random-thoughts-collection

[random-thoughts-collection]

The Rings of Power: A brief look on Sauron

... and why Amazon's The Lord of the Rings series just isn't working for me.

There is a lot to be said about badly written dialogue, missing character moments, shallow mysteries and illogical actions. But I want to shine a light on the issues of the show by focusing on the character of Sauron in the first season.

[spoiler warnings]

Sauron's introduction

We as the audience first hear of Sauron when Galadriel tells us about him in the prologue of episode 1. He is briefly shown in his dark-lord-look, and that's officially all we see of him for a while.

Without knowing (theoretically), we meet him again in episode 2 under the name of Halbrand, when Galadriel coincidentally comes across his path in the middle of the ocean. He saves Galadriel from drowning, the two get picked up by the Númenoréan ship, and eventually the reach Númenor. Halbrand gives the impression to be happy there, and he wants to stay and start a new life, leaving his dark past behind. Galadriel however convinces him that he should join her on her quest to Middle-earth. Halbrand eventually agrees, so they end up fighting against the Orcs in soon-to-be-renamed-into-Mordor, and witness the erruption of the Orodruin. In the aftermath, Halbrand is hurt and Galadriel takes him to Eregion for healing. There he assists Celebrimbor a bit with the issue of combining mithril with gold and silver in order to create powerful Rings. Galadriel then realises that he is Sauron, and when confronted about it he offers her to rule together with him over Middle-earth, but in a "good" way. She refuses, and Sauron threatens her and leaves.

In this story the showrunners have hidden two possible arcs for Sauron as a character, but both possible interpretations contradict each other. But because both appear at different times, they also hinder each other in consistency, and as a result the character of Sauron falls apart.

The Redemption Arc

"And I knew if ever I was to be forgiven... That I had to heal everything that I had helped ruin."

Sauron being haunted by his past – allegedly.

One version of Sauron's story goes like this: he truly regrets what he did in the past, and is now trying to get away from it. This is who Halbrand seems to be and what he presents to Galadriel: someone burdened by the past, with a real fear that he can never be forgiven for his crimes.

This version of Sauron truly hides who he is because he is an enemy to everyone. In this version he really wants to stay on Númenor because he believes in a new and simple beginning. His hesitance when Galadriel tells him to join her is real, as is the scene where he first puts the crest down on the table, before he changes his mind and grabs it.

And when Galadriel eventually tells him "Whatever it was he did to you, and whatever it was you did... Be free of it", it really means something to him. In this arc, her encouragement lets him believe he really has something to contribute to the world, to right his wrongs. It's why he offers Galadriel a place at his side.

Sauron hoping for redemption – allegedly.

And this Sauron, with his fragile ego, imediately falls back into old habits and turns dark again when Galadriel turns him down. With his repentance rejected, he starts to resent Galadriel, and the chance for redemption is lost.

In this version of Sauron's story, none of the events have been planned by Sauron. He is relucant and only gets involved because Galadriel involves him in this again and again. In this version what he says about himself and what he presents to everyone as Halbrand is honest.

The Master Manipulator Arc

"In an instance like this, it seems to me that you'd do well to identify what it is that your opponent most fears. [...] Give them a means of mastering it. So that you can master them."

Sauron having a good time.

The other version is a very different story: in this, there are no coincidences. In this version, Sauron manipulates everyone in a way that will eventually lead towards his goals, whatever they may be.

So it's not by chance then that Galadriel crosses his path in the middle of the ocean. Getting to Númenor is also part of the calculation, and on Númenor he gently directs Galadriel in a way that she can win the queen's favour. He pretends to regret things in his past and to stay on Númenor (and maybe at first he wants to in order to then corrupt the Númenóreans), but he will eventually agree to come with Galadriel to Middle-earth.

Adar may or may not be part of his plan, but he certainly doesn't mind his actions. The wound Halbrand-Sauron has after the erruption of the volcano could even be self-inflicted, to convince Galadriel that she has to take him to Eregion. How much is planned when it comes to Eregion is hard to say, because we have no real knowledge about the origin of the tree darkening. In any case, Sauron takes the opportunities as they present themselves, and uses them to his advantages – he gains influence over Celebrimbor, and has some part in the creation of his rings.

Sauron returning to the dark land that apparently came to be without his help.

In this version, Sauron's words are mostly manipulation, not honesty. If he is implementing his plans, he has to use the people around him and has to deceive them to get them to where he wants them to be.

This version of the story is more difficult to see, because the manipulation – by nature – cannot be as obvious as what he pretends to be. But we see it in the advice he gives Galadriel in the cell about mastering the fears of others. And it's most prominent in his reaction to Galadriel figuring out who he is – he is not scared of being "cast out" as he seemed in Númenor. And although he still gets angry when Galadriel rejects his offer, in this story the reason is rather because she rejects his vision, not his chance for redemption.

The Atoner vs The Liar

These two character arcs are different interpretations of the same story. Both are possible, and at first this sounds like a fascinating situation: a character that could go either way, presenting many different options on how the story could continue.

And they truly can't be mixed: the whole point of Sauron's atoner arc is that he is honest, and for the liar arc the opposite is the case. Atoner-Sauron cannot plan anything in advance, because he has to go through an emotional journey – only slowly and thanks to Galadriel he develops the belief that he can do good in Middle-earth by ruling it. Liar-Sauron already has the aim to rule Middle-earth, he just has to move forward slowly and carefully to get what he wants.

For now the season doesn't give a definite answer on what version the correct one is, but most likely it will be revealed in a later season.

Sauron simply walking into Mordor.

So, what's the problem with either of these versions? I feel like they try to aim for both versions at the same time, and this just doesn't work.

Sauron as The Atoner fails to be a calculating, powerful villain. This Sauron has just been hiding, and hasn't really done anything and so far hasn't been much of a threat.

The creation of Mordor happened because of Adar and the Orcs, and Sauron had no hand in it.

The creation of the first Rings of Power wasn't part of his plan either, and anything he later does with the One Ring in regards to them is purely coincidence – it couldn't have been planned, because Sauron never intended for the Elves to create the rings.

His reaction on seeing Adar – if it's an honest reation – makes it seem like Adar was indeed able to hurt Sauron in a serious way. This weakens Sauron even further.

Sauron's attempt at redemption is given up too quickly. His change back to the dark side after this only seems to come from the rejection of a woman, which is a weak motive for the Dark Lord in Middle-earth.

Another important point to consider is the reduced timeline: if Sauron has been honest and "harmless" so far, his rise and fall as a Dark Lord won't last long – anyone who has read the books or seen Peter Jackson's movies knows that the players to end his reign are already in place.

And of course, this honest Sauron would not be the deceiver as the showrunners have described him in their interviews.

Furthermore, in the case of Sauron as The Atoner, Galadriel is indeed the one who has rejected his plea for redemption. This is not a storytelling-issue in itself, but has huge implications for her character and everything that follows in this Age and the following one. It irrevocably sorts her into a group with the likes of Túrin Turambar, and not a group with people like Gandalf, Faramir, Aragorn or Frodo.

Sauron as The Liar creates a character that doesn't exist. While Halbrand would be a character that Sauron has made up in order to fool everybody, her also told a story to the audience that wouldn't actually matter. The man lost at sea, the man with the dark past regretting his crimes, the man hoping for redemption – in this version there is no origin story here, not as the showrunners intended.

If we are supposed to believe that he has planned many things in advance, and has deceived everyone to further his own goals, then his strategy still depends on many many coincidences and contrivances:

Meeting Galadriel: he coldn't have known that Galadriel would jump from her ship.

Galadriel's demands in Númenor: he couldn't have planned for Galadriel to realise what the mark means and where it's located

Galadriel declaring him King of the Southlands: he also couldn't have planned for Galadriel to decide that his sigil meant he was King of the Southland, and that she wanted him to come back to Middle-earth.

While he could have had his hands in the erruption of Orodruin and could have faked his wound, he couldn't be certain that Galadriel would take him to Eregion on a ride that should have killed every actual mortal being.

Sauron hardly could have forseen the Elves getting mithril from the Dwarves to forge Rings. What happened in Eregion would have been mostly luck on Sauron's part.

In addition, any second attempt to get back to Númenor later on would hardly be an accomplishment – he had been there before after all, and hasn't used that chance.

Conclusion

Real of fake emotion? Was Adar part of Sauron's plan or not? Was he really able to hurt Sauron?

By trying to present Sauron mostly as the Atoner, the show failed to build up the foundations of Sauron as a threat. He hasn't created Mordor, nor were the Rings of Power his idea.

With the lack of focus on a manipulation arc for Sauron, any interpretation of this season in the light of Sauron the Liar struggles to be convincing because too many events in this plotline are purely coincidence. The fact that Sauron had been to Númenor already and that the rings can't have been part of his plan will most likely be a weakness in the storytelling of later seasons.

As so often with this show they may have had some good intentions here – but the execution was not convincing.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Star Trek Picard: Like coming home

“If you are who I think you are you are dear to me in ways that you can't understand.”

I have been looking forward to Star Trek Picard ever since it was announced by Sir Patrick Stewart, and I was both happy about and afraid of the prospect of seeing Jean-Luc Picard on screen again.

For me the last products made bearing the name Star Trek did not really work. Not Star Trek Enterprise with its cluelessness to what to do with its characters. Not the Star Trek AU movies that drowned any possible meaningful storylines in lens flares and action sequences. Not Star Trek Discovery with its desperate attempt to be dark and edgy while jumping through space thanks to the power of spores, referencing The Original Series as much as possible while ignoring not only parts of the previous Trek shows’ plots and technologies but also their spirit.

In short: all of them felt like a letdown. The first episode of Star Trek Picard felt like the complete opposite. I really enjoyed watching this first episode.

[Spoiler warning]

Remembrance

“The dreams are lovely. It's the waking up that I'm beginning to resent.”

Of course it helps that the center of the show is the man after whom the series is named: Jean-Luc Picard. He was the soul of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Sir Patrick Stewart has the talent and skill to be the center of this new show as well. There is something very moving in watching him at the age of 79 playing Picard again. There is something very moving in watching Picard at the age of 92 struggle with his past and everything he has experienced in his long life.

There is nostalgia in this episode, and it’s well placed. It would be even wrong if it wasn’t there, because it makes sense that it is an essential part of Picard’s life.  But the episode doesn’t rely on it.

The end of a century

“I haven't been living. I've been waiting to die.”

There are plenty of new events and storylines to consider in this episode that had not been a part of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The destruction of Romulus about ten years ago marks a major change in the order of the Alpha and Beta quadrant. The attack of the Synth resulted in a ban on the creation of new synthetic beings. There are many new technological developments that finally don’t feel out of place anymore but are justified because the show is smart enough to not be set before the older shows.

“He named the painting ‘Daughter’.”

And after several years of retirement the event that brings Picard back into the action is the appearance of a young woman called Dajh, who seems to be no other than Data’s daughter. In many stories I would have probably rolled my eyes about the appearance of a “daughter” character in a sequel – for an android no less – but for Data it makes sense. Dajh is not his first daughter after all, and everyone who has seen Star Trek: The Next Generation would remember Lal, Data’s first daughter. Back then Data had painted her as well. And there is a similarity...

The 24th century is coming to an end. One of Data’s daughters has found Picard in France after being attacked by Romulan assassins while the other one, Soji, is currently at the Romulan Reclamation Site which is build out of the wreckage of a Borg cube. (Personally, I think Dajh could be good friends with Rommie from Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, but that’s just me.)

The spirit of Star Trek

“Well, it's not so easy for those who died. And it was not so easy for those who were left behind.”

Aside from memory and storyline, this episode also beautifully shows how to capture the spirit of Star Trek to incorporate essential themes and motives.

In the light of the US closing borders to its south, of the EU not being able to come to terms with their asylum policy and of the United Kingdom leaving the EU in order to avoid more immigration (and taxes), the probably most obvious theme can be found in the Federation calling off the rescue of the victims of the supernova and the attack on Mars, which led to Picard’s resignation. It is mainly focused on in the interview Picard gives at the beginning of the episode – in which these actions are set opposite to the Dunkirk evacuation – an operation in which Patrick Stewart’s father had been a part of. Sir Patrick Stewart supports the International Rescue Committee, and it’s obvious that it’s a matter close to his heart. He is also a supporter of charities for veterans like Combat Stress, and we see in Picard’s dream the of the attack on Mars – indicating that Picard most likely suffers from PTSD.  

“If you had Data's neural net, perfecting a flesh-and-blood host body would be relatively simple.”

Another more technical is the ban on creating synthetic life forms – with Data the discussion of artificially created life has always been a part of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but with our own humanoid robots becoming more and more sophisticated the issue is more relevant than ever.

I’m sure there is more, but it’s too early for me to go into a deep analysis of the show after just one episode.

I just know that Star Trek Picard is the first Star Trek in a while that feels like coming home.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Thoughts on Star Trek: Discovery

Why Star Trek Discovery feels alien within the Star Trek universe.

