Check out our (non-spoilery) review of the Shadowhunters Season 2 premiere – This Guilty Blood!
The official synopsis for Shadowhunters episode 2.01, This Guilty Blood.
Only hours have passed since Jace left with Valentine and all hell has broken loose at The Institute. Alec, Isabelle and Clary are desperate to find Jace, but are quickly stopped in their tracks with the arrival of Victor Aldertree, who means business about getting the Institute back on track. But getting the New York Shadowhunters in-line with The Clave may be counterintuitive to Alec, Isabelle and Clary’s plan to rescue Jace.
Meanwhile, Jocelyn has a lot to catch up on now that she is awake.
There is so much I could say about the season premiere but I want you guys to enjoy the surprises as much as I did so I will try and keep this review as spoiler free as possible.
First up ALL THE NEW THINGS.
New season and new Showrunners means new stuff; Seraph blade designs, the new intro, new rooms in the Institute and new characters. There’s a lot coming at you in the opening few minutes of This Guilty Blood so try and stay calm.
The new Seraph blade designs and effects are gorgeous. While they are now different to how Cassie Clare describes them in her books, they have a beautiful lethality to them (especially when you see them in action in the opening fight) that just fits with this world.
The new intro is awesome, extended from the season 1 version that means more of Ruelle’s great song AND we get new images of all of the main cast. I squealed at least 3 times during the intro alone. The season 1 intro always felt like something was missing (to me) and I think they’ve found that element now.
Where to start with the expanded Institute? We all saw the training room in the clip of Izzy and Clary kicking some ass that was released earlier in the year. The big new addition is the green house that we glimpsed in a couple of the trailers and also the new exterior. We get to see the Institute as it sits in the Mundane world of New York City, present but unseen by the mundies going about their daily business.
New characters – well in this episode we get to meet Victor Aldertree. You saw him too in the clips released after NYCC but he gets quite a bit of screen time and you really get to see what kind of person he is.
On to things of more substance…
Things are much darker in this episode, to say otherwise would be a lie. There’s anger, violence, deceit and betrayal, and not all between enemies either.
Matthew Daddario and Dominic Sherwood have developed SO much since season 1. Their performances in this episode, portraying Alec’s emotional agony over losing his brother and Jace’s physical and mental torment, are nothing short of jaw-dropping. The opening sequence before the credits left me breathless from the action and panting for more. It also sets up what I think is going to be a pretty major location for this season.
Magnus’s new magic effects are breathtaking. Gone is the amorphous blue fog from season 1. In its place is a crackling, sparkling, sizzling, blue electricity. Much more appropriate for the High Warlock of Brooklyn! Also you have never seen (what looks like) Tai Chi look this good EVER. I promise you. Only Harry Shum Jr. could make it look so powerful and sexy at the same time.
On the surface this show might seem to be about angels and demons, vampires and werewolves. But when you look below that, peel back the glamour as it were, you realise that it’s more about family than anything else. Both the family we are born with and the one we choose to surround ourselves with. This Guilty Blood has family drama in spades, all of which pivots around Jace. Maryse and Alec argue over him, Clary and her mother bond over her lost and now found brother, and Jace and Valentine learn about each other and, in Jace’s case, themselves.
Alan Van Sprang deservedly gets more screen time in this episode than he ever has before and it’s a revelation. His relationship with Jace is fascinating as both test each other to find out weaknesses and limitations. Alan is such a compelling villain he is a joy to watch, even if he is hurting my precious Jace!
Finally seeing Jocelyn upright and mobile we also get a glimpse of where Clary gets most of her Clary-ness from. Clearly some major family traits in these Fray/Fairchild women beyond the stunning red hair!
I know you’re probably skimming all this for one thing and one thing alone so I’ll put you out of your misery.
Malec.
There, I said it. You Malec fans are NOT going to be disappointed. Things aren’t shiny and happy though. Alec is distracted and hurting over losing Jace and that causes tension but also leads to quite frankly one of the cutest scenes I have ever witnessed. I don’t think things are going to be easy for Alec and Magnus this season. Both of them are figuring things out with regards to how this relationship fits in to their lives and with the turmoil going on around them it is not going to be a smooth ride.
The final 8 minutes of the episode are so nerve-wracking I was chewing on my nails and making incoherent squeaking noises. If this first episode is anything to go by then season 2 is going to be a non-stop, breakneck ride.
Some other points I can’t expand upon too much without getting pretty spoilery but;
- Jace calling the Lightwoods his parents made my heart happy
- Climon bonding is cute af
- Luke and Simon bonding also awesome
- CAT EYES
That’s all from us. If you are clamouring for more and want us to write a full spoiler filled review then let us know in the comments or via our social media.
Shadowhunters returns to Freeform on January 2nd and will be available worldwide on Netflix on January 3rd!
