TL;DR: please just make it good.

I'm a huge Shadowhunters Chronicles fan. I've eagerly waited for Shadowhunters show for months, and, like almost everyone, I was extremely disappointed after the first episode. That's probably why from the first to eighth episode, Freeform lost one million viewers. That may not seem like a lot, but for a show that currently has about 0.8 million viewers per episode, it's terrible. 52% of their viewers left.

And I know why. It's because I, and most other viewers, have no clue what they're doing with the show. The lines are terrible, the plot lines are convoluted and confusing, the characters/some of the actors are awful. Maybe the writers think that because they’re trying to target a young adult demographic, they need to add some corny elements to keep their audience interested. But listen, young adults watch other TV shows. TV shows like House of Cards, Parks and Recreation, and How To Get Away with Murder are all insanely popular. And it’s because they don’t try to target any demographic. They just make a good show, and the audience follows. They don’t use weird filming techniques, they shoot scenes in well-lit settings, they have good lines that people in real life would actually say.

I've watched literally every single interview before the show premiered. The hundreds of grainy, unclear interviews at Comic-Con? I eagerly watched them ALL. Each time they asked the cast about how close the books would be, the cast reassured the fans that the show simply wanted to add some twists and turns for book fans, so the book fans wouldn't get BORED.

So I knew, going in, that we were not going to get a carbon copy of the books. And I was all right with that. If the show was going to be different from the books, but the writing was going to be just as good, I was totally fine with it. Arranged marriage? All right, it'll make it better when Malec finally gets together. Dozens of other Shadowhunters in the Institute? I guess that makes a little more sense than some teenagers by themselves, even though one of the reasons the Clave wanted so desperately to find the cup was that they needed to create more Shadowhunters.

But the writing is terrible and the plot is terrible. Unless they fire everyone on the staff and get people from Netflix or maybe Fox to help, Shadowhunters is going to have 0.4 million people watching next season at the rate the viewers are leaving. LISTEN. I know that this show has a target demographic of teenagers and people in their twenties. But have any of you ever had children, or maybe interacted with a teenager, or possibly BEEN a teenager before? People from 15-25 are not idiots. You guys are writing for idiots. Please stop. We can see that the show is shit, and that’s why the show is constantly losing viewers. You guys can’t just read the comments on your twitter feed or the comments below the Freeform posted clips. Those comments are positive because those people follow you and like the show. But a HUGE majority of people hate it. You need to watch reviews on Youtube and read THOSE comments. Watch polandbananasbooks. Her review of Shadowhunters Episode 11 was everything I needed.

A much easier solution to firing everyone and coming up with new ideas? Just follow the books. Cassandra Clare's ideas are so much better than the script writers' ideas. There's a reason why she's sold millions of books, and it's because she has unique, really good ideas. She has carefully thought the storylines through so there are no plot holes. These script writers could never match, they could never write anything half as incredible. But it’s not entirely their fault, this is not only in this case, that's what happens for all book to screen adaptions.

THIS is the reason why adaptions like Harry Potter, Twilight, The Fault in Our Stars, and Lord of the Rings succeeded; the script writers closely followed the books. The reason why adaptions like Percy Jackson, Eragon, and CITY OF BONES failed was because the script writers deviated so far from the books that the plots were just terrible. I don't know why they didn't just follow the books; there is more than enough book material to spread out over 13 episodes, but for some reason, the writers chose to ignore most of it and come up with their own. Which failed.

Nooooo...Listen, every book fan who went into theaters to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 knew that Harry was going to kill Voldemort after finding various Horcruxes. They knew that Dobby was going to die Apparating the Golden Trio to Shell Cottage; they knew Ron, who looked like Mr. Cattermole after drinking Polyjuice Potion, was going to get rained on from a charm in a Ministry of Magic office, and forget for a second that Mrs. Cattermole was not actually his wife. And they still went and watched. Because even though they knew what was going to happen, seeing their favorite story animated was enough for them.

Okay sure, mention Vampire Diaries or Narnia: Prince Caspian, but those books weren’t half as popular when they were adapted. ALSO they had good writers. THEY HAD GOOD WRITERS. Cassie has made such a beautiful, incredible world, it’s almost incredible that the writers could mess it up so badly.

ALSO, mentioning things that really should have happened, like the fact that Luke was a bookstore owner or that Magnus had cats, that doesn’t count. Those aren’t easter eggs, like Kat claimed. Easter eggs are lovely things that Disney and Pixar do; they subtly reference old movies for a little bit of nostalgia, as a fun game for readers. This show bulldozed all the great ideas Cassandra Clare had and vaguely mentioned them, thinking that the book fans would be delighted. SHE HAS BETTER IDEAS THAN YOU GUYS DO. JUST USE HER STORYLINES. Luke’s stupid bookstore owner thing in the commercial, no. Stop. Church/Chairman in the AU, what was the point of that? Why leave out the Eric and the other band members? Why focus so heavily on Meliorn?

