In Shadowhunters: Bad Blood Clary still has the Mortal Cup and it seems that all this episode is about bad decisions versus right ones. The Institute is in trouble, mainly because of Clary Fray being allowed to run about rather than saying in the Institute under their protection. An envoy from the Clave; Lydia Branwell (Stephanie Bennett) is put in charge of the Institute and Simon is dead.
Although Clary’s BFF is not really dead just yet, he is a fledgling in “transition” according to Raphael (David Castro) who brings the young man to the Institute. Apart from explaining what Simon is going through, Raphael tells Clary and her fellow Shadowhunters that Camille, who turned Simon, is the one who broke the accords.
Valentine begins making his move to get the cup in earnest. Sending Forsaken to attack first the werewolves and then the Institute. At each attack a former Circle member is the target as Clary’s father starts seeking revenge from all who betrayed him.
Luke Garroway (Isaiah Mustafa) is first on Valentine’s list and Hodge (Jon Cor) is number two. Clary is beside herself with guilt over letting Simon down and Raphael explains that she must either allow her best friend to transform or kill him.
Magnus arrives at the Institute after being called by Lydia to research the dead Forsaken. The warlock is pleased to see Alec still does not know how he feels about Bane. Alec also seems pretty impressed with Lydia. Lightwood may be uncertain about how he feels about Magnus but either the Clave envoy nor Bane have any doubt about how they feel about Alec.
As Clary struggles with her decision about Simon, Luke reveals that her mother, Jocelyn stuck by him after Valentine changed him from Shadowhunter to werewolf. Another revelation has to do with Alec learning that his parents are also former Circle members.
Jace tells Clary the story of a boy and a wild falcon. The boy is told, by his father, to tame the bird and when he succeeds the man kills the creature. After Fray declares this the worst story she has ever heard, Jace reveals the morale of the tale. The boy was not meant to love the bird, just tame it.
Before Fray can choose Simon’s fate, Camille arrives to reclaim her pet mundane. Raphael, with the aid of other vampires stages a coup and Camille is destroyed. Simon is allowed to turn and when he becomes a vampire he is filled with revulsion at becoming a monster. He flees and Raphael promises to look after him before following the former mundane.
Lydia, who shared her backstory with Alec, takes over the Institute permanently and after Magnus advises Alec to follow his own heart, he proposes to the envoy. The plan being the they rule the Institute together. Branwell seems to like the idea.
It is also revealed that Luke was Valentine’s parabatai before he attacked him and turned Garroway into a werewolf. Apart from certain “bad” decisions much more of the Shadowhunters’ world is revealed. The backstories show a lot of history and explains a lot about Valentine’s rage.
By the end of the episode, Clary obviously feels that she has made a couple of bad decisions, not telling Simon’s mother and letting her best friend turn into a vampire. Simon is definitely not pleased about his new “state” and right now it looks like Fray has lost her BFF.
Harry Shum Jr. was not given a lot of screen time in this episode, but it is interesting to see his rather “fey” warlock again after watching his recent performance in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. Katherine McNamara is still working hard at being the heroine from Clare’s novels and only time will tell if she can completely convince fans of the franchise of her “veracity” as Clary Fray.
Mad props to Alberto Rosende for knocking it out of the park with his transformation scene, one for the tissue box most definitely. Kudos too have to be given to McNamara for her reaction to same. The scene had one reviewer reaching for a hanky and doing a bit of eye dabbing…
Thus far Shadowhunters continues to entertain, although it has lost that “snappy” feel from the opening episodes and moving into darker more tragic territory. The series airs Tuesdays on Freeform, tune in and see what you think. Does the show capture Cassandra Clare’s world or is it a complete miss?
