#obligatory not all izzy fans disclaimer

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

so much of the post s2 reaction from some izzy fans has been incredibly mask-off but i think by far one of the most blatant moments has been seeing all the ppl who think the season should’ve ended with izzy being made captain. aside from how in s1 his main textual arc was that he craves leadership and yet is incredibly ill-suited for it (source: those goddamn alex sherman DMs from last year) and how in s2 his arc has nothing to do with desiring leadership or being a capable leader. aside from that. there are multiple other people who DO have arcs or at least characterizations that would be better suited to being captain, such as:

frenchie, who is actually canonically made captain at the end of the show

oluwande, who was voted captain by the crew in episode 9 of last season

zheng, who has experience captaining an entire fleet of pirate ships

and i’m gonna come out of left field with this one but how about spanish jackie, who knows how to run a business and how to lead a group of 20 people with no problem. her management style might have to change a bit if she’s in charge of the revenge instead of her 20 husbands but ffs there’s still more to support having her as a captain than izzy

and i just gotta wonder 🤔 what does izzy have that these four characters don’t that makes some fans think izzy would somehow be a better captain??? 🤔🤔 rlly makes you think 🤔🤔🤔

[carrymelikeimcute]

We said goodbye to Izzy this season. What was your initial reaction to learning his fate, and how did you prepare for his death? Con O’Neill: You know what, I’ve been around a long time, and going through those first few scripts and seeing which way the arc was going, it didn’t surprise me.

This is so god-damn tragic to me.

Obligatory disclaimer that I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, or make it sound like this is the only way to interpret this.

Having just watched a big chunk of Con's filmography, this man has played so. many. tragic. queer. characters. So many tragic characters in general, but so many of them queer and...I mean we were all really hoping that Izzy wouldn't be one of them, but to think he might have been hoping that and then been wrong, and seen that bus coming? Makes me feel awful.

I agree that he got to really go out with a bang, and did an amazing job, all the awards, really great arc - but God I wish this role had bucked the long, long, trend.

[eugeniedanglars]

okay blah blah obligatory disclaimer it's okay to be sad your favorite little guy died and i'm sympathetic to that ANYWAY i'm reading more ofmd tweets because i will never learn lessons i will never adapt to situations and i will never develop self-preservation instincts and

i'm absolutely fucking cracking up at how completely out of their entire minds some izzy fans are. this mf just called ed izzy's EX-HUSBAND??? truly levels of "watching a version of the show that only exists in their mind" i didn't even know existed. this has never been a show about main character izzy overcoming the trauma of his abusive marriage to ed. they were never even canonically a couple, let alone fucking married. and framing it as "big mean scawy ed abused poor innocent izzy" is just a blatant rewriting of, like, all of season 1. like these people literally are not watching the same show as me and it's kind of hilarious getting this peek into their world. you're grown adults how are you this media illiterate. anyway i finally feel free enough to say that i have always thought izzy was overhyped and i'm kind of excited to see how the ed/stede and revenge crew dynamics will adjust to his absence

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters 3x19, Aku Cinta Kamu -- Review (Sort Of, More Like a Rant)

Just a disclaimer, as always. I'm not a fan of this show. In fact, I've gone pretty much into full hate on the show and I'm really only continuing with it because I've put up with it for so long that I feel obligated to finish it. If you're all about positivity for this show, this is not the review for you. I strongly discourage against reading it and if you do, it's at your own risk. My opinions may be offensive to you. Also, spoilers for the episode.

Okay, seriously, what does this show have against making Clary a flawed character with weaknesses? Why do they insist on making her the most bland, generic, uninteresting character possible? Or a better question. Why is every character in this show like this? Why are they all so bland and generic and uninteresting? Do the writers have some sort of contest on who can write the most uninteresting characters imaginable? If they are, they must be trying to break a tie or something.

That's it. That's my review on 3x19, Aku Cinta Kamu. This episode was more of the same thing thing we've been getting all season. But I'll rant anyway to make you feel that taking the trip to my blog was worth it.