Please, please, please. I know Shadowhunters was renewed, not because it's a good show, but because it's doing well on Freeform, despite having so few viewers. Like it’s hard to believe, but it’s the second most popular show, even though it has less than a million viewers. It won't stay that way, though. Again, the show lost ONE MILLION viewers. If it keeps going this way, by episode 6 next season, there will be no viewers left. It's still airing because Freeform is a terrible channel in general. Find new writers and follow the books. ASK CASSANDRA CLARE FOR HELP, I KNOW SHE OFFERED. To make it better? Fix this stuff.

1. Better lines. These writers have to be the worst I’ve ever seen. In the books, Jace was brilliant and snarky, and it made sense that Clary, who is equally fiery, would fall in love with him so quickly. Dom’s "Open Sesame" and "Abracadabra" are just awful. Nobody says that in real life. Take quotes from the book, we won't mind. In fact, WE’D PREFER IT TO THE CURRENT LINES WE HAVE. Cassandra Clare has an amazing wit that no one on the staff has been able to match. Clary's "Planet Bongo"? What even. And I'll forgive you guys for the "Demons dig blondes" because you HAVE to know by now that that line was probably the worst line in television history. Along with the stupid platinum thing. Luke's teriyaki beef jerky thing. Was that supposed to be funny? A quotable line? It just came across so weird.

2. Remove the random extras. What are the people in the Institute doing there? So far, they have done literally nothing. They're in the background booping buttons and a couple of them dragged Meliorn away, but that's it. They're so distracting and weird, and it makes no sense. Who was that guy who was flipping through Clary’s bras? Lydia’s buddy? No clue who he is. Speaking of which, the bra thing was not funny, just really odd. Where did she get so many bras? Where did she find the money and time to get like 50 bras? It was a very clumsy attempt at humor that failed. It's hundreds of these tiny mistakes that make this show so juvenile and immature.

3. Remove the technology. I don't know what's up with the technology, but it seems completely pointless. The show hasn't used the technology for anything that they couldn't do with only cell phones or tracking runes. It doesn't look cool, it looks out of place.

4. Stop trying to make things "dark and sexy." OH MY GOD. PLEASE. This is a show about soldiers fighting in a war. Most of them have just met each other, the other ones are siblings. The writers are relying on Izzy to keep the show "sexy" and it's just extremely awkward because she only way she's been doing that is wearing short clothing. Emeraude is extraordinarily beautiful, and yay feminism and girl power, but it's so weird that they're trying to make the show "sexy" just by relying on her legs and a few kissing scenes, and that weird, out-of-place sex scene with Meliorn in the beginning of the series. The dark scenes are the worst. Except for the graveyard scene, every scene that has taken place at night or in a dark place has been terrible and difficult to watch. Episode 5 was by far the best because it took place mostly in daylight (also mostly starred Matt and Alberto, the two best actors). Make the series bright and sunny, or film better. The sexy stuff though, it's totally unnecessary. Watch Flash. That's a damn good show. You know why? They're not trying to make things SEXY because there are no established relationships to use. HTGAWM is sexy because there are proper relationships and it makes sense that these relationships would involve sex. Stop making these characters kiss all the time, and if they do kiss, develop their relationships more fully.

5. stop with the weird filters. Why were some scenes so blue or red? Just film normally. That terrible scene in the police station, during which Clary was trying to find the tarot card? WHY was it so red? Why? The flashback scenes of the Circle, why were they so blue? PLEASE film during the day, and if you’re going to film at night, HAVE GOOD LIGHTING. Look at Arrow or the Flash or Supergirl, all these shows have great lighting, and millions more viewers. Dark and sexy doesn’t mean literally DARK. Then again, the writers can't handle dark subject matter either.

6. stop with the flashbacks. They're terrible because the acting and the writing are both terrible. Young Jocelyn also looks NOTHING like current Jocelyn. NOTHING. They should have just had the characters now put on a lot of makeup and act as theselves. Also, if Idris really looks like that, that is extremely depressing. When Valentine got the cup, it looked like a student film. It looked like some kids tried to film the scene in an old grandma’s living room. The blinds over the windows in the background made it look so juvenile. It didn’t seem like a great, majestic hall, a gathering place for Shadowhunters around the world. Indoors and outdoors, Idris seemed like a place you could visit in wine country for $4.

