The show this season is doing a lot with the prejudices of the Shadowhunters against the Downworlders. While that's an aspect of the books, the show seems to be running with it, and I'm excited to see what they have in store.
The scene where Clary is under a spell had me uncomfortable because, even though I figured there was a spell or something similar involved, those weren't the sort of things you wanted Clary to be saying. I'm glad that she managed to get to Jace and tell him that was a spell, but I'm wondering how much Valentine has managed to make Jace doubt at this point. I fully expect him to still be questioning everything and not be sure of who to trust.
We get more information in this episode about Valentine experimenting with demon blood and the baby, and Jocelyn shares a flashback with Clary of when Jonathan was a baby and killed a flower, complete with entirely black eyes. I don't want to dwell on this for too long because I feel like I'll only begin to talk about spoilers from the book, and I don't think it's relevant to this particular episode. If I don't bring up Jace having demon blood for a while in my reviews, it's probably because I'm avoiding discussing the events of the books.
I appreciated how much interaction we got between Izzy and Alec in this episode. While I feel bad for Clary having to stay behind, I appreciate the scenes that were focused on the Lightwood siblings. They did a great job of portraying their relationship, just like always.
Ever since we got a little bit of information about it, I have been dying to see the Simon and Magnus parts of this season, and I wasn't disappointed in this episode. The dynamics between the two of them are fantastic. When Simon referred to Magnus as being his "Downworld sponsor" I was probably as excited as Simon was. I'm hoping we get a lot more of the two of them this season even if the other characters are around as well. I'd love to see them become closer friends. I think their personalities work well together on screen, especially to provide light-hearted moments.
Clary goes through a hard time in this episode, not feeling like she fits in with the Shadow World. I appreciate that the show has done this. Suddenly finding out you're not human is going to be emotionally difficult, and it would be unrealistic if that was never addressed. While it somewhat feels like it came too late considering this is season two, I have to remind myself of the actual time frame of the show. With that in mind, this episode was probably spot on when it comes to when Clary would begin to have these feelings. Her mom's awake, taking away one preoccupation, and now she can't go out, leaving her with more time to dwell on what's bothering her.
Dot still being alive was talked about within the fandom, so I don't think anyone was particularly surprised to see her. I am glad that she's still around, though I do wonder about her fate after the end of this episode. Things can only get worse for her.
I have to say that I'm almost surprised at how quickly things with Jace seem to be moving. I thought it would take longer before any of the other main characters managed to get close to him. I like it so far though, and I can't wait for the next episode to see what happens.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Naruto Shippuden Review: Episodes 371-375
This review will be a short one as the bulk of these five episodes was fighting. I've enjoyed them, but it doesn't leave me much to comment on.
I admit to having mixed feelings about Team 7's reunion. The scene between Sai and Sakura nearly broke my heart. I'm with Sai on not trusting Sasuke, and the fact that Naruto and Sakura so easily welcome him back as an ally makes me uneasy. I do understand it from a psychological standpoint–it's what I expected from them–but even with the knowledge from spoilers that I have, I don't like it.
Speaking of Sai, I felt bad for him when all of the teams were having their moments, Team 7 especially, and Sai was all by himself. We haven't gotten much of Sai recently, and he's one of my favorite characters. I feel like he gets the short end of the stick at times.
Since I don't have that many spoilers about what happens next (most of what I know happens further on), I'm curious to see how the next several episodes are going to play out.
I admit to having mixed feelings about Team 7's reunion. The scene between Sai and Sakura nearly broke my heart. I'm with Sai on not trusting Sasuke, and the fact that Naruto and Sakura so easily welcome him back as an ally makes me uneasy. I do understand it from a psychological standpoint–it's what I expected from them–but even with the knowledge from spoilers that I have, I don't like it.
Speaking of Sai, I felt bad for him when all of the teams were having their moments, Team 7 especially, and Sai was all by himself. We haven't gotten much of Sai recently, and he's one of my favorite characters. I feel like he gets the short end of the stick at times.
