I'm making another attempt to listen to/rewatch season 1 of Shadowhunters and I kinda want to make a running commentary of all the amazing/hilarious/cursed stuff in these early episodes.

Exhibit A: Camille's incredible antique phone in 1.03!! that entire Vampire Aesthetic

Exhibit B: What happened to the demon-energy motorcycle Jace steals in 1.03? Why don't they regularly zip around the city on it? Seems super convenient.

Also, Izzy and Meliorn in 1.03 remind me that there was a time when Downworlders having no voice in Clave politics and their oppression at least *seemed* like a real plot point and something they were gonna build on.

(I am so glad Izzy lost the breathy sex kitten voice though.)

Though honestly EVERYONE is enunciating weirdly. Jace has this weird husky bad boy thing going on. Magnus is delightfully alliterative but also, I did not remember him having THIS much ennui. Also, Alec still sounds like a block of wood.

I love them all dearly but man, I had forgotten how much better they get at their roles.

Ohhh, here we are, time to be angry about the ridiculousness of "the one person we love the most". How do you grade that? Who would we have seen for Magnus? Cat or Ragnor? Do we honestly think he could rank them in his heart?

Time for 1.05 and Alec turning into a full-blown asshole for extremely justified reasons. (Jace has been toeing the line since 1.01.) I wonder if now I could talk a little about all the moral greyness and questionable choices going on in these early episodes. :T

Fandom used to be so combustible in this regard: there was A Certain Truth about these character arcs and their interplay and if you tried to bring nuance into it you got shouted down, so it wasn't worth the bother.

But! 1.05 is also the episode where Izzy turns into A Real Girl on the power of mommy issues, so there are good things about this episode! And I do like the contrast they draw between Shadowhunter childhoods and Clary growing up as a mundane.

And the "how could we not love each other" still breaks my heart because Jace... doesn't get it, to a ridiculous depth he seems not to get it, but his first response is still to hug Alec and try to carry on as usual. :/ Subtle this show is not but its heart is in the right place.

THE VIOLIN MUSIC when Magnus calls Alec, I fucking cannot

For all the Extremely Offended Takes I've read about this episode, it is actually pretty... low-key. I know we react to narrative elements in very personal ways and maybe there's just nothing here that stabs me specifically, but for the most part I feel like the way everyone+

acts is reasonably organic to the way they were raised. (Clary is an art school kid from Brooklyn in 2016; she does not understand why Alec being gay is a big deal. She's off-hand about it because it doesn't register to her how much he's had to struggle with it. Clueless, but not

(cruel, for my money.)

On the other hand, the irony of "Shadowhunters aren't big huggers" considering how many good hugs this show manages to sneak in over its run.

also I had forgotten Valentine's Lair of Evil Science was at Chernobyl and that there was random bad Russian in 1.05. just. why. I have so many questions. do Shadowhunters not suffer from radiation poisoning. what.

"the world's been ending for a thousand years. better get used to it." Alec PLEASE.

Ha! Jace is established as a Seelie fancier as early as 1.05 and I didn't even remember. I love that this scene with Meliorn kinda shows Jace and Izzy as fellow wild children of the family (and the flicker of Seelie mourning customs is nice to see!).

oh hello, extremely bad CGI werewolves, I did not miss you

however, pour one out for Meliorn's extremely floral pants

I had forgotten how good the Izzy & Maryse scene in 1.05 is! It draws an explicit parallel between Maryse's and Izzy's idealism (which manifested to totally different ends) and underlines Izzy's desire to change things but also shows how unripe it is: she thinks she already knows

everything, that she's ready to call and fight for change. Her heart is in the right place but she does NOT yet have the cunning or the means to effect that change, and while she flails about wildly she also wreaks collateral damage on others.

She's all passion & conviction but has none of Maryse's political *skill* & understanding of how to play the system. Which I love. If only they'd built on this properly.

(You can kiiind of draw a line from this to 3.17 where she beats Aldertree in a very Maryse-like fashion!)

1.06 and the Land of Bad Flashbacks! Remember how this episode had a whole subplot about Magnus doing practical magic that required ingredients and generated good drama? These were the days.

Simon "has a good feeling about this Magnus Bane guy, he seems like he knows what he's doing". I love him.

Also Magnus's endless sass towards both Simon and Jace gives me life.

... Shall we note that Clary tells Jace to call Alec just the same as Izzy prompts *Alec* to talk to *Jace*?

BISCUIT!!

"I'm an art student, all my adventures are supposed to be two-dimensional."

I live for this scene between Maryse and Alec about breaking rules. They're so alike. He is so much her son. She's tried so hard to strip him of tenderness and help him survive in her harsh reality. I would like to scream into a pillow now thank you.

god the actors for young Jocelyn and Valentine are so awkward, I am so sorry, I cannot deal

It is SO INTERESTING that Izzy still thinks Alec can just refuse to marry, that they can both bulldoze their way out their parents' plans, while Alec's reaction is a) to fuck off to see Magnus but more saliently b) to try and work WITHIN the system by allying with Lydia.

He has strategy where she just has principles, and I think that contrast between them is very telling.

(Yes, I said "allying" because for both Alec and Lydia, at this stage, having a political marriage would be a means to the ends they want to achieve.)

Though there is also the parallel between them: Izzy veers hard by trying to put on a respectable facade and shoulder responsibility (by taking on Alec's tasks), while Alec decides to pursue the marriage (partly so Izzy won't have to). So excuse me while I cry about them trying

to protect each other in impossible circumstances.

Yeah I think 1.06 is the episode where I got fully on board season 1.

Another feather in this episode's hat: saving Luke is one of those moments where we see the whole core cast working together for a goal and it just delights me.

Plus! Why isn't energy-borrowing a recurring theme in this show? If warlocks can draw energy from Shadowhunters, can they also draw it from other Downworlders? What are the bigger implications of this? Does it have to be voluntary or can it be forced?

Also: "I didn't do this for Jace." / "Then I'm glad you did it for you." is totally underrated.

*** also the Izzy & Maryse scene was in 1.06, not 1.05! (I kinda missed half of 1.05/1.06 yesterday due to other stuff I was working on, so I looped back today. Just wanted to correct that.)

and yeah, THE DRINKS SCENE. what can I say about it that hasn't been said a thousand times. it's honestly some of the best Romance on this show.

also I am sorry but Jace and Clary at the police station is high comedy and I will not hear otherwise

I did not have such positive memories of 1.07 but I think I like this episode! The whole weird heist feel of them trying to break into the police station without relying on all their supernatural skills. (Poor Alec being the distraction, though!)

okay 1.07 actually might make me ship Clary and Jace a bit, with the dumb hormonal teenage attraction combined with good teamwork that they have going on. like, it's a bad idea but it sounds so good at the time?

on the other hand Lydia is the only good thing about 1.08

why is everyone so awkward in this episode. (and jesus! the falcon story! god it is so shoehorned.)

okay now we got to the malec parts and they are honestly the saving grace of this mess. Alec finally has some inflection in his voice!

ohhhh and Robert and Maryse's shady past comes up in this ep, that helps too

also IZZY DOING SCIENCE, be still my heart

time for the 42 minutes of PAIN that is 1.09. like. just. holy shit. everything is terrible in this episode. I love it.

everyone does awful things and no one comes out looking good! (well, Izzy is adamant about saving Meliorn, that's a good thing.)