Review: Shadowhunters Premiere

BY LINDSEY HANNAH

A plethora of highly anticipated shows are set to premiere in 2016, and kicking off the list is the Shadowhunters series. The first episode played on Freeform, the new name for ABC Family, on Tuesday January 12th at 9 PM. Based on Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series, the show features many of the same characters from the beloved books as well as introducing brand new characters.

Spoiler Free

I will admit that I had fairly low expectations for this show based on the trailers released prior to the premiere. Having said that, I was happily surprised to find that the first episode surpassed those expectations. There was a definite level of cheesiness present throughout, but the majority of shows I can think of start out that way and get progressively better over time. I also feel like people who are new to the Shadowhunter world might like the series more than older fans initially, simply because they will not be holding it to the same standards of the books the show is based on. I would give it a solid C+ based on the pilot alone, but do not let that deter you from checking it out. Sometimes you have to pay your dues to get to the really good stuff later on in the series, and I have a lot of hope and excitement to see what is in store.

Episode Spoilers:

So you have watched the episode! What did you think? I think my main issue was the sheer amount of information they crammed into it. Even having read all the books, I felt dizzy trying to keep track of everything that was going on and all the names and characters that were introduced.

I was happily surprised by the quality of the special effects, but I do wish we got to see more of them. There was one demon with extensive prosthetic makeup, opposed to those that simply had CGI monster mouths, that was given a few seconds of screen time. I thought the other characters all looked great, and Clary’s clown orange hair did not bother me nearly as much as I thought it would. The main issue I had with regards to her hair was the extremely different shades of red for Clary and her mother Jocelyn’s hair. This was especially pronounced in the scene at the park when Clary is just a child. A woman says that Jocelyn and Clary look alike, and Jocelyn replies that it is just because of the hair. First of all, that is such a strange thing to say; why would she insinuate that her and her daughter do not look alike? Second, their hair is not even close to being the same color.

Let’s face it, the lines and delivery from the actors left something to be desired. It is sometimes hard to tell which one is causing the issue, but when even Alan van Sprang (Valentine) sounds a little ridiculous, it is probably the lines. I would prefer it to be the lines instead of the acting because you can always hire new writers, but the actors we are stuck with.

Book Spoilers:

Congratulations! You have made it to the final round for hardcore fans only! It was pretty different from the books, wasn’t it? That was to be expected, but at least we could see a lot of the original plot still in there. Much of it was presented in a new way and order, obviously, and some details were definitely different, but most of the things that really matter could still be seen.

One relatively small detail that was a big deal to me was the crowdedness of the Institute, which is quite different from the book. I feel that this is indicative of the way the show is going to be set up, at least at first. I think in order to tailor the storyline to better fit into the episode format, the main story will continue in the background, so to speak, while each episode will introduce and resolve a mission of sorts. This ties in with the Institute because it can function like a sort of downworld police headquarters. It makes more sense for it to be crowded, anyway, as opposed to how it was in the book, because this is New York City… It seems like they would need more than just a few teenagers to manage downworlder crime in the most populous city in the U.S.

Luke is a police officer instead of a bookstore owner, which I think will add an interesting new dynamic of human police versus Shadowhunters since they are both the peace keepers of their respective worlds. Maureen is different, as well. Remember that tween who followed Simon and his band around, only to turn into a psycho vampire queen, kidnap Simon, and dress him up in leather pants? Well, now she is an actual member of a two member “band” with Simon that sings folky covers of popular songs. I have not yet decided how to feel about this major shift from book Maureen to TV Maureen, but I look forward to seeing how it will affect the plot later on in the series.
Overall I am looking forward to seeing where the show goes, but I do not expect to enjoy it unless I accept that it is going to be very different from the books. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I am looking forward to a brand new experience in the Shadowhunter world where I don’t know the entire plot before it happens. My hope is that if we hold on while they work out all of the kinks, the final product will be a new kind of Cassandra Clare experience to last for years.