S01.E11: Blood Calls to Blood

[justcris]

 

After receiving important intel about Valentine from a surprising ally, Clary, Jace and Luke devise a plan to rescue Jocelyn. With the mission looking almost impossible, the three will stop at nothing to rescue Clary’s mother and put a stop to Valentine once and for all.

Meanwhile, Inquisitor Herondale arrives at the Institute for Isabelle’s trial as Alec turns to Magnus for help.

 

[justcris]

So! The incest is out, although I think they just threw it out there without slowing down enough for it to really sink in. I wonder if they will leave it unresolved until next season.

I think I need a re-watch to see what exactly "Michael" said to Clary that made her think something was off, because even though I was expecting him to be Valentine, I didn't really notice anything to support my suspicions until the last minute.

I like that Simon just hangs out with Luke, and his face when he learned of the sibling situation was too funny.

I wonder if Lydia will get in trouble for standing up to the Inquisitor. I liked her, and I liked that Magnus likes her. 

I wish we got to see a scene with Izzy and Jace at the end there, but then that would undermine Jace losing everyone and questioning everything about himself. Izzy and Alec were pretty great together.

[Chicken Wing]

Can we just have a spinoff of Magnus Does Matlock? Because yes.

[paulvdb]

Clary gave Valentine a "World's best dad" mug. That's all I have to say about this episode for now.

[Chicken Wing]

Also, "I'll do you pro bono"?

 

*dead*

[IntrovertGal]

So they decided to leave in the incest storyline after all. After the ending of last week's episode, I was pretty sure that the show would do without it, but it amuses me that they left it in. I guess it was something too fundamental in the books so they couldn't change it. Simon's reaction on learning that Clary and Jace are brother and sister was very funny.

 

Wow that whole rescuing Jocelyn at Renwick's was very anticlimactic. I guess the show's budget really is minimal if they couldn't even afford to show us a glimpse of a battle with demons. Katherine McNamara's acting when she was commanding the demons with the Mortal Cup was once again pitiful.

 

I loved Magnus acting as Izzy's defence attorney. And his whole "I'll do you pro bono" line cracked me up. I still don't get what Alec is thinking and I'm glad that Magnus gave him some hard truths at the end. Hopefully, Alec will finally change his mind about marrying Lydia in next week's episode, this nonsense has gone on long enough.

 

I'm also really annoyed at what the writers are doing to the parabatai bond between Alec and Jace. The parabatai bond is supposed to be much stronger than that, they are supposed to be willing to die for each other and always have each other's backs. But no, a disagreement between Alec and Jace is all it takes for them suddenly to be on opposite sides, it seems petty and pointless and makes no sense. Fix the Alec/Jace friendship now, writers! At least the Alec and Izzy relationship was a joy to watch in this week's episode.

[justcris]

I actually like how they're treating the parabatai bond. They're not just telling us what it is, they're trying to show us what it is by creating a conflict that will presumably be resolved, with the bond stronger for it. And since I find the conflict believable then I'm okay with that. 

 

I also liked Kat a lot more this episode, it gives me hope for the future. The Clace scene where they talk and end up kissing was really well done by both actors. 

[Jazzy24]

Did Jace and Clary have sex cause them thinking that they're brother and sister made that so very awkward lol.

I laughed at that scene when they found out.

I like Alec but his lack of remorse on almost killing Jace was cold I actually wanted Jace to punch him.

I like Simon as a vampire.

[IntrovertGal]

I actually like how they're treating the parabatai bond. They're not just telling us what it is, they're trying to show us what it is by creating a conflict that will presumably be resolved, with the bond stronger for it. And since I find the conflict believable then I'm okay with that. 

 

I also liked Kat a lot more this episode, it gives me hope for the future. The Clace scene where they talk and end up kissing was really well done by both actors. 

We'll have to agree to disagree on how the parabatai bond is portrayed on the show.

