Shadowhunters Review: Love Is a Devil (Season 2 Episode 8)

Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode 8, “Love Is a Devil,” brings forth a new relationship, Izzy’s downward spiral, and the face of Maryse Lightwood again.

I do not like this side of Izzy at all. The Izzy before Yin Fen was smart, powerful, and a badass shadowhunter. Now, she’s reckless, weak, and makes horrible decisions.

The terrible decision is apparent when she tracks down Raphael and forces her blood into his mouth. Not only is dealing with vampires, in general, dangerous, but pushing shadowhunter blood into anyone other than Raphael’s mouth would be too dangerous. Any other vampire wouldn’t be able to control it.

Instead of feeding into Izzy’s drug habits the first time, Raphael should’ve instantly taken her to get help.

It would look better for him overall anyway because he wouldn’t be messing in shadowhunter business, and there would be no reason for the clave to go after him. Now, if the truth comes out Raphael is automatically put in danger for meddling and feeding Izzy’s addiction.

Raphael feeding Izzy’s drug addiction and Izzy maybe getting Raphael hooked on shadowhunter blood is enough. We don’t need a relationship between the two. Viewers can only put up with so much.

Speaking of relationships that don’t need to happen, why are Clary and Simon becoming a thing? Not everyone who is best friends falls in love with each other and becomes a thing, that’s not how that works.

Also why, if they are supposed to be “in love,” does this all of a sudden come up with Clary the moment he starts to hang around Maia. Simon has had girlfriends before, and Clary has never been jealous.

I don’t think that Clary was feeling jealous of the fact that Simon liked Maia; she was jealous because she wasn’t getting to see him as much and the attention was going to Maia.

Simon and Maia have so much more in common. They are both downworlders, and they have great chemistry. But, because this is a typical TV show and the showrunners aren’t going to make us happy, we have to endure it.

I don’t think that Simon and Clary are going to work out. Clary’s biggest insecurity is Simon moving on to Maia because she knows deep down that he does like her.

And, if they wanted Simon and Clary to become a thing why is it so rushed? We haven’t seen Clary falling for Simon, at all, just Simon’s little crush.

If Climon (Clary + Simon) is going to be canon, I’m going to need Maia and Jace to have a thing. Even if it is for two episodes just to see how it works out. I know, I know, Maia and Jace is a very weird pairing, but I need to see them try. It would make for one excellent episode.

Back to the only relationship that matters right now — Malec. I am so… disappointed. We got confirmation that Alec and Magnus did sleep with each other from Jace. JACE. For a show that has been respectable about their entire relationship, this is a low point.

We don’t need a full-blown sex scene to satisfy us, a simple scene of them discussing what happened afterward would suffice. Is that too much to ask for?

As much as people love to gripe about how Malec is all Shadowhunters focuses on, we haven’t got to see much other than two major scenes this season.

Their first time sleeping together should’ve been a big scene and not just thrown to the side as it was. We deserved a conversation at least.

Don’t worry; I do not forget the fact that Alec tried to commit suicide. He attempted to kill himself, and if it weren’t for Magnus, he would be dead. Everyone was under a spell, but I feel like those feelings haven’t left Alec.

Clary has assured Alec time and time again that she doesn’t blame him for the death of her mother, but he still blames himself. The fact that he killed Jocelyn is what pushed him to the point of suicide. It’s eating him up, and you can tell by his face when Clary looks away after reassuring him.

I am not a fan of Maryse Lightwood at all, but seeing her own up for her actions towards Jace is a step in the right direction.

Between Jace and Alec, I think they can get her to start acting better and not be so self-centered. Her comments towards Magnus the entire episode are completely uncalled for, and I’m so glad that people continued to put her in her place.

Alec and Jace assuring Maryse that they’re there for her no matter what, even when she hasn’t been there for them in quite some time, is one of the most emotional scenes of the episode. Even after all of the bad Maryse has done to Alec and Jace they still care for her and want to help her relieve her pain after finding out that Robert has been cheating on her.

While I may not agree with the direction the storylines are heading, “Love Is a Devil” is a terrific episode.

Other Thoughts:

1. Max spilling all of the secrets on Maryse is great. He’s so done with her and Robert.
2. Clary having angel blood in her changes the entire game. Now, Valentine is going to go harder to get his hands on her.
3. If there’s a love triangle between Simon, Clary, and Jace, I might fight someone.
4. This episode reminded me heavily of one of my favorite episodes of Teen Wolf, “Motel California,” which is probably why I liked it so much.

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

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Shadowhunters airs Mondays at 8/7c on Freeform.

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