after this.

We see that Magnus is still taunted by flashbacks, this time they include a man shouting at him as he stands by his mother’s body; he is so zoned out that he doesn’t even notice Alec’s arrival. He quickly tries to distract Alec, and himself, by fixing another drink; but Alec is not going to let it go this time. I adore that the first thing Alec says is that he loves him and he is there for him, not matter what; he is reassuring Magnus of his feelings and that Magnus doesn’t need to be scared. Also love that Alec used Magnus’ words against him ‘When things get crazy, don’t push me away’, he wants Magnus to know that he is there for him and to let him in.

Magnus opens up, explaining that he is reliving his worst memory over and over. I love that when Magnus sits down Alec knees in front of him, he is at eye level, close enough to give support and comfort but not to close as to crowd him. We learn that the man in the flashback was Magnus’ stepfather, who called him an abomination; this is when I begin to cry, Alec looks so bewildered at the thought that someone could think of Magnus as an abomination. He knows that Magnus is kind, selfless, loving and supportive.

You can see in Magnus’ eyes and expression as he talks that he believes all the things his stepfather said to him, he believes the worst in himself and it absolutely shattered my heart. Magnus had killed his stepfather and you can see how much that memory torments him, I believe that he did not mean to kill him only to hurt him. He was a boy who has just found his mother’s body and then was subjected to verbal abuse, amid the turmoil of emotion you can understand him lashing out just wanting everything to stop. He probably underestimated his power and killed his stepfather by accident; if it was his intention to kill him he would not be so tormented by it.

Magnus further breaks my heart with the line ‘I never wanted you to see this terrible, ugly side of me’, he never wanted Alec to see the dark parts of his past and the terrible things he has done, even if they were by accident. He didn’t want to have to show that dark part of himself to the person he loves. When Alec says ‘Hey’ you can see the hesitation in Magnus’ face, he is expecting Alec to be disgusted, appalled or to hate him; he has so much self loathing that he is expecting Alec to reject him now that he has seen this dark piece of his past.

Alec’s line makes me love him even more than I already do ‘There’s nothing ugly about you’, he knows that no one is perfect and that everyone has things that they wish they hadn’t done or that hadn’t happened. He is not going to reject or love Magnus any less because of this part of his past; he knows that Magnus would never willingly hurt an innocent and that he lashed out during a time of great emotional anguish at a person who was causing some of his suffering, and he isn’t going to blame or leave him because of that.

The utter look of disbelief and relief of Magnus face makes me cry, he was fully expecting contempt and rejection but was amazingly surprised by this wonderful man that he loves. Alec loves him, all of him, and the tragedy of Magnus’ past isn’t going to change that. He was so scared to open up and lose Alec, now he knows that Alec will be there, will not run away and he can be vulnerable with him without fear of rejection. I love their hug, Alec giving comfort he knows that it was difficult for Magnus to open up and have to relive that memory and he just wants to embrace him, and comfort him. Magnus relishes in the hug, knowing that despite knowing of his past this man loves him, allowing himself to take comfort from him. I just adore this whole scene, Harry and Matt once again shattering my heart with their amazing acting; I love these two characters, and their relationship, so much and I cannot wait to see their journey continue.

Poor Sebastian, just as we think he might reach Aline in time his imposter (literally) stabs him in the back. It will be interesting to see if fake!Sebastian is going to leave the body for people to find and go into hiding; or whether he will hide the body and continue his masquerade a while longer.

We see Luke and Raphael work together to encanto Ollie after she witnessed Simon’s strength and speed, it is important to both of them that she forget. Not only for the safety of Simon but for the entire Shadow World. However, they do not know that she shared a picture of a wolf with her girlfriend, so it will be interesting to see if this unravels because of that.

Simon reassures Clary that they will always be friends, that he still wants to be friends but the he is going to need to time. Time to process, time to heal and time to adjust back to being friends. This is completely understandable, he needs time away from her right now to let his heart heal before he can be her friend again; especially if that is going to mean seeing her with Jace. I love Clary for reassuring him that it doesn’t matter how long it takes she will always be there for him. She loves him and wants to be friends, but she acknowledges his need for time and will give it to him.

They are transferring Valentine to Idris, I am glad that Magnus will be the one to open the portal; I think that he needed to be present for his departure, to know that he’s gone and can’t hurt him anymore. Valentine has to have the last word with his dig about the air reeking of Downworlders, despite him having no control over the situation he remains smug and confident. As soon as Duncan grabs his shoulder you know Valentine is not going to make it to Idris, and he doesn’t. Our first glance of Idris looks beautiful; I look forward to seeing more in future episodes.

Valentine and Duncan appear in a basement with Sebastian waiting for them, it is revealed that he had been holding Duncan’s family hostage to get him to comply; and then he kills Duncan. Valentine seems confused and asks Sebastian what he wants; Sebastian then removed his glamour and HOLY FUCK! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!

The most common nickname I have heard is burnt chicken and I cannot help to agree, plus it makes me laugh. Sebastian then says ‘Hello, father’ so he is Jonathan Christopher; the believed dead son of Valentine and brother of Clary. I have to say huge kudos to the makeup team for the burnt chicken, apparently that took seven hours; amazing!

I really liked this episode, I have not disliked an episode of 2B so far, they are seriously stepping up their game and I am so excited for the rest of the season.

P.S; I have a theory about Sebastian burning himself. I think that it might be a habit or tick, and that he actually doesn’t really feel the pain of the heat burning his skin. He looks to be completely covered in burns, so I don’t think him burning himself would hurt him that much. It will be interesting to see if this is explained, and to learn why he is that way.

#SH 215 Review #Shadowhunters #SH 215 #A Problem Of Memory #SH215 #Shadowhunters 2x15 #Shadowhunters Review #Shadowhunters 215

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