Sunday, April 29, 2018

Shadowhunters, Season 3, Episode 6: A Window Into An Empty Room




So, now we got like a dozen different storylines which somehow all converge on one restaurant where people are having dinner supposedly with Maryse to make he feel better about her new non-shadowhunterness but instead everyone gets involved in her own issues because everyone is self-absorbed and terrible

Anyway rewind - Maryse goes back to the institute without her marks - she’s been excommunicated. Originally the guards won’t even let her in but Alec nixes that idea. Maryse is very much putting on a brave face insisting that everything’s fine and she’s enjoying her new life but when Izzy pushes her it’s clear she’s feeling more lost. She doesn’t know how not to be a Shadowhunter and is focused on her kids instead - hence the big family dinner where everyone shows up to try and make her feel better while all so involved in other things they can barely give her five damn minutes.

So let’s start with Simon. Heidi catches up with him, explains that he’s her sire and how she’s totally obsessed with him in a deeply unhealthy way. And Simon is deeply sympathetic about what she’s gone through and very guilty about his role in it and very sad about the fact she’s faced so much abuse all her life that even someone being marginally less abusive seems like kindness. But she’s also creepy and disturbing.

When she tries to kiss him he tells her he has a girlfriend. And she asks her name with a gleaming “SO I CAN EAT HER SKIN!” look in her eyes. Simon decides to hide pass and run away

Simon testing his deadly mark with Ryan (and showing how vampire speed is rather faster than werewolves speed was much more fun than this.

Simone tries to get hold of Raphael to see if he can take over looking after Heidi which obviously doesn’t work. So instead he hovers over Maia (including at the bar where everyone goes and she works) to protect her from marauding stalkers.

But instead Heidi sees him give advice to Izzy on how to help her mother (he has experience with supporting his mother through difficult times since his mother has alcohol issues) and Izzy kisses him for being such a good friend

So Heidi attacks her, which doesn’t go well since Izzy is an experienced shadowhunter. But Simon pleads for her, despite Izzy pointing out she has killed humans, though Simon does point out fledglings have issues with their hunger and she had no support - which he totally will provide now. Izzy backs off

And Simon hands Heidi over to the Praetor Lupus, despite her objections and needing to be drugged. And… I can respect this decision despite the drugging. Simon is in no way in a place to take on someone as troubled as Heidi. And her issues with him mean even if he were in a better place I don’t think he’d be the appropriate person anyway, aside from her putting everyone woman he looks at in danger. It’s a terrible, awful situation but this may be the best way to deal with it




Oh it also looks like Ryan is avoiding Maia so I’m going to say now they have Bad History.

Magnus and Alec are all tense because Alec is confronting the whole fact some day he’s going to be a momento in Magnus’s box of dead lovers. He also moans that one day he will be old and feeble and Magnus all young and sexy still. Alec, have you not seen the Institute? I don’t think even a quarter of Shadowhunters make it to 40; it’s the only explanation for why the kids are always in charge. Magnus suggests that Alec’s insecurity is due to Magnus himself being his first ever relationship so he’s unused to relationship drama, which Alec pouts over and takes to mean Magnus is calling him a child. So Magnus calls him childish. So he has a tantrum and stamps away from the table. And lo folks, 5 episodes we had without their relationship being torpedoed

This leads to Alec getting super drunk at his mother’s dinner so he has to bail rather than be a supportive son, supported by Underhill who is definitely flirting with him

Alas we must look to Clary because of course we do. So she wants to tell the Clave they have a big angel killing demon in town but Luke points out they’d have to reveal the whole “I wasted mankind’s one wish on fecking Jace” think so they decide not to do that because the self-absorption is epic here. Instead she frets that Jace is acting all weird and asks Magnus about it who remembers the big scary loveless potion he sold Illith.

Logical leap later and they’ve decided this was used on Jace and not that, say, he’s just so sick of Clary. Honestly Magnus has met Clary (though I’m not buying the investment in her) he should realise this is a possibility. They decide to get some secret books from Brother Jeremiah a very different Silent Brother who has history with Magnus

This raises the spectre of an Infernal Devices tv series as well.

I feel threatened.

Anyway he also reveals that Jace hasn’t actually attended to have mental health treatment as he claimed and really people should have been more suspicious about his miraculous recovery

Evil!Jace (a mild improvement over moping Jace) has been instructed to hunt down one more good person so they can kill their loved one and become another sacrifice. So while Jace is also at the really packed restaurant he’s looking out for people with good auras. He starts with Izzy’s new boyfriend but eventually settles on Ollie, Lucian’s partner who is in the Restaurant for REASONS

Lucian is there to talk to Maryse and offer support since he knows what it’s like to be excommunicated from the Shadowhunters, which is kind of nice since she was unpleasant to him when he had his runes stripped after becoming a werewolf. But also because everyone has to be at this restaurant.

Jace chases Ollie in his owl demon form - only to be stopped by Clary and Lucian who shoot him - and remove his disguise. Yes the big bad is Jace - and he escapes

Ollie is possessed and neither Clary or Lucian even seem to notice. Shadowhunters if you actually have Ollie kill her partner and throw in a dead lesbian dead at the hands of her lover that will be Really Bad.