I started watching Star Trek quite early. I don’t remember exactly at which age, but my mother selected some of the harmless Star Trek: The Original Series episodes that were okay to watch for kids. Later on Deep Space Nine, The Next Generation, Voyager and the movies followed, and the most part of Enterprise as well. It feels like Star Trek has always been a part of my life; that universe and its characters – they all feel familiar to me. And when I heard that there would be a new show set in this very universe, expanding and exploring it… I was excited! I didn’t have a clear vision what this new Trek series could do or should be and I had no problem with them surprising me or trying something new in some ways. Actually I liked the idea of them giving us something we hadn’t seen yet. After all, among the Star Trek shows Deep Space Nine is the one that took a lot of liberties both in the setting and in storytelling, and it’s my favorite Star Trek show. So whatever Discovery would try to do – I was read to give it a chance. Having seen the first season a couple of months ago and with the teaser for season 2 being out now, my first though is that it was and is a wasted opportunity, and it’s a sad realization.

There are a couple of things that Discovery does quite well: there is diversity among the main characters, the special effects are great and the setup with the focus on the first officer instead of the captain is a nice and different point of view.

However, there are too many things that don’t work in this show for me. Setting the plot only a few years before Star Trek: The Original Series means that there is a clear reference to the universe of the previous shows. It sets a few boundaries because it is supposed to be within the same universe as the other Trek shows. But Discovery ignores that too often – and this is not its only problem. The show not only fails to find its place within the established universe, it also lacks faith in its own storyline as well as its own characters. In an attempt to balance that the show tries to evoke nostalgia in long-time Trekkies by throwing in as many references and connections to especially The Original Series as possible. The sad thing is that it doesn’t feel like homage to the old shows but as if they are using them only as a lure. Otherwise, how else could the contradictions and breaks in the universe’s canon be explained?

In the following paragraphs I’m trying to given an overview on what I think went wrong with this show so far.

Technological canon

Technology has always been an important factor in Star Trek. While there is a lot of made-up stuff in it that make no sense there is also a dedication to real physics in it. The shows used to have a science advisor, someone who would fill the parts in the scripts usually known as technobabble. Star Trek had an impact on science and exploration and there are several technical devices that were predicted by Star Trek – and maybe even inspired by it.

That is why I’m disappointed by how careless Star Trek Discovery handles its technological heritage. And I’m not talking about some small gadget from one episode among the hundreds of episodes of Star Trek. I am aware that nobody can remember all the technology in Star Trek. But Discovery tackles a few elements of the technological Star Trek canon that are hard to ignore: The first that comes to mind is the cloaking device on the Klingon ship that is never explained, while it is known that Klingons weren’t supposed to have cloaking devices at that time. Holo-communicators also were a new and barely used thing in the 24th century. It makes no sense for the USS Shenzhou to have it. The site-to-site transport at that time is also questionable, and that holodeck version feels a bit too early as well. Even the spore drive, something we haven’t seen in other shows, is a questionable thing to introduce at that point in time because is difficult to believe that no one would try to use a spore drive again once it was developed so far. While it provides some challenges to make it work without harming its pilot, over the years surely someone would have found a better way to do it – or some less caring people would have continued with the current setup, no matter the cost.

So here is the question I’ll keep repeating throughout this review: why wasn’t Discovery set up after the other Star Trek shows and prime timeline movies? There you could have all the fancy tech that you wanted and even more, without having to pay attention to the technological development of the universe. Since everything on this show looks way more advanced thanks to the 50 years difference in production years it looks much more futuristic anyway and feels like it belongs after the other shows, not before them.

The race of Klingons

The Klingons are one of the worst parts of Discovery. Much like the Vulcans they have been one of the most iconic races in Star Trek and have appeared in all Star Trek shows. Starting out as antagonists in the The Original Series and The Next Generation they made peace with the Federation in The Undiscovered Country and became allies in Deep Space Nine. And Star Trek’s character with the highest episode count is in fact a Klingon. Over the years this race has developed and has become more and more complex in its politics as well as in its characters. But unfortunately Discovery decided to go another way.

The race and culture that we see in the other shows is barely recognizable here. The complete design of the Klingons is different to what we are used to, with actors wearing masks that limit their facial expressions to a minimum and make their talking more difficult. It’s hard to tell them apart if it’s not for obvious features as one being the only one with white skin in the room, or apparently the only female Klingon around. The design of their clothes and ships is also radically different – it’s a visual overload of ornaments and decoration and marks a sharp contrast to the earlier shows/later appearances in the timeline. They also speak Klingon now. All the time. Which I understand so far that the universal translator is a plot device with more plot holes than any other feature in the Star Trek universe, so I can understand why you wouldn’t want to use it, but it’s also super annoying to let the Klingons speak Klingon for several reasons. First, it’s just not a nice sounding language. Hearing them talk like this all the time stops being fun after the first minute and after that it’s just painful on the ears. Second, it’s a difficult language to speak and the actors were clearly struggling to speak in a language they don’t understand. It feels clumsy, it feels unnatural, and as a result there is barely any emotion in the Klingon dialogues. Third, it means you have to read subtitles for quite a while if you want to know what the Klingons are talking about. The problem here is: do I want to know at this point? I usually have no problems with reading subtitles, I have watched countless episodes of anime in Japanese with subtitles and I’m perfectly happy with it! I wouldn’t want it any other way and usually prefer the Japanese audio with subtitles to the dubbed versions. But when it came to the Klingon scenes I was almost to bored to pay attention to the subtitles. The actors can barely move their faces, their voices have to speak a language that almost breaks your tongue, and the content of the dialogue feels only relevant for half of the time. They go on long ramblings about their ideology of purity which I couldn’t care less about especially at the beginning of this show.      

But aside from these outside changes the general treatment of the Klingons changed as well. They’ve never been the most complex race among all Star Trek races, but they were never as one dimensional as they are in Discovery. Over the course of the other shows they became more and more complex with Worf being a major element in showing a different side of the Klingons, that they weren’t just war hungry fighters, that there was more to their culture and their believes and morals. They build on that with characters like Martok and B’Elanna, who showed us different types of Klingon characters as well. Anyone remember the Deep Space Nine episode Soldiers of the Empire that shows us a Klingon suffering from PTSD? It stands our as a remarkable episode in my head. The new Klingons are so far away from the possibilities of the old Klingon race that I can barely compare them at all. There is nothing Klingon about the new Klingons, aside from a certain disposition to fight.

On Discovery, they are one dimensional antagonists that are used to draw parallels to today’s politics. Star Trek has done that before, but I believe it hurts a show to have one dimensional villain on the show. The best villains in any show or movie are the ones that we can be interested as well, not only as a foil to the good motives of the main “good” characters. Q in The Next Generation works so well because he can always come down on both sides – supporting or interrupting the crew. The Borg are fascinating because of how completely different their system works and because of the danger their different concept creates. Kai Winn and Gul Dukat in Deep Space Nine are great villains because of the complexity of their characters.

The Klingons on Discovery are dull and barely worthy of a closer look.

Replaceable characters

I don’t know if it’s because of Game of Thrones, but ever since that show became famous it feels like more and more shows try to prove that they can be  grown-up and bold by killing off some of their characters. Suddenly, there is a lot more at risk when anyone can die, and the viewer can never be sure who is going to be next. It is an easy way to increase the tension in a story, but at the same time there is the risk of ending up with replaceable and irrelevant characters that the viewer won’t connect to.  

In Discovery, it means the waste of so much potential. It starts with Captain Georgiou, wo is amazing, but sadly only in it for two episodes before she gets killed off. Discovery’s security officer didn’t even make it on the list of names that I remembered from this series, and her mirror counterpart is hardly more interesting. Dr. Culber is a charming character, and his relationship with Stamets could have brought some stability to the series, but he is killed off as well.

It can be argued that Georgiou’s death was necessary because of its huge impact on the main character, but I still have the feeling it was a waste of a wonderful character with a great relationship with Burnham.

As for the rest of the crew: we never meet the real Lorca, and Mirror Lorca turns into a one-dimensional villain shortly before the first season ends. Saru gets a little character development, but he barely gets any real connections with any other character than Burnham. Tilly, Stamets and Tyler are probably the most complex characters aside from Burnham, but even then their characters are barely fleshed out. Tilly feels like an improved version of Wesley  Crusher, but aside from her quirky personality and her ambitions there is not much to know about her character, and Tyler is mainly characterized through his trauma and his relationship to Burnham. Stamets has probably the most interactions with other characters aside from Burnham and Lorca, and we get a better picture from him because of it. We see him as a scientist in conflict with his orders whenever he is talking to Lorca, we see him as a gentle husband to Colbert, we see him as a troubled colleague to Tilly and a first skeptical but later supportive crewmember to Burnham. He started as an extremely annoying character but turned into a nice guy during the first season – a change that I’m not sure I fully understand the reasons for.

In general the show is missing a lot of character interactions to give us a better understanding of these characters. Who are they and what makes them worth caring? The show spends a lot of time focusing on Burnham’s story, her background and her relationships, but this time is missing in the portrait of the rest of the crew.

The plot

Somewhere in the middle of this first season the producers seemed to get annoyed by the war plot and switched to the mirror universe to tell another story. I couldn’t help but think “Okay, but… what about that enormous war that you started to tell us about? Where did it go?” See, you can’t tell me it’s good story telling to just start a war between Klingons and the Federation that almost wipes out the entire Federation, and then just not talk about it anymore for several episodes. Don’t start a story like this if you don’t want to tell it. You have barely shown us your version of this universe, there is so much we have yet to discover about it – why would you already head over to the mirror universe? In one of what should be one of the biggest conflicts that the Federation has ever seen? How can I care for a mirror version of Landry if I barely know the original Landry? How can I fully understand Burnham’s distress when she has to kill Mirror Conner on board of the ISS Shenzhou when the original Conner only got a few minutes of screen time before he was killed off in the second episode? And what bothers me most about the Mirror universe: Empress Georgiou. I loved the original Georgiou, but Empress Georgiou has nothing in common with her except her looks and affection for Burnham. And while it is understandable that Burnham feels conflicted about her it’s also obvious that this is a completely different Georgiou, and any feelings for her feel fake because it isn’t the real Georgiou. For me, mirror characters have always been fun to point out what makes a character a character. It’s an interesting experiment for one episode, but in my eyes it fails as a long-term plot device because of how non-relatable the experience is. In our real life, people can be dead or alive. We can meet people that remind us of a dead loved one, but even then these people remain individuals in their own right. There is no copy, no mirror image of an existing person and therefore no experience that I could relate to what Burnham is feeling for Empress Georgiou. Especially because everything Empress Georgiou says and does is horrible most of the time. The only reason Burnham is so lenient with her is because she reminds her of Georgiou and because Empress Georgiou likes her, in a way.  

That, and because she can be used as a cheap way to end the first plot of the season when they come back from the mirror universe. With Empress Georgiou’s help the horrible conflict with the Klingons is solved within half of an episode; that’s got to count for something, right?

I feel like the Klingon Empire as well as the Terran Empire are supposed to be a foil to the Federation, both are isolationist and try to dominate cultures that are unlike them. Especially the Klingon Empire gets a few lines that most likely are supposed to link it to today’s politics. The only problem here is, that we barely get to see the real Federation. Captain Georgiou was what came closest to it, but after that we get to see Burnham’s mutiny, followed by a lot of time spent on Lorca’s ship which is hardly a good example for the Federation. In the end we get a heartfelt speech by Burnham about the values of the Federation, but unfortunately she is only able to give this speech because of the completely improbable quick end to the war. If we had seen her work for a solution throughout the show that works within Federation values and ends in a victory for the Federation, then the speech would have worked for me. As it is the war only ended because the writers decided that it would end since the show did a poor job in convincing me of their solution to the conflict. I don’t believe that it is that easy, and that the show only spent half of an episode on it didn’t help at all.

A general insecurity

Please explain to me why Sarek has to be in this? What purpose does he serve that couldn’t have been filled by any new character? Why did the show change its plot in the middle of the season, and why did it solve its main conflict at the end in half an episode? Why is the USS Enterprise the last plot twist in the first season and why are Pike and Spock set to appear in the second season?

We already have alternate versions for Spock and Pike, there is no need for yet another recast. I understand that Spock, Pike and Sarek are big names to advertise your show with, and that it can be used to lure Star Trek fans to your show. But it also shows a general insecurity in this show’s own ability to create new strong characters, characters who can become icons and legends themselves. As I already said – we already had reboot movies, and I expected Discovery to try and fit into the existing Trek universe, not to recreate it. Maybe that was a misunderstanding on my part, but I can’t repeat it enough – there is no need for a third incarnation of Spock or Pike. It’s just a distraction of Discovery’s own story, of Discovery’s own characters.

