Thursday, April 7, 2016

Shadowhunters - Morning Star


The First Season of Shadowhunters comes to a close with a finale that wraps up several themes of the show's first year while laying the foundation for next season. As Jace (Dominic Sherwood) struggles with the truth about his parentage, and not nearly enough about how just a few episodes he was macking on his sister, Clary (Katherine McNamara) and the other Shadowhunters discover Hodge (Jon Cor) has stolen the Mortal Cup with plans to deliver it to Valentine (Alan Van Sprang) and double their efforts not only to find Hodge but also go to whatever lengths necessary to free Clary's mother from her slumber so they might have a chance against Valentine.

By the end of the episode Valentine will be rebuilding a new army of Shadowhunters, Clary will have to work with an enemy to free her mother (and destroy the hard-worn trust of the Downworlders to do so), and Jace will choose to side with his father in order to keep his friends safe (for now at least). The sacrifices are at least in part worth it as Camille (Kaitlyn Leeb) is good to her world in giving Clary what she needs to wake Jocelyn (Maxim Roy) from her slumber. The season closes with the world in even greater peril than when the show began, but at least for now Clary can claim a small victory as her mission to save her mother is complete.

Meh. I had the same reaction to the finale I've had with much of the show's First Season. If you aren't already a fan of the show there's little here to win you over. Jace siding with his father would have far more impact if he hadn't been forced into a corner to do so. Valentine's prophetic words about his wife and daughter eventually joining him could be foreshadowing or just the rantings of the show's villain. Jocelyn's return, and Jace going evil-ish, should shake up the status quo a little but Shadowhunters needs to make a concerted effort to build on something more than just teeny-bopper soap opera with a side of hipster fetish if wants to grow beyond a niche show with mixed results.

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