8 Reasons to Get Hooked on ABC Family's 'Shadowhunters'

I have always been a fan of shows that are out of the box, and take you into a fantasy world that only the most creative people would venture to build. One of those series that does that is Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series. Having already been made into a movie and not been well received, ABC Family (now known as Freeform) has been releasing content and keeping fans up to date on Shadowhunters for months. It premiered on January 12th with pretty strong ratings, at 1.8 million, but are there reasons to keep watching?

I am not someone who was into the books, though I did enjoy the movie, so I was able to get drawn into the show pretty quick. And from what I could see so far, I am impressed. Here are reasons that I think everyone should either be watching, or continue to give the show a chance.

1. It doesn't treat the adults like idiots

In tv shows these days, adults/parent figures are either nonexistent, or treated like they don't know anything. It is cool to see Clary's mother able to fight off people coming for her, and doing everything she can to protect her child. While we might not see much of her in the future considering the end, the other adults are very much powerful and look as though it might take more than just an episode or two to take down

2. The humor is definitely there

Simon seems as though he will bring a lot of humor to the show, and made me laugh numerous times with both his delivery and his facial expressions at times.

3. The effects aren't AWFUL

They aren't terrific either, but for a cable show they look decent and don't really distract me with how obviously fake they are. I actually did jump a little at this moment.

4. More of the Shadowhunting

I honestly don't understand much about it, but these guys make it look fun. I want to see more of their friendship and dynamic, and I love how Alec and Izzy do treat each other like brother and sister would. It definitely would be more fun to explore in future episodes.

5. Wait, are we talking vampires?

Demons have been killing off mundanes (humans) for their blood, and they are trying to figure out why. So there is more to the story than just the search for the Mortal Cup, which is also brought up in this episode, now we have to find out what is going on with the blood loss. I don't know if this happened in the book, but this is an interesting twist and something new brought to the table.

6. The music is great

I remember when Twilight came out, the soundtrack and artists associated with the movie were almost as big as the movie itself. The music in this show was great to me, and I was looking it up after the show. Alberto Rosende, who plays Simon, also sings "Forever Young" and sounds incredible.

7. Alan Van Sprang as Valentine

He played a tyrant in Reign and now it seems he is going to be absolutely diabolical as the villain Valentine in this show. He goes from anger, to love, to surprise all in his eyes in one scene and it is just amazing to watch.

8. The cast in general is just interesting to watch

While Cassandra Clare didn't have a say in how the show went, she did have a say in casting of most of the major characters, those being Alec, Isabelle, Jace, Clary, Raphael, Magnus, Simon, and Luke. That alone holds a lot of weight, because that means that the character's creator saw them in that actor. The cast is still on their "pilot feet" in this episode, getting to know their character and who they are within it, but even saying that the cast had me intrigued in this episode. Simon was funny, Clary was the stereotypical "finding herself" girl, and Jace... Well honestly I am not sure what to make of him yet. So far I am not disappointed in what they have decided to do, and I am excited to see where the show goes from here.