A Shadowhunters hookup is leaving some viewers of the show with complicated feelings.
On Monday's episode of the Freeform series, Magnus (Harry Shum Jr.) and Alec (Matthew Daddario) take the "next step" in their slow-burning relationship and have sex. While Malec (the couple's name) might be a favorite ship amongst fans, not everyone loved how the couple's first foray into sex played out on the screen. Some viewers felt that Alec didn't receive proper consent from Magnus before initiating sex.
In the scene, Alec comes to Magnus' door and tells him that he wants to take the "sex step" with him. Alec kisses Magnus, but Magnus isn't that into it: he tells Alec that he's afraid of losing him if they move further physically. Alec insists to Magnus that they have nothing to worry about because Alec now knows he wants to move forward. He then kisses Magnus and pushes him into a bedroom, presumably to have sex — without getting any sort of verbal agreement from his partner. Watch the scene below:
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Fans have a lot of feelings about what went down:
Aw yea that was dubious consent. ?☹️? #Malec #shadowhunters
— Angry Ferrero Rocher (@exrecluse) February 15, 2017
Don't know how I feel about #Malec and ~very dubious consent. Also LGBTQ sex fading to black whilst hetero doesn't ?? #Shadowhunters pic.twitter.com/gkRH9AarLo
— Nkanyezi (@Nkanyah) February 14, 2017
A bit disappointed in the writing of the last #Malec scene in the 207 of #Shadowhunters . They never talked about Magnus's consent.
— Lynn Marcil (@NerdySaloperie) February 14, 2017
@ShadowhuntersWR Alec being all dominant is so hot..but~consent is sexy and magnus is clearly feeling vulnerable #Shadowhunters #malec
— ButterChicken (@Criztalinz) February 14, 2017
when shadowhunters starts playing around with consent and malec's relationship #shadowhunterschat pic.twitter.com/OXbR905kAz
— melissa (@saphaelTM) February 14, 2017
Shadowhunters showrunner Darren Swimmer responded to the backlash on Twitter, stating:
"We thought it was a given that Alec wouldn't have forced anything, but a fair point that we could have made consensus more clear onscreen."
We thought it was a given that Alec wouldn't have forced anything, but a fair point that we could have made consensus more clear onscreen.
— Darren Swimmer (@DSwim) February 14, 2017
No matter how much we love a particular couple, consent is mandatory. Props to Shadowhunters fans for demanding it shown explicitly.