Stuart Lilley

An extremely mediocre show which borders on un-watchable at points mainly due to the abysmal acting by most of the main characters. Whoever was in charge of casting should be fired, they did not do a good job. Case and point, the actress who plays the lead role of Clary more often than not resembles a cheap, daytime soap opera actress especially whenever she is called upon to show a modicum of emotion (think Days of Our Lives as seen within the show Friends). I enjoyed the books and all Jace's dry wit and sarcasm is non-existent which is a shame since it was integral to his character not to mention entertaining. Few of the characters provide enough substance to enable the viewer to engage with them on an emotional level and as a result, you really couldn't care less if they are killed off or not. Not having any level of investment in almost all of the characters just makes the show a chore to watch. That being said, the mythology of the books is evident and the special effects are not bad (for tv) at points. Simon and Valentine's characters are by far the best, not much of a testament to their acting skills as they are constantly surrounded by actors with the emotional range of a teaspoon but they did make the show slightly more bearable. Simon's character provides a hint of comic relief on occasion which was greatly appreciated given how depressingly banal the rest of the cast tended to make each episode. If you liked other fantasy shows like the Winx Saga and Shanara then you might enjoy this show. An extremely poor, substanceless and often cringe-worthy translation of the books which is a real shame because it had the potential to be a good show.