Shadowhunters

***Shadowhunters*** is an American fantasy television series based on *The Mortal Instruments* by Cassandra Clare, and developed for television by Ed Decter. It is the second adaptation of the novel series, after the 2013 film *The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones*, which like Shadowhunters was produced by Constantin Film. The show received a straight-to-series order on March 30, 2015, and premiered on January 12, 2016 on Freeform. In March 2016, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season.

## Plot

Clary Fray (Katherine McNamara) has just enrolled at Brooklyn Academy of Arts. On her eighteenth birthday, she learns that she is a Shadowhunter, a human born with angelic blood who protect humans from demons. That night, Clary's mother, Jocelyn Fray, (Maxim Roy) is abducted by a group of rogue Shadowhunters of "The Circle". Their leader is Jocelyn's husband, Valentine Morgenstern (Alan van Sprang).

With her mother missing, Clary turns to Luke (Isaiah Mustafa), a person she trusted, only to seemingly be betrayed. Clary joins up with a band of Shadowhunters to save her mother and discovers powers she never knew she possessed. Clary is thrown into the world of demon hunting with the mysterious, narcissistic, and attractive Shadowhunter, Jace (Dominic Sherwood), and also her loyal and geeky friend, Simon (Alberto Rosende). Now living among fairies, warlocks, vampires, and werewolves, Clary begins a journey of self-discovery as she learns more about her past and what her future may hold.

## Cast and Characters

### Main

* Katherine McNamara as Clary Fray
* Dominic Sherwood as Jace Wayland
* Alberto Rosende as Simon Lewis
* Matthew Daddario as Alec Lightwood
* Emeraude Toubia as Isabelle Lightwood
* Isaiah Mustafa as Luke Garroway
* Harry Shum Jr. as Magnus Bane
* Alisha Wainwright as Maia Roberts

### Recurring

* Alan van Sprang as Valentine Morgenstern
* Maxim Roy as Jocelyn Fray
* Jon Cor as Hodge Starkweather
* David Castro as Raphael Santiago
* Joel Labelle as Alaric
* Paulino Nunes as Robert Lightwood
* Kaitlyn Leeb as Camille Belcourt
* Jordan Hudyma as Blackwell
* Shailene Garnett as Maureen Brown
* Stephanie Bennett as Lydia Branwell
* Nicola Correia-Damude as Maryse Lightwood
* Jade Hassouné as Meliorn

## Broadcast

The series premiered on January 12, 2016 in the U.S. on Freeform. The second episode, "The Descent Into Hell Is Easy", was released online that same day, following the premiere of the first episode. In December 2015, Netflix acquired global rights to *Shadowhunters*, excluding the U.S., making the series available as an original series a day after the U.S. premiere, with the first episode launching globally on January 13, and subsequent episodes released on a weekly basis. In March 2016, the show was renewed for a 20-episode second season.

## Production and Development

In 2010, Screen Gems announced that they were going into production on the *The Mortal Instruments* of *City of Bones*, the first book in *The Mortal Instruments* series, with hopes of starting a successful film franchise. Production on a film adaptation of the second book, *City of Ashes*, was due to start in September 2013, but was delayed to 2014, and eventually cancelled, after the first film failed to recoup its budget.

On October 12, 2014, at Mipcom, Constantin confirmed that *The Mortal Instruments* will return as a television series with Ed Decter as showrunner. Constantin Film and TV head Martin Moszkowicz told *The Hollywood Reporter* that, "It actually makes sense to do [the novels] as a TV series. There was so much from the book that we had to leave out of the *Mortal Instruments* film. In the series we'll be able to go deeper and explore this world in greater detail and depth." The producers hope to adapt the entire book series if the TV adaptation proves successful. In February 2015, book series author Cassandra Clare announced via Twitter that the television series would be called *Shadowhunters* rather than *The Mortal Instruments*. In March 2015, ABC Family picked up *Shadowhunters* straight-to-series.

## Reception

*Shadowhunters* has received an overall mixed response from critics. On Metacritic, it holds a 45 out of 100 rating, based on 9 critical responses, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a 46% rating, based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The critics' consensus reads, "*Shadowhunters* boasts visual thrills and a potential-rich premise, but they're not enough to overcome the show's self-serious silliness and dull, convoluted plots." According to the *The New York Times*, the series "has its assets, especially its popular source material. But it might become more fun if it learns to enjoy being the empowerment fantasy it really is."

### Ratings

The first season of the show averaged a 0.41 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 960,000 total viewers.

## External links

* Template:IMDb title

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1. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/shadowhunters-renewed-second-season-at-875021
2. ↑ https://www.shadowhunterstv.com/article/shadowhunters-season-2-freeform-picks-up-shadowhunters-for-a-second-season/, http://www.spoilertv.com/2016/04/shadowhunters-season-2-upped-to-20.html
3. ↑ http://collider.com/city-of-bones-the-mortal-instruments-franchise/52762/
4. ↑ http://deadline.com/2016/01/shadowhunters-mortal-instruments-freeform-1201679129/
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/constantin-to-produce-tv-series-based-on-resident-evil-mortal-instrument-franchises-, http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/constantin-to-produce-tv-series-based-on-resident-evil-mortal-instrument-franchises-1201328293/
6. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mipcom-mortal-instruments-return-as-740204
7. ↑ http://www.thefandom.net/tv-shows/cassandra-clare-mortal-instruments-tv-shadowhunters/
8. ↑ http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/the-mortal-instruments-shadowhunters-abc-family-series-1201462608/
9. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/arts/television/tv-review-shadowhunters-freeform.html?\_r=0/
10. ↑ http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/shadowhunters-season-one-ratings/