REVIEW: Shadowhunters – 3.14: “A Kiss From a Rose”

*sings* “All by myself, don’t wanna be. All by my-“

Roses sure may look pretty, but be careful of their thorns. At least that’s what happens to Clary in “A Kiss From a Rose.”

Every Rose Has Its Thorn: And every demonic shadowhunter of a brother has their issues. Clary and Jace’s ice skating date was supposed to be the light-hearted element to the episode. And it was, until Jonathan wanted Clary back and took matters into his own hands to do so. He tried to bamboozle Clary by appearing and acting as Jace. I always appreciate a Shadowhunters episode where the cast portrays a different character. Dominic Sherwood totally captured Jonathan’s mannerisms. Wanting Clary back by your side is one thing (for an antagonist character), but as a blood relative – Jonathan took it a step too far. Still portraying Jace, Jonathan kisses Clary. Knowing Jace is Clary’s boyfriend, this could just be an attempt to further fool Clary. But all it did was make her that much more aware that this man standing before her, wasn’t Jace. There are two instances I want to mention that relate to this. 1) Jonathan kissing Clary further emphasized his obsession with her. I believe this was completely intentional and he wasn’t just doing this to appear as Jace. Having actually read the book this season is based on (I’m so proud of myself!), I know that book Jonathan takes this obsession much further. To that I say, writers please continuing working your magic and omitting or modifying the book’s problematic scenes. For Clary’s sake, I hope this doesn’t continue. 2) With Clary hesitating to capture Jonathan, we’re slowly beginning to see her descent into darkness. But as I’m thinking about that and with what I just mentioned, will demon Clary actually want to be with Jonathan? *shudders*

Is there a new outlook on Jordan Kyle?

Who Locked the Wolves In?: With Maia’s entire pack slaughtered, no cell service, Jordan severely injured, and to top it all off: the Jade Wolf’s closed on Mondays – the chance of Jordan and Maia’s survival doesn’t seem very likely. Given how last week’s episode ended, this was my most highly anticipated story-line for “A Kiss From a Rose.” And both Alisha Wainwright and Chai Hansen did not disappoint and deserve all the awards! In explaining Jordan and Maia’s scenes and chances of survival in this episode, a writer of Shadowhunters tweeted, “What if they…don’t?” I immediately knew I was in for a wild ride with them during this episode. When you’re confined to these situations, I feel like you latch onto your survival instincts. Case in point, Maia and Jordan sharing happy memories from when the pair dated. Given Jordan’s dwindling health, these could be their last few moments together! However, I’m not going to swoon over these two and especially not over Maia apologizing for her previous actions. Let’s discuss the elephant in the room (or werewolves in the storage closet). While Jordan was transitioning from human to wolf, he was abusive to Maia! Plus, he turned her into a werewolf in a frenzy, panicked, and then bolted – leaving her to figure everything out on her own! Sure Jordan realized his terrible actions, joined the Praetor Lupus to do good, and ended up reconciling with Maia, but that doesn’t excuse his previous actions. And you don’t see Maia, Luke, or Simon intentionally hurting their friends because they were turned into werewolves or vampires! I know there are many conflicted opinions on Jordan Kyle/Jordan and Maia’s relationship, so I’d love to know what you guys thought of their scenes in this week’s episode. I’m sure as their relationship continues on the show (that is if Jordan lives to be honest), I’ll rant even more about these two.

“See, this is the color I want.”

Warlock Dealings Go “Head to Head”: Magnus has a serious case of FOMM (fear of missing magic) in this episode. So much in fact that he requests the help of Lorenzo, new High Warlock of Brooklyn and overall trickster. It’s pretty much apparent that Magnus will do just about anything to get his powers back – like giving Lorenzo his apartment! “They’re just things,” he tells a very peeved Alec. If given the choice again, “I’d do it again,” he says. But if you want my opinion, I definitely think Lorenzo took advantage of him in forcing Magnus to choose either magic or his apartment. But at the end of the day, it was Magnus who ultimately made that decision. And as we see towards the end of “A Kiss From a Rose,” it looks like Magnus might be making up for lost time (and magic). It doesn’t seem like his magic-hungry actions are doing him much good, and that is absolutely his fault! How much longer do you think until he’s back to square one and magic-less…or worse?

What were you thoughts on 3.14: “A Kiss From a Rose”? Leave all your thoughts in the comments below!

The next new episode of Shadowhunters, 3.15: “To the Night Children” airs next Monday at 8/7c on Freeform. The promo for it can be viewed below.

Do you think Maia will get her revenge on Heidi? Or will Heidi win once again (let’s hope not). How long will it take for Magnus to realize he needs to cool it on the magic? And is that Aline?! Yes!