#plus i understand that the way he does it is so *iconic* that deviating from it is odd

[genderqueer-karma]

should i post a sketch i did? it’s a small one, but i’m actually sort of proud of it, because i deviated a bit from my usual cartoony stuff ( ^ω^ )

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters, 3x13 Beati Bellicosi -- Review

Welcome to another Shadowhunters episode. I know this review is coming a little late. But what’s a girl to do? 3B has had such an underwhelming start that it’s an actual chore for me to talk about this show. Plus, I fear my reviews are getting quite repetitive. I honestly don’t know what to say about this show that hasn’t been said a million times before. This week we have Shadowhunters 3x13, Beati Bellicosi.

I would like to preface this review with saying that I am NOT a huge supporter of this show. I do enjoy certain elements of it but I’m not what would be classified as a devoted fan. For me, Shadowhunters is not a good show and I do get very critical of the show in my reviews. Honestly, for me, I watch the show because 1) I’m too curious not to and 2) I find that this show can be so bad its funny and that’s how I reap enjoyment out of it. I am not at all invested in this show or its characters anymore. I’m just watching to see what happens. If you’re a die hard fan and you lash out at everyone who has a different opinion than you, you might want to skip these…I’m just saying. My reviews may not be for you. If you do decide to be a total troll, well then pay attention to the below disclaimer.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you’re the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that’s on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that’s the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I’m not telling YOU how to think and feel. I’m telling you what I, quirky and socially awkward me, think and feel. So please, lets discuss with dignity and respect. If I’m critical about this show, it’s only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters, I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It’s great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to point out the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do like the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my fondness for the books. I don’t really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as the changes are good, it makes sense, and it doesn’t create plot holes within the confines of the world the show has created. My problems with this show are problems I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the books and movie.

This episode was more of a filler kind of episode which really just left me asking, “why?” There’s already so much going on and this show only has 10 more episodes, they can’t afford these kinds of fillers. Things need to hurry up and start happening. Seriously, I don’t understand how this episode can have so much going on and yet nothing also happens at the same time. But by this point, I know full well how the Shadowhunters Writers Room works. The majority of the season is always filler, filled to the brim with inconsequential moments and the last two episodes of the season is when plot actually starts happening and it’s always unsatisfactory due to them not actually using the entire season to properly arc a plot and a character’s development.

The Mary Sue Comes Home

Mary Su- I mean, Clary is finally brought back home to the Institute in all of its anticlimactic glory. I still retain my stance from the previous review that it was completely pointless for Clary to start the series off with Jonathon if she was only going to be rescued in the very next episode. But anyway, everyone is super happy that Clary’s back except for Clary it seems. I mean, seriously, the energy Kat was giving off in these reunion scenes felt like she was giving an obligatory hug to these people who she supposedly loves as if they were family. These people thought she was dead, that they would never see her again. She thought she was going to die, she had no way of knowing if she would ever be able to escape Jonathon, she thought she might never see any of them ever again. How about once more with feeling, Kat?

Upon Izzy greeting Clary, she makes a comment on how she’s going to chop Jonathon to bits and pieces and again, I’m left asking myself, “What exactly has Jonathon done to require that level of rage?” He killed a couple of dudes she barely knew. Sure, he injured Max but Max made a complete recovery with no consequences. I can understand wanting to bring Jonathon in to receive justice, maybe even rough him up a little bit, but this whole “kill on sight” angle doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. In the books it did, because Jonathon did things that legitimately left a mark on these people, their vendetta was deeply personal, but that doesn’t exist in the show. It’s like I keep on saying, if you’re going to deviate from the source material, that’s fine, I don’t have a problem with that. But you can’t deviate and then expect to continue with the book’s plot as if nothing happened. By making that change, the entire context for that particular plot has changed, the entire plot now has to change to account for that deviation. Izzy is then later filled in that chopping Jonathon into bits and pieces would result in also chopping Clary into some Mary Sue bits and pieces so she understandably backs off. Alec then mentions that he’s put out an alert to all the other institutes that Jonathon needs to be captured alive and again, I’m just wondering, what has Jonathon done that would evoke every shadowhunter’s ire in this show? In the books, it made sense because he was responsible for a demon attack in Alicante that killed dozens of shadowhunters (men, women, children, elderly) but no such thing happened in the show so again, “why?” Why would they care about enacting death upon this guy? I’m also very confused about why other Institutes would pay any attention to Alec’s proclamation. It’s been made abundantly clear that the Clave doesn’t trust Alec, in fact, they weren’t even the ones who put him in charge of the Institute. Jace gave the title to Alec so again, “Why?” Why would they put any credence on this kind of proclamation? Especially, since the Clave was all for executing Clary literally a week or so ago. But whatever.

