Basic Superlatives: “Blood Calls to Blood”

This episode of Freeform’s Shadowhunters featured several twists and turns, a lesson on how not to lawyer, and big brother Alec to the rescue. Check out some of our bite-size bests from episode 1×11.

 

1: Biggest Twist:

Valentine’s double life as Michael Wayland.

“It was a powerful glamour.” This long con went on for years and must have taken an immense amount of planning. Glamoured (for some reason) as Michael Wayland (why tho?), Valentine raised Jace as his son throughout the formative years of his childhood and then faked the death of his alter ego. And then faked being alive again! It takes a real psychotic mastermind to pull off a ruse this convoluted. He also dropped a sadistic (and untrue) sibling bombshell on Clace, just to make things extra twisted. Just say no to incest, kids.

 

2: Smartest Cookie:

Clary beats Valentine at his own game.

Nothing gets past this Smart Cookie. Even though he was still playing the part of Michael, Valentine just couldn’t resist the opportunity to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with his daughter. One conversation was all it took for Clary to realize that things did not add up when it came to timelines (we know the feeling). Not only did she figure out that this imposter was really Valentine, she was even able to cast the perfect glamour of her own with the use of an ironically humorous “World’s Best Dad” mug disguised as a fake Mortal Cup to expose him. Extra points for style, Clary. Well played.

 

3: Worst Lawyer Ever:

Pro bono is all Magnus can really hope for in his lawyer practice.

Normally, we’d make some quip about how Magnus probably shouldn’t give up his day job, but in light of recent demotions in the Shadow World, we won’t go there right now (#TooSoon). Instead, we’ll simply address the elephant in the room and say that Magnus is a terrible lawyer. There, we said it. In our humble opinion, he was mere seconds away from channeling Al Pacino and shouting, “You’re out of order! The whole trial is out of order!” As Isabelle’s “defense,” his argument rested solely on the idea that the trial should not be happening in the first place. Oh, and that the Cup should be the one on trial. Yeah, we don’t know either. If being a lawyer was Magnus’ regular practice, we can bet his business cards would say: “Losing cases with style.” At least he dressed the part…

 

4: Biggest Awwww:

Alec is a sibling snuggling softie.

Alec was unwilling to give up on his sister even though she was ready to throw in the towel herself. He really stepped into his role as big brother this episode. We are always down for a Lightwood sibling snuggle fest. When Jace and Clary (finally) returned with the Mortal Cup, we were treated to a rare glimpse of Alec’s soft side (and his light-up-the-world smile) when he expressed unguarded relief at his sister’s safety.