Ten months after the last one, I'm here with a new Shadowhunters review! I promise that I will review every episode. I was worried about watching the show once I got back to the US because, in Japan, I could watch the series on Netflix, but in the US, I can't. Turns out, I can watch it on the Freeform website for free in the US, so it wasn't an issue at all. I don't like Freeform's video player, but it's better than nothing! (It's kind of nostalgic because this is how I used to watch the show before I moved to Japan too.)
After so long, I'd forgotten how dark the lighting in Shadowhunters is. I had to crank up the brightness on my laptop in order to see anything. On the flip side, I'd also kind of forgotten how much I enjoy this show. I'm probably more involved in the Shadowhunters fandom than I am any other fandom online even at the moment, but being active in the fandom isn't quite the same as watching the show for the first time in over a year. I'm overdue a rewatch from the beginning, I think, so I may do that after I finish reviewing these final episodes.
Magnus is staying at the Institute after losing his apartment. He's hesitant about this, but Alec insists that they "rule" against Downworlders living at the Institute is actually just a "suggestion." It's a big change from the Alec earlier in the series who was strict about every rule, and it's nice seeing that kind of character development.
Underhill spots Magnus in the dining hall that morning and gets strangely angry about it. Honestly, I don't get this at all. I wasn't Underhill's biggest fan from the start, but this episode really cemented my dislike for him. Still, I don't get his reaction. Later in the episode, he tells Magnus that it's because it's against the rules, and that's the only reason why. However, it seems strange that one of Alec's friends would seemingly have a stronger reaction to Magnus being there than anyone else in the Institute. If he was jealous in some way, it might make more sense, but the show is pretty insistent on portraying Underhill as not having any feelings for Alec (which is perfectly fine with me!), so it comes across as just baffling to me. Sure, some people are very passionate about following rules (Alec even used to be one of those people), but it feels like it comes out of nowhere and plays out in a strange way.
While they're eating breakfast, Clary gets a call from Luke, who tells her that he's been arrested for killing everyone at the Jade Wolf. Once he gets off the call, he tells the police officer that he plans on pleading guilty even though the officer is convinced that Luke didn't do it. Clary eventually arrives and begs Luke to let them get him out because she needs her dad. I enjoyed that scene because I love every scene that focuses on how much of a dad Luke is to be Clary and Simon.
Meanwhile, Maia is dealing with her entire pack being slaughtered. She knows Heidi is behind it, but Heidi beats her to the Institute and insists that she had nothing to do with what happened. Alec pardons her in exchange for telling them who is guilty, only for Heidi to insist to the rest of the clan that there's a traitor who clearly isn't her.
Maia is understandably furious when she finds out that Heidi has gotten off. She and Simon go to see a Mundane who can prove that Heidi was behind it, but Heidi gets to her first, leaving her in a coma. To be honest, I'm surprised that Heidi left her in a coma instead of killing her. Maybe she thought murder would make it too obvious that she was behind it? Either way, it wasn't that well thought through because Magnus was quickly able to heal the girl. Even though Maia gets to her first and kills her by injecting her blood with holy water (which is a detail from the books despite everything else about the situation being different), Heidi presumably would have still been caught then despite her confidence that she never would be.
While at the hospital, Simon also calls Alec and we get what is one of my favorite exchanges in the entire show: "Alec, it's Simon. The Daylighter." "I know who you are." Poor Simon thinking that Alec wouldn't have any idea who he is after everything. (Though it's true that they don't get nearly enough scenes together.)
Before Heidi dies, she also ends up revealing to Alec what Raphael did and Isabelle's role in letting him go. Instead of letting her participate in the raid on the Dumort, Alec sends her to Detroit to take in Raphael. The only thing that seems strange about this is the fact that Isabelle needed to go there and get Raphael and then bring him back to New York. Though we never see them, there are supposed to be other Institutes. Is there not one in Detroit (or, at the very least, closer by) that she would have taken him to instead?
In a bit of a surprise, Aline arrives in this episode! She is annoyed that they had Jonathan but didn't manage to bring him in. Her anger towards Clary specifically is kind of understandable considering the circumstances but also kind of jarring. The scene where they spar with each other makes me extremely uncomfortable even before Clary winds up hurting Aline. I just don't like watching it at all.
The episode ends with Magnus and Alec agreeing to move in with each other moments before Magnus' nose starts bleeding. It escalates to blood coming out of his mouth. He was already hearing ringing and appearing weak any time that he did magic, so something happening isn't a surprise, though even rewatching the episode, the sight of that much blood is still a bit of a shock. It definitely gets your attention right as the episode ends.
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