This week’s Shadowhunters brought Clary one step closer to her mom, only to have her then sent two steps back. After a nightmare/flashback of Clary getting her memories taken as a little girl, she awoke to find Simon. She then told him that her dream contained a man named Magnus. Simon knew exactly who she was talking about and the episode went on from there.
Speaking of Simon, it looks like things aren’t going too well for him. Hallucinations about Camille point to bad signs. Not to mention he ingested a dap of Maureen’s blood after she accidentally cut herself, which is clearly pointing him down the path of vampirism. He also left the Shadowhunters to head back home, and of course, no one but Clary cares because no one really likes him except for his best friend. Now he’s more vulnerable to Shadow World threats. Oh Simon, hopefully everything will turn out okay.
Since Maureen was brought up that means that it’s time to discuss love triangles. Oh my, there is so much love in the air, but no one knows who to give it to. Maureen actually stepped up this episode and told Simon that she wanted to go out with him. Unfortunately, Simon didn’t feel the same, but he knows how that feels because he’s still trapped in the friendzone with Clary. Clary and Jace on the other hand, still pretty much know that they like one another, but Jace still hasn’t seen the signs of how Alec feels, or has he? (More about that in a second.) It also seems like Alec may be interested in someone as well, which adds another layer to this love triangle. Isabelle on the other hand, is still doing her own thing.
Izzy’s character has some minor improvements this episode. Even though her over sexual tone is still a problem, she stepped up this episode and was able to apply her friends with the necessary information to meet Magnus Bane. It also turns out that she’s pretty good at picking out party outfits, especially for a Downworlder Rave. On a more serious note, there were two very small moments that showed a different side of Isabelle, and they happen to be when she was talking to her brother. Not only does she give him helpful advice, but she mentions how she was tired of doing the same routine everyday. Now this might be a stretch, but maybe that’s why she acts the way she does in the first place. She decided to spice things up her way. That’s only a theory, but future episodes will tell if that’s true.
Now on to the subject of Magnus Bane. Magnus had to be the best part of the episode. Harry Shum Jr. does a great job of playing a flashy high classed vampire warlock who does whatever he wants. It was even better to see him so casually flirt with Alec and then see Alec smile back everytime. Shum is definitely the right person for the role, although there were some issues in regards to the character. One of those problems being that he easily swayed. After Clary saved that girl he was completely on board to help her. Yes, it was a noble deed, but talk about the flip of a switch. The biggest problem, though, was his lack of power. For someone who has been alive for so long and who is claimed to be really powerful, it didn’t seem like that power was displayed other than the moment he teleported everyone in an instant, and even then that wasn’t that great of a feat.
Another part of the episode that wasn’t that considerably good was the greater demon. That creature was definitely mislabeled somewhere down the line. Admittingly, the CGI where the demon was concerned was satisfying, but it was put to waste. It was interesting to see that the monster required a memory from their closest loved one, hence Jace potentially finding out about Alec’s feelings, but then the demon was easily cast aside. One good thrust from Clary and that thing was dead, and Jace called that a rare feat. I mean, I feel like anyone could thrust a sword forward, so I don’t understand how all Shadowhunters don’t have a greater demon award or something like that, but hey, I don’t write the stuff. Point being that the demon was destroyed as well as Clary’s old memories.
Despite all the negatives, this episode was good overall. With the inclusion of things like Magnus’ charm, Alec’s sexuality and Isabelle’s improvements, “Raising Hell” continues to display that this show is getting better with time. If this pattern continues then the season finale will definitely be an interesting one, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
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7/10
Shadowhunters airs Tuesday nights at 9/8c on Freeform.
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