Isn’t it the worst when you have to say good-bye to your favorite show?
Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments on Freeform is being canceled and I honestly didn’t think I would be writing something like this, at least not for another season or two. This is a show I have been sticking with since 2016. The third season of television shows must be cursed because most of my favorite shows are getting canceled after their third run.
Granted, the obvious feeling is sadness, because on May 6th, I saw some of my favorite characters on screen for one last time- but there is more. As someone who has been in many fandoms, typically I’m the one that leaves them and not the other way around. It’s strange because I have been aware of the franchise itself since 2013, but I was only ever able to enjoy the show since 2016. Let me take you back a little bit.
It’s winter break of my sophomore year of high school. Delia from 2016 is dreading doing her homework because she is aware that she will have to present said homework in front of her U.S. History class once her break is over.
Enter her oldest sister, queen of procrastination and hyper-fixations; she introduces me to Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments.
Now, I had known about this show for quite some time, but I was drowning in TV shows from the CW. So I had two options: either continue to stare and hate my homework or procrastinate and watch a show.
Thus, my love for Shadowhunters was born out of pure procrastination and became my obsession for the next two to three years.
And that’s where I find myself now. As of Monday, I will be saying good-bye to a show that brought me so much joy, tears, occasional anger at some absurdities, and hopefully my first LGBT couple to get the happy ending they deserve. For many people, this might seem weird because like, “it’s just a show”, and “Delia, you are literally failing a class right now, please get it together.”
While all of that is true, it does not change the fact that I feel immense joy and comfort in TV shows and in fandoms. Plus, the fact that a show I love got canceled (for reasons I will not address as I will pop several blood vessels), it hits a little bit harder than usual. All the storylines that could have been and I will never be able to see. Like I just know Harry Shum Jr would have absolutely killed it as dark Prince of Hell, Magnus Bane and it’s truly a shame no one will be able to see it.
Right now, as I write this, I feel sad but also happy to have been able to see these characters evolve, fall apart and get back up again. I will be a crying mess all the while trying to finish out the semester strong, but that is for Future Delia to deal with and for me to currently pretend it’s not happening. This is my farewell to eight amazing and flawed characters which I thank for being a constant in my mind for the past three years.