Bringing the Enterprise in at the end and setting it up for season 2 is a distraction as well and now risks to either a) steal the show or b) look less impressive than it should, with its characters only serving as a stage for Discovery to shine on. Both options would be a disservice to Discovery as well as the old shows, but finding the right balance here is really difficult.

Star Trek canon

Aside from the technical Star Trek canon there are also a few points that gave me some difficulties wrapping my head around.

Before I start with my major point, two small questions up front:

What is the meaning of the black badges seen in one of the earlier episodes? According to a deleted scene they are supposed to represent Section 31 – but you wouldn’t know that just by watching the show. I kept wondering when they would bring it up and explain it, and that simply never happened. And the deleted scene makes it actually worse, because it is a pretty stupid idea to have Section 31 parade around in special black badges. They have operated unknown since the Foundation of Starfleet, and not being known is one of the key elements of their existence. Unfortunately season 2 seems to build on that nonsense…

And the last question: could the tribble on Lorca’s desk have revealed Tyler’s identity as a Klingon? Or had he become too human for the tribble to care? Or does the show want to make us believe Tyler was never in Lorca’s office after coming on Discovery?

All in all, the changes and conflicts created thanks to the setting of Discovery before The Original Series bother me the most:

One of them is Burnham being Sarek’s adopted child. Now, unknown family members come and go all the time in Star Trek (remember Sybok?), that is not the problem. But this setup seems quite unlikely, and more than that: unnecessary, because I can’t imagine any other reason for Burnham to be Sarek’s adopted child than what I mentioned in the paragraph before: simple Trekkie baiting. I mean, that was why this information was shared before the show started, right?

It also feels like this was one of the reasons why Discovery would be set before The Original Series. I can’t prove it and I have no information about the decision to place it in this point in time, but every other clash with the Star Trek canon could have been avoided by placing Discovery after Nemesis, the last movie of the original timeline.

It would give the show the freedom to introduce a new race as the enemy instead of twisting the Klingons into something hardly recognizable.  The advanced designs and functions of the technology would make a lot more sense.

It would also prevent Discovery from creating plot holes in the other shows; Spock for example states in The Tholian Web that there is “absolutely no record” of a mutiny. With Burnham’s mutiny that statement would be false, and if we go with Burnham being Spock’s sister, he should very well know about this.

So, in conclusion – setting the whole series after Nemesis would have given them more creative freedom while also reducing the risk of errors and breaks in the established canon, and I believe it would have improved the overall quality of the show.

It wouldn’t fix the missing structure in Discovery’s main plot, or the lack of screen time to develop characters other than Burnham, or could ever undo the ugly transformation of the Klingon race. But for all these I only have one advice: stop right where you are and do it better from now on.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Shadowhunters | 3.10 Review

Shadowhunters - Erchomai

written by Bryan Q. Miller, directed by Jeff Hunt

The second part of the midseason finale Simon restructures the relationship to his sister and mother, Magnus goes to Edom to visit his father, Alec, Izzy, Luke and Maryse bring the fight closer to Lilith and Clary finally learns about the plans of the Queen of Edom.

His next life

“I will never not be there for you again.”

Simon visits Becky at the hospital and when Becky wakes up she is still weak but she forgives Simon and accepts him for what he is. She also refuses to be hypnotized again because she wants to be there for Simon from now on.  

However his mother still fears him and therefore Simon hypnotizes her in a very sad scene, convincing her that her son is not a monster but died in an accident. He leaves her in tears, crying himself.

A portal to Edom

“Name your price.”

Magnus is preparing to travel for Edom, but Alec is worried and hesitant to let him go. We learn that Magnus was living on the streets as a child after the death of his mother and that Asmodeus took him in. Asmodeus tried to teach him the “proper” way to be a warlock, but in the end Magnus himself banished Asmodeus to Edom. He is afraid to go to Edom now, but when he asks Alec to tell him that Jace isn’t worth it Alec stays silent. They share a kiss and a “I love you” before Magnus leaves through a burning pentagram.

When he arrives in Edom he soon finds Asmodeus and we see Asmodeus for a moment with the same eyes that Magnus has. Asmodeus’ lair lies in the midst of an empty plain and looks a bit run-down and without any roof, all in all more like a place to collet books and candles on the ground. When Asmodeus appears and recognizes Magnus, he greets him with a hug and seems to be happy to see him. Magnus makes it clear that he has no intention of apologizing to Asmodeus for banishing him, but to ask for his help to counter Lilith’s magic. Asmodeus is upset and sees no reason why he should help him, especially because he doesn’t want Lilith to return to Edom. He wants Magnus to rule beside him in exchange, but Magnus refuses and asks for another option.

Introducing Asmodeus is a great way to add yet another complexity to Magnus’ character. While his heritage has been known already it is something else to see him actually confront it now, and Asmodeus is a character who can challenge Magnus both physically and emotionally. Hearing Magnus explain that he followed Asmodeus as a child because he was the only one with the same eyes like him. It reminds us how lost the child Magnus must have been in his days, but it makes it even more impressive who Magnus has become today. Going back to his father to ask for a favour now is a difficult situation to be in, and the result – to be addressed in the next paragraph – is heartbreaking.

Kill the rest

“They say the worst pain a Shadowhunter can feel is the loss of his parabatai.”

Since Luke can’t count on the support of his former pack he and Maryse track a trail made by Clary. It leads to Lilith hideout where they meet up with Alec, Izzy and Simon. Maryse has to be convinced to stay back for this fight since she has no runes anymore, Izzy and Luke go to fight Lilith’s minor underlings, Simon is supposed to go free Clary in the upper levels of the building, and Alec faces the Owl, prepared to kill Jace.

The Owl intends to let both Jace and Alec suffer by slowly killing Alec and after an intense fight he brakes Alec’s hand and pins him down with one of his own arrows. Alec tries to comfort Jace by telling him he knows that it wasn’t him and apologizes for not saving him. But just in time, only seconds before the Owl kills Alec, Magnus appears and blasts the Owl against the wall, driving out Lilith’s magic and setting Jace free. When both Magnus and Jace rush to Alec’s side, Magnus reveals that he can’t heal Alec because he traded his magic for the power to save Jace.

Seeing that he can’t help Alec any further and that Magnus is taking care of him, Jace joins Luke’s and Izzy’s fight against Lilith’s underlings and then goes up the stairs to find Clary.

In this part of the episode we see Ollie again who, possessed by Lilith’s powers, fights against Luke, in a parallel to the parabatai fight between the Owl/Jace and Alec. For all it’s a no-win scenario because they can only be killed by their former friends or kill them themselves – until Magnus arrives. He is their only chance for a positive outcome but has to pay the highest price for it - losing his magic that has been with him since the beginning.

Rebirth

“As you live, so shall my son.”

A large part of the episode deals with Lilith, Clary, the Owl and their relationships to each other as well as to Jonathan. There is a flashback when Jonathan first was sent to Edom and welcomed their by his mother Lilith, and it makes you feel sorry for the boy that never really had a chance. Having Lilith’s blood in him and being raised by both her and Valentine – it’s difficult to imagine anyone staying sane throughout all of this. Lilith’s love for her son is genuine though, however twisted it might be. She wanted to have a child and could not, which made Jonathan an even greater gift for her. For that reason she is very upset when Clary questions her love and even her ability as a demon to love.

Clary has been brought to Lilith by the Owl, who kidnapped her at the end of the last episode. On their way to Lilith Clary tries to get through to Jace but it doesn’t work. When she is brought before Lilith she now learns why she is needed: Lilith plans to connect Jonathan’s life to Clary’s life force, linking both their lives to each other. She does so by carving a rune into Clary’s shoulder, but before Jonathan awakes Simon appears and frees Clary from her chains. They devise a plan to get Lilith to attack Simon, by having Clary distract Lilith for a moment while Simon attacks Jonathan’s still motionless body. Worrying about her son, Lilith forgets about Simon’s Mark of Cain and attacks him, reflecting the attack back at her sevenfold and creating a large explosion. Lilith is killed by this explosion while unknown to Simon Jonathan came back to live and grabbed Clary. After the explosion Clary can’t be seen anywhere, and when Jace arrives at the top of the building only seconds later Simon is distraught because he believes Clary died in the explosion as well. Both guys are standing on the top of the building with tears in their eyes when the episode ends.

With this first half of season 3 coming to an end the story of Lilith is apparently over already while Jonathan seems to be back, taking Clary with him. Jace is back to being himself but has to deal with Clary’s alleged death and with everything the Owl did while being in control of his body. Simon is feeling guilty for allegedly killing Clary, and he has also to deal with his new family situation. Alec was almost killed and Magnus lost his magic while being most likely an outcast among warlocks now, Luke lost his back, Maryse has no runes anymore... there are a lot of pieces to pick up in the second half of season 3 and hopefully all can find a satisfying conclusion in the series finale.

If noone else picks the show up before, that is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[random-thoughts-collection]

Shadowhunters | 3.09 Review

Shadowhunters - Familia Ante Omnia

written by Taylor Mallory, directed by Matt Hastings

In the first part of the two-parter midseason finale, Heidi is back and confronts Simon’s family with his true nature, Magnus is searching for another way to save Jace, and Clary is facing a death sentence.

A good old family dinner

“Any vampire will feed if they're hungry enough. And your son is starving.”

Simon is naturally unhappy with Jordan considering his relationship to Maia and that Jordan is the reason for Maia leaving in the last episode and therefore he keeps Jordan at a distance. However they agree to work together on a professional level and Jordan informs Simon that the Preator found out that the mark on his forehead is indeed the Mark of Cain. Jordan then leaves Simon to get him some blood because it has been a while since Simon had something to drink.

At the same time Lilith has figured out how to deal with Simon for now - she had the Owl kidnap Heidi and sent her to Simon’s family as a distraction. So when Simon gets a phone call from Heidi he soon realizes she’s at his family’s house and when he arrives there Heidi tells his sister Becky and mother Elaine the truth about his nature. To prove it she cuts Becky, and Simon is too thirsty to resist and feeding on her. Fortunately Jordan had been informed of Heidi’s escape and asks Izzy for help, and Izzy arrives in time to stop Simon before it’s too late for Becky. But Elaine is horrified and she threatens Simon, calling him a monster. Simon is left crying, with Izzy trying to comfort him.

This episode marks a turning point for Simon’s relationship to his family - while they’d been made aware of his true nature before this time it came closer to a disaster and Simon himself sees him now as a danger to his own family. The whole situation is among the saddest ones in Shadowhunters and Alberto Rosende’s acting is heartbreaking. We also get another rare scene of Izzy and Simon together when she tries to explain to him that he is a good man - and she is right.

Losing the pack

“We're not soldiers in your personal army, Luke. We're family.“

Luke doesn’t get a lot of screentime in this episode, but it still changes a lot for him as well. When he asks the pack to help him save Clary from the Clave, the pack refuses. While they’re sympathetic to his concern about Clary, they don’t want to involve themselves in Shadowhunters business that could get them killed, and don’t want their pack leader to be involved either. When they give him the choice between him going to Idris to save Clary and staying the leader of the pack, he chooses Clary and leaves.

A favor of the warlocks

“The only thing superior about you is your ego.”

Alec and Magnus are busy trying to find a way how to save Jace. Magnus has an idea but he would need the power of other warlocks and for that the approval of Lorenzo. Alec therefore tries to convince Lorenzo while Magnus sends messages to the other warlocks, but Catarina soon tells him that Lorenzo won’t allow it. As an alternative she suggests to go to Asmodeus for help but Magnus is reluctant to do that. He confronts Lorenzo instead which results in a truly impressive looking fight between the two warlocks – a fight that Magnus wins in the end. However, Lorenzo threatens Mangus with banishment. When Alec realizes that they won’t be able to use the power of the warlocks he resolves to kill Jace himself. Seeing how heartbroken Alec is by the idea of having to kill his parabatai Magnus takes up Catarina‘s idea of going to Asmodeus for help.

This episode shows us another disadvantage of Magnus not being the High Warlock of Brooklyn anymore and indicates once more what kind of repercussions Magnus has to deal with for helping the Shadowhunters over and over again. It’s also obvious that most of it is because Lorenzo envies Magnus and tries to find ways to weaken him. The fight against Lorenzo is also a great reminder of just how awesome Magnus is and what kind of wonderful fights the show is able to stage. The lightning, the movements, the special effects – it all works together perfectly and makes me wish for at least one fight scene per episode.

Morgenstern and Fairchild

“I was never yours.”

It is an eerie atmosphere when preparations are made for Clary’s execution. Before the time of her own execution comes she witnesses several executions of other people, mainly Circle members, who are burned alive. Clary meets Iris Rouse again in prison, and both are equally horrified by the way the Clave is dealing with their prisoners. From her Clary learns that Jia wants Valentine to be resurrected for questioning and when Clary is about to be executed she can stop it by revealing that she is able to revive Valentine.

