Shadowhunters Season 3, Episode 18 review: The Beast Within

Demon Outbreak in New York!

New York City expects to see some interesting looking creatures walking around on the streets on Halloween night, but not all demons are humans in a costume. In Shadowhunters Season 3 Episode 18, there are several moments where Jace, Clary, Alec and Izzy are formally out working as Shadowhunters, protecting mundanes and trying to learn about an increase of Drevak demons in the city, demons known in series for being spies or messengers.

As if Alec weren’t busy enough in this episode, we’ll see him in his role as Institute leader again in “The Beast Within,” properly informing the Shadowhunters of the task at hand. Alec has a strategy for how to tackle the Drevak demons and stop them from terrorizing any more trick-or-treaters, but as always, there’s more going on in the story here than the team initially realizes. With Clary, Izzy, Jace and Alec out on patrol together, there are a few opportunities for conversation between the group, as well as in pairs.

Jace was expecting to see a Lightwood ring on Magnus’ finger earlier in the episode, Izzy is going to see more of how Clary is affected by the twinning rune when Jace isn’t in sight, Alec is going to have more than one heartfelt conversation with his siblings to try to work through the weight of Asmodeus’ choices, and Clary’s going to be testing some boundaries of her own outside of the Institute. As they work to carry out Alec’s plan against the Drevak demons, a fight sequence creates a moment for Clary that visually, is going to leave your jaw on the floor.

Pay attention to what other characters on the series are after while the focus is on the demon outbreak, and see if you can figure out the mystery of this unexpected invasion before our heroes can put all the pieces together. The story opens the door for a dangerous outcome, and though there’s some concrete resolution, there’s also a significant cliffhanger you likely won’t see coming.