7. the opening title sequence thing, when the singer goes, "This is the parrrrr" What is she saying? And why is the title sequence so random? Clary or whoever is saying something, then BOMPF there’s a random singing woman.

8. Camille needs to go, or radically change. The writers are trying to make her sexy and modern, I guess, but why modernize her and make her immature? The actress is doing an okay job with her terrible lines, but that doesn't make it okay. Make her otherworldly and graceful instead of trying to make her sexy with her random red short dresses. Put her in pale vintage clothing. Make her powerful and elegant. There's a reason why she was the strongest vampire, and it's because her presence alone was frightening. This Camille dresses like Isabelle, like a teenager, and just seems so weak and weird. It’s strange characterization, her clothes added with her wisdom/age. YES, I KNOW female characters can be sexy if they want, but she’s not pulling it off because her character is not confident in that way. This Camille dresses like a teenager. Book Camille not confident sexually the way Isabelle is; rather, she’s confident because she’s literally physically powerful and distinguished. She's timeless and ethereal, and literally could destroy somebody in pale gloves and a lacy dress. I don't feel like Magnus could love her. Also, I can't believe Clary could slap her and get away with it. Camille now seems like a weak, helpless, useless character.

9. these dumb made-up conflicts. In interviews, they said that the books had too much stuff to put in. Really? Why are they adding in bits and pieces from every book? Simon's a vampire, Maureen exists, Jace already knows Alec is gay, Magnus is already trying to get Alec. Valentine got into the Institute using angel blood in his Forsaken. And you already killed Ragnor Fell for some reason. Which was absolutely hilarious, and not serious and devastating like the writers probably hoped. He showed up for five seconds, then ONE tiny demon, showed up and killed him, a warlock who was supposedly more powerful than Magnus. And for some reason, he couldn't fight them off, and Magnus couldn't heal him? It was ridiculous. Just follow the damn books so you don't have to veer farther and farther from the original storyline, which is, again, so much better than this television plot.

10. Clace. They have zero chemistry. The kiss was completely random. Nothing about their relationship felt special, because they were constantly splitting up on different missions. Maybe they had time alone together offscreen, but they seemed to be constantly with other people or apart. Clary is just so annoying, she’s constantly complaining or weeping or awkwardly widening her eyes and aggressively demanding something. If the writers had followed the books, Clace would have spend the majority of the story together, Clary would be the perfect blend of stubborn and lovely, and the kiss would have made sense. Also, Jace is not a airy romantic. I can’t stop thinking about how he held Clary’s hand in episode two. Why was he so nice? It didn’t make sense at all. Even if Jace weren't Jace, and he were a nice dude. Who would hold a random girl's hand, and why would the girl let him? The fact that he's Jace and she's Clary makes it worse. This is how their love story goes: they fight, they grudgingly rely on each other, they respect each other, they fall in love, like WHAT HAPPENED IN THE BOOKS. If the writers are trying to keep the characterization, like the cast promised, the characters need to react to everything consistently. I know that it's difficult to translate book material to television, but even if the writers want to change their love story, it should make sense. They've been constantly promising the SAME characters. I remember distinctly. They said that the most important part was that these characters remained true to the stories (god, I've watched so many interviews I have it memorized), because that was what fans loved the most. But that has NOT happened with all of these characters. JACE especially, which is why Clace is so confusing. Jace was instantly in love with her, and he has the personality of a soggy cereal box. Clary could have chosen him or a silent statue with parabatai issues, and the effect would have been the same.

cont'd: The writers are terrible in this, because the lines are awful. Moving on. The kiss scene was random and misplaced. It was pretty cute, but why was it in public? (The Malec kiss should have been private too, a huge rant below.) Maybe it was so Alec could see, but other than that, it was so weird. (Matt was very good at being Alec in this scene, though, so props to him.) Cassie's greenhouse scene was great. Jace had just revealed something private. They'd talked about their fears, they'd shared cute stories about spaghetti. He'd taken Clary to see this incredible, beautiful garden and surprised her with a midnight picnic. It was freaking adorable. Here, it was ridiculous. Clary had just killed a Jace demon after staring at it for eight minutes while it VERY SLOWLY died with one stab, and while he was reminding her of the abominable lines "YOU have the Sight!!!!" she kissed him. Okay, if you don't want it compared to the movie, it could have AT LEAST been private. It could have AT LEAST been a little bit cute, or a little bit logical. It could have followed something that greatly changed their relationship (the demon stab doesn't count). It was just very bad. I can't think of a way to save this scene. It was so misplaced. I don't think there was a single time in the show where it was just two of them talking, except the scene in Simon's bedroom. There should have been one. It should have been cute, it should have been comfortable, they should be clearly falling in love with each other but valiantly trying to hide it. They should have talked a little, stopped, then kissed. It would have made sense, even if the previous episodes were awful.  Speaking of bad relationships, though. Get ready for this.

