I read the first three novels in The Mortal Instruments series. I love them and I'm planning to read all of it soon. In 2013, they tried to make a film franchise out of it and failed. The movie was a box office bomb and critically panned and I'm in that small group of people that actually liked the movie. I didn't love it, I was aware of the mistakes, but I thought it was an okay movie.
With this show, they promised a lot, but didn't live up to it, at least in this episode. The episode was entertaining and it was fun seeing a new spin on the story but there are a lot of flaws. Writing is a little cheesy, I had no complaints about the acting, but it wasn't anything outstanding and it wasn't as dark as they said it be. It was even a little bit campy at times. The biggest complaint I have about this episode is that there is almost no Gothic stuff at all. It's one of the main reasons the books were so awesome! Here they only dress up in a Gothic way. And what the hell was that Institute, like, seriously? All those people and all that fancy technology were so out of place! And their weapons kinda reminded me of light-sabers. But this pilot was still decent as an adaptation too. There are some things changed but they stick with the most important parts, which is a very good thing and I hope they keep up that way. And if they improve on the writing, CGI and gothicness this might be a perfect show for the fans. But, so far, I can even say the movie did a better job, but there is still a lot to see because thankfully, this was just a pilot.