Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments Malec (2016– ) Online

So here's the deal: it's been established by episode 12 of 13 that the show is not the books. It is an entity of its own, paying truly thoughtful homage to the source material while maintaining a unique identity.

It's also not a mega-budget, critic favorite. That's not what this is. It was picked up by ABC Family, not bloody HBO.

In other words: If you have found by this episode that you're over whatever issues you have had with the show, you're over it. If not, you may never be. Because this episode was everything I could have dreamed of as a fan, and far more.

The writers are very smart; they chose to bring this specific couple to the forefront of the first season, rather than wait to give it the slow-burn treatment (that most gay relationships seem to get on television, and as it gets in the novels). And what's more is that it is treated like any other beautiful fictional relationship, regardless of sexuality. I feel like in light of recent llama drama relating to LGBTQ folks on TV being treated quite unfairly, this was a refreshing work of television.

This is not an awkward cast; they have genuine chemistry, and my goodness, it shows in this episode. The writers have taken a close look at character personalities, complexes, and inner struggles, and the cast has done fantastic at bringing these people to life.

One aspect I was really impressed by was the historical nature of the plot here; they introduce Ragnor, and you see and here bits that are evocative of The Infernal Devices. As a massive fan of that series, as well, it was heartwarming to watch... And may have made me slightly less skeptical on the subject of a potential adaptation.

Basically: This made the show for me. I'm floored. Thank goodness it's getting a second season; I daresay they will improve!

Honestly, this is still one of my favorite episodes. I love that they titled it Malec and honestly we got to see a gay couple get the same treatment as a cis couple which doesn't happen very often. This show just gets better and better each season though.

The best episode of the show, can't stop watching it, great job and keep moving forward.

Oh, gee. If only there was some way we could find out if we were truly related... you know, something like a blood test...

I know there was more to this episode, and much of it was pretty good, but the elephant in the script is hard to ignore. The actress playing Clary is slightly less irritating after the previous parallel universe episode (she showed there that she wasn't completely one dimensional), but it's still hard to watch her for more than a few seconds at a time. There's a difference between portraying an ingenue and, well whatever valley girly girl persona either the actress or the writers and director think to be good acting. Unless this is supposed to be a campy spoof...? No, I thought not. I doubt that Katherine McNamara could handle "camp" anyway.

The show is slightly improving in spite of the lame teenage romance (and bad acting chops) between Clary and Jace, but it's touch and go because said lame romance (and bad acting chops) keeps getting in the way of me getting drawn properly into this world. So far the ideas for the plot are far better quality than the execution of the scripts being written to communicate them.

Kudos to the actors portraying Magnus, Isabelle, Luke, Simon and Lydia for creating layered characters that supercede the mainly mediocre character writing, and which are drawing me back (so far) to see what happens next.

I didn't think it could get worse but boy was I wrong. each episode is a bigger train wreck than the last. Between the bad acting, lack luster directing, dime-store props/sets, and the non-existent plot, there is little to be said for this mess. I watch it from time to time just to see if there has been a turn around because I honestly enjoyed the book, but since these shows have little to do with the books at least it's not ruining that. I've seen High-school productions that have been better crafted in every way. I honestly hope it's not picked up for another season so I will have no reason to check it out anymore. need more lines to say this show is crap I guess ................ the actor who plays Magnus isn't too bad, there I said something nice.