Even though the plot's finally happening and things are going on, everything in this show just makes me feel empty inside. I'm literally just waiting for this show to end, I'm receiving no enjoyment from it. I can't believe I'm saying it but I miss season 1 where even when the show was bad, it was at least fun.

I hate that dark!Clary is a thing that's happening because of magic and not due to a reflection of Clary as a person. Give Clary character development, give her a sense of agency. Clary in her initial design is not meant to be a Mary Sue so why can't the show just let her be flawed and allow her to break away from this Mary Sue archetype? It's infuriating. She has all the groundwork to be this fascinating, interesting, flawed heroine and the show chooses to take advantage of none of it and instead chooses to be willfully ignorant of all her personality flaws that are so obviously there. There's nothing more horrible than watching a character who could be interesting never being taken in that direction. All for the sake of what? To say you're a feminist show and that you have strong female characters? Well, I got news for you, Writers of Shadowhunters. It's not about having strong FEMALE characters, it's about having strong female CHARACTERS.

The Malec break-up, as I've already said before, is ridiculously childish and melodramatic and I want it off my screen. Just like with dark!Clary, I'm always saying I want a Malec break-up so these two can have some time for soul-searching and really think about what they want (and you know, give me a reason to ship them other than just the fact that they're an lgbtq+ couple) but that's not what I'm getting here. This is a plot born of some of the most generic Malec fanfiction out there and the show is doing a terrible job with it. It's childish and ridiculous and boring. Not to mention, Magnus trying to erase his memories of Alec is crazy out of character whether you're looking at book!Magnus or show!Magnus. Magnus accepts his immortality, he accepts that the majority of his connections live short lives and they will die so memories are super important to him because after those people are gone, memories are all Magnus will have left of them. So the idea that Magnus wants to get rid of any of his memories of the love of his life (someone he's no doubt thought about their inevitability of death) is just ridiculous and out of character for me. And then of course Asmodeus showing up the day after Alec breaks up with him, Magnus can be dumb and nonsensical sometimes but he can't be this dumb, can he? And why is this show always trying to put Alec in this contest of Magjus's previous relationships? Why is the show always trying to prove that Magnus loves Alec more than anyone else he ever has? Is this show being written by a 16-year-old who's trying to get over their Twilight obsession?

Oh and Cleophas conveniently is nowhere to be found to help out with the re-forging of Glorious probably because the show's trying to save money and didn't want to waste some of it trying to get that actress back. But it's okay, by the power of plot convenience, Izzy conveniently knows everything on how to reforge Glorious. Insert obligatory, cringy Sizzy stuff.

And for some reason Maia and Jordan think their relationship is going to be fixed if they become mundanes? Their relationship was falling apart long before the werewolf thing. Their relationship fell apart initially because Jordan didn't respect the things Maia wanted. It has nothing to do with the supernatural. But show, you do you, I guess.

It feels like 3B in particular with its writing just keeps running around in circles with its plot. We didn't need the Lorenzo plot to get into the Magnis and Asmodeus plot, we could've just started with that. What was the point of the season starting with Clary and Jonathon together, then separating, and then coming back together again? We should've just kept them together the entire time and gone from there. And realistically, if the show really wanted Sizzy, Saia should've ended last season to give more time to develop Sizzy and make them feel less forced. And not to get off topic or anything, what even was the point of the Heidi plot? It was a complete waste of time that could've been devoted to perhaps a better Saia break-up and subsequent Sizzy development. Oh and then we could've had Maia challenging the alpha and becoming the new alpha like she should've all along. Basically, this episode feels like had this season been written more competently, this episode should've happened a few episodes ago instead of the first half of 3B being nothing but filler. This episode gets a C-. It was blah, I didn't care for it.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

the way izzy was received by this fandom rlly is the worst combo of how fans responded to kylo ren and how fans responded to, like, tyler durden or walter white.

