REVIEW: Shadowhunters – 3.12: “Original Sin”

Will Team Evil rise? And will Clary continue to wear this black wig please?

I’m sure I say this every handful of episodes or so, but “Original Sin” was easily one of my favorite episodes to date! There was just so much that enthralled me and kept my interest! From Clary and Jonathan running around Paris (albeit not for good reasons on Clary’s end), Simon trying to get rid of his Mark of Cain, to the simple Malec scenes we got – I loved it all!

Team Evil Take On Paris: Okay, so they’re not exactly “Team Evil”…yet. Nor has anyone really made a joke yet about this book reference besides the cast members. But I’m truly captivated by Jonathan and Clary’s relationship. I think what I find so interesting about it is how complicated it is. We know that Jonathan is our antagonist for this last batch of episodes, but how are we supposed to hate him when he’s sitting in a café with Clary, telling her about how Lilith’s “love marks” (burns) were torturous. And how when he first met Sebastian Verlac, that was the first time anyone ever respected Jon. All he wants is love and safety; and that’s exactly what he thinks he’s giving Clary throughout the episode. But snapping a French Shadowhunter’s neck because they tried to take Clary to the Paris Institute, treating Valentine’s house (has that been confirmed what it is on the show yet?) like a trashed hotel room at the end, and the constant looks and handling of Clary? That’s not love, that’s obsession. And let’s not forget the whole wanting the Soul Sword for…reasons. All of these traits I’m mentioning of Jonathan’s are of course negative, but what’s so interesting is how Luke Baines is portraying him. He goes from being a sad puppy dog to a ferocious beast in a matter of seconds.

But he is not Beast from Beauty and the Beast, nor am I ultimately rooting for his character in the end. I always appreciate it when we get origin stories for villains and antagonists, and I think Shadowhunters is doing an amazing job with capturing this. But with that said, I don’t think Clary is exactly Belle in this metaphor. Sure right now she wants nothing more than to be in Jace’s arms, back in the New York Institute, and away from Jonathan. But with her connected to Jonathan with the rune, there has to be a pull that will slowly drag her to Team Evil and become demon Clary. What are your thoughts on this? I will say though that I was kind of excited to see Clary stay with Jonathan a lot longer, to eventually become influenced by him. But, we’ll just have to see what later episodes hold for her.

Will Sizzy sizzle and burn our hearts for better or worse?

Something Sizzy this Way Comes: It’s finally happening! Years, seasons, and episodes of Shadowhunters later, Simon and Isabelle are finally becoming an item. What starts out as a search to find a way for Simon to remove the Mark of Cain, turns into a fight for his life. After meeting Cain himself, Simon’s told to visit the Seelie Queen to remove the Mark. The procedure is totally possible, but from how it looked, quite life threatening. So much in fact that he needs human blood to regain strength – er, Shadowhunter blood will work in this case. Isabelle’s telling Simon, “You have so much more to live for,” and a Ruelle song is of course playing. I should find this utterly romantic and be happy that Sizzy becoming “official” is just within our grasp. On the surface I do, but I personally don’t like that Isabelle was forced to receive vampire venom (via Simon drinking from her) in order to save Simon. She has an addiction to vampire venom/yin feng! Yes it was Isabelle’s choice on the show, but why would the writers think that was okay? Especially with the “life or death” circumstances for Simon?! Sorry if I’m being crass, but what if we were to put that in real life scenarios? That would never happen! I’ll wait to see how this plays out in later episodes, and how Isabelle is affected. Crossing my fingers she’ll be okay and Sizzy will be the adorable ship I want. Please let me know if anyone else got this from that Seelie Court scene, or was it just me? Side Note: Meliorn’s bi, so that’s awesome!

“Give your heart and soul to me, and life will always be. La vie en rose.”

Malec’s Mundane (yet all the more memorable) Moments: And then there’s Malec who spend an adorable amount of time in bed, training/working out, and living life to the fullest. This was definitely the most relatable, the and story-line of “Original Sin” that had the most “Aww” factor! Since Magnus is now sans warlock powers and mortal, he wants to try and make these 50 or so years he has left truly count! The Magnus and Alec scenes these past couple of episodes have been pure fluff and fun and I’m so here for it.

What were you thoughts on 3.12: “Original Sin”? Leave all your thoughts in the comments below!

The next new episode of Shadowhunters, 3.13: “Beati Bellicosi” airs next Monday at 8/7c on Freeform.
The promo for it can be viewed below.

Woah woah woah, an episode that looks to be focusing on Maia? (Also given that the episode title is the slogan for the Praetor Lupus! Will we see Jordan again?!) Luke/Maryse interaction, of the romantic variety? And was that Heidi?! These episodes are really getting better and better and I have conflicting feelings on this.