 

I agree with you about the Clace scene though. The actors had way more chemistry in this scene than during their first kiss. Still, the scene with Kat I mentioned above made me laugh out loud because I found her acting so unconvincing.

[Pixel]

This episode really shines a spotlight on how much everyone except Kat has improved. She's just utterly ridiculous and wrong for the character. She needs to be on a sitcom somewhere or a soap opera.

[AudienceofOne]

Wow, they really messed up the brother/sister revelation. That should have been a massive reveal but instead it was just dumped randomly in the episode without any time for the emotional resonance of it. They also devoted the episode to establishing Jace and Valentine's bond but then made the mistake of having that bond be with a glamoured Valentine so Jace's "attachment" to Valentine *isn't* established. He is now literally NOT the man who raised Jace - that was someone who looked like Wayland. So at the end when Valentine was taunting him there was no sense that Jace was conflicted about it. After all, he has no memories of Valentine; just Wayland.

 

I'd rate this episode as really poor except for the Malec. The Malec was strong in this one.

[Pixel]

They've burned through a few big reveals and storylines and wasted them. I could have waited until season 2 to see Simon become a vampire. They killed Camille when she could have been a bigger storyline much later. She should have been a factor in Magnus' life. Malec should have been a slow burn. They could have stretched out so much and actually given the show some heart and characterization instead of a glossy brochure of highlights.

And yes, they completely botched the brother/sister reveal. Instead of feeling angst I just felt meh.

[Chicken Wing]

They also devoted the episode to establishing Jace and Valentine's bond but then made the mistake of having that bond be with a glamoured Valentine so Jace's "attachment" to Valentine *isn't* established. He is now literally NOT the man who raised Jace - that was someone who looked like Wayland. So at the end when Valentine was taunting him there was no sense that Jace was conflicted about it. After all, he has no memories of Valentine; just Wayland.

 

But Jace's memories are with Valentine, as it was Valentine beneath the glamour then and Valentine beneath the glamour now. Jace loved that person, that man who raised him, and now knowing who he really was -- that he was not actually Michael Wayland but Valentine wearing a Michael Wayland mask all along -- doesn't change the fact that this was still the man who raised him. This man is his archenemy, is everyone's archenemy, but he was also his father. That's why he couldn't kill him even though he could have, while Clary very well would have had she gotten a good shot. She has no tangible memories of any father, just the lie her mother fed her, so there's nothing holding her back emotionally from taking out the creep standing in front of her.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Chicken Wing

[Pixel]

So! The incest is out, although I think they just threw it out there without slowing down enough for it to really sink in. I wonder if they will leave it unresolved until next season.

I think I need a re-watch to see what exactly "Michael" said to Clary that made her think something was off, because even though I was expecting him to be Valentine, I didn't really notice anything to support my suspicions until the last .

I'm not certain, but I felt like she got an odd look on her face when he was waxing rhapsodic about how much Valentine loved Jocelyn and still does, and how much he wanted to love Clary and know her. She looked like she was thinking, why are you speaking so highly of this guy who you claim tortured you for years? Like she was getting an inkling that he was actually selling her on Valentine.

God, I wish Kat was a better actress. She does have moments where I totally buy it, but they don't happen often enough.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Pixel

[justcris]

Upon rewatch, I did think all the talk about how Valentine never lost hope and always loved Jocelyn was weird, but weird enough to jump to the idea that Michael must be Valentine in disguise? I remain unconvinced.

Clary tells Jace at the end that she knew he was Valentine because Michael told her he knew Jocelyn was pregnant and he couldn't have known. But did Valentine know? I don't remember enough about the flashbacks episode to know whether this was mentioned in it. 

 

I think this show has the problem of moving too fast and not allowing developments time to sink in. Sometimes it feels like the characters are saying stuff just to get it out there, without having the time to actually react to what's being said.