Once Valentine is revived he only wants to talk to her. He tells her how proud he is of her and also explains his relationship to Lilith. When he tries to escape Clary tries to stop him, but he can’t be killed because of the rune Clary used to revive him. During his escape Valentine takes a few Circle members with him, but in the end he is stopped by Clary who undoes the revival rune, basically killing him again. However, the Owl appears shortly after that, gets some piece of Valentine’s corpse and kidnaps Clary.

Reviving Valentine for this episode was a weird move. I think Clary’s story with Valentine already was finished when she killed him the first time, and it feels a bit repetitive to see him again this time. It would have been disappointing to spend so much time on him again if this episode and the following one hadn’t aired back to back. But the good part of it is that we see the bold and confident side of Clary. When Valentine reminds her that she is also a Morgenstern she reminds him that she is also a Fairchild, and with this comes the feeling that she has reconciled with her heritage and where she comes from, and that she is the one who has to choose which way she wants to go. It was never as much of a question for her than for Jace, but it still makes for a powerful moment.

The theme of this episode seems to be the end of life as it was before, the end of compromises that now fail to work in the long run. For Simon, pretending to be a human towards his family is now most likely over. Luke has to face the consequences of being too connected and too involved in Shadowhunters affairs, as well as Magnus. Clary has used Valentine to avoid her execusion, to discover more of his past with Lilith, and finally took his life again. For her the chapter of Valentine is over in her life.

And last but not least I have to point out again the great cinematography of this show. This episode is a joy to watch solely because of its looks – except for the revived corpse of Valentine.

The review for the second part of the midseason finale can be found here.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Shadowhunters | 3.08 Review

Shadowhunters - A Heart of Darkness

written by Jamie Gorenberg, directed by Ari Sandel

The eighth episode of Shadowhunters’ season 3 focuses more on the emotional state of the characters and is slower in moving the plot along. However this is done incredibly well – and in the meantime the episode creates the setup for the midseason finale.

We don't always get what we want

“Why won't you just let me hate you?”

Lilith, fearing what Simon could do to her with his Mark, withdraws for the moment. And aside from Simons he also has to worry about her missing Owl. Sensing where the Mark came from, Lilith goes to pay the Seelie Queen a visit. Once there she kills several Seelies, and threatens the Seelie Queen as well, knowing that the Seelie Queen put the Mark in place because of her. However, the Seelie Queen is able to convince Lilith to not kill her by offering her information about the Owl’s whereabouts.

The scene leaves you wondering what kind of history the Seelie Queen connects with the Queen of Edom. The Seelie Queen is clearly afraid of Lilith’s powers but she is cunning enough to hold her own against the mother of demons.

In the meantime Simon continues to try and find Lilith - alone this time since Luke is busy with searching for information about Clary. Maia decides to join him and Jordan wants to come as well. Simon declines at first, but Maia agrees to let Jordan come along. That results in a couple of awkward and uncomfortable moments, and while the Downworlder trio is investigating Lilith’s ritual places Simon overhears a conversation between Maia and Jordan. Jordan tries to explain himself and that he has changed, that he knows now that meaning matters and cares about Maia. Maia however needed a long time to get over what Jordan did to her and that is why she can’t just forgive him now for what he has done, nor is she able to deal with his excuses or explanations right now. In her emotional turmoil she almost turns, but Simon comes in and is able to calm her down. Maia later asks Simon to five her some time and then leaves after a tender hug.

It is sad to see Maia’s and Simon’s relationship be burdened by the presences of Jordan. It’s a situation they can’t really change now that it’s there, and Maia is the key figure that has to decide in which direction they’re going. Being confused about what to do it makes sense for her to leave or now, but it also makes me feel sorry for Simon who hasn’t caused the situation but can’t really do anything about while still being influenced by it. To his credit, he has done everything correctly here, signaling his girlfriend that he’s there for her and also accepting that she needs her space right now. 

On trial under the Soul Sword

“It's a curse. I'm glad it's gone.”

Luke is trying to get some news about Clary and asks Maryse for help. She helps him out with a contact in Alicante and informs him that Clary is on trail under the Soul Sword. Luke decides he’ll go to Idris and try to break Clary out.   In the meantime Clary – with her hands on the Soul Sword – is questioned by Jia and can’t but confess that they wanted to steal the Malachi configuration, that Jace was most likely the one who killed Imogen, that he is being controlled by Lilith and that Clary used Raziel’s wish to revive Jace from the dead. Jia informs her that for all of that she’s sentenced to death.

While Clary’s presence is limited in this episode it goes back to a core element of her character: already in the first season she stated that she wouldn’t want to be a Shadowhunter if that means “to be dead inside”. Back then she challenged Jace’s believes who recited what all Shadowhunters learn early on: “being a Shadowhunter is about sacrifice“. The Shadowhunters at the New York institute have learned to value different virtues since when they first met Clary, and even Imogen has shown to become warmer. Jia however informs Clary that she would have sacrificed her own daughter instead of making the wish to Raziel. This shows not only a coldness of the Clave towards their own family, but the confrontation with Clary also reminds us the wish was almost used to kill the Downworlders – which is why Clary considers the wish as curse that can also be used for great evil.

When our team goes into battle

“Three go in. Three come out.”

A large part of the episode is devoted to the plot featuring the Lightwood siblings: after having brought Jace to Magnus’ apartment Magnus, Izzy and Alec keep him trapped with the Malachi configuration while the Owl uses the time to taunt his captors. He tells Alec that Jace only became his parabatai to make sure he had a roof over his head, claims that Jace is more important to Alec than Magnus when talking to the warlock, and when Simon arrives he reminds him of Clary’s kiss at the Seelie court. 

To get to the real Jace Magus suggests to use Alec’s parabatai connection with Jace and Alec immediately agrees. Izzy wants to come along and while Alec is worried and disagrees at first he gives in after a little while. To get into Jace’s mind they have to get him out of the Malachi configuration to prevent the Owl from hurting himself, so they chain him up instead.

With Magnus performing the spell Alec and Izzy enter Jace’s mind. They come across a memory when they were still kids and then get split up. While Izzy follows young Jace and eventually gains his trust Alec finds several dead Clarys and a broken Jace sitting beside them. It is apparent that Lilith had him kill Clary over and over again and at first Jace fears that he will be forced to kill Alec too. Alec can convince him that he is real, and soon after that Izzy finds both of them together as well. When they try to convince Jace to come with them he refuses at first out of fear of Lilith. Instead, he asks first Alec and then Izzy to kill him. Both refuse and convince him to come with them promising that they won’t let Lilith take him again.

However, once they come back to the real world Lilith arrives and takes Jace with her while his depressed siblings regret that they could not keep their promise.

Jace has spent a lot of time in this season with Clary, and Alec with Magnus and Izzy with everyone else, so it is nice to see the trio back together again. All three of them have a tendency to withdraw themselves from their surroundings when they’re hurting, and Jace has never been more vulnerable in front of Alec and Izzy than now. Their genuine love and concern for him is touching, and the chemistry between the actors makes the close relationship between the three siblings believable. A shout out needs to be given to Dominic Sherwood who does a great job switching between the smug and self-confident Owl to a broken an suicidal Jace.

All that is left is to wish everyone good luck for the midseason finale – for Clary not to die, for Jace to get free from Lilith’s control, for Magnus to recognize his self-worth, for Alec to get his love ones back home, safe and sound, for Maia to find a solution to the Jordan situation she can live with, for Simon to figure out how to deal with the Mark, for Jordan to find some peace, for Luke not to run intro trouble in Idris, for Maryse to find a new purpose in life, for Ollie to become normal again, and even for Lilith to find some happiness – but please without ruining everyone else’s life.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Shadowhunters | 3.07 Review

Shadowhunters - Salt in the Wound

written by Celeste Vasquez, directed by Joshua Butler

Lilith finishes her ritual and sends the Owl to get Valentine’s corpse from Alicante. Meanwhile, Clary, Alec, Izzy and Magnus try to find Jace while Simon, Maia, Jordan and Luke try to track down Lilith.

It will be grounds for a kill order

“All we have to do is find Jace.”

The episode opens up with Clary catching up with the Owl and a fight ensues. Despite Clary having made an impressive progress when it comes to her fighting abilities, the Owl overpowers her and – despite her declaration of love for Jace – throws her off the rooftops of a building. It’s a very moving scene when Clary calls Simon for help on the phone and he finds his best friend lying on a car, unable to move. Despite everything they’ve been through it is touching to see just how great their friendship really is.

Later on Clary reveals at the New York Institute that Jace had indeed been killed by Valentine and Raziel was the one to bring him back. They also now know that the demon controlling Jace is actually Lilith, and that she is even able to kill an angel. Clary is playing with completely open cards, and it’s a tense moment when she tells Alec that she understands if he wants to hand her over to the Clave and send her to the Gard. Alec however assures her that he would have done the same thing, much to the relief of Magnus, Izzy and Simon.

In order to get some necessary tools to trap the Owl Clary, Izzy and Alec want to go to Alicante. Before leaving, Alec makes up with Magnus and both express their commitment to try and help Jace. Magnus blames himself for what happened to Jace because he gave Lilith the elixir, while both Alec and Catarina try to convince him that he is not to blame.

At Alicante, they tell Imogen about Jace’s situation and convince her to help them by giving them the Malachi contraption without telling the Clave. Otherwise the Clave would surely hunt Jace down to kill him. While Clary and Izzy get the contraption and Alec distracts Consul Jia Penhallow, Jace enters Alicante and confronts Imogen. Imogen is suspicious from the start but the Owl manages to kill her anyway. Her last act is notifying Alec.

Alec, Clary and Izzy find Jace when he’s about to dig up Valentine’s corpse and they trap him with the Malachi contraption, but unfortunately the Clave shows up. Clary covers for them and sends Alec, Izzy and Jace back to Magnus but is captured by the Clave herself and locked up in the Gard.  

There are a lot of things happening in this part of the story, but the main protagonists are now all on the same page, which allows them to work together to try and resolve the problem. It also means that we get to see more mixed interactions again and I’m glad to see it – the relationships between most characters on Shadowhunters are really interesting and it’s great to see different characters interact with each other. In this episode the confrontation between Jace and Imogen comes to mind, but also the moments where Alec hugs Clary or covers for her in front of Imogen. We are also introduced to a new face: Jia Penhallow, who will most likely show up in the future again. In a way it feels like she steps in the place of Imogen as the Claves’ cold representative, who has become softer towards the Shadowhunters of the New York Institute because of her relationship to Jace.

The werewolf who turned me

“How do you tell the girl you love that you're an animal?”

Aside from the hunt for Jace the other main story of this episode is Maia’s and Jordan Kyle’s backstory.  When Maia surprisingly visits Simon at his apartment, she finds out that his new roommate is actually the werewolf that turned her. Naturally she’s upset and wants to be left alone for a while. Jordan feels bad about the situation himself and calls the Praetor Lupus and asks to be taken off the assignment.

In flashback from both characters we learn about their history. Maia and Jordan met at the beach, and it is a cute and innocent scene. We learn how Jordan dreams about getting away, going to Fiji, and while Maia likes the idea of it we soon learn that she thought of it as a fantasy, not a possible reality. When she gets a full scholarship in Marine Sciences Jordan reacts upset, and is harsher than Maia expected. This moment happened a few weeks after Jordan got attacked by a Werewolf, but Maia doesn’t know the extent of his wound and it’s hard to tell how much Jordan knows. The next flashback picks up weeks after Jordan’s and Maia’s relationship has ended, and Jordan wants to explain himself to Maia. In the end however he turns into a werewolf – most likely for the first time – and when he comes to his sense again he finds out that he has attacked Maia. Unable to deal with the situation he runs and leaves her lying bloody and alone in the street.

In the present, Jordan is about to leave when Maia stops him and explains him that his duty is to help Simon, to not abandon Simon as he abandoned her.

I have seen quite a few comments talking about the abusive aspect of the relationship of Maia and Jordan, but I think it is a bit more complicated than this. When we get the flashback about their first meeting, Jordan seems like a nice and friendly guy, and it is only after he’s been turned that he acts aggressively towards Maia. The show presents us a character who was struggling after he was scratched, and lost complete control once he turned. Ever since he has learned to control his werewolf nature he has been trying to make up for what he did by working for the Praetor Lupus. However, he doesn’t know how to face Maia after what he did to her.

For Maia, that is the worst thing about it – that he left her when she needed him most and never came back. Back when she was still human she had no explanation for his behavior, and him not trusting her and telling her the truth has hurt her, too. Maia is lucky to have meet Luke after she turned and for Luke to take her under his wings. Just as Simon had Raphael and sometimes Luke and Magnus as well for advice, it is important for a newly made vampire or werewolf to have someone to turn to for advice and help. That is why the situation for all three – Maia, Simona and Jordan – is so tragic. For Maia the most, for she has to face the man who turned her and left her bloody and helpless in the street, for Simon because he grew fond of Jordan before knowing who he really was and saw how it affected his girlfriend, and for Jordan who made mistakes when he wasn’t fully in control of himself – something he was unable to avoid and he can never make it right again. It makes for a complex story that is more than just a love triangle, and the chemistry works between all three characters and makes this plot really worth watching.    