anything i could say comparing izzy fans and kylo fans was already said in this fucking incredible post by @chuplayswithfire. but basically: izzy is a huge cunt to everyone in this show but fans take him at his word when he talks about being hardworking and competent, they minimize and excuse his actions and act like he's an innocent traumatized baby, and they focus on him, a shitty white antagonist, instead of any of the other interesting characters of color they could be paying attention to

but imo the thing that rlly makes a difference between izzy and kylo, and the thing that makes me compare him to those other two white dudes i mentioned above, is that unlike the movies kylo ren is in, ofmd is actually well-written

the first movie in the star wars sequel trilogy was pitched, written, filmed, and literally released with no ending for the trilogy in mind. the writing for the next movies was adjusted based on fan reactions, and major plot points were decided by studio executives deciding which events would make the movie more profitable. i should not have to explain to you that this is a terrible way to write a movie series. or a television series. or literally any kind of fucking story in the world.

our flag means death, or what we have of it so far, is not that. there's fully developed characters with given realistic motivations, instead of one-dimensional props that are jerked around by a constant tug-of-war between writers, directors, and studio executives. there are narrative plot points that are woven expertly throughout the story, not hints of storylines that are completely forgotten about by the next franchise, or storylines that were finished that are getting dug up again. there's a central theme to ofmd, unlike the new star wars movies, where the theme seems to be "how can we milk this fucking franchise for all it's worth." there's no goddamn queerbaiting

i'll admit that i've never actually seen breaking bad, and everything i know about it i've learned via tumblr osmosis. but from what i can tell, it's actually a very well-written show, and the whole point of the show is that walter white is the epitome of entitled and abusive white man who thinks he's super tough and badass and that everyone should listen to him and do whatever he tells them to do (lmao, sound familiar?). he ruins his life and the lives of everyone around him and idk he might die in the end. anyway dont do drugs.

fight club i have seen, and i can confirm that this is a fantastic movie that features, you guessed it, an arrogant white guy who represents the classic violent male power fantasy. the narrator, deeply depressed because he's a beta male, watches jealously from the sidelines as tyler durden starts seeking violence, first from just meeting up with random guys for consensual beatdowns, but it escalates as more and more men start joining the fight club (wow! the title of the movie!) until the club morphs into a terrorist group. also if you haven't seen it there's a Big Plot Twist that i haven't mentioned and it's pretty good. love that movie.

anyway the point is that both of those men are very obviously. shitty fucking guys. classic macho men (even tho tyler durden's fashion sense is fantastically fruity, for some reason) who crave power over others and respect in the form of fear. the whole point of their fucking characters is that in any generic action movie, they would be the heroes

and so many fans just. completely fucking miss this. there are hoards of dudebro fan guys who relate to these characters and go "wow, he's just like me!" and absolutely do not get the point of the thing they're watching. it is fucking baffling to see

anyway that's izzy stans!! an truly groundbreaking combo of your classic female fans who woobify evil white men and classic male fans who miss the entire point of characters who are written to subvert the expectations of what kind of role a character like izzy hands, walter white, or tyler durden would be expected to play!!!!! izzy hands is written to be an antagonist and the personification of toxic masculinity that ed is trying to escape from, and yet people are acting like he's the show's third protagonist.

because izzy would be a protagonist, in a different and much shittier story. and even though we all watched the same show where he very clearly is not the protagonist, people are applying that role to izzy and not actually looking at what role he plays in this show.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

I don't know if this is going to make sense to anyone but some Izzy Stans are SO snapewives coded to me. Different generations, same mess...

laughed so fucking hard when i got this ask bc y'all dont even KNOW

this post is from december of 2022 and god. you did not see the discourse around this posts and other posts like this being equated to harassment of izzy stans bc the post is tagged izzy hands so obviously this person posted this specifically so izzy fans would see it and be hurt by it. and you did not witness this argument expand to "posts that are critical of izzy hands in any way do not belong in the izzy hands tag bc the tag is for fans of izzy" which was some absolutely wild shit.

