#shs02e10

All in all, a pretty enjoyable episode, even though I have to say it could have been done a lot better. There wasn’t really much I particularly disliked and there was quite a bit of stuff I liked, but still… it could have been EPIC but at the end of the day, the execution felt kinda ... sloppy? Which is an ongoing theme with SH when I look back at the entire season. Lots of stuff just feels way too rushed, and lots of scenes and tidbits just feel like they were shoe-horned it for reasons only God knows, cause narratively they don’t make a lick of sense. But as I said, I did enjoy it overall. At this point I’ve just come to terms with the fact that the best I can hope for with this show is that it doesn’t disappoint, and that it provides at least some stuff I genuinely enjoy.

Speaking of:

Jace. The highlight of the episode again. Dom’s acting is just so on point, I was so satisfied with pretty much every Jace scene. And as much as I enjoy to see him suffer (I mean let’s be honest, he’s just so GOOD at it), I just have to say ENOUGH. How much more can that poor boy take before he just breaks? God.

Jace and Valentine. See above. Looking back at the entire season, with the exception of the last 3 minutes 40 seconds of Parabatai Lost (and maybe the end scene of Day of Wrath), the Jace & Valentine stuff was definitely the best part of the show for me. I really wish we’d gotten more of that. I would have liked to see more of Valentine in general, but in his other scenes he sometimes WAS that over-the-top comic book villain. His scenes with Jace just felt REAL. So so good.

I did enjoy Jace being all worried about Alec, even though that was one of the things that didn’t really make any narrative sense, seeing as Alec wasn’t in any immediate danger. Not the kind of danger that would justify Jace’s reaction at least. But at this point I just take any Jalec that I can get, to hell with logic. :-)

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I actually kind of liked Simon in this episode? Which is… a lot, coming from me. LOL. Maybe I’ll be able to stand him and Jace becoming friends after all. IF the show doesn’t overdo it to the point where he basically replaces Alec, like the books did. But I’m willing to wait and see.

The Magnus and Madzie stuff was cute, and I loved how Madzie willingly pushed Alec into the elevator to keep him save before…well, killing everyone else. LOL.

Speaking of Alec, I enjoyed his scenes and his little convo with Aldertree. Other than that, I wasn’t too happy with the Alec we got this ep because once again he was basically sidelined away from all the action. Just once I’d like to see him in the middle of things, actually fighting the bad guys along with everyone else. Or, you know, beside his parabatai. But maybe that’s just me. This just feels like the books / the movie all over again. (And I’m just not gonna mention the ship stuff -  which should tell you enough about how I feel about it without me elaborating further.)

And finally, Aldertree: I don’t know about the rest of you but that sob story of his just further cemented my belief that he’s NOT who he pretends to be. That story was just… too much. I might have bought it if we hadn’t seen him alone with Izzy when he first gave her the Yin Fen, but that entire arc was just so fishy. There’s no way he’s a good guy with a heart of gold that just got broken. Also, he was conveniently nowhere to be seen after everything was over. If he doesn’t turn out to be Sebastian (and please tell me I wasn’t the only one shrieking SEBASTIAAAAAAAAANNNN at the top of my voice during those last few seconds? LOL), I will be so thoroughly disappointed.

I just compared it to the download from this morning (lo-res, logo version) and that one (spoilers ahead)....