In the meantime Luke is searching for Lilith in order to help Ollie and Jace. He finds out that Ollie already has killed her mother, and warns Sam who shows up at the office later on and learns the truth from Luke. Simon accompanies Luke in his search and when they reach Lilith’s hideout they also find Ollie there but can’t get a hold on her. Simon accidentally kills two of Lilith’s underlings with his Mark which greatly upsets Lilith. She learns from Ollie that it was Simon.

This episode has some great characters moments especially for Maia and Jordan while moving the main plot around Lilith and the Owl forward as well. There are some scenes with beautiful cinematography - especially the scenes at the beach have a nice atmosphere that stands out compared to the usual city background.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Shadowhunters | 3.06 Review

Shadowhunters - A Window Into an Empty Room

written by Aisha Porter-Christie, directed by Alexis Korycinsk

In the sixth episode of the thrid season Simon has to deal with a blood-thirsty vampire, the Lightwoods gather for another family dinner and this time all the children are present, and the Owl makes another move. 

The vampire fledgling

"You did the right thing."

While Kyle helps Simon getting used to his new powers, Heidi is obsessed with the idea of finding her Sire, Simon. When she finally confronts him, Simon is troubled by the fact that he is her Sire and that he has no idea what to do. It doesn’t help that she loves being a vampire and killing people for their blood. Maia however can sympathize with Heidi because she knows the feeling of being abandoned after being turned.  With Maia’s help, Simon realizes that he has to deal with Heidi in one way or another. Heidi was following Simon and mistook Izzy for his girlfriend, so she attacks Izzy but is soon overpowered. Simon stops Izzy from sending Heidi to the Clave but hands her over to the Praetor Lupus later on.        

This episode confronts Simon with the consequences of his actions and shows us just how much compassion Simon has. His strength is that he cares for the people around him and that is part of what makes him such a compelling character. Sending Heidi to the Praetor Lupus was the right choice because it was evident that Heidi is almost impossible to control and that Simon has not enough experience or time to actually deal with her.

The Lightwood family

"You said yourself you wanted to spend more time with us, so let's go out. As a family."

Maryse returns after having been deruned, and at first the Shadowhunters won’t even let her into the Institute. Luckily Alec is head of the New York institute, and he assures Maryse that she will always have a place with them. Izzy tries to comfort her mother as well, and while having dreaded the family dinner last time she now proposes to have another one – this time with all of them there.

At the family dinner the Lightwoods and Jace are also introduced to Izzy’s current date Charlie, and while they have to pretend that they are jewelers, they get along quite well and seem to have quite a nice evening. Sadly, Magnus is not there since he is busy helping out Clary that evening; and because he and Alec had a fight in the morning Alec gets drunk as a result. Luckily Underhill is hanging around in the bar, too, and helps out with some advice and by calling a taxi. Not only that, buy Heidi involves Izzy in a fight which makes Charlie suspicious, and Jace is actually just pretending to be well and is looking for his next victim. On the upside Maryse and Luke have a really nice chat where he comforts her a bit, being able to relate to her situation.  

Maryse’s development is one of the many small surprises in this show, and I love it. However, I never expected the show to actually go through with deruning her, and it’s a bold move to make and opens possibilities for new stories for her character, as well as the risk that we will see less of her on the show. Nicola Correia-Damude’s acting is excellent when Maryse is standing in front of the mirror and remembering the runes she has lost. There is also a great chemistry between Maryse and Luke and with Jocyelyn being out of the picture – unlike in the books – I am wondering if there is some possible future for those two.

Alec’s and Magnus’ fight is as complicated as it was in the last episode – it’s easy to understand both of their positions, and Alec’s short life compared to Magnus’ immortality is nothing that can be changed. It’s sad to see them at odds with each other, but these facts are something they have to find out how to live and deal with.

I was afraid that Charlie would end up being the Owl’s victim, but luckily he survived the episode – and his relationship to Izzy as well. So that’s something!

The Owl

"I know you're in there Jace Herondale. I know you're suffering."

Lilith is now in complete control of Jace and while his Owl persona is someone completely different to Jace despite having his memories, it’s super creepy to see Lilith ordering Jace around and kissing him. She sends the Owl to find a last victim and towards his family and Clary the Owl pretends to be a cured Jace now. Clary however is skeptical and goes to Magnus for advice. They go to meet Brother Zachariah who informs them that Jace never came to the Silent City for treatment.

Meanwhile the Owl, seeing no opportunity to go after Charlie, goes after Ollie instead. When Magnus and Clary catch up with the Owl, it’s already too late for Ollie and a fight between the Owl, Clary and Magnus ensues. Luke breaks it up and the Owl gets away – not without revealing that he was Jace all along. Ollie vanishes with demonic speed as well.

The secret is out now and apparently deliberately, because there is no real reason for the Owl to put the mask down during that confrontation. It is a scene that is not among my favorites because of that reason, and as well as Clary’s reaction to it: her “Oh my God Jace, it's you?” sounded weird. The scene makes me also sad because of Ollie – I knew that at some point someone more important would have to get hurt, but I still want Ollie to come out alive in the end. And I wish we could have Ollie meet Luke’s friends before she got possessed.

Last time I talked about Magnus handing out potions to strangers, and in this episode Magnus mentioned that he thought something was off about her. It makes me wonder even more why he gave her that potion anyway. Maybe because of his own troubles in his relationship at that time made him more receptive for Lilith’s lie?

All in all the episode was probably not the best Shadowhunters can do – especially the last scene is a bit irritating, and I can’t really get into the Heidi-plot either – but it’s still a solid episode that takes the story a step further and has many small gems in it, that I want to mention as well:

Alec admiting that it’s his “issue”. I like that he realises hat it’s a problem that is mainly his attitude towards it.

Izzy comforting Maryse is so wonderful to see compared to how bad their relationship was in the first season.

Magnus calling Clary “biscuit” is cute!

The fire messages look cool as well.

Maia telling Simon that he needs to blink because he’s freaking people out. 

Underhill being helpful and supportive when his boss his drunk was a nice moment for a side character like him.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Shadowhunters | 3.05 Review

Shadowhunters - Stronger Than Heaven

written by Brian Millikin, directed by Geoff Shotz

While Izzy is trying to figure out how much and what kind of personal life she can have as a shadowhunter, Magnus and Alec have to deal with their very own kind of relationship problem. In the meantime, Jace and Simon realize it is okay to get help while Clary takes it a step further and asks an angel for help.

Something mundane

"Thank you. For the stitches."

Izzy decides to go on a date with Charlie from the hospital after all. And Charlie is really charming so they are having a good time. Both seem to be a bit unsure of themselves, and Izzy has to make up lies on the spot because she hasn’t really thought about dating a mundane in detail. However, their date gets interrupted when Izzy realizes that a demon is near and she goes off to fight them. Charlie follows her a little bit later and takes her to the hospital to take care of her injury. Throughout the episode he is a decent guy, and Izzy seems to really like that aspect about him. Is he too good to be true? I don’t think so, but I fear that he’ll be in danger sooner or later. For this episode it might just be a sign for Izzy that dating a mundane is too difficult to fit in her Shadowhunter life.

Mementos in a box

"It's not as if I have a choice."

Alec’s and Magnus’ relationship is still young but a major difference between them proves to be difficult: their age. With Magnus being immortal, he will outlive Alec by far. It’s a difficult situation for everyone involved: for Magnus, it must have been hard to have seen many people he cared for die off old age. With every time he makes a new friend or falls in love he has to deal with that person dying sooner or later, if it’s not a warlock or vampire. It is not explicitly stated in the first season, but Ragnor Fell mentioned Magnus having built walls around his heart, and I can imagine that this difficulty contributed to that. He allowed himself to open up again to Alec - but the problem of immortality vs mortality won’t disappear just like that. However, it’s also understandably difficult for Alec to imagine that the man he’s fallen in love with and who is the middle of his world right now will outlive him by far and that he will be just one among many partners that Magnus had. And it’s not like he can blame him for not wanting to spend eternity alone. 

For Alec intended, the show also shows us Alec going through Magnus’ memento box. It’s something he isn’t proud of himself, and his apology is accepted by Magnus.

Magnus himself is not without fault either, but I am not sure if the episode was quite aware of that. When Lilith asks him for something to make a person fell out of love, he gives her a potion after asking only a few questions about her reasons and motives. It’s nice that he seems to assume the best in people, but even after her story I don’t think he should have given her that potion. The potion is for taking someone else’s emotions away, someone who has no consented to it - so it should not be done. But it’s not the first time Magnus did a questionable job - after all, he erased Clary’s memories of the Shadowworld during her childhood, despite his better judgement.

Talking to angels

"The Owl has a master."

Clary finds it difficult to deal with all the secrecy, so she tells Luke about Jace and about her wishing him back from the dead. It's a very emotional scene and Katharine McNamara does a great job here and scenes like this show how far she's come as an actress since the beginning of the show. Luke, ever the supporting father figure to Clary, takes her to to Celophas to help summoning the angel Ithuriel. When Clary finally summons Ithuriel, he reacts kindly to the summoning and seems willing to help. But he is only able to warn Clary that the Owl has a master before he is killed right before Clary's eyes. Unknown to Clary it is actually Lilith herself who is after a sliver of Clary's soul. She leaves after having taken what she wanted, and Clary passes out.

This development was quite surprising because it shows the actual power of Lilith who is able to kill an angel without any trouble. And while Ithuriel is not one of the strongest angels - he had been captured by Valentine after all - it shows that angels probably are not the solution to the protagonists' main problem.  

A new man

“If someone's offering you help you'd be a fool not to take it.”

When Simon's gig is cancelled without Simon knowing who is responsible, Jace decides to help him search for the one responsible. While Simon is uneasy about that at first, Jace's investigations finally reveal that Kyle is a werewolf. Hurt about having been lied to, Simon leaves the apartment. However, Jace follows him and convinces him to accept Kyle's help. Simon finally accepts it on the condition that they're doing it on his terms. He gets his gig, and Alberto Rosende gets another wonderful moment to shine while performing the song "Michaelangelo".

The situation with Simon has made Jace realise that he, too, has refused help when it was offered. So her goes to Alec to apologise and to tell him that he wants to get help from the Silent Brothers, even risking the danger of being deruned. It's a nice moment for Alec and Jace after a rather uncomfortable scene in the previous episode, and it's a nice moment of character growth for Jace within this very difficult situation.

However, his good intention does not get him anywhere, because while he is still attending Simon's concert Lilith manages to slip the potion with the sliver of Clary's soul in it into his drink, and after that it seems like Lilith's control over him is complete.

Shadowhunters seems to mix their characters’ interactions very carefully from episode to episode and it is always nice to see when we get some combinations that haven’t been around in a while. After having had a lot of interactions of Jace and Clary, we know get Jace and Simon interacting for an episode and it is a lot of fun to watch. While I find Jace’s and Clary's relationship to be believable and sweet, I also feel like Jace’s more interesting character moments happen when he’s not with Clary but with characters like Alec, Simon or Maia. In Clary’s part of the plot it was great to see Cleophas again together with Luke and Clary, and Izzy’s part of the episode was mostly filled the rally nice atmosphere of her interactions with Charlie. All in all, it was a well written and acted character episode that introduced a few major changes at the end: the death of an angel and the potential erasure of Jace’s love for Clary.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Shadowhunters | 3.04 Review

Shadowhunters - Thy Soul Instructed

written by Jamie Gorenberg, directed by Emile Levisetti

The fourth episode of the third seaso continues several plotlines that have developed since the beginning of the season. Of course there’s the storyline for Jace and Clary who have to deal with Jace getting worse each day, the second storyline that deals with the ramifications of Raphael’s actions and the third storyline that deals with Simon having to navigate his life in a world where he stands appart from everybody.

If there is something wrong...

“I think I'm losing my mind.“

One of the three main plots in this episode tells us more about Jace’s unknown identity as the Owl and reveals Lilith’s motives. Since she’s never been able to have kids on her own she regards Jonathan as her child ever since Valentine wanted her blood for him. Since Jace has killed him she is out on revenge.

Jace however still doesn’t know anything about it. At the beginning of the episode he still denies that anything is wrong with him. He doesn’t want to involve anyone else in this because he’s worried about the consequences for Clary, but over the course of the episode he gets more and more worried. After a rather uncomfortable talk with Alec Jace talks to Luke about his parents, worried that he might be affected by some mental illness that runs in the family. In the end he flat out admits to Clary that he is worried that he is losing his mind.

Meanwhile, unknown to the Shadowhunters, the Owl enters the institute and removes the demonic possession from Morgan in order to cover Lilith’s tracks, while Lilith herself knocks at Magnus’ door and Magnus lets her in. I’m happy that Morgan is saved, but also very worried about Magnus.