anyway yeah ur not wrong tho. some izzy stans are really. getting very unhealthy abt their relationship to the fictional character izzy hands.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

thank for that amazing analysis of Izzy apologists. I'm so very tired. I adore some friends I've made in this fandom, but some of them are so deeply drunk on the Jizzy I can not *stand* talking about the show with them or Izzy anymore. It's either "Izzy is just a little guy he can't hurt anyone!" or "Izzy is gay he can't be femmephobic!" I'm so tired! He's the antagonist how is that controversial!? They see themselves as such victims too, the pointing of Izzy flaws is seen as an attack. Sigh.

im so very tired too, anon.

i really dont get it. i've been in fandoms where the fanon content all comes from a deep misunderstanding of what the original text is supposed to be. but like, it was marvel. or voltron. or that transphobic wizard school series. something where fans were actually coming up with a better version of the source material

i came into this fandom not because i wanted content that fixed what i disliked abt the source material, but because i wanted more of the source material, and there was only so many times i could rewatch the ten episodes that we have. this show is fucking phenomenal and has brought me so much joy, and talking abt this show and chewing on good analyses of the show has been so much fucking fun.

it's just disheartening, i guess, that so many people fell down this gradual pipeline of liking the weird little gremlin antagonist to having their entire fandom experience revolve around a version of izzy that reflects fanon more than canon. it makes me fucking sad that there are people who genuinely believe he's the show's secret protagonist and that season one is full of undeniable references to his inevitable redemption arc but also he doesn't need to change anything to be redeemed because he's the skyler white of ofmd (???) and he's a victim of an abusive relationship but also he doesn't know he's in love with his captain who is so mean and unfair to him and doesn't even notice how izzy dedicates his whole life to him and–

like. these people don't even like the show anymore. they just like izzy. rather, they like the version of him they've made up in their heads. it makes me so fucking sad, bro.

we got a gay romcom, y'all. we got a show that revolves entirely around the romantic relationship between two middle-aged men. we got a diverse cast. we got polyamory. we got nonbinary rep. we got fat characters whose fatness was never made into a joke. we got a character with a lisp whose lisp was never commented on. we got so fucking much from this show.

do you remember how it felt to watch this show for the first time? do you remember that joy?

i just dont understand why so many people in the ofmd fandom don't like ofmd anymore

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

i'm cry laughing some people on twitter are now saying "izzy bashing" needs to be tagged in fics. how did these people ever survive watching this show where izzy is the CANON ANTAGONIST i'll never know

benefit of the doubt but i think most of them have gotten to this point gradually. when they first watched the show they were not attached to izzy the way they are now. i know for a lot of people it was blorbo at first sight with izzy but i've also seen izzy enjoyers say they didn't like him at first, and then fandom made them care about him.

like i'm pretty sure for a lot of ppl it started off with isolating themselves from ppl who made posts that they didnt like, like ppl who criticized ofmd for being based on two real people with direct connections to actual real-world slave trade (which is an incredibly valid thing to criticize abt ofmd).

another one that i think funneled a lot of fans towards being so delusionally attached to izzy was people pointing out or complaining about the disproportionate amount of fan content for izzy compared to prominent characters of color—which is a consistent issue in fandom no matter what the media, and is also a very easy one for people to be uncomfortable with whenever they see it get pointed out. people venting that "fans care too much abt this white man" often make fans who care abt that white man very defensive right off the bat, and then rather than engage with why they feel defensive or question if maybe their enjoyment of this character is fueled by implicit bias (which it might not be, to be clear! im not saying—and i have never said—that everyone who enjoyes izzy likes him for racist reasons), they stop listening to the conversation abt white favoritism and continue blorboposting as much as they want. it's incredibly easy for fans to brush off this convo as "just starting drama" and avoid the topic altogether because "fandom is for fun!" and they dont want to think abt difficult topics like racism and implicit bias, they just want to enjoy their blorbos in peace.

