It’s January 2019. I’m back from my internship and bored, so I’m binging on YouTube videos, and while doing so, I come across a fan edit of a couple. I’m intrigued. The couple looks cute together, it’s an MxM couple, and I’ve never been this fascinated with a couple before. I searched about them, and they are Malec from a TV show called Shadowhunters. I’m instantly hooked and binged the entire TV show just for them.
Yes, this is how I came across my favourite comfort show, and it changed everything for me. So, in this blog post, I’m going to review the show and tell you all the goods and bads about it. And yes, it contains spoilers.
The Goods
- Malec! This is why I started the show, and they didn’t disappoint. Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane are my absolute favourite characters. Not just as a couple but as individual characters as well. Cassandra Clare would never have thought that her side characters would become the main characters and carry the entire show on their backs. And they actually did. They became an icon of queer representation, helping countless people in the LGBTQ+ community feel seen, understood, and represented.
- Female representation. The show has powerful female characters, either as good ones or bad ones; all are badass and amazing. My absolute favourites are Isabelle Lightwood and Maryse Lightwood. Especially Isabelle Lightwood, she is strong, confident, bold and simply amazing.
- Character arcs and growth. The show really has some great character growth, especially of Maryse Lightwood, and also of Lorenzo Ray in season 3. You hate them at first, but love them when they get better over time.
- The storyline. I love most of it. Its action packed, fantastical, has great visuals and fight scenes, and is simply amazing. Even though it mostly centres on Clary and Jace, the protagonists, the side characters and their stories take the cake for me. Simon’s struggles, Malec’s love story, Izzy’s goods and bads, and the mystery in each season. I simply love it.
There are lots of good things about this show that I can go on and on without getting tired, so let’s move on.
The Bads
- The start is really annoying, especially with the scenes of Clary Fray and Jace Herondale, who are supposed to be the main characters. They do grow on me with time, but when I list my favourite characters and couples, they are second last. (Simon and Clary as a couple are the worst! No one can change my mind on that!)
- This is not per se bad, but something I really hated. Magnus being immature and overdramatic when he’s a goddamn 400-year-old warlock. Like, sir, come on, be a little wiser, please, can you! It was frustrating to see him act immaturely when he could have been more understanding and wiser towards Alec or the circumstance/situation.
- The entire plot of Clary turning stone and almost dying. I liked most of the storyline of the show, but that one is my least favourite. And that’s the phase where Simon and Clary are together as well, so NOPE!
- The ending. It was great, but it could have been so much better if the show hadn’t been cancelled. It was clear in season 3B that they had darker plans for season 4, but it was cancelled, so they had to somehow wrap it up.
Overall, I love this show, and I highly recommend it to everyone. It is a lot different from the books; characters are aged up, and there is so much representation around different things. I do love it when the movies/shows do not follow dot to dot of the books so there’s less chance of ruining the books. This show is one of them for me.
Do give it a try and let me know in the comments if you enjoyed watching it or not!
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