Continuing on, everyone seems to be super chill about Clary being linked to a super villain and the only one who seems to be worried about it is Clary. But in the end, even she stops worrying about it. I suppose they’ve as well gotten used to the convenient writing so they feel this isn’t something to worry about, they have absolute faith that the writers are going to pull something out of their asses. It was weird that Clary is so ready to get rid of the mark, she exclaims constantly that she can feel Jonathon underneath her skin and then all of the sudden, just in time for the episode to end, she decided out of the blue she’s not going to worry about it. And we get the Clace sex scene. Which was just really yuck to me. First of all, they started it all with that iconic Jace line from the books which just does not work in the show’s context, it’s unearned and it felt extremely awkward and cheesy. Second of all, Kat and Dom have 0 romantic chemistry so I wasn’t feeling anything in the scene, there were more sparks in Dom and Alisha’s scene. And thirdly, Jonathon and Clary are linked and it’s being heavily implied that they can feel everything the other feels. So it’s really gross thinking that while Clace is having sex, Jonathon is on the other side of the bond feeling everything that Clary’s feeling. It’s like a really weird non-con threesome, it’s gross and I wish to scrub it from my mind. And I’m just going to put it out there that the “morning after” scene was incredibly awkward. Like, if you didn’t have enough evidence to show how little chemistry Kat and Dom have just look at that scene where Clary is draped on Dom’s chest. Neither of them looked comfortable in the slightest and it certainly didn’t look like they just had sex.

We did get a little bit of a lore drop in which we find out that arch-angels Michael and Lucifer supposedly had the same bond and it was somehow broken. And I’m really just wondering again, “why?” Why did they have that sort of link? It makes more sense that this mark was caused by demonic influence as opposed to angelic influence. But whatever. I feel like that phrase pretty much sums up Shadowhunters in a nutshell. “But whatever.”

Izzy’s Drug Addiction

Yup, the drug addiction plot is still happening. I’m all for Izzy getting some character development and even seeing scenes of her legitimately working through this addiction and not getting some miracle cure with no consequences like she did last time but again, “why?” We don’t have the kind of time for this plot. We have ten episodes left for the show to wrap everything up. Please, Writers, you NEED to trim some of this fat. But Izzy tells Magnus that she had a relapse (sure it was to save Simon but it’s still a relapse) and Magnus makes sure to tell Alec right away and she and Alec have a conversation about it while on a hunt. And the hunt leads to them finding out shadowhunters are being killed for some reason? The show’s starting to really Bourne it up and I don’t really understand why. Again, it’s just something where I’m like, “Is this really necessary?”

Do Luke and Maryse Even Have a Ship Name?

This is a legitimate question because whether you like it or not, they are a thing that’s happening. Laryse? Is that they’re ship name? I have no idea. Beyond these reviews, I don’t spend a whole lot of time in this fandom. I still wish Luke’s endgame could’ve been Jocelyn. Thematically, it works better. But whatever. Jocelyn’s dead so I suppose we have to make do with Maryse in order to give Luke that romantic endgame. I just wish we had a better foundation for it. I don’t entirely hate the idea of them, it’s the execution of them I dislike. They feel like such an afterthought and just something the writers feel obligated they have to do as Luke is technically a main character and he needs to end up with someone and hey, since Maryse is currently single, why not her? I don’t really like the idea that she’s only here to be Luke’s love interest but whatever. As an idea, I could’ve liked them if they were more of a slow burn but that’s clearly not happening here. But they’re investigating something and that leads them to having an extremely forced kiss in typical Shadowhunters fashion.

The Next Pack Leader…Maia…Maybe?

That depends greatly on whether she still has a pack left. This part of the story revolves around the new pack leader being kind of a douche or at least that’s what the show is trying to make it seem like. Me personally? I’m not entirely realizing why this guy is supposedly a douche. He’s trying to ensure his pack isn’t in a situation where they get caught alone by vampires and then killed. Seems like a pretty solid leadership decision to tell your pack to not be out during the night hours. Granted, he could be a little more understanding of Bat’s work situation but at the same time, like I said, it’s a good protection measure against the threat. I didn’t really see how he was this horrible leader who was only doing this to exert control over others. But whatever. Show, you do you.

When Maia complains to Luke about the situation and Luke tells her he has no plans on coming back to the pack as he was a terrible pack leader (you’ll get no arguments from me on that front) Luke then tells Maia that if she wants to help, she should become the next leader. Maia is scared of fighting the leader but Luke basically tells her to organize a coup within the ranks of the pack.

As Maia plans for this, she decides to break up with Simon as she doesn’t believe that she can be a true alpha leader and have a boyfriend at the same time. Feminism at its finest, I guess. Who ever heard of a woman having a career and a love life? I know, it’s absolutely unheard of. And I guess she’s also just going to throw away her plans of becoming a marine biologist, as well. The whole reasoning for the break-up was extremely weak and even moreso when Simon reveals that he’s in agreement with it as he feels like they’ve just been growing apart. And I’m just like, “in what way?” She was gone for at most, a week and before the Jordan crap, they were practically unseparable. But again, whatever.

Now while all of this is going down, Heidi is basically using Jordan and vampires and manipulating a war between them and the episode ends strangely with Jordan dying and Maia fleeing with Jordan and locking themselves up in a freezer, I guess. Brilliant plan, right? Locking yourself in a place you have no escape from. Apart from the vampires and werewolves being beyond dumb with this super obvious manipulation, I dislike that someone who’s character arc was all about becoming strong enough to take over the pack, runs away from fight leaving her family to be slaughtered. This was a huge disservice done to Maia. Her arc has always been about her feeling helpless and then becoming strong to take over the pack when she realizes she’s not helpless and she can fight. But character arcing? In Shadowhunters? Please.

As I said before, it’s truly amazing how this show can have so much and yet so little going on simultaneously. This episode was really bland and ultimately I just didn’t care what was going. And it routinely left me with asking the question, “why?” This episode gets a C+ for me. I’ll hope for a better episode next time. But I’m not too terribly hopeful as I have an ask in my askbox currently letting me know this upcoming episode was a disappointment.