so they kept narrowing the takes they were seeing until they were in an echo chamber that kept moving more and more towards complete woobification of izzy hands. these people are now looking at the show entirely through izzy's pov, making posts abt how sad it is that none of the other characters are ever nice to him, how frustrating the show is from his perspective, how it feels to be deeply in love with someone who doesn't love you back. they've stared at gifs of con's micro-expressions and read angsty fanfiction and looked at endless izzy fanart and their entire ofmd fandom experience revolves around empathizing with this one character even tho the show itself continually makes him the butt of the joke.

at this point, telling these people to rewatch the show doesn't even matter. they've spent so much time over-analyzing every single one of izzy's scenes to the point where the emotional responses they get from these scenes are not the emotional responses anyone would have watching the show for the first time. they've warped the entire first season to fit their version of the show and are forgetting how often the show itself bashes izzy.

and the icing on the cake is the trolling. there's like, one or two people on here who go around sending anon hate and leaving nasty comments on instagram posts and harassing people on twitter for... like, i would say "for liking izzy" or even "for saying positive things about izzy" but like. i've gotten these messages, and the most sympathetic i've ever been to izzy was the post i made like "maybe he's mean bc he has chronic IBS. i'd actually understand him more if that were the case." so when i get these messages it's easier for me to just laugh them off bc it's so obviously just someone trying to make me upset, but people who do care about izzy (a lot of them being the same people who avoided engaging with the "why does fandom care so much abt white characters" convo) get these absolutely horrible messages about how they deserve to get hate crimed and they should kill themselves. and these fans who didn't want to even see vaguely negative posts abt izzy bc they just want to enjoy fandom in peace are now like "im targeted for just liking a character!"

so that's how we get to people saying that "izzy bashing" needs to be tagged. never mind that their definition of "bashing" almost certainly includes things that are not bashing but are just things that contradict the way they headcannnon him.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

no bc i always see izzy stans be like “people hate us for liking a character who isn’t perfect and who does bad things, sorry but i like my blorbos a little fucked up ☺️” but then in the same breath say “izzy is not homophobic, izzy would never say or do anything racist, izzy is the only person in the show who works hard, izzy was right to target lucius with chores bc if you can lean you can clean, izzy is right for hating stede bc he mostly hates stede for being rich, izzy did not get a boner in the toe scene, izzy doesn’t want to control ed, izzy is just worried about their survival and he knows you have to be tough to survive”

which like, if you want to sand your blorbo down like that until he’s unrecognizable from canon, sure. whatever. but how do you tell yourself that you like izzy because he’s “a little fucked up” when you’ve removed every fucked up part about him?? “he’s a weird little creep” except you’ve gotten rid of all the weird creep parts of him????

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

“purposefully erasing my favorite character from your pride series goes against the whole message of inclusivity” maybe take a step back from your personal feelings of attachment to your favorite person who doesn’t actually exist and worry more about the real queer person you’re calling anti-inclusive for not celebrating pride the way you want them to. a single fanartist online chooses not to draw a character from a tv show and y’all get so defensive. jesus christ, man. grow the fuck up.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

also every blackhands shipper who has ever called their ship a rarepair owes me financial compensation. im knocking on every door in the fandom rn and begging people to accept frenchie/ed into their hearts

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

i seriously will never get over the delusional attachment “stop being mean to izzy in the izzy hands tag” post bc the type of fandom experience that person seems to be looking for seems so… man i was gonna say delusional but lmao they beat me to it!

like, for one thing, there’s more than one way to enjoy a character. your weird projection onto some fictional character where you have mental breakdowns when you see people say anything critical about them is not the only way to do it (and by god i hope your style of enjoying characters is the minority bc that does NOT sound healthy, sorry). so you come onto here to enjoy izzy content and escape the stress and existential dread of real life—awesome, so do i! i enjoy criticizing this fictional character from a story with minimal actual real-world consequences as a way to take a break from my real life! that’s one of the ways that i cope with my shit!! and if seeing that upsets you, FEEL FREE TO BLOCK ME!!!