11. Malec. Hoo boy, this is a big one. Fans of this show are constantly praising the gay relationship we have, and that the four of the seven main cast members are POC. But you know what this Malec relationship is? It's fan service, and a way for the showrunner to take advantage of a relationship that's clearly very popular. These same fans also enjoy constantly complaining that CC didn't show the Malec relationship at all and lauding Shadowhunters for doing otherwise. However, CC didn't show Malec for a long time because her main protagonist was Clary, and the relationship most important to Clary was the Clace relationship, until Magnus/Alec became more relevant in Clary's life. She hardly showed Sizzy, and nobody complained. She barely showed Maia/Jordan, and everyone was fine with that. It's just that people have a strange obsession with Malec, and when they don't get enough Malec, they attack Cassandra Clare and call her homophobic. But a book is built on conflict. The Malec relationship didn't have any conflict for a long time, so showing their relationship would have been fluff useless to the plot, no matter how much Malec shippers love their relationship. It was unlike the Clace relationship, which was full of conflict and pushed the story forward. Jace's angst and Clary's desperation to help him pushed them toward Valentine and Sebastian, which was what the book series was about. The Malec relationship added nothing to the overall plot about Valentine and it added no conflict for a long time, until CC figured out a way to weave in a conflict so her fans could see more Malec. Exactly the way she treated Sizzy and Jordan/Maia.

cont'd: Also, the thing about CC's biphobia? No. Maybe Alec's hatred of Camille and Magnus's past relationships wasn't the conflict that readers wanted, but readers have this strange desire for their characters to be perfect. Alec wasn't biphobic, he was struggling with the idea that he could spend his whole life with only Magnus, while Magnus could abandon him for anyone, man or woman, after he died. Ridiculous, yes, but Alec is 18, he only just found love, and he was the epitome of an angsty, insecure young adult. Additionally, it seems like Alec takes a long time to come out or a long time to get back together with Magnus because the books were published over the course of half a decade, but readers forget that the enitre TMI series took place over half a year, and the time between CoB and CoG (when Alec kisses Magnus in Alicante in front of everyone) was actually ONE MONTH. ONE MONTH! On CC's tumblr, she wrote that CoB took place in August, and that CoG was in September, and there are little clues scattered throughout the book to confirm that it is indeed autumn. But even with this lightning fast pace, the book Malec relationship is much more developed and logical. By Malec's one or two month anniversary, Alec and Magnus are in an established relationship, Jalec have talked fully and blandly about Alec liking Jace, Malec have gone on a vacation together, Malec have gone on dates, Alec regularly stays with Magnus overnight, and THEN Alec comes out. But in this TV show, Alec comes out to everyone after one week and zero dates. Why? Fan service and terrible writing. 

cont'd: Another popular argument: Alec is two or three years older at this point and he's ready to come out. But he wasn't. Every single episode, besides episode 12, Alec kept insisting that he was straight. Not directly, but in actions; he told Magnus he didn't know what Magnus was talking about when Magnus suggested he had feelings for Jace. He denied Clary and Izzy's suggestions that he was gay. He PROPOSED to a woman. At episode 12, the Malec story was hardly developed.

cont'd: The only positive encounter they have had was the talk over the drinks. That was the only time they really stopped and talked or hinted about being together. That would have been an excellent time for Alec to kiss Magnus. If the writers had shown what they talked about, and THEN put in a kiss after the talk, even if it was early in Episode 6, it still would have made sense. That would have been a great time for a kiss, because both characters would have been feeling emotional. But that didn't happen. Instead, there was no relationship, and Malec grew further and further apart.

cont'd: Their entire relationship aside from Episode 12 and the drinks scene was short meetings during which Magnus hit on Alec and Alec irritably tried to brush him off. None of these meetings helped developed the relationship either, which is why the kiss and coming out was confusing. Like the cast promised, they got "from Point A to Point B" in that Point A was that Malec made eye contact and Point B was that they kissed, but the route the show took was idiotic, and the circumstances were idiotic. I can't save the coming out bit, that just made no sense. Fans were exalting Alec's openness, but he was CONSTANTLY denying his sexuality and there was not one hint of him seeming ready to come out.