At first I felt really bad about it...

“I just wanted a piece of my old life back: to be with Rosa to watch the sun rise, and to be normal.”

A large part of this episode dealt with the confrontation of Raphael and Heidi. Heidi is searching for Simon but is eventually found by Raphael. However, she overpowers by knocking him out with dagget root. When he wakes up later she has chained him up at the rooftop of a building, read to leave him to burn in the rising sun. Raphael apologizes but Heidi leaves without freeing him, and soon the sun starts burning his foot and leg. Luckily he is found and saved by Izzy and Clary who were hunting for the rouge vampire. Izzy soon realises that Heidi did all that as an act of revenge and confronts Raphael about it. When she realises what he has done both are broken up about it and Izzy tells Raphael to leave the city.

There are many ways to feel about this situation. For one, there is a certain horror about Heidi’s bloodlust as well as her cruel revenge on Raphael. However, it is also very understandable that she has gone mad somehow after being locked up and experimented on. It’s a horrible thing to do, and so her feelings of hatred towards Raphael are justified.

But Raphael’s position is understandable, too, in a way. As I see it, the vampires have gotten the worst part in the shadow world. They have to live each and every night with the fear of sunlight, that if they can’t find a dark spot to hide at dawn they will die a painful death. It’s difficult to imagine how hard it must be to live like that, and ever since Raphael has seen Simon being unaffected by the sun it must have been even harder for him to accept that fate. It’s no wonder he tries to find a way to become a daylighter himself. But the way he went about it was all wrong of course. Izzy is right when she accuses him of letting other people suffer for his goals.

When Izzy and Raphael part in that episode it’s a well-acted scene full of sadness. Izzy had mentioned to Clary early in the episode how special Raphael for her was, and her disappointment is even greater because she cared so much for Raphael. For Raphael, it’s losing another person close to him on top of a series of very unlucky and unhappy days as well as having to leave the city.

I rose from the dead. I can find an apartment.

“Who says New Yorkers aren't friendly?”

Last but not least the episode introduces us to a new character. While searching for an apartment, Simon runs in Jordan Kyle. Both get along quite well and when Simon finds out that Jordan is searching for a new roommate he moves in. What Simon doesn’t know is that Jordan was contacted by Luke, who made sure that Simon would be taken care of even though he had to leave the boathouse. But when Luke calls Joran at the end of the episode to arrange a visit Jordan claims that Simon belongs now to the Praetor now and Luke is supposed to let them do their work.

I’m looking forward to see how that storyline turns out. Jordan seems to be an interesting character and there are many possibilities for him as a story element and actor Chai Hansen gives a very good first impression in his first episode. It’s nice to see Simon having a place to stay where he feels comfortable again, and the chemistry between him and Jordan works well. I look forward to many more scenes with these two.

[random-thoughts-collection]

hey, i'm sorry this has nothing to do with your reviews, but i absolutely love yours gifs! do you mind sharing your psd for shadowhunters, please?

Hey there! :)

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I hope it’s somewhat useful.^^

[random-thoughts-collection]

Shadowhunters | 3.03 Review

Shadowhunters - What Lies Beneath

written by Alex Schemmer, directed by Amanda Row

Well, that's a lot of unhappy people in one episode! Things really go wrong for almost everybody, and the episode ends up with only Magnus and Alec actually looking happy. Of course, everybody has their reasons, and the show gives us another episode fully packed with lots of stories and character developments without feeling all too rushed. It was a good episode to watch and as already mentioned there is a lot happening here:

Marked by the Seelie Queen

“If you knew me better, you might find I'm actually pretty lost.”

Simon really doesn’t have it easy these days. The werewolves don’t want him around because him dating Maia is the last straw for them, he has a mark that violently defends him and he has no idea why, Raphael isn’t willing to help him either, and Luke has to ask him to leave the boathouse. And when he tries to get some answers from the Seelie Queen, the way into her realm is closed. Fortunately Simon has Maia on his side who makes it very clear that she will support him and do everything she can to help him.

What makes this so heartbreaking is that Simon is one of the kindest people you can find in this show. Even as a vampire he still feels innocent in a way, he cares deeply about the people around him and even about the people that are trying to hurt him. When Maia asks him if it’s such a bad thing when he’s hurting the people that try to hurt him he answers “It's terrifying.“ And when Raphael attacks him later on he is clearly distraught. That is most likely a reason why he is very understanding when Luke tells him that he has to go: he’s afraid of himself, or rather of what the mark is doing to or with him. I hope he won’t end up accidentally hurting someone he really cares about.

A night of sadness and loneliness

“All my life I had to watch at a distance as each member of my family grew old and died. But Rosa she was everything to me.”

Simon is not the only one having a bad time - Raphael isn’t in a good place right now either. We see him talking a walk with his sister Rosa and talking about her older brothers - about him, but Rosa is not aware that it is actually him. Raphael is hurting because he can’t be the brother that Rosa misses so much, nor can he explain to her why her brother had to leave. All that is left to him is assuring her that her brother loves her. But soon after he gets the news that Rosa has died and as a result he spends the rest of the episode being very miserable. Izzy comes to comfort him, but she can’t stay long because having her around means that Raphael is constantly tempted to drink her blood. He also meets Simon, but resents him for never telling him the secret of how he became a daylighter, and therefore doesn’t want to help him. When Simon doesn’t back down quick enough, he attacks him - only to get hurt by Simon’s mark. He’s still in pain when he comes back to the hotel, where he has to deal with yet another negative development. The young vampire he has in the hotel’s basement is clearly mad.

Now, I don’t condone his sunlight experiments with her, but I can understand why he is keeping her locked up in the hotel. From the looks of it it’s highly likely that she is a danger to every mundane in the city and as a result as well to the vampires. So sedating her in that state is probably the only solution, but of course it can’t go on like this for much longer.

Family dinner at Magnus’ house

“Thank you for loving my boy.”

Maryse announces that she’ll drop by for a family dinner and while Jace and Izzy are out hunting, Magnus supports Alec by hosting the family dinner at his place. When Maryse arrives, we see that she has come a long way from the woman we were introduced to in the first season - and it’s wonderful to see the change. Maryse is less stiff in general, warmer towards her children and more accepting of Magnus. She has also realised and accepted the mistakes she has made in the past - like her work for the circle or her prejudice against Magnus. For that reason she reveals that she has been found guilty be the Clave for her actions as a circle member in the past and accepts the punishment for it. Alec is naturally upset, but she is even able to calm him down.

Her behavior towards Magnus has completely changed. She compliments his drinks, hugs him twice and thanks him for supporting and loving her son. When he indirectly invites her to come to visit again she accepts, and we get the feeling that all three people feel better after that dinner.

We also learn that Alec is a terrible cook but he doesn’t know, because Maryse didn’t have the heart to tell him and Izzy when they were kids. Fortunately Magnus’ intervention takes care of the meal this time.

The hunt for the Owl

“When you don't sleep, your mind can play tricks on you.”

In the institute the hunt for the owl demon continues. More mundanes have been killed, and only the last one - Morgan Young - got away and Jace, Clary and Izzy try to keep Morgan safe. Unfortunately, Jace is having hallucinations about Jonathan which is why he is convinced that Jonathan is the Owl, while Clary and Izzy are worried about him because he isn’t sleeping and is using his stamina rune to stay awake.

When Izzy and Clary finally confront the Owl after another attack at Morgan, both are outmatched by its fighting skills and the Owl gets away. They bring Morgan to the institute but can’t help her. They also realise that they have no idea where Jace is. However, in the end Lilith reveals the Owl to be Jace. The poor guy can count himself among the unlucky ones in this episode (and the show in general) and this time he is not even aware of it. After everything he had to deal with in the last two seasons he can add mind control by one of the most powerful demons to the list.

Lilith’s goal is made clearer now: she uses the blood of the Owl’s targets to heal and/or revive Jonathan, who’s still in a very bad and seemingly lifeless shape.

Next: Thy Soul Instructed (spoilers)

The promo makes it clear that Lilith is in complete control of Jace at the moment, especially since he has no idea what is happening - even though he is slowly realizing that something is wrong. Lilith is also planning to destroy him as soon as she has no need for him anymore.

And Jace is not the only one suffering in the upcoming episode: Raphael is about to get burned by the sun, most likely thanks to his latest vampire recruit. Thankfully, the boys can count on the help of Clary and Izzy.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Shadowhunters | 3.02 Review

Shadowhunters - The Powers That Be

written by Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer, directed by Matt Hasting

The second episode of the new season of Shadowhunters introduces the new High Warlock of Brooklyn and shows us what Alec and Magnus are up to, while the second plot focuses on the relationship of Jace and Clary as well as Simon and Maia. Quite a lot of time is spend on exploring relationships in this episode - sometimes more, sometimes less cheesy, and there is no much development in the overall story, but the episode is enjoyable to watch nontheless.

Warlock politics

“Being the High Warlock is a thankless job.”

Magnus and Alec attend a warlock party in honour of Lorenzo Ray, the new High Warlock of Brookyln. It’s soon made clear that Magnus and Lorenzo don’t like each other very well, and neither do Alec and Lorenzo. We also get to see Catarina and Madzie again.

When suddenly something causes the magic of the warlocks to malfunction and Magnus steps up and solves the problem for the moment it’s also revealedt that Lorenzo distursts Magnus deeply. Lorenzo threatens Magnus when the visits him later, being convinced that Magnus was behind the corruption of the magic ley lines.

After that conversation Magnus reveals to Alec that his father is Asmodeus, a greater demon. He’s ashamed because of that, but Alec assures him that it does not matter. It’s always great to get some more information about Magnus’ life, and to have Alec be supportive of him, no matter who his father might be. And since Lorenzo isn’t searching in the right places, Alec and Magnus investigate in Lorenzo’s house instead - Magnus analyses the magic while Lorenzo is distracted by Alec’s fake interest in Lorenzo’s drinks, paintings, vases... actually it’s fasctinating that Lorenzo doesn’t get suspicious. He is probably very lonlely and just needs a friend to talk to, who knows?

The result of Magnus’ investigations is that it’s not Asmodeus doing anything, but he can’t guess who is behind this.

Dating policies

"That could've been awkward." - "Could've been?"

Jace plans to take Clary on a date, and because he has no idea how to go about it he asks Isabelle and Simon for advice about locations. Unfortunately, when he takes Simon’s advice it turns out that Simon and Maia are there on a date, too, and the result is a very akward double date.

We get the chance to see a little bit of both relationships outside the supernatural drama. It is nothing special for Maia and Simon - both have been mundane and we have seen them in a similar situation before. We get a little cheesy scene with both of them where Maia is worried about Simon’s mark, but it is only a short moment and sort of cute. Jace on the other hand hasn’t had any serious romantic interest before Clary  so he is less sure of himself, especially when he explains to Clary what he likes about her. His words aren’t very original or anything special in general, but that is not expected from someone without any real experience in talking about feelings. And while it is a bit cheesy, too, it still feels real - Jace and Clary’s relationship is quite human in that way. Some people might not like it, but it works for me. Just... next time, Jace, don’t ask your girlfriend’s ex for advice when it comes to locations for dating.

Among the little things I enjoyed seeing in these scenes was Clary drawing in her free time, Clary and Maia discussing what happens to the clothes of werewolves when they turn, and Simon’s comment about everyone aving slept with Jace. It was also nice to see that despite the awkward situation and small things like Simon knowing what Clary likes better than Jace or Simon and Clary finding out about Jace’s and Maia’s affair, no forced drama came out of it. Everyone behaved quite mature given the circumstances, and they ended the evening in a civiliszed way. In fact, both couples seemed to be more aware of their happiness in their relationships than before. That was unusual for an awkward-double-date-situation on TV, and it was most welcome.

Demonic problems

"We are under siege by a greater demon. It is our job to solve this problem."

The current main conflict - the fight against Lilith - is yet unkown to the protagonists, but with the results of Magnus’ investigation the Shadowhunters know they’ve got to do something, Magnus and Alec propose a plan, but quite a lot of Shadowhunters are against it. Raj even sabotages their efforts - which is really not helpfull at all, not even for the sake of the Shadowhunters and the insitute. What was the guy thinking? This show’s power couple Magnus and Alec manage to get rid of the corrupted ley lines. And while Magnus mentions that Lorenzo took the credit for that it is clear nontheless that Magnus is still the High Warlock in anything but name - he protected the warlocks at the party as well as the whole city when he came to the New York institute to solve the problem. His devotion to the safety of the warlocks is real, while Lorenzo is distracted by his envy of Magnus.

The episode ends by taking a step forward in Simon’s plot. When the werewolves attack him, his mark gets activated and repells the attacker.