but also the idea that you’re a fan of an antagonist. and you don’t want to see ANY posts that talk negatively about the things he’s done. the things he’s done AS AN ANTAGONIST. an antagonist in a LOVE STORY!!! you think the character tag for one of the main antagonists of a Homosexual Romantic Comedy should only have posts that say positive things. about the ANTAGONIST. the antagonist????? the Mother Fucking Antagonist. the aNtAgOnIstT?? THE A-

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

 I don’t know what it is about izzy fans that make them crazy as opposed to like Wee John/ Frenchie/Pete/Buttons/Swede/Lucius/Roach/Fang or Ivan fans, who are just chill?

i mean it's hard to be anything but chill about all those characters bc they never really do anything that isn't chill. unlike izzy, who does a lot of very unchill things. because he's an antagonist, and that's his job. so he's got more stuff to actually debate about and discuss, like "why did he do that?" or "what was his motivation?" or "how did his actions further the story?"

why some people take that discussion really fucking seriously, i have no idea. why some fans get legitimately upset if they see a post criticizing their fave is beyond me. it's like they take it personally. idgi

obviously not all izzy fans are like this. and also obviously it's not only izzy fans who are like this! my good friend The Stede Anon once spent a whole evening giving me and my mutuals shit for not 100% condemning every single character who was mean to stede ever and not excusing each and every one of stede's mistakes. people who take shit too seriously are everywhere, izzy is just a really good character for those people to sink their claws into and form a controversial and unwavering opinion of and then get really upset when that opinion is challenged.

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters, 3x13 Beati Bellicosi -- Review

Welcome to another Shadowhunters episode. I know this review is coming a little late. But what’s a girl to do? 3B has had such an underwhelming start that it’s an actual chore for me to talk about this show. Plus, I fear my reviews are getting quite repetitive. I honestly don’t know what to say about this show that hasn’t been said a million times before. This week we have Shadowhunters 3x13, Beati Bellicosi.

I would like to preface this review with saying that I am NOT a huge supporter of this show. I do enjoy certain elements of it but I’m not what would be classified as a devoted fan. For me, Shadowhunters is not a good show and I do get very critical of the show in my reviews. Honestly, for me, I watch the show because 1) I’m too curious not to and 2) I find that this show can be so bad its funny and that’s how I reap enjoyment out of it. I am not at all invested in this show or its characters anymore. I’m just watching to see what happens. If you’re a die hard fan and you lash out at everyone who has a different opinion than you, you might want to skip these…I’m just saying. My reviews may not be for you. If you do decide to be a total troll, well then pay attention to the below disclaimer.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you’re the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that’s on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that’s the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I’m not telling YOU how to think and feel. I’m telling you what I, quirky and socially awkward me, think and feel. So please, lets discuss with dignity and respect. If I’m critical about this show, it’s only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters, I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It’s great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to point out the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do like the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my fondness for the books. I don’t really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as the changes are good, it makes sense, and it doesn’t create plot holes within the confines of the world the show has created. My problems with this show are problems I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the books and movie.

This episode was more of a filler kind of episode which really just left me asking, “why?” There’s already so much going on and this show only has 10 more episodes, they can’t afford these kinds of fillers. Things need to hurry up and start happening. Seriously, I don’t understand how this episode can have so much going on and yet nothing also happens at the same time. But by this point, I know full well how the Shadowhunters Writers Room works. The majority of the season is always filler, filled to the brim with inconsequential moments and the last two episodes of the season is when plot actually starts happening and it’s always unsatisfactory due to them not actually using the entire season to properly arc a plot and a character’s development.

The Mary Sue Comes Home

Mary Su- I mean, Clary is finally brought back home to the Institute in all of its anticlimactic glory. I still retain my stance from the previous review that it was completely pointless for Clary to start the series off with Jonathon if she was only going to be rescued in the very next episode. But anyway, everyone is super happy that Clary’s back except for Clary it seems. I mean, seriously, the energy Kat was giving off in these reunion scenes felt like she was giving an obligatory hug to these people who she supposedly loves as if they were family. These people thought she was dead, that they would never see her again. She thought she was going to die, she had no way of knowing if she would ever be able to escape Jonathon, she thought she might never see any of them ever again. How about once more with feeling, Kat?

