Shadowhunters Recap: Episode 5

Written by: Kelsey Hlavaty

Episode 5: Moo Shu To Go

This week’s recap will focus on Episode 5 of Shadowhunters which aired Tuesday, February 9th, 2016. *Worldwide viewing airs a day later. Warning: Expect massive spoilers.

We left last time with the Shadowhunters off to rescue Simon from the vampires, who broke the Accord in order to find the Mortal Cup. The group enlists the help of Magnus Bane to help Clary retrieve her memories and he informs her that a memory demon has them. In order to receive her memories, they must all give the demon a beloved memory of the person they love. Alec accidentally releases a memory of Jace and embarrassed, runs off. Valentine speaks to Clary through her necklace and gives her an ultimatum: give up the Cup or lose her mother.

The episode opens with Jace and Clary discussing her vision of Valentine. Turns out the necklace is a portal shard, to which Alec decides he needs to keep in the Institute for safekeeping; he wants to take every precaution possible to avoid any confrontation with Valentine. Clary is upset at Alec – it’s the only thing that remains of her mother. She turns to Jace for support who obviously backs her up, annoying Alec. Isabelle comes to comfort Clary and explain Alec’s intentions. Clary begins to describe how Jocelyn wasn’t only her mother, she was her best friend and she needs to find her as soon as possible. Right on time, the polar opposite of Jocelyn walks into the Institute. Maryse Lightwood needs the help of her children to figure out why they have lost communication with the Seelies. Clary asks Isabelle why her mother is so cold to which Isabelle replies, “Shadowhunters aren’t big huggers”. However, it seems as though it is just Isabelle who does not receive the hug as both Jace and Alec receive affection. Maryse continues to berate Isabelle in front of the others (“I know all about your relationships with the Seelies”) and continually states how disappointed she is in Alec for not having control over the Institute. She decides Isabelle and Jace will go and investigate where they stand with the Seelies. Jace doesn’t understand why Alec is being so weird with him and Alec attempts to explain that he loves him (you know, love love him). But Jace, misunderstanding, is all “Wtf you’re my bro, of course I love you too”, and then proceeds to ask him to watch over Clary, to both Alec and Clary’s dismay.

Alec decides the best way to let off some steam is to help Clary train her fighting skills. She reveals that the Mortal Cup might be located in a box her mother kept hidden from her and suggests the return to her loft to retrieve it. Alec begins to explain why that would be a terrible idea but is interrupted by an unexpected phone call from Magnus asking to go for drinks. Alec agrees but hurriedly hangs up because (of course) Clary decided to take matters into her own hands and will go to the loft herself. The scene cuts to show a wolf entering a restaurant on its own – no one in the restaurant seems to truly notice or care. It emerges from the back as Alaric (Luke’s cop buddy) who, along with the pack leader, inform the other werewolves that they must retrieve the Mortal Cup from Clary. Jace and Isabelle go to visit Meliorn, who is in mourning. He explains that the Seelies are, in fact, upset with the Accords as it did not protect the fairies, only the Shadowhunters. In Chernobyl, Valentine begins to experiment on people by giving them the Circle rune on their necks and injecting them with Seelie blood – promising them a future as Shadowhunters.

Alec manages to find Clary and they make their way to her loft, meeting up with Simon along the way. As they venture through the obstacle like “shortcut” that Simon had discovered when they were younger, Simon displays his newfound strength and agility, to which Clary asks if he’s been practicing parkour (groan). He is also able to see the Shadowhunter runes which Clary and Dot had drawn all over the loft, something a mundane should not be able to notice. Inside, they manage to find the secret box hidden under the floorboards but Clary is unable to understand the objects inside. Alec runs outside to investigate a suspicious noise, which was a clever distraction to separate Alec from the others who have now been arrested by Alaric. Meeting up with Jace and Isabelle, Alec admits that he does not have any idea where Clary would be, angering Simon. They attempt to parabataize, but can’t seem to reach her; tensions rise between the two brothers because of this.

Back at the restaurant, the pack leader separates Clary and Simon in the hopes of scaring Clary to reveal the location of the Mortal Cup. She lies and tells them that it is hidden under the floorboards in her loft. Meanwhile, Simon manages to escape the shackles (you know, due to his newfound strength) and calls Clary’s cellphone, which Jace answers. He asks Simon to create a distraction to waste time and Simon creates a fire in the back room. Realizing something is wrong, the pack leader pulls Clary into a cargo container by the pier. As she attempts to escape, Luke opens the container to save her but Clary is unwilling to trust him. Alec, Isabelle and Jace arrive just in time to rescue Simon and Clary, but are now surrounded by the wolf pack.  As the alpha leader marches to attack the Shadowhunters, another wolf steps in and kills him. The wolf, being Luke, now gains the respect of the pack in the process and Clary’s trust. Unfortunately he is seriously injured, therefore Simon, Clary and Jace decide to take him to the hospital. This angers Alec who demands they return to the Institute to report back to his mother, but Jace ignores him.

Verdict? Probably the most world opening episode to date. We got a look into the rough relationship that the Lightwood children have with their mother. As well, we got to examine the crumbling relationship between Alec and Jace. I also enjoyed the build of (spoiler from the books), Magnus and Alec’s relationship as well as Isabelle and Simon’s. The acting throughout was still up and down, as it has been over the past few episodes. Next episode previews an interesting turn of events which I look forward too.

Opinion: Are you guys liking this show? Do you find it better than the movie or even the books themselves? Please write to me on twitter (@kelhlavaty), I would really like to hear any opinions you may have!