Since I don't have that many spoilers about what happens next (most of what I know happens further on), I'm curious to see how the next several episodes are going to play out.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Incorporated Review: 1x06 "Sweating the Assets"
Wow. This episode was intense. So intense that there were quite a few times where I had to look away while gory things were happening on screen. I know I bring this up a lot with this show, but as someone with a blood phobia, parts of this episode were impossible to watch. While this episode was difficult for me, I'm very happy we got to see what happened to Laura. I didn't expect to get an entire flashback episode about her. I figured that we'd learn what happened to her but that it would primarily be second-hand, with her explaining it to someone or something like that.
So I suppose that we've now got all of Ben's backstory up to joining the company, and we've got Laura's backstory. While Laura's was told over a shorter time frame than Ben's, I'm glad that we got to see both sides of their stories. I'm very fascinated with Laura as a character. I can't wait to see where she goes since she's grown up behind the wall and only has horrific memories of the red zone. I'm glad that now we have even more context for how she views the red zone.
I mentioned in my last review how Julian and Laura's friendship was interesting to me, and now I'm even more intrigued that the first time they met was him saving Laura's life. That creates some interesting dynamics between them.
This episode also allowed us to see more of Spiga's cruelty with them killing everyone who can tarnish their reputation, even the family members of their employees.
(Also, who else is very curious about what actually happened to Laura's father? I definitely am. I'm thinking that he had to 'betray' Spiga somehow. Maybe he tried to bring down the company.)
The characterization of Laura's kidnappers was interesting. You can see that they're desperate, and the fact that they were a family, complete with a mother and nephew, was an interesting set of dynamics to create. They had humanity in them even if that doesn't justify their actions.
Now that Laura's out in the red zone, I can't wait to see what happens to her or if anything does at all. For all we know the next episode could open with her back in the green zone, but I'm hoping that we get to see more of what happens to her while she's removing the girl's appendix.
So I suppose that we've now got all of Ben's backstory up to joining the company, and we've got Laura's backstory. While Laura's was told over a shorter time frame than Ben's, I'm glad that we got to see both sides of their stories. I'm very fascinated with Laura as a character. I can't wait to see where she goes since she's grown up behind the wall and only has horrific memories of the red zone. I'm glad that now we have even more context for how she views the red zone.
I mentioned in my last review how Julian and Laura's friendship was interesting to me, and now I'm even more intrigued that the first time they met was him saving Laura's life. That creates some interesting dynamics between them.
This episode also allowed us to see more of Spiga's cruelty with them killing everyone who can tarnish their reputation, even the family members of their employees.
(Also, who else is very curious about what actually happened to Laura's father? I definitely am. I'm thinking that he had to 'betray' Spiga somehow. Maybe he tried to bring down the company.)
The characterization of Laura's kidnappers was interesting. You can see that they're desperate, and the fact that they were a family, complete with a mother and nephew, was an interesting set of dynamics to create. They had humanity in them even if that doesn't justify their actions.
Now that Laura's out in the red zone, I can't wait to see what happens to her or if anything does at all. For all we know the next episode could open with her back in the green zone, but I'm hoping that we get to see more of what happens to her while she's removing the girl's appendix.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Shadowhunters Review: 2x01: "This Guilty Blood"
I'm so happy to be talking about new Shadowhunters episodes again (maybe how long it took me to get this review up doesn't show that, but I promise it's true), and I'm glad that season two will be longer and give us more episodes to talk about.
There is a slightly different tone in this episode than there was in season one. You can tell that some things have changed with the production, and while they seem to predominantly be for the better, it did make it a little difficult for me to believe that almost no time had passed since the season one finale. I feel like that was a natural consequence of a season break and the changes made though, and it wasn't something that detracted much from my enjoyment of the episode.
My primary difficulty in believing no time had passed was the scene between Clary and Jocelyn in that greenhouse thing. It was strange to me that they were having that conversation right then and in that building when it didn't seem like a natural progression from the scene of her waking up. Again, though, I know that was because of the season break, so it's not something I'm dwelling over.
I like that the show has shown us immediately that Jace isn't on Valentine's side. They're also doing an excellent job of showing how abusive and manipulative Valentine is. While that's something that's hard to watch, I like that they're not shying away from making it clear that Jace has been abused and is now being abused again by Valentine.