Upon Izzy greeting Clary, she makes a comment on how she’s going to chop Jonathon to bits and pieces and again, I’m left asking myself, “What exactly has Jonathon done to require that level of rage?” He killed a couple of dudes she barely knew. Sure, he injured Max but Max made a complete recovery with no consequences. I can understand wanting to bring Jonathon in to receive justice, maybe even rough him up a little bit, but this whole “kill on sight” angle doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. In the books it did, because Jonathon did things that legitimately left a mark on these people, their vendetta was deeply personal, but that doesn’t exist in the show. It’s like I keep on saying, if you’re going to deviate from the source material, that’s fine, I don’t have a problem with that. But you can’t deviate and then expect to continue with the book’s plot as if nothing happened. By making that change, the entire context for that particular plot has changed, the entire plot now has to change to account for that deviation. Izzy is then later filled in that chopping Jonathon into bits and pieces would result in also chopping Clary into some Mary Sue bits and pieces so she understandably backs off. Alec then mentions that he’s put out an alert to all the other institutes that Jonathon needs to be captured alive and again, I’m just wondering, what has Jonathon done that would evoke every shadowhunter’s ire in this show? In the books, it made sense because he was responsible for a demon attack in Alicante that killed dozens of shadowhunters (men, women, children, elderly) but no such thing happened in the show so again, “why?” Why would they care about enacting death upon this guy? I’m also very confused about why other Institutes would pay any attention to Alec’s proclamation. It’s been made abundantly clear that the Clave doesn’t trust Alec, in fact, they weren’t even the ones who put him in charge of the Institute. Jace gave the title to Alec so again, “Why?” Why would they put any credence on this kind of proclamation? Especially, since the Clave was all for executing Clary literally a week or so ago. But whatever.

Continuing on, everyone seems to be super chill about Clary being linked to a super villain and the only one who seems to be worried about it is Clary. But in the end, even she stops worrying about it. I suppose they’ve as well gotten used to the convenient writing so they feel this isn’t something to worry about, they have absolute faith that the writers are going to pull something out of their asses. It was weird that Clary is so ready to get rid of the mark, she exclaims constantly that she can feel Jonathon underneath her skin and then all of the sudden, just in time for the episode to end, she decided out of the blue she’s not going to worry about it. And we get the Clace sex scene. Which was just really yuck to me. First of all, they started it all with that iconic Jace line from the books which just does not work in the show’s context, it’s unearned and it felt extremely awkward and cheesy. Second of all, Kat and Dom have 0 romantic chemistry so I wasn’t feeling anything in the scene, there were more sparks in Dom and Alisha’s scene. And thirdly, Jonathon and Clary are linked and it’s being heavily implied that they can feel everything the other feels. So it’s really gross thinking that while Clace is having sex, Jonathon is on the other side of the bond feeling everything that Clary’s feeling. It’s like a really weird non-con threesome, it’s gross and I wish to scrub it from my mind. And I’m just going to put it out there that the “morning after” scene was incredibly awkward. Like, if you didn’t have enough evidence to show how little chemistry Kat and Dom have just look at that scene where Clary is draped on Dom’s chest. Neither of them looked comfortable in the slightest and it certainly didn’t look like they just had sex.

We did get a little bit of a lore drop in which we find out that arch-angels Michael and Lucifer supposedly had the same bond and it was somehow broken. And I’m really just wondering again, “why?” Why did they have that sort of link? It makes more sense that this mark was caused by demonic influence as opposed to angelic influence. But whatever. I feel like that phrase pretty much sums up Shadowhunters in a nutshell. “But whatever.”