cont'd: It's sad, but with the convoluted TV plot, it would make so much more sense for Alec to not be with Magnus, which is why they should have follows Cassandra Clare's plot in the first place. Though book Malec may also have kissed by now, book Alec would not have outed himself so early. Neither would the Alec the writers have built; this Alec is constantly denying and suppressing and talking about honor. He has not yet met anyone he is sure he could love yet, because their relationship is so underdeveloped. Alec hardly knows Magnus at all, and would not have risked his life, his Marks, his career for a stranger (maybe he came out for himself, but kissing Magnus shows that he came out to be with Magnus too). It just doesn't make sense. Michael Reisz, a few hundred fans are probably praising the scene, but the 1.1 million fans the show lost from the premiere to the finale would tell you that this relationship, like everything else, is ridiculous.

cont'd: If the writers had just followed the books, or done something vaguey similar, it would make sense for Malec to be together. In the books, the Malec meetings before the kiss were all emotionally positive. During Magnus' party, Magnus flirted and Alec was startled but secretly pleased. After Alec was hurt by the demon (which also helped develop the Jalec relationship), Magnus healed him and stayed by him all night, and Alec woke up and they probably talked (even though he denies it to Clary). Malec kissed for the first time that Alec went to Magnus' loft to thank him, but it was because they talked first. And the talk was deep and meaningful and very relevant to Alec's sexuality. In the books, Alec was ready for a relationship, and he independently, willingly went to Magnus, who also was interested.

cont'd: Even if the writers had done all this, however, coming out still would not have made sense. Malec's relationship wasn't half as developed as it was in the books, and Alec took a MUCH bigger step. If there were only a kiss in episode 12, it wouldn't have been such a big deal. Maybe if the kiss had taken place under different circumstances, the kiss could have even made sense.

cont'd: The episodes were written by individual writers, so maybe that explains the mess (even though other TV shows seem to do fine with this method). But Michael the writer could have explained the complete nonexistence of a relationship or even a positive connection if Alec had taken Magnus out of the ceremony, talked to him and had a positive experience, kissed him privately, THEN called off the wedding. Or, he could have saved it if in the script, Alec had asked Magnus out before the wedding, gone on a date with him, kissed him after a good experience, THEN at the WEDDING realized he couldn't go through with it, it would have made sense.

cont'd: With next to no emotional connection, Alec's sacrifice is inexplicable. All Alec has seen Magnus do is putter around holding a drink and making innuendos. AGAIN, you can't shove two characters together and base the connection just on sexual orientation. At this point, Izzy and Simon have had more positive interactions than Magus and Alec, and they have more chemistry. They're also both straight and theoretically could be attracted to each other. But it would not have made sense for them to be together, just like it doesn't make sense for Malec to be together. Matthew Daddario pulled off the kiss because he's incredible, but it should have taken place after MUCH more development in previous episodes. You can't shove two characters together and have them fall in love just because they're gay/bi.

cont'd: It seems like because the writers know viewers like the relationship and know the relationship is cannon, they're not trying at all. but listen, I want to quote CC's "Kissed," a short story on her website. After Alec goes to thank Magnus for healing him and to ask Magnus out, Magnus tells Alec, "But do you like me? Because this being gay business doesn’t mean you can just throw yourself at any guy and it’ll be fine because he’s not a girl. There are still people you like and people you don’t.” That's what I want to tell the writers. 

cont'd: Though readers whine that there's no LGBT representation in the books, at least they don't have to whine about the blatant, nonsensical pandering that this show is doing. Or if they wanted to show Alec and Magnus so much, they should have fully explored the relationship and showed clear attraction between the two characters, instead of making a storyline featuring a very, very closeted, irritable Shadowhunter and a warlock that can't take the hint. Maybe if Alec were already seeing Magnus secretly, it would have made sense to call off the wedding. But he didn't, so the cliche of calling off the wedding didn't make sense.

cont'd: Also, part two of this rant. Not only does the Malec relationship and Alec's coming out not make sense, but the Malec relationship in the show is also so very not okay. It's just unhealthy. In the books, Alec and Magnus were portrayed as equals. Alec chased Magnus, and then Magnus reciprocated, and everything was great. But not the show. If any of you writers had someone who chases after you like Magnus chases after Alec near the end, call the fucking police. This relationship is terrible and unhealthy. When Magnus tried to talk to Alec about the wedding, he tells Alec, “You'll be lonely all your life, and so will she. Neither of you deserve it. And I don't either.” What? What an awful thing to say. Magnus is not entitled to Alec at all. Alec's decision is his own. They're not in a relationship AT ALL, and Magnus has NO SAY in Alec's decision.