Next: What Lies Beneath (spoilers)

Next episode is developing the plot of Jace and Sebastian even further and adressing the powers of Simon’s mark. Judging by the promos, Clary is starting to worry about Jace and Luke has to deal with his pack’s dislike of Simon. And last but not least: Alec, Magnus and Maryse are having dinner together. This episode looks quite crowded already - but usually Shadowhunters can do those kind of episodes quite well.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Shadowhunters | 3.01 Review

Shadowhunters - On Infernal Ground

written by Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer, directed by Matt Hasting

After a great finale in season 2, season 3 starts of on the same high level: the characters are now dealing with the aftermath of Valentine’s and Sebastian’s attack and the result of their own actions. We’re also introduced to the new antagonist: Lilith. A lot of this first episode is a setup, but for that it is well done. Almost every character gets their little moment, and the bigger stories are set in motion. There are a lot of little plots and to take care of, so I’ll try to devide this into character groups in a futile attempt to get this review in order.

Clary & Jace

“No one can know, Clary.”

The episode starts on a positive note and an important step in Clary’s development: she is finally officially recognized as a Shadowhunter and gets her Shadowhunter rune as well as signature weapons – dual kindjals, two weapons that Clary chose by instinct. Luke later reveals to her that these weapons were her parents’ weapons before. In the following fight against a demon Clary uses them quite well but also shows that her real strength lies in creating and drawing runes. I like that we get to see Clary as a competent fighter but they still let her real powers be her ability to draw runes. With this skill she’s equally (if not more) useful as other Shadowhunters, despite her lack of experience.

Clary’s Shadowhunter initiation is overshadowed by the fact that Clary and Jace both haven’t told anyone about the wish that Clary used to revive Jace after Valentine had killed him. Jace seems to be naturally disturbed by this, but he’s also plagued by nightmares. His parabatai Alec suspects there is more to the story than Jace and Clary are willing to admit, but they both refuse to tell him the truth.

Alec & Magnus

“You never have to pretend how you feel.”

Alec was offered a position on the Council, while Magnus was dismissed because of his support for the Seelie Queen. He claims to be okay with it, but after talking to Catarina at the hospital Alec realizes that is not the case. Magnus also pretends to be okay with Alec possibly moving to Idris for his new job, but in the end Alec can get him to open up about how he really feels like and assures him that he can be honest with him – and that he won’t move to Idris.

Luke & Ollie

“That wolf… that was you, wasn't it?”

Since Ollie has found out about Luke’s identity as a werewolf, Luke tries to convince her that this idea is ridiculous. And most people would probably believe him, but apparently Ollie has had an encounter with werewolves before, so she spends most of the episode being quite annoyed with Luke. At times I find it hard to believe that Ollie would be that carefree about talking to a werewolf, especially since she has been attacked by one before. However, when Ollie gets attacked by a demon Luke tries to protect her in his werewolf form and is unable to deny it later on.  

Lilith & Sebastian

“I'm here now, son.” 

Sebastian turns out to be not-quite-dead, thanks to the new season’s antagonist Lilith. How exactly their relationship fits together remains to be seen. As Lilith states in the hospital she can’t have children, but maybe that is only true for a very specific way. When Lilith was in the hospital, I first feared she might start to eat the children, but that was not the case - and it interesting to see that almost vulnerable longing for these babies. It is almost touching if it weren’t for the fact that she is a powerful demon who thanks nice-guy!Tim for his kind words by letting a demon possess him. It was really a shame because he really seemed like a good guy, and even though he was a random guy I felt sorry for him and his wife. And the demon in him was really creepy, especially during the fight against Clary. So far it’s not clear what Lilith actually wants to accomplish, but there seem to be 33 more demons waiting to join the party. Am I the only one who thought the demon Lilith was talking to in the end looks a bit like an evil chicken?

Simon, Maia, Izzy and Raphael

“You're the new weapons master? Izzy, that is perfect for you.“

There is not much time spend on Simon, Maia, Izzy or Raphael, but they’re not forgotten and their parts are not less important.

Simon is more or less forced to entertain the Seelie Queen and her court, or otherwise she wouldn’t have let Maia go at the end of last season. Alberto Rosende gives us another beautiful part of a song, and the Seelie Queen is pleased as well. However, her true reason for having Simon at her court is to brand him with a mark. Simon has no idea what it is, and it quickly fades. When he is allowed to leave the court, Maia - who was worried about his absence - soon forgives him for leaving without saying anything.

While Clary has been made an official Shadowhunter and Alec has been offered a promotion to Idris, izzy has been made weapons master at the New York institue, and she helps Clary to find her new wepaons and later joins JAce and Alec in the investigation of the demon attack. Having Izzy be the new weapons master fits perfectly, and after her long journey of recovering after the Yin Feng it’s great to see her in this position.

Rapahel has probably the least amount of screen time, but to make up for that he has a nice little moment with Magnus that reminds us of their connection. He gets a vampire tranquilizer from Magnus claiming it is for himself. A few scenes later we see him using it on another vampire for what looks like some form of experiment. Raphael is using light, so this is probably bad news for Simon.

A good opening for the new season

“I sang you a song about nature!”

There is a lot to like about the new episode and as it is often the case I enjoy episode especially when they make the smaller scenes work within the episodes.

For starters, Clary’s and Jace’s fight scene: I cannot help it, I love all the fight scenes in Shadowhunters. They are so well done, they always managed to give us nice character moments along with it, and they are just all around badass. And it just makes sense? These people are fighting all the time, their job is to hunt demons - so yes, of course they need to train. A lot of shows (that are not anime) don’t really take the time to show that on a regular basis, but it is great that they include it here.

I was also very happy when the Shadowhunters met Catarina in the hospital. It was nice to see her again! And another encounter that was well done was Charlie - the guy that Izzy met at the hospital when she tried to get some candy there was so nice and friendly, it was refreshing. Their conversation was nothing special or super interestng, but it was a nice moment anyway. He was cleary interested in her and she was sort of reluctant, but he stayed polite and respectful, so it worked. I hope this guy won’t fall victim to a demon attack or something similar.

Having read the books I can only say that I’m looking forward to what kind of story the writers can come up with for Alec and Magnus. They won’t be stuck on vacation for a season and just send in some pictures every now and then, and it’s exciting to know that even after having read the books there is no way of knowing what will happen next. There are a few ideas what could happen, but seeing how Simon got his mark there could be all kinds of twists on the book’s story. In this rare case I can’t say that I’m disappointed because the writing of the show has been really good so far.

All in all I’m mostly impressed how the episode managed to have all these little plots in it but still make it feel like one whole episode, one story, where many people have a part in it but it is still all connected. Maybe that is because despite everyone having their own little story they still relate to other stories as well. Luke might be busy with dealing with Ollie, but he still has an open ear for Clary. Maia worries about Simon, but she’s also concerned with Luke’s “Ollie-problem”. Luke is not a Shadowhunter anymore, but he’ll send his Shadowhunter friends after the demon, and when the Jace, Alec and Izzy go to the hospital to investigate, they meet Magnus’ friend Catarina who’s worried about Magnus. Clary’s and Jace’s little secret is connected to Sebastian and therefore to Lilith, who is behind the demon’s attack in the first place, and it all comes together so wonderfully that I can’t help but be amazed by the amount of plot the writers managed to put into this episode without making it feel like it’s going to explore from the mass of things that happen.

Kudos to you, Shadowhunters creators!

Next: The Powers That Be (spoilers)

The Warlocks’ magic is becoming corrupted by a demonic presence while Izzy and Luke try to track down more information on the recent series of possessions.

In the next episode, the Institue is under attack - again - and some Shadowhunters are quick to respond with racism - again. We’re also introduced to the new High Warlock of Brooklyn, Lorenzo Rey. Going by promo, sneak peek and press release, this episode will focus more on Magnus and Alec, as well as Izzy and Luke.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Supernatural | 13.15 Review

Supernatural - A Most Holy Man

written by Andrew Dabb & Robert Singer, directed by Amanda Tapping

Supernatural is all over the place these days. Luckily, in episode it finds its way back to Sam and Dean and actually spends a whole episode just focusing on the Winchester brothers. In theory it is a Monster-of-the-week-episode that ties into the overall season’s story arc, but there is actually no monster in it. Instead, Sam and Dean try to find one of their quest items on a black market for religious relics. It’s a decent episode and I enjoyed watching it – but I don’t actually have to say a lot about it.

A huge market for religious relics.

“It's mob talk.”

There are some external factors that set the episode apart from the average episodes - the inspiration by the Noir films for example. The coloring of the episode was not as bright as the episodes usually are, and the change of style could be heard in the music, too.   As for the story: for once, the episode tells only one story and not several stories at the same time. As a result, the story has some room to breathe and is able to give its characters time to think, act and most importantly: feel.

On the surface, Sam and Dean try to navigate through several deals with human criminals who feel a lot like stereotypical impressions of any given character from a Mafia movie, but since Supernatural usually tells different stories the stereotypes are not horribly distracting. As characters in this episode they aren’t really interesting either, and that just seems to be a prominent element of this season: the absence of an even remotely interesting villain. This time, we get Margaret Astor who starts flirting with Sam the minute she lays eyes on him, Richard Greenstreet, a liar and just a nasty guy all around, and Santino Scarpatti, a standard mobster whose actor is mostly known for his work in The Sopranos. The Winchesters meet with them one after another and try to get their hands on the Blood of a most holy man, while Astor, Greenstreet and Scarpatti are after the skull of St. Peter. Most of them end up shooting each other, and none of them have what Sam and Dean actually need.

He's a good guy.

“I don't want a dick like Greenstreet or Scarpatti to win. Not this time.”

But fortunately, there is another character in this episode: Father Lucca Camilleri, a priest that wants to bring the skull of St. Peter back to the monastery where it was stolen from. Although the viewer can’t be sure at first, it turns out this guy is really one of the good guys, and stays a likable character throughout the whole episode. I agree with Sam when he expresses the wish that for once, he wants a good guy like Lucca to win.  

They decide to help Lucca and manage to get the skull back for him – and I am genuinely happy for the guy! He deserves to get it back, and it is nice that the episode ended on that positive note. Especially since Sam and Dean get rewarded for helping him – as it turns out, Lucca can be titled as a most holy man, and with that Sam and Dean get the first item on their list. It’s a shame we don’t see them actually asking for his blood, since that happens off-screen. I would have loved to see them trying to explain why they need his blood.

I have faith.

“You think we could ever change things? I mean, really change things?”

Lucca not only gives Sam and Dean his blood, he also gives them something to think about and gives the internal theme of the story a direction. The three of them have a talk about doing what’s right in the hotel, and it is a talk that feels good to listen to. Lucca has a positive outlook on the world, and his faith inspires both Sam and Dean in their own ways. The result is a nice brother moment in the bunker at the end of the episode where Sam – kind of – asks Dean for optimism, and Dean assures him that he has faith. It’s a nice mirror to the fourth episode where Dean was struggling with depression and needed Sam to have faith for them both because he wasn’t able to do that. Now it is the other way round, and Dean is the one to support Sam.

Aside from doing the right thing and getting rewarded for it, and having faith in what they are doing, there is a third moment directly involving the theme of faith. When the bad guys start shooting each other and with Sam and Dean in the middle of it, Lucca starts praying and from the way it is edited it feels a lot like his prayer might actually have an effect on the outcome of this fight – however, I’m not sure it was intended like that. But Lucca, as he has mentioned before, doesn’t expect a miracle to solve the day and therefore tries to improve things by himself. He gets rewarded too – the bullet that hit him actually just grazed him. 

If I can't have it, nobody can.

There are some wonderful little gems in this episode that haven’t been mentioned in the review so far. I just want to list them here because I really enjoyed them a lot:

“Just that it's very, very important to us. To me.” Sam unapologetically using Astor’s interest in him to his their advantage.

“Look at you. You're like a Boy Scout. You're always prepared.” Sam being prepared and Dean being a proud big brother.

“You believe this guy? You got a set on you, pal. You talk to me like that in this room?” Actually, Dean’s whole interaction with Scarpatti and his men. From his reaction when he has to give up the keys of the Impala to him correcting Scarpatti regarding the ownership of the skull, everything about it is just wonderful to watch. My favorite part about it has to be that look he gives Sam when Scarpatti uses the word “whacked”. And: somewhere in there a cat got a few frames of screen time, and every scene gets improved by the presence of a cat.

“Really, Dean? You can feel it.” Sam being an annoyed little brother.

“If somebody stole the Impala, what would you do?” – “Murder. I'd murder 'em all.” Sam invoking probably one of Dean’s greatest fears and rendering him useless for a conversation in the process.

“What if we get the skull back for you?” Sam taking a liking to Lucca and wanting to help him.

“Lying, it's a sin.” Lucca doesn’t want to lie because it’s a sin. And him asking “Is he okay?” after Dean took out one of the henchmen was just plain adorable.

“All right, that's all of 'em.” On that note – Dean taking out the rest of the henchmen without any problems in a fast and efficient way is really badass.

Dean correcting his tie after punching Greenstreet.

