“Could you deglamorize or whatever ?” : My thoughts on SHADOWHUNTERS

After months of waiting, Shadowhunters is finally here. It’s the second try at an adaption of the Mortal Instruments books and it airs on the channel Freeform. Now that we’ve all seen a couple of episodes, let’s try to do a recap of what’s been shown so far.

I’m going to be honest here, I didn’t particularly like the books : I hated most of the main characters (especially Clary, Jace, Jocelyn and Luke), I didn’t care for all the characters who arrived midway through the story (Jordan and Maia), I didn’t even bother to read City of Heavenly Fire, and the only reason I kept going for as long as I managed was because, as a counterpoint, I absolutely loved Alec, Magnus, Izzy and Simon. If you really think about it, it’s really not much to go with when you’ve been rolling your eyes and groaning in pain at the other 75/80% of the books.

That being said, I was still eager to watch the Mortal Instruments movie, and the same goes for Shadowhunters. While the movie was passable (not enough to launch a new series, but I’ve definitely seen worse), I find the show downright painful.

I always follow the casting process religiously, it’s always the most important part : Which actor is going to play my favorite character ? So, of course, I did the same this time.

On the whole, I’m rather okay with the faces they chose. And, I insist on faces.

Clary finally has true red hair. I still hate her, though. I thought that it would be pretty difficult to make me hate someone as much as I hate book!Clary, but I should know by now to never underestimate the rage that this series can put in me. Also, her voice is the most annoying thing. Dominic Sherwood as Jace has been fairly unimpressive so far, but at least I don’t hate him as much as book!Jace. I’m just completely indifferent so far.

 

I really love Izzy, and I have a hard time coming to terms with how she appears on the show. Yes, she’s sassy, she’s flirty, she’s confident, but there’s not really any depth to her yet. Besides, I can’t really forget Jemima West, who looked almost identical to the Izzy in my head. Simon’s the faithful, pining best friend so far, he’s fidgety and awkward and, on the whole, I think that it’s a bit too much.

Ah, Malec. There was talk about Harry Shum as Magnus and, of course, I agree that it’s difficult to get as pretty as Godfrey Gao, but I like the look of Harry’s Magnus. As for Alec, it’s more than an improvement from movie!Alec. He actually looks almost exactly like I imagined Alec. He was a bit more smooth-faced in my mind, but they sort of aged-up all the characters, so I don’t really mind. The sass is strong and I’ve loved it so far. He seems to be as annoyed with everyone on the show as I am, so at least I can sympathise.

I do like that they’re drifting a bit from the books. The Institute has been modernised and I think I’m probably one of the very few who really doesn’t mind. I actually like it. Some characters have already made an appearance (Camille), and I think that way it’s more suited for TV. The story is going to progress across several episodes and it gives them more time to elaborate on the plot points they want to spend time on. The costumes are also good, they are a clear improvement from the leather-party and platform-boots we saw in the movie.

But, all those things are not really enough to completely win me over. The acting is absolutely terrible. It literally makes me cringe. It’s full of clichés, whether it’s scenes or dialogues, I’m rolling my eyes at the unnecessary kisses (I get what they were doing with the whole Camille/Simon thing, but still, they could have spent less time on it), Hodge is creepy as hell, and so far, I’m just watching because I have nothing else to do. There’s not really much that keeps me coming back, and I have a feeling that I’ll give up on it at some point.

That’s what I”m still waiting for. The scene in Magnus’ apartment. Their meeting. I mean, 4 episodes in and Malec still haven’t met each other, what’s up with that ? But I do think it’s nice of them to drop mentions of Magnus in each episode. It’s almost like a tease.

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Anyway, if you’re still hesitating, here’s a little something to sum it up :

Pros	Cons
The costumes	The acting (so, so bad)
The aged-up characters	The romance and kisses in place of plot
The fact that they’re drifting a bit away from the book	Clary

 

Have you watched the first few episodes ? What did you think ? Anything else you think should be on the list ?

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