cont'd: And when Magnus used magic to force Alec to touch his heart in episode 12? That was minor, but that’s Magnus proving that he’s strong enough to force Alec to do anything with magic. That’s so awful. And when Alec asked Magnus for help in episode 11, and Magnus said, “There's no stopping me from slipping through this gaping loophole. For the right price. You. In fact, I'll do you pro bono.” What a terrible thing to say. The writers had Magnus say that if Alec wanted his help, Alec would have to have sex with him. Alec was in a vulnerable place, he needed help that only Magnus could provide. He has constantly been denying Magnus. Even if Magnus believed that Alec was faking his reluctance, it's wasn't okay to suggest payment like that. Even SUGGESTING that Magnus could take advantage of him like that…That’s just wrong and terrible and awful. And god, some of these adoring viewers...listen, the pause in the kiss, when Magnus let Alec take the lead, that doesn't make up for Magnus' awful belief that he is entitled to Alec just because he knows Alec is gay.

cont'd: Writers, just cause they’re both guys doesn’t make rapey jokes and threatening statements like these okay. Magnus is a terrible, terrible, terrible character…it’s just so, so wrong. 

LAST THING: why was the episode named "Malec"? That is so, so lame. Come on. That is a immature, badly thought out title right there. Is Freeform seriously an actual TV network? They named an episode after a SHIP NAME. Again, pandering supremely hard.

12. OH GOD something that pissed me off. When you guys wrote about your social engagements or something on shadowhunterstv.com. What even? You were bragging that you had more engagement than great shows like Arrow and Flash and the Shannara Chronicles. THEY ALL HAD MORE VIEWERS, SO WHO WON THERE? The reason Shadowhunters has more social engagements is because of Cassandra Clare. SHE was incredible. HER BOOKS were incredible. That’s the only reason why before the show even aired, there were tons of fan accounts updating the status of the TV series. It was because Constantin Films already messed up the movie, so fans were praying that the tv series was going to be good, but too bad it was even worse. The show didn’t get engagements because of the SHOW, it was because it was an adaption of a GREAT SERIES. Then when the show actually aired, it was awful, and everyone stopped watching, and the numbers plummeted.

13. Jalec. Jace is such an asshole to Alec. They should not be parabatai if Jace is going to be such an jerk. I didn’t not feel their bond at all. The weird hand holding and deep gazing was just terrible. Holding hands does not equate to friendship or love. Terrible. It’s the writers’ fault. Stop having Jace yell at Alec and then having Alec yell back; besides the first couple episodes, that's the entirety of their relationship. Even though in the first few books Cassie was still figuring out the parabatai bond, you could still tell that Jace and Alec cared deeply about each other, like when Jace, who was usually composed, fell apart after Alec was injured. Speaking of which, including Alec's demon injury would have been a great time to develop Malec and Jalec and Clace. When Alec woke after Magnus healed him, they could have talked. Jace would have talked to Clary and they would have become closer after she comforted him, and Jace would have realized how much Alec meant to him. Instead, they included Alec's demon injury, but Jace just brusquely went, “Are you okay?” and demanded that Alec help him for something, and that was it. They’re not friends, they’re associates who sometimes tolerate each other and are grudgingly forced to spend time together. Jace was wrong in every single argument they had. Jace was constantly taking advantage of the parabatai thing, and asking Alec to help him because they were parabatai, and refusing to go along with anything Alec needed him for. Awful. And wtf you can’t weaken/sever a parabatai bond. Can you guys please read the books? You can’t. Ask Cassie.

cont'd: So the writers decided not to use Cassie's brilliant, well-developed ideas, and instead just decided to do...parabatai tracking? Which was just terrible and...just so so so terrible. What’s the point of it? It just seems unnecessary. I guess the writers were trying to emphasize Alec's feelings or something, but is there really no better way to do it? Right now, these two don’t love each other. Dom said something in an interview, like that they love each other so much that they need to yell at each other? that makes zero sense.

14. Music. Ben Decter has gotten better since his first few episodes, but not by a lot. Everything has a creepy soundtrack, even when unnecessary. When Alec swiped the police officer’s badge, there was this zombie like soundtrack that was really unfitting. Stop having words to songs when characters kiss or whatever. It’s so weird, like there’s a third person intruding. PLEASE just get a good writer with a better track record. Ben is terrible.

15. Characterization/WRITERS: ED DECTER, YOU NEED TO FIRE MOST OF THE WRITERS ON THIS SHOW! THEY’RE TERRIBLE! PLEASE get good writers, steal them from other networks.

