Shadowhunters Review: Major Arcana (Season 1 Episode 7)

Guys! Stuff happens in this episode of Shadowhunters! Like, actually surprising, non-predictable, plot-driving stuff! “Major Arcana” is easily the best episode of the show so far.

I’ve been fairly upfront about thinking that this show is rather dull and sloppy. The pacing is frequently all over the place. The last few episodes have been almost unwatchable in how boring they are; little of consequence happened.

“Major Arcana” represents a huge step in the right direction. It’s certainly a little weird that it took a full seven episodes for these actors to get into any sort of groove with their roles, but hey, better late than never, right?

Now, don’t get me wrong: The show still has its faults. It’s not miraculously a brilliant, flawless show all of a sudden. For example, I’m still not totally sold on Clace as a thing, and Katherine McNamara is still not totally gelling as Clary. Valentine is not a part of this episode at all, so there’s obviously been no improvement on making him any kind of an effective villain. Line delivery is occasionally still pause-the-episode-to-recover-from-cringing levels of bad.

But! “Major Arcana” is an objectively exciting episode that drives the overall plot of the show forward in a few key ways. And it has a killer (literally? Maybe. I hope not) ending. And it made me laugh out loud four whole times!

Like just about every episode before it, this one picks up precisely where the previos, “Of Men and Angels,” left off: Clary, fresh off a Jimmy Neutron-style brain blast, has figured out that she and her mother share the gift of committing objects to paper and she suddenly realizes exactly where the Mortal Cup is. It’s hidden in a tarot card that Jocelyn drew years ago, the Ace of Cups.

When Clary initially panics and thinks that the tarot cards (belonging to Dot) must have been acquired by Valentine when he kidnapped Dot, Magnus reassures her that big bad V. definitely doesn’t have them and in doing so gets the line of the episode:

Magnus: If Valentine started creating Shadowhunters or gained control of demons, it’d be like Beyonce riding on a dinosaur through Times Square. People would notice.

Who writes this stuff? I want to give them a big ol’ Clace-style kiss for that line. Brilliantly ridiculous. Magnus, never stop being you.

The majority of “Major Arcana” deals with Team Shadowhunter tracking down that card. Luckily, they know exactly where it is: Luke snagged much of the stuff left over in Clary and Jocelyn’s apartment after Valentine’s men attacked.

So, easy-peasy right? Wrong. Conveniently, an internal affairs investigator shows up at literally the exact moment that Luke sets his hand on the desk drawer where the card is. Because, of course. Not two minutes before, not two minutes after. Subtle, thy name is not Shadowhunters.

Luke is suspected in the murder of the previous Alpha over at Jade Wolf, which he 100% committed and stupidly did not cover up even remotely so it’s totally fair that this guy is hounding him. Seriously, I don’t fault that IA fellow at all.

Although: did none of the other wolves in Luke’s pack dispose of the guy’s body? What the hell is up with that?

Anyway, while Luke is waylaid, Jace and Clary get a ton of one-on-one flirting time during this mission, which is a great thing; it’s the most I’ve enjoyed the couple so far. Clary’s plan at the police station, to cause a scene by slapping Jace and pretending he is her boyfriend who cheated on her in order to retrieve the cup card from Luke’s desk in plain sight, is hands down the greatest Clace moment to date. Everything about it is hilarious, from Jace’s shock to immediately getting into the character of d-bag cheating boyfriend (“Babe, c’mon,” he says. “It just happened a couple of times!”) to Vargas trying to comfort Clary.

Once Clary and Jace locate the card via good old fashioned digging through boxes (not very Shadowhunter-y of them, but alas), they are off to the Institute to protect it, Valentine’s demon lackeys hot on their trail. A near-miss with a shapeshifter posing as a grandma allows Jace to unleash his inner sass and it’s wonderful.

Clary: What the hell?

Jace: Language. Not in front of Grandma.

Jace is far more enjoyable in “Major Arcana” than he’s been recently and I’m not quite sure why. The dialogue is certainly improved, to be sure, but Dominic Sherwood just seems more comfortable in the role at this point too. Jace’s sass game is out of control fantastic.

And, of course, all of the flirty build up and that one time when Clary thinks she killed Jace for a half a second when she stabs a shapeshifter wearing his face, leads to the Clace kiss we’ve all been waiting for. OK, that’s a lie, I haven’t really been waiting for it because I truly didn’t care about their relationship up until this point.

I have to give the show kudos for not prolonging the will-they-or-won’t-they beyond its expiration date. I also love the fact that it is Clary who lays one on Jace first. He’s clearly caught off guard but then gets super into it, real fast. The kiss is played perfectly. It is a fantastic moment.

The only thing that’s kind of lame about it is that she kisses him in front of a room full of Shadowhunters. She couldn’t wait a few minutes until they were alone? Not very romantic. Also, poor Alec! Guess he’s not as over Jace as I wanted to think.

Simon is still dealing with his vampire side effects on his own. As in “Of Men and Angels,” he’s off on an entirely separate subplot (aka, Clary is being the worst best friend ever and ignoring his panicked calls).

Once again, Alberto Rosende is just fantastic. His confusion and fear and desperation are played to perfection. His hallucination of Clary when he’s in Maureen is the only thing that’s a little bit stupid about this subplot. It is an unbearably awkward scene and poor Maureen. Good to know Simon is apparently a demon in the sack, though?

The ending sequence, when a fragile and terrified Simon shows up at DuMort and encounters Camille, is the best part of the episode. The twist (that apparently Simon would have returned to normal once Camille’s blood faded from his system) is the first plot point that has been completely unexpected and surprising. What a cool move!

Equally epic (but rather sad, for Simon) is the additional twist: Camille attacks him. So, while he wasn’t a vampire before, he is totally going to be one now. Ironic and tragic (but also super intriguing, plot-wise!)

Stray thoughts:

• The subtitle, when Clary comments that Luke looks like something out of the Mummy movie, is “Magnus titters.” I’m kind of obsessed with that sound description. Just a little.
• Izzy breaks up with Meliorn the Seelie off-screen as part of her new, Maryse-inspired outlook. She also apparently has a framed photograph of just his face. I didn’t realize they were serious like that. Also, that picture looked like his headshot.
• Speaking of Izzy, I’m kind of digging her new toned-down attitude. Can she stay like this?
• Alec trying (and hilariously failing) to flirt-distract that female cop! I die. Too adorable.
• I feel really bad for Simon’s family. His poor mom and sister are so clearly freaked out.
• RIP Vargas! You were a nice lady, even though you were overly concerned with Luke’s love life that one time during the series premiere.

What did you think of this episode of Shadowhunters? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Shadowhunters airs Tuesday at 9/8c on Freeform.

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