Next: Scoobynatural (spoilers)

The next episode will be the crossover with Scooby-Doo. I can’t promise that I will watch more than the first few minutes of the show and therefore don’t know if I’ll be able to write a review for episode 16. I’m not a fan of the look of Scooby-Doo, only time will tell if I can actually watch a 40min episode like this. But I’m sure that if you like Scooby-Doo, the upcoming episode will be a very interesting one for you.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Supernatural | 13.14 Review

Supernatural - Good Intentions

written by Meredith Glynn, directed by P. J. Pesce

The 14th episode in this season is my least favorite episode written by Meredith Glynn so far. It is one of the main plot-episodes that is supposed to develop thIs season’s overall story, but even though there is quite some development in this episode it feels hollow and - in a way - meaningless.

A universe with empty names

There were a few things that I liked about the story in the Alternate Universe. I liked Jack from the beginning of season 13, so it was nice to see what he’d been up to during these last four episodes. At The core of his story he is quite like Sam – a really sympathetic character who dreams of a safe life with the people he grew to like and who are what he considers family, who wants to protect Mary and the people in the camp, and who’s ready to fight someone like Zachariah and Michael.  At the same time he’s not all human and has powers he’s not completely in control. No wonder his story is compelling – it’s a good story. For that reason I liked his naïve assurance that he would never let the AU-angels get to the normal world, and his shadow figures where one of my favorite scenes in this episode.

Bobby telling Mary about her AU version was interesting, too. Not only was it a confirmation that Sam and Dean really saved the normal world, it also gave us the first real comparison between a character and their AU counterpart. And for me that is actually surprising, because it’s not what I would expect from an alternate universe. Of course, it mainly shows us a world that is almost completely destroyed – but what is the story behind it? Who are the people living in this world? We don’t know! They drop a lot of names on us and expect us to care because we used to care for these characters. The only thing is that the AU characters are not the characters we used to know, and just naming them after their counterparts doesn’t make them more interesting. Zachariah in this episode is probably the best example because he was plain boring. Even Kevin and Bobby in the AU don’t really have a character. They are not exactly the Kevin and Bobby that we know, but we don’t see any surprising character traits or differences either. They are – more or less – how you’d expect them to be in that universe, and that is an unsurprisingly boring story idea. In the end, it is an excuse to bring back fan-favorite characters without knowing what to do with them at all.

And one last thing: The special effects for Jack’s powers are really ugly. I’m sure even a small CW show should be able to do better than that.

Search quests

The story in the normal universe brings us two quests – one fake and one real – that involve collecting various things.  The first one is made up by Donatello who’s slowly losing his mind, and the result is one of the most ridiculous scenes I’ve ever seen.

I won’t deny that writing random antagonists in an interesting way surely is a challenge, especially when a show like Supernatural has had so many of them already. But Gog and Magog look ridiculous, act ridiculous and had a horribly forced dialogue. And even the fight is not one I’ll come back to re-watch, even though I usually enjoy watching a good fight. That fight just wasn’t good, and the only not-bad-thing about this whole scene was Dean’s amusement and the fact that he won the fight.

The second collection quest that is introduced at the end of the episode is the real deal and it joins a list of quests to find rings, ingredients for killing Leviathans, completing tasks to close the gates of hell, searching for ingredients to get rid of the Mark of Cain… sometimes the story structure does feel a bit like a video game, but as long as the accompanying storyline works, I am okay with that. In this episode however that was not the case.

A mad and soulless body

I feel sorry for Donatello because he used to be a good guy – even without a soul. But losing your soul, getting under a spell of Asmodeus and being corrupted by the demon tablet is enough to bring anyone down. I guess this episode was the last we saw of Donatello. I was surprised to see how well Keith Szarabajka can portray a cray Donatello.

So from what we have seen in this episode, Donatello really is beyond saving. Castiel wanting to kill him to get a new prophet sounds logical, because a corrupted Donatello without a soul is not exactly what you would call human. So the Winchesters being so very upset about Castiel’s actions in this episode really felt more like the writer trying to create some drama, and not because it makes any sense for the characters.

War is coming, apparently

But the Winchesters are not the only ones with strange motivations. While I am glad to see Castiel acting a bit more like a soldier, his reasons for suddenly doing so are not convincing. Castiel hasn’t met the Michael from the Alternate Universe yet, he hasn’t really seen anything that Michael did and all that Castiel knows about him he knows from Lucifer – who he knows he can’t trust. In fact, he was killed by Lucifer not too long ago, so if he was actually more scared by Lucifer than by Michael, that would be understandable. Lucifer being afraid of Michael might seem scary to Castiel, but is that enough for him to predict war and to ignore Sam’s and Dean’s wishes? It all feels a bit too vague to cause any character development.

The multi cast, featuring Sam & Dean

The most disappointing part of this episode was that even when Sam and Dean were on screen they didn’t get anything really meaningful to do. As in previous episodes they are there to connect different plotlines and other character arcs so that it makes a show, but not having them in this episode wouldn’t have made much of a difference.  They have their little it-is-the-middle-of-the-season-so-we-wait-until-a-solution-comes-around talk, and their emotional state is more or less whatever the writers need them to be.

Remember when Dean threatened a girl at gun point because he was so worried about Mary? Remember how depressed Sam was because he couldn’t believe that they could save Mary? Why are they suddenly so relaxed about the situation? There is a brief moment where we Sam seems to be more depressed again, but aside from that there is no real emotional involvement from the Winchesters in this episode. Sure, there is a repetitive who-are-you-doing-question for Castiel, an amused-by-loincloths from Dean, that tiny bit of depression for Sam and that weird worrying about a soulless and corrupted body. But it’s all very superficial and doesn’t go anywhere.

Of course, side characters need some character development, too. But  I think it would work a lot better if that were to happen alongside the main characters’ development and stories, and not instead of them.

Going back to my opening statement that this episode felt hollow - here is why it felt like that to me: there is no good exploration of why people feel and act like they do, and the two main characters that you usually connect the most to barly have anything to do at all. Sure, they go on their assigned quests and are upset about whatever the show rolled the dices on, but that is not enough to make me care about what happened here.

[random-thoughts-collection]

Supernatural | 13.13 Review

Supernatural - Devil's Bargain

written by Eugenie Ross-Leming & Brad Buckner, directed by Eduardo Sánchez

I feel like Ross-Leming and Buckner get at least one or two episodes each season where they try to stuff as much plot development as possible into one episode. This is one of these episodes and it suffers from too many villains and from a predictable and boring focus point. I’m afraid I didn’t like this episode, and while there are a few good things in there, this review won’t be positive about most of this episode’s elements – especially when putting them in the context of the whole show.

Recycling stories: Lucifer

“I am powered down. But you can't kill me.”

Bringing back Lucifer as the big bad (or one of the big bads) was never a plot development I liked. It didn’t work for me in season 11, it made less sense in season 12, and having him around in season 13 creates a plot that feels sadly repetitive while giving us a less threatening Lucifer, a less impressive Lucifer, a less effective Lucifer and a less intriguing character all around. See, we had that angel-gone-human plot before. We saw it in Anna’s story in season 4 who wanted it, we saw Castiel dealing with being human in season 9 and learning from the experience, and we saw Metatron going through it and hating it in season 10 and 11. Where is the point in wasting Lucifer of all characters on that plot, especially after season 12 dealt with him being powerless quite extensively? Reducing your powerful archangel to a beggar is not a new and special idea, making them into a caricature of themselves is not a good idea, and with all this in mind most of this episode felt like a waste to me.

And there are so many parts about the plot that don’t make any sense to me. What is the point of angels stabbing each other with angel blades if it doesn’t really do anything to them? Why was Castiel running away from Asmodeus’ hideout, only to run back to it afterwards? If Lucifer is so powered down that he has to beg for food, why can’t the cupid defend himself again Lucifer? And how and why would Lucifer be able to create new angels? I can imagine he saw God doing it, but I dislike the idea that he can just do it himself just because he has seen it. For Jack that might be acceptable, him being a quite unique mix of archangel and human, but I don’t see why Lucifer would have that kind of creational power. Just convincing the angels because he can give them their wings back would have made more sense to me. And here’s another complaint: Lucifer on that throne in heaven looked utterly ridiculous. The design of the whole room looks uninspired but not simple enough to really impress through simplicity. The kneeling angels look out-of-place as well, and if they’re the only angels left that’s really not much. But if there are more then there should have been more. As it is, Lucifer doesn’t look like the ruler of Heaven but more like a wannabe king of a tiny sandbox.

And one little side note on Castiel: his part in this episode was mostly okay and I really enjoyed how he knocked Ketch out – but you of all people don’t get to say “If he were lying, I'd have known it” because you are not good at detecting lies in general while Lucifer is the King of Lies. I wouldn’t blame anyone for not believing your assessment of the situation.

Mini-plots & bringing back all the characters

“That's proven to be, uh, monumentally stupid?” – “Indeed.”

One thing Asmodeus, Ketch and I can agree on: taking Lucifer as a prisoner was a stupid idea. But I’m currently wondering for what the Crowley substitute and Ketch are needed in this season’s main plot. Asmodeus tried to get Jack on his side in the first couple of episodes and it didn’t work, they discussed all his backstory with Lucifer and the Shedim, he imprisoned Castiel and Lucifer and that didn’t have any consequences… so far this plot feels pointless and is therefore very frustrating to watch. I hope they actually go somewhere with this, but I’m worried they’ll end this specific plot without any satisfactory conclusion.

In a way it makes sense for the Winchesters to temporally work with Ketch since he saved their lives. And the Winchesters have worked with their enemies before (Lucifer, Metatron, the hunters who killed them, you name it…), so it’s nothing new to them. But for the same reason I wish they would just refuse to work with their enemy for once. To let them feel their pain and hurt for once and not have to ignore it – and even let Ketch get away with it all after everything is said and done. Ketch is also a difficult element here because of the way they brought him back. That the Winchesters wouldn’t salt and burn him is absolute nonsense, and every time he is onscreen I am reminded of that.

Speaking of the past: Asmodeus introduced us to the archangel blade and I can’t help but think that it would have been useful to know about it when the Winchesters fought Lucifer for the first time. Am I to believe they never found it during all their hours of research? That is one of the major problems if you revisit the same plot over and over again. Instead of doing something different than evil archangels and demons all the time it would create less plot holes and continuity issues if they would explore different legends and myths. Can this show please stop with the super knives? And after bringing Castiel, Billie, Ketch and Rowena back from the dead in this seasons now we can also add Gabriel to the list. Why are people in this show afraid of death again?   I can’t feel any excitement about Gabriel’s return and I have no idea how they will explain him being alive.

Anael

“After The Fall, when we lost our wings, I wasn't devastated. I was liberated. I was finally free.”

Sister Jo – or Anael – was a nice change from the usual stuck-up angel. We don’t see angels that have some interest and even sympathy for humans very often, and although Anael obviously exploits them and has only her self-interest in mind, she reminded me a little bit of Anna when she spoke about how she felt after her The Fall and how she sometimes envies humans. It’s for different reasons than Anna, but it was nice to see. As a result she seemed more human than the usual Heaven-Corporation-angel, and less dull than the average angels we get to see. Chemistry-wise her scenes with Lucifer were a bit weird though, mainly because Lucifer is not intimidating at all these days – for the viewer at least. It’s hard to watch the characters on screen are afraid or at least worried about him when you can’t feel anything of this supposed danger at all. This makes the grace-sharing moments uncomfortable as well. I’m not surprised that Ross-Leming and Buckner felt the need to get some sort of sexual undertones in this episode, but I was mostly grossed out by it. There is no attraction between Anael and Lucifer so I don’t see the need for this kind of moment, and while Lucifer is described as a seducer in many works he definitively doesn’t look like this in his current beggar state. So while I enjoyed Anael being her own person, I hope we’ll see her in different company the next time she is on screen.

And on a second thought: in some versions of the mythology Anael isn’t just a lowly angel but an actual archangel. For the longest time I thought of Anna as Anael, but that’s now not possible anymore. I just wish that when this angel appears they would have made Anael a more powerful, more meaningful angel.

And the Winchesters…

“Yeah, well, most of what we do are long shots. You get used to it.”

…were barely in this episode. They were dutifully collecting the different threads of plot and tying them together, but aside from that there was not a lot to do for them. They formed a new plan and I suppose therefore the writers felt there was no need to address Sam’s current mental state any longer, they’re overseeing Donatello’s translation progress and they lost another fight yet again.

Can we be done with angels and demons now, please?

Next: Good Intentions (spoilers)

It looks like we will find out what Jack has been up to so far and also meet Mary again.  We will be seeing the alternate version of Bobby Singer again, and apparently at least Castiel finds a way to talk to Jack. The next episode is written by Meredith Glynn and most of her episodes were decently written, so I am optimistic that next week’s episode will be more enjoyable than this week’s episode. Admittedly, the bar is low.