1. Clary is terrible. She’s not spirited and alive like she is in the books. The writers’ version of her being fiery is just having her scream aggressively all the time. She also cries a lot and she’s constantly hugging people and it’s just quite terrible. Seriously, she hugs at least eight people every episode. ALSO STOP HAVING HER TALK WHEN THEY HUG! WHY CAN’T PEOPLE HUG IN SILENCE? MANY HUMANS HUG IN SILENCE ALL THE TIME! She's just so annoying, too. She keeps thinking she's a real Shadowhunter or something, and she's constantly inserting herself in places she doesn't belong. She's an untrained, useless Shadowhunter who has done nothing of worth. She has trained with Alec one time, but then she instantly got captured by a couple werewolves. Also, Kat McNamara cannot pull her off. This fiery Clary she kept describing in interviews? That is NOT how she comes across. She thinks that "stubborn and fiery" is just saying things toughly and it does not work. She’s just roughly and loudly saying her lines, toughening and hardening her voice until it’s really weird. Give her better lines. Also Kat is just very awful. She’s constantly wheezing and giving off these tiny gasps. Her eyes are constantly stretched really wide when anything happens and she always looks horrified and like she's going to cry. A combination of terrible lines and a very flutey, delicate voice has kept me from seeing the fiery personality she's promised so many times in interviews.

2. Jace's characterization is just as bad. Or worse. Probably worse. In the first episode, the writers attempted to make him snarky, but after a few half-hearted attempts ("It's a shame, really, because I'm denying them all this" with a gesture at his torso), they gave up. He’s like the quiet sidekick. He doesn’t have any good lines, and Dominic Sherwood needs to step up and work on delivery, because Alberto managed. But the WRITING. All he does is agree with Clary and fight with Alec. He’s constantly following Clary around and gently disagreeing with her, then going along with her decisions.

cont'd: In the books, he was her bridge to the Shadow World. He took her to Taki’s and showed her all these new creatures, he defended her from demons, he gave her weapons. Not to say that he had a hero complex and thought he could save this damsel in distress; he respected her and liked her, but he just had a personality while he did everything. This Jace is like a soggy mushroom in terms of strength and light. HE IS NOT AT ALL CONFIDENT AND WITTY. AND he’s supposed to be the most powerful Shadowhunter ever because he has so much more angel blood than everyone else. What happened to that? He’s constantly getting beat up. ALEC beat him. ONE SINGLE DEMON beat him. God, let’s not even talk about the awful dialogue when Alec was straddling him. ANYWAY WHAT UP, WRITERS? STEP UP! Maybe Dom isn’t that bad, but if he isn’t, get some new instruction. I saw the B-roll of the first episode, when we had the godawful lines “YOU have the sight.” “The WHAT??” In the first takes, Dom and Kat acted natural. They had awful lines, but they managed to pull them off somehow. Then, we saw the cuts that made it into the episode that aired. McG, YOU DIRECTED THAT EPISODE, WHAT IS YOUR DEAL? DON’T RUIN JACE ANY MORE THAN NECESSARY.

3. Izzy is all right, but removing the part where she knows about her father’s affair is terrible. It seems like she believes in love, and not like she uses her relationships for fun. The omission removes such an important layer to her. It doesn’t make Sizzy as incredible and special. Emeraude also needs to speak more quickly. When she was quibbling with Lydia when Meliorn was being taken away, Lydia spoke appropriately quickly and intensely, but Emeraude, who, bless her, was trying to enunciate correctly, spoke very slowly and the scene felt awkward. Just let her use her accent, it’s fine. Maybe she went to the Mexico Institute the past summer, and she got her accent. Who cares. And that dumb speech during the trial (which also looked stupid, because you guys set up some folding chairs in front of a weird podium and throne), it was so slow and awkwardly delivered because Emeraude was trying to speak clearly. Also, the sexiness? Don't get me wrong. I love the clothes and Emeraude is so freaking beautiful. But the writers were using only her body to make the show sexy, especially in the first episode, when her dancing somehow attracted demons, which I kind of hated a whole lot. Also, when she tried to dress more like Maryse, then gradually stopped or something? Where did that plotline go? It just disappeared.

4. Luke is also terrible. He’s not on screen a lot, thank god, but his characterization is very awkward. It’s very bad. He doesn’t seem fatherly and confident, he seems like he doesn’t care what’s happening around him. He’s very bad. I feel like Isaiah is always trying to deepen his voice, and it sounds awful. Just stop using Luke. He was hardly in the books, and it made sense because Cassie wanted the books too be about these teenagers. The show also wants these teenagers to take care of themselves. So leave Luke out. He's just so bad, because of the writing. In the police station, he was chill and eating some teriyaki jerky. Then in Episode 13, he was pissed and he swept all these paper towards the camera in a fit of rage. I don't know. His characterization is just very uneven and I would prefer if we kept Luke out as much as possible. Something else vaguely related: what's up with the werewolves? Why are they constantly just hanging at the Chinese food place and eating? And why are they all dudes? There was this one Asian girl that served Simon noodles, but in Episode 13, we had like four huge buff dudes that Luke growled at to go find Hodge. Then they silently slouched out the door, like they were robots with zero personality. In the books, there were women in Luke's team, and both the men and the women had personality and light.