Victor Aldertree is an intriguing character. We haven't learned anything positive about him yet, and I wonder if it will stay that way or if he'll show a better side later in the season. I could see it going either way, but I do like the idea that he's now in the Institute and overseeing things for the Clave. It's clear that he won't be as swayed as past heads of the Institute, and that will make everything more difficult for the main characters.
When Luke's pack locked Simon in the storage unit I was so frustrated. I really feel for Simon. He has nowhere to go. Going to Luke was his last option and then he essentially gets kicked out of there too.
Of course I have to discuss the Malec in this episode. It was perfect. I loved Magnus insisting that Alec's actions at the wedding were for himself and not Magnus, and the fact that Alec went to Magnus and apologized had me absolutely melting. I'm so excited to see what's in store for them over the rest of the season. I sense that it will be good things even if there's tension at times. I'm very optimistic about how their relationship is being handled.
The end of the episode, of course, is Jocelyn attempting to kill Jace and Valentine jumping in front of the arrow. I have a feeling we'll see Valentine using this to manipulate Jace in the next episode. (Note: You're only reading this now, but I wrote it before episode two aired, so I've seen what happens now.) He has already been trying to convince Jace that Jocelyn doesn't love him, and he'll use this as proof (and not be entirely wrong). I'm sure he'll build up his sacrifice as proof that he's the one who truly does care about Jace. That's probably why he jumped in front of the arrow at all. I have no doubt that Jace will struggle with what happened in the next episode. While I am sure it will undoubtedly make for a great episode, I know it will be one of those storylines that's frustrating to watch.
There is a slightly different tone in this episode than there was in season one. You can tell that some things have changed with the production, and while they seem to predominantly be for the better, it did make it a little difficult for me to believe that almost no time had passed since the season one finale. I feel like that was a natural consequence of a season break and the changes made though, and it wasn't something that detracted much from my enjoyment of the episode.
My primary difficulty in believing no time had passed was the scene between Clary and Jocelyn in that greenhouse thing. It was strange to me that they were having that conversation right then and in that building when it didn't seem like a natural progression from the scene of her waking up. Again, though, I know that was because of the season break, so it's not something I'm dwelling over.
I like that the show has shown us immediately that Jace isn't on Valentine's side. They're also doing an excellent job of showing how abusive and manipulative Valentine is. While that's something that's hard to watch, I like that they're not shying away from making it clear that Jace has been abused and is now being abused again by Valentine.
Victor Aldertree is an intriguing character. We haven't learned anything positive about him yet, and I wonder if it will stay that way or if he'll show a better side later in the season. I could see it going either way, but I do like the idea that he's now in the Institute and overseeing things for the Clave. It's clear that he won't be as swayed as past heads of the Institute, and that will make everything more difficult for the main characters.
When Luke's pack locked Simon in the storage unit I was so frustrated. I really feel for Simon. He has nowhere to go. Going to Luke was his last option and then he essentially gets kicked out of there too.
Of course I have to discuss the Malec in this episode. It was perfect. I loved Magnus insisting that Alec's actions at the wedding were for himself and not Magnus, and the fact that Alec went to Magnus and apologized had me absolutely melting. I'm so excited to see what's in store for them over the rest of the season. I sense that it will be good things even if there's tension at times. I'm very optimistic about how their relationship is being handled.
The end of the episode, of course, is Jocelyn attempting to kill Jace and Valentine jumping in front of the arrow. I have a feeling we'll see Valentine using this to manipulate Jace in the next episode. (Note: You're only reading this now, but I wrote it before episode two aired, so I've seen what happens now.) He has already been trying to convince Jace that Jocelyn doesn't love him, and he'll use this as proof (and not be entirely wrong). I'm sure he'll build up his sacrifice as proof that he's the one who truly does care about Jace. That's probably why he jumped in front of the arrow at all. I have no doubt that Jace will struggle with what happened in the next episode. While I am sure it will undoubtedly make for a great episode, I know it will be one of those storylines that's frustrating to watch.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
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