Izzy’s Drug Addiction

Yup, the drug addiction plot is still happening. I’m all for Izzy getting some character development and even seeing scenes of her legitimately working through this addiction and not getting some miracle cure with no consequences like she did last time but again, “why?” We don’t have the kind of time for this plot. We have ten episodes left for the show to wrap everything up. Please, Writers, you NEED to trim some of this fat. But Izzy tells Magnus that she had a relapse (sure it was to save Simon but it’s still a relapse) and Magnus makes sure to tell Alec right away and she and Alec have a conversation about it while on a hunt. And the hunt leads to them finding out shadowhunters are being killed for some reason? The show’s starting to really Bourne it up and I don’t really understand why. Again, it’s just something where I’m like, “Is this really necessary?”

Do Luke and Maryse Even Have a Ship Name?

This is a legitimate question because whether you like it or not, they are a thing that’s happening. Laryse? Is that they’re ship name? I have no idea. Beyond these reviews, I don’t spend a whole lot of time in this fandom. I still wish Luke’s endgame could’ve been Jocelyn. Thematically, it works better. But whatever. Jocelyn’s dead so I suppose we have to make do with Maryse in order to give Luke that romantic endgame. I just wish we had a better foundation for it. I don’t entirely hate the idea of them, it’s the execution of them I dislike. They feel like such an afterthought and just something the writers feel obligated they have to do as Luke is technically a main character and he needs to end up with someone and hey, since Maryse is currently single, why not her? I don’t really like the idea that she’s only here to be Luke’s love interest but whatever. As an idea, I could’ve liked them if they were more of a slow burn but that’s clearly not happening here. But they’re investigating something and that leads them to having an extremely forced kiss in typical Shadowhunters fashion.

The Next Pack Leader…Maia…Maybe?

That depends greatly on whether she still has a pack left. This part of the story revolves around the new pack leader being kind of a douche or at least that’s what the show is trying to make it seem like. Me personally? I’m not entirely realizing why this guy is supposedly a douche. He’s trying to ensure his pack isn’t in a situation where they get caught alone by vampires and then killed. Seems like a pretty solid leadership decision to tell your pack to not be out during the night hours. Granted, he could be a little more understanding of Bat’s work situation but at the same time, like I said, it’s a good protection measure against the threat. I didn’t really see how he was this horrible leader who was only doing this to exert control over others. But whatever. Show, you do you.

When Maia complains to Luke about the situation and Luke tells her he has no plans on coming back to the pack as he was a terrible pack leader (you’ll get no arguments from me on that front) Luke then tells Maia that if she wants to help, she should become the next leader. Maia is scared of fighting the leader but Luke basically tells her to organize a coup within the ranks of the pack.

As Maia plans for this, she decides to break up with Simon as she doesn’t believe that she can be a true alpha leader and have a boyfriend at the same time. Feminism at its finest, I guess. Who ever heard of a woman having a career and a love life? I know, it’s absolutely unheard of. And I guess she’s also just going to throw away her plans of becoming a marine biologist, as well. The whole reasoning for the break-up was extremely weak and even moreso when Simon reveals that he’s in agreement with it as he feels like they’ve just been growing apart. And I’m just like, “in what way?” She was gone for at most, a week and before the Jordan crap, they were practically unseparable. But again, whatever.

Now while all of this is going down, Heidi is basically using Jordan and vampires and manipulating a war between them and the episode ends strangely with Jordan dying and Maia fleeing with Jordan and locking themselves up in a freezer, I guess. Brilliant plan, right? Locking yourself in a place you have no escape from. Apart from the vampires and werewolves being beyond dumb with this super obvious manipulation, I dislike that someone who’s character arc was all about becoming strong enough to take over the pack, runs away from fight leaving her family to be slaughtered. This was a huge disservice done to Maia. Her arc has always been about her feeling helpless and then becoming strong to take over the pack when she realizes she’s not helpless and she can fight. But character arcing? In Shadowhunters? Please.

As I said before, it’s truly amazing how this show can have so much and yet so little going on simultaneously. This episode was really bland and ultimately I just didn’t care what was going. And it routinely left me with asking the question, “why?” This episode gets a C+ for me. I’ll hope for a better episode next time. But I’m not too terribly hopeful as I have an ask in my askbox currently letting me know this upcoming episode was a disappointment.