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Shadowhunters Season 2A review: bigger, better, stronger - SciFiNow

Shadowhunters Season 2A review: bigger, better, stronger

Shadowhunters Season 2A is still miserable and wonderful

If you cared about Shadowhunters Season One enough to stick around for Season Two, you’re in for a treat. Everything you loved about the first season – the characters, the fight sequences, Malec – is still here, but there’s more of it, and it’s better.

After last year’s cliffhanger involving Jace (Sherwood) being taken through a portal of indeterminate destination by his father Valentine (Alan Van Sprang), the new season jumps right in with Clary (McNamara) and the rest of the Shadowhunters desperately trying to get him back.

Season Two brings a lot to the table in terms of character development. Izzy (Toubia) gets pushed to the limit while trying to join an Iron Sisters pilgrimage, Simon (Rosende) continues to try and balance vampirism and his mad crush on his best friend Clary, and we get to learn about the start of Alec (Daddario) and Jace’s parabatai bond and see how it continues to strengthen.

The show is still incredibly cheesy, but that’s part of its charm. When it comes to Shadowhunters, the more cheese the better. The richest and most flavourful cheese is delivered in episode six, ‘Iron Sister’; while most of the characters brood, investigate and get into fights, Magnus (Shum Jr) and Alec’s entire storyline is just the pair of them hanging out in a bar, playing pool and discussing their relationship. It’s glorious.

Through both seasons, Shadowhunter’s special effects have been weirdly good for a show like this. Fantasy TV series – especially of the young adult variety – often leave you cringing at how poorly executed everything looks. Though obviously not as impressive as those of big budget Hollywood epics, the effects are still enough to get excited about. The case applies doubly in episode five, ‘Dust And Shadows’, in which Clary comes face-to-face with a demon that looks like it dropped in to say ‘hi’ from a generously budgeted horror film.

If you made it far enough to want to hit ‘next episode’ after reaching the Season One finale, you’re probably in it for the long run. What lies ahead only gets better.

All episodes of Shadowhunters are available to stream on Netflix UK now. Read our review of Season One here.