Shadowhunters | 1×01 Review (Spoiler-Free) – The Perks of Being a Book Freak

So this review is actually spoiler-free for those who haven’t seen it yet, but are debating it. There will be no discussion of the plot.

Synopsis:

“Clary Fray is thrown into the world of demon hunting after her mother is kidnapped, and must rely on the mysterious Jace and his fellow Shadowhunters Isabelle and Alec to navigate this new dark world. With her best friend Simon in tow, Clary must now live among faries, warlocks, vampires and werewolves to find answers that could help her find her mother.”

Characters/Acting:

Clary Fray: our main protagonist; she is an eighteen-year-old independent young woman. And on the night of her eighteenth birthday, she finds out that she descends from a long line of Shadowhunters, who are half-human, half-angel hybrids. She is being portrayed by Katherine McNamara. I am a bit on the fence about Clary at this point. Many of her reactions felt over dramatized, which would have been okay if she was the same age as Clary in the book series (The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare). But she’s eighteen. I think she would have held it together a little better than that. But I am still not going to complete judge the actors and the show until we’re a good five or six episodes in.

Jace Wayland: he is a Shadowhunter who bumps into Clary, which sort of sets her on the path of discovering who she is. He is one of the best young Shadowhunters there is. He is being portrayed by Dominic Sherwood. He is snarky, sarcastic, charming, and pretty decently attractive. He is fascinated by Clary. I feel like Dominic is Jace as far as I am concerned. He is a phenomenal actor (if you remember, he portrayed Christian Ozera in Vampire Academy), and he definitely does Jace justice.

Simon Lewis: he is Clary’s best friend; they’ve been friends forever and when Clary finds out about the Shadow World, she drags him right along with her. He is in love with Clary, though she doesn’t know that. He is being portrayed by Alberto Rosende and right now Simon is my favorite character. Everything he said just made me chuckle. I just thought he was portrayed fantastically well, and I just really am loving Simon right now.

Isabelle Lightwood: she is the adoptive sister of Jace; she is beautiful, intelligent, flirty, badass, and a protector. She is essentially my favorite character. She becomes really close with Clary and sort of helps her understand everything that is being thrown at her. She is being portrayed by Emeraude Toubia, and she is Isabelle as far as I am concerned. She is a great actress and she really impressed me with how she presented Isabelle.

Alec Lightwood: he is the one that I dub as the “debby-downer”. He is Isabelle’s older brother. He believes that you have to follow every rule the Clave sets out, and his rigidity really frustrates Clary. He does not like Clary. He thinks she is just a risk, an unncecessary one. He is pretty protective, and he is being portrayed by Matthew Daddario. He is Alec. He portrays him so well, and I am really excited to see what else he brings to the table.

Jocelyn Fray: she is Clary’s mom; she is a Shadowhunter that ran from a man with an object that he wants back. She is portrayed by Maxim Roy. I am very on the fence with her. I don’t know. Maybe it is just me, but I just couldn’t fully get on board with her. Eveything just seemed too cryptic in tone for my taste.

Luke Garroway: Jocelyn’s best friend and a father figure to Clary. He works as a NYPD detective. He is portrayed by Isaiah Mustafa. I am sort of on the fence about him. I don’t know. He just doesn’t seem at all like how I imagine Luke to be like. Just a weird vibe I have.

My Thoughts:

I thought the episode was a good start. It definitely has potential. I do feel like the weakest part of the show were the lines. They were very cliched. I think they are all phenomenal actors, but the lines were not good. The special effects were okay and the demon-design definitely needs to be more developed. Altogether, I would give this a C+. I do think that they are accelerating the timeline of the events that happen. I also think they are completely overplaying the love triangle. I never really thought of it as a love triangle because Clary loves them in two different ways. She loves Jace as in she is in love with him and she loves Simon like a brother.

Well, that was my spoiler-free review. If this interests you. you should definitely check it out. It premieres every Tuesday on Freeform or every Wednesday on Netflix. Please feel free to comment your overall thoughts on the show. I would love to read them!