Shadowhunters Review: This World Inverted (Season 1 Episode 10)

I’m sure we can all agree that “This World Inverted” is by a landslide the best episode of Shadowhunters to date. Am I right, or am I right? Bizarro-Shadowhunters World is a total hit in my book!

Alternate universe (“AU”) episodes are a staple in TV (typically in sci-fi or fantasy shows), and they’re almost always really fun. About half of this episode takes place in an alt-universe. You get a real sense that the cast must have had a really fun time with “This World Inverted,” playing versions of their characters so different from the norm. This is by no means a favorite show of mine (though over the last few episodes, it’s been steadily improving), but this may actually be one of the better examples of an AU episode I’ve seen in general.

It’s also clever that they decided on this particular set of AU “rules” (namely, that when you cross over from one world to another, you inhabit the body of your alt-self). It cuts down on special effects costs because, naturally, if your character crosses over and there is a double of them in the AU, you’ll want to have them run into one another (avoiding that can feel really contrived). Having these “rules” in place also leads to a few really cool moments where our Clary is feeling herself being overtaken and assimilated into the life of AU Clary. The visual effect that they use to represent this (the blurring and fading out when Clary is being drawn in) is a cool choice as well. It’s clear what’s happening whenever we see this visual cue, and the show avoids its Achilles heel–too much exposition via dialogue.

The set up for “This World Inverted” is simple: Meliorn, grateful for Clary commandeering his rescue mission, offers Clary entrance into an AU so she can find a portal there that will bring her directly to her father. His explanation is a little convoluted (and too lengthy) and, actually, the AU reveal comes so far out of left field that the whole episode feels super contrived–we want an AU episode so now there are AUs here!–but I hardly even care because it is just so much fun watching these AU characters. The gist is that Clary’s crystal necklace is a piece of an AU portal that’ll transport you to anywhere you want to go, in any dimension, so long as you think of the person you wish to see.

The actual plan? Makes very little sense. Despite the Clave’s misdoings, Clary and Jace thinking they can defeat Valentine and his army on their own, just the two of them, is absurd and foolhardy (even by these two’s standards).

Despite the logical failings, the AU is a hoot. The show is clever with its references to the “real world” of the show while within the AU (almost too clever… another one of AU Simon’s vampire puns and I would’ve been over it).

The explanation is that the AU is what the world would be like if all demons had been defeated long ago, meaning anyone who is a Shadowhunter is no longer a Shadowhunter (but Downworlders like Magnus are still Downworlders). So we get cool, confident, party-planning mundane Alec, glasses-wearing tech nerd mundane Izzy (who’s about to move in with AU Simon–I love it!!), dorky dad mundane Valentine, and mundane Simon who–I’m not sure what his AU “thing” is, actually. For all intents and purposes, his AU appears to be very slightly cooler than him and in a more successful band, but that’s basically it. And not a vampire, obviously.

AU Clary is also basically the same person, I think. AU Jace is a coffee truck barista and sort of a wimp. But they’re in a happy relationship and make out a lot and it’s cute.

Our Clary ends up recruiting AU Magnus to help her find the portal, which is fun because we get to see an entirely different side of Magnus. Less glittery, less eyeliner, less pizzazz in general. Two cats. One of the best moments in the episode is AU Alec putting the moves on shy AU Magnus, a great reversal of their “our world” scenes (with AU Alec even echoing the same line Magnus said about playing hard to get and liking a challenge).

With a little help from AU Magnus (and a last minute assist from our Jace), Clary and Jace make it through the portal to Chernobyl, to Valentine. Finally! Progress. Though, realistically (ha), Clary and Jace would get killed by Valentine’s people in two minutes flat.

I did not at all expect them to find Jace’s father in Chernobyl. That’s a great twist, though, sorry to say, I still don’t find Dominic Sherwood’s reactions believable. He’s a little too… wooden, I guess? When he’s supposed to look verklempt, he just looks pained. Or like he’s eaten entire raw lemons.

Back in the real world, two plots carry on simultaneously.

In what is probably a one-off (I hope), Simon assists Luke in getting that agent who suspected him of murder off his back. The whole thing is just silly. A dorky teenage boy is a demonic serial killer? Luke busts in, shoots him, and says to agent dude, “See? Told you it wasn’t me”? Really? So lame.

As I had basically assumed at the end of the last episode, Izzy returning to the Institute was a horrible idea. She’s almost immediately arrested for high treason (because, duh). But Alec’s determination to save his sister by trading the Mortal Cup for her freedom is far more interesting than the silly Simon-Luke one-off. I love Alec’s loyalty to Izzy, despite everything that’s happened between them in the last few episodes. The closing moment between them is great.

It’s also fitting to see Alec leverage the parabatai bond to track Jace (and, by extension, the Mortal Cup), resulting in the bond being weakened to the point of almost ceasing to exist (metaphors, ahoy!). This attempt fails regardless, so now Alec and Jace are basically cut off from one another and Izzy is still in hot water. Uh oh.

Other thoughts:

• A lot of the AU personas are wonderful but nerdy Izzy is my absolute favorite. The glasses! That little dance she did at the anniversary party! AU Izzy and AU Simon in a committed relationship! Love it.
• Speaking of Isabelles, our Isabelle seems to have reverted to her former style. That was a short-lived change.
• The fact that AU Magnus used conjured images of his two cats to snap our Clary out of her assimilation is hilarious. It makes me laugh way more than it should.
• Valentine’s giant Mad Hatter hat. That is all.
• Lydia is a complicated character. I didn’t expect her to back Alec’s attempt to save his sister, but she did. And she seems genuinely upset when it doesn’t work out. I hope she sticks around. It’s useful to have a morally grey, conflicted character on a roster mostly full of one-note characters.
• I want more AU! I feel like this could have been a two-parter, even. I hope we return to this or other AUs (if there are other AUs beyond this one).

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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