[AudienceofOne]

But Jace's memories are with Valentine, as it was Valentine beneath the glamour then and Valentine beneath the glamour now. J

 

Yes but he doesn't know that face at all. He has no emotional connection to it. If my Dad showed up and then morphed into somebody else and said "I've always been your father" I wouldn't automatically respond to this completely different person in front of me the same way. Especially not ten seconds after the revelation. Jace's reaction to this should have been, "I don't believe it" or "prove it" or "my real father is dead and you're just lying".

 

Especially when this is a bad guy who lies. Like, all the time. There's no way he leapt straight to being conflicted about killing this complete stranger in front of him.

 

This whole reveal was poorly done from beginning to end.

[Chicken Wing]

But what I'm saying is that the face doesn't matter. What this person looks/looked like doesn't matter. Jace's connection isn't with the face, the physical persona. It's with the person. And it's still the same person. And Jace did have some disbelief at the revelation at first, because why not? Growing Up In The Land of Magical Nonsense or not, that was a whopper of a claim Valentine just threw out there. Fine, this is him wearing a Michael Wayland glamour now, here, but what  if he's telling the truth and it really was him wearing a glamour the whole time, all those years? What if he really was the "father" that he knew? There's the Pause O' Conflict.

 

What I felt was done poorly was the fallout from this brother-sister revelation, from both Jace and Clary. Neither of them seemed particularly disturbed by the realization that they had been making out with their sibling. The final scenes were more about Jace dealing with his Darth Vader moment and less about the fact that, you know, he's been making out with his sister. I suppose we'll see that next week, but something so immediately shocking should have been given an immediate reaction.

Edited March 25, 2016 by Chicken Wing

[sjohnson]

I'm not familiar with the book. But Jace/Clary in this show seems to me so unemotional it would be hard to get worked up if they just ignored the revelation and kept up the romantic relationship. Poorly faked incest has no more impact than poorly faked romance.

[Cherpumple]

I think I need a re-watch to see what exactly "Michael" said to Clary that made her think something was off, because even though I was expecting him to be Valentine, I didn't really notice anything to support my suspicions until the last minute.

 

I definitely think his pro-Valentine attitude planted the seed of her doubt (not to mention that he seemed completely well-adjusted after having been locked in a cupboard for 10 years), but also the timeline didn't add up. He mentioned Jocelyn's pregnancy, Luke getting bitten, and a few other things that didn't quite match up with what Michael Wayland would have known. Also, Jace said that his father died when he was 10, but Luke told her that Michael Wayland died during the uprising 20 years ago. I may have the details wrong, but the point is that the details didn't add up.

 

I'm also really annoyed at what the writers are doing to the parabatai bond between Alec and Jace.

 

 

Ugh, me too! Not only are they constantly bickering, but I HATED that the showrunners decided that the parabatai tracking spell is practically deadly. That makes no sense! The whole point of being parabatai is that two people have a supernaturally enhanced bond. They can practically read each other's thoughts, and can sense when the other one is dead, so it is completely ridiculous that they can only track each other by seriously injuring both of them. And that rune was stupid. It looked like a pretzel.

 

I couldn't stop laughing at the "trial". It was a miscarriage of justice all the way around. The prosecutor was called to the stand? The charges were dropped, but the accused was convicted anyway? The conviction would be overturned if another unrelated thing happened (retrieving the Mortal Cup)? What the hell kind of justice system is this? For a group of people who claim to love rules, this made no sense!

 

And speaking of not making sense, Clary had a building full of demons at her command with the Mortal Cup, and all she did was ask them to back off??? I won't even get into how stupid it is that the Mortal Cup somehow "controls" demons, but seriously girl, couldn't you have done something more effective at that moment? Like order the demons to kill each other, or return to where they came from, or to never again attack anyone? She could have destroyed dozens, if not hundreds of demons in one swoop, but she just let them go. Idiot.

[Chicken Wing]

Almost nothing about this Mortal Cup shit makes any sense or even interests me in any way. I want to someone to just break the damn thing already.