5. Valentine. literally just what the fuck. why is he screaming all the time and injecting random people with random things? the needles he uses are always these complicated, clunky, ugly contraptions. In the books, he was collected and rational, which was what made him scary, because he was doing terrible things because he truly believed in his mission. This Valentine is like a terribly developed knockoff. In the books, he was charismatic and smooth. He had white-blonde hair and was well-spoken and he genuinely had love for his children, and he genuinely thought he was making the world better. That was what made his character so compelling. You were a little confused, because this guy meant so well but was supposed to be evil. It made sense that Jace would fall under his spell. But this show has reduced him to an alternately screaming and gruff mess. OH and what is the deal with Chernobyl? That is so corny and pointless. He’s not even using the radiation for anything. Writers, did you put your heads together and decide, “Well, he’s a scary villain, so how should we establish that he is scary? Let’s just put him in Chernobyl, that should get the point across”? NO.

6. Magnus. What the hell is happening? Harry Shum Jr is awful and his lines are terrible. His characterization is terrible. He really is like a pet warlock because he’s constantly doing little things for the Shadowhunters. I guess the writers are trying to use Harry as much as possible since he's in the main cast, but stop it. There's no reason for him to keep popping up to do some errand for the Shadowhunters. AND WHY does Harry keep breathing like that? He’s constantly interrupting himself to take a random breath, so his lines are delivered so airily. In the books, Magnus had an accent, okay, but he didn’t have fucking asthma. The worst: “Alexander! It’s me *breath* Magnus…You seemed *breath* sympathetic…” WHY do this. WHY? Almost every line is delivered like this, or in a kind of sing-songy way. It's very distracting. Just speak normally. It would seem so much more genuine, like an actual person would say these things. AND WHY IS HE ALWAYS HOLDING A DRINK? MAGNUS IS NOT AN ALCOHOLIC. HARRY SHUM JR HAS HAD HANDS BEFORE. HE KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH HIS HANDS. WHY IS HE ALWAYS HOLDING AN ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE?

 Good parts to keep:

Certain people.

1. Matthew Daddario. Matt is on another level. He is excellent, even with awkward lines. You may disagree that he's incredible, but his scenes are always the most tolerable because he's a great actor. Some viewers say that he's too serious, but he's portraying Alec as the writers are making him do it. In the books, Alec would be much more open with Jace, but the writers' messed up version of the parabatai stuff prevents this. And he was much happier in Episode 12 and 13. However, his lines are still a lot better than everyone else's. He's snarky, which is not what Alec was like in the books. In fact, his characterization is much more similar to Jace's than his own. Whatever though, he isn’t two dimensional like Jace (quiet and Clary’s sidekick) and Clary (aggressively shouts a lot and also enjoys hugging and saying “I was so worried”). So focus on the other things. I am so happy we got him, despite his eye color. Eye color doesn't equate good acting (see: Kat McNamara)

2. Alberto Rosende. Very nice acting. He's very cute. The writers are overly obsessed with making him nerdy and pop culture-y, but it's okay. He pulls it off. He's like the Simon I imagined, though his characterization could be better. But please, focus on other characters before improving Simon.

2. Stephanie Bennett: She portrayed Lydia Branwell wonderfully. The writers were awful in characterization, so she alternatively played a badass boss and a sweet, kind friend, but she did both very very well. She was also freaking GORGEOUS in the wedding dress.

3. Ragnor Fell and Maryse. Ragnor Fell was FANTASTIC for his three seconds of screen time, even though Harry was very terrible. Why did you kill him? Now what are you going to do for that scene in City of Ashes? Nicola was very good, very believable. I liked her, even though Maryse's characterization was flipped with Robert's.

And that's all the good parts there are. Isn't that sad? This show is the last chance we have at an adaption for at least twenty or thirty or a hundred years. It needs to be good. Ed Decter, either get some better writers and come up with a huge new storyline, or just follow Cassandra Clare's story, like we all want. If you want to alter it to make it more appropriate for a TV show, please go ahead, but don't create deviations and plot holes that will be very difficult to cover up later in the series. Please just follow the books.