‘Major Arcana’ was another action –packed, humour-filled episode!
If you haven’t seen the episode yet, you can watch it on Freeform (USA) or Netflix (check your country). You can also check out the (written) Official Recap!
As predicted, Clary realised that her mother had hidden the cup in Tarot cards that she painted for Dot “years ago”. This was oddly jarring for me, since, in the previous episode, Clary “discovered” that her mother had been an artist, and had “hidden this part of herself” from Clary. Then: how does Clary suddenly know that her mother painted those Tarot cards for Dot, if she didn’t know that her mother was an artist?
I knew that’s where the cup was (refer to my preview for this episode), although I had the unfair advantage of the episode title, and having seen the movie before: information that Clary didn’t have. It seems odd that the showmakers/scriptwriters chose to have a moment in the previous episode where Clary says that she didn’t know her mother was an artist. If they’d left that out, we would have assumed that Clary knew her mother was an artist, and Clary knowing that her mother had painted Dot’s cards makes more sense.
Perhaps my enthusiasm for the show is wearing off? Maybe I’m feeling ‘betrayed’ by incongruencies which didn’t need to be there. While I am whinging, though: I felt that the scenes with Simon’s mother and sister were artificial, or overacted, or drawn out too long. Simon (Alberto Rosende) was great. His sister (Holly Deveaux) seemed mostly genuine enough, but his mother (Christina Cox) seemed to me to lack emotion, or something. If I had a son behaving and looking like Simon, and was worried about him being on drugs, I think I’d be looking a little more concerned. (Although: I might still tell the “me” anecdote, as a lead-in to the conversation.) I know it was written in, and it’s a popularly used “thing”, but I’ve had some pretty shocking surprises, worse than a trashed room, yet I don’t recall losing the ability to hold a bowl of food. And: she had to “order in” pasta? What: she can’t boil water?
Simon’s sister and mother are shocked by his sudden display of aggression
Then we have Clary, who has been Simon’s lifelong friend, who has always had Simon looking after her, and who, in the past, has looked after Simon, suddenly abandons him. Jace cuts off her phone, but she didn’t call Simon back. Simon has been kidnapped twice because of Clary. Suddenly, he’s completely beneath her notice? What a dreadful friend!
Dominic Sherwood (Jace) let his British accent sneak in, in the scene where he, Izzy and Clary are in a basement escaping from the demons surrounding the precinct. He went off camera, and surely it would have been very easy to dub over, but: it wasn’t! Emeraude Toubia’s face seemed to briefly show that she was annoyed about it, but they still didn’t redo the scene. Maybe they’d done it a hundred times already?
I’m realising that this review so far sounds really very cranky, and I don’t mean to trash the episode, but, I am a bit of a details person, and these things were annoying.
I also found that because I’d watched three parts of this episode already, as “sneak peeks”, those parts were kind of boring to watch again, even though they all had more to them than the sneak peek showed. So: I’m not going to include those sneak peek videos in my previews any more (well…maybe one, sometimes), so that you can get the full effect of the show without it being “spoiled” beforehand. If you want to see sneak peek videos, go to www.shadowhuntersTV.com and check out all the stuff that they make available! (Right now, you can even get your Tarot card reading!)
Now: back to the enthusiasm! The rest of the episode was pretty great!
As well as Maureen and Simon getting together, we saw ‘Clace’ finally become a ‘thing’, much to Alec’s displeasure. Just as Alec and Clary were becoming friends, too. I’m wondering which one of them Alec is more upset about: Jace or Clary?
Clary and Jace finally kiss! (Image from Disney ABC Freeform Press)
New details we’ve learned include:
- Werewolves heal very fast
- Two separate runes can give (1) vision “better than binoculars” and (2) nightvision (Nyx). (Jace and Clary both have these now.)
- Warlocks can only create portals to places they’ve already been to
- ‘Demon pox’ is a thing. (Look it up on pages 76-77 of The Shadowhunter’s Codex for more horrifying details)
- Magnus’ necklace, that Izzy is wearing, does, in fact glow when demons are near
- Shapeshifters’ eyes flash blue, as a tell-tale sign that they are demons in disguise
- There are shax demons that look like giant scorpions, which are like demon “bloodhounds”, who track people/prey/Shadowhunters
- Clary’s intensity of emotion seems to trigger her ability to put objects into pictures, and to take them out again
- Simon wasn’t turning into a vampire, it was just Camille’s blood affecting him temporarily.
Simon was certainly very distressed by what he was experiencing. He did some serious damage to his own property (computer desk, mirror, etc). He left the lamps on in his room, even though they were not stable, and could have started a fire, burning down the house and endangering his mother and sister. Perhaps this lack of attention, or care, are an indication of how overcome by Camille’s blood he was: “Blood is stronger than will, stronger than desire, even stronger than love.” It is entirely understandable that he went to the Hotel Du Mort seeking an explanation of what was going on. Perhaps it’s a pity that he didn’t find Raphael. Perhaps it’s also a pity that he didn’t understand the warning of his vision last episode: going to Camille = dead Simon.
And finally: what a cliffhanger! Although there is a fairly obvious hint of what the outcome will be, we’ll have to wait until next episode (A whole week! What?!) to find out what this will mean for our Shadowhunting team.
If I’ve missed anything, tell me about it in the comments below, or send me a message, using the contact details at the bottom of this post.
Just as an aside: I’ve been browsing through The Shadowhunter’s Codex as things come up. It’s a bit of a cross between a dictionary and a history book for new Shadowhunters. The “handwritten” comments by Clary, Jace and Simon are hilarious! If you want to check it out, go to Amazon.com, or your preferred bookstore. (page 74 gives a nasty little detail about Shax demons. It’s a very good thing that Clary got that cup out in time!!)
Featured picture: SHADOWHUNTERS, Freeform TV, Tuesdays 9pm/8c
Want more from me? Follow me on Twitter @LyannaSpearwife and Facebook Lyanna Spearwife
or read my personal blog of randomness at ‘This Got My Attention Today‘
Like threeifbyspace.net on Facebook and Twitter or Subscribe, using the button on the top menu, to get regular updates
Share this article with your friends using our Social Share buttons above!
