Queerbaiting is a subject that has been delved into time and time again. We all know about "Supernatural" and their queerbaiting with Dean and Castiel, or "Teen Wolf" with Stiles and Derek. But what about shows that contain a canon gay character or couple? Do they also fall victim to the dangers of queerbaiting or are they exempt from it because they have explicitly gay characters? Let's explore this using a recent show that has gained a lot of attention from the LGBTQ community: the Freeform show "Shadowhunters".

First of all, what exactly is queerbaiting? It's a tactic that a lot of shows use in order to draw in LGBTQ viewers, showing them a close relationship between two characters of the same gender and hinting at a romance between the two of them. But typically they never have any intention of making the characters gay, frustrating the LGBTQ viewers.

Yet, these viewers that desperately want these couples to get together continue to watch just in case the showrunners decide to change their minds. They keep these viewers baited by showing them promos centering around the couples and letting them have all kinds of scenes with them in close contact with one another, making them think that the couple will become canon one day.

Now how can "Shadowhunters" fall into this same trap when it does have a canon gay couple, Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane? It's true that it isn't the same as shows like "Supernatural" and "Teen Wolf" considering they did follow through with their teasing of having a gay couple. But a show not having a gay couple after teasing it is not the only harmful staple of queerbaiting.

For starters, queerbaiting relies a lot on promo and scenes containing two people of the same gender, usually men, that viewers really want to see together. Episodes will include intimate and almost unnecessary scenes between these two characters just to excite viewers. This is where "Shadowhunters" falls into queerbaiting.

Perhaps the biggest offense "Shadowhunters" has incurred is literally naming the episode where Alec and Magnus become an official couple "Malec," the name fans have given them. This was done to assure viewers that, yes, their favorite gay couple would be getting together in this episode so they better watch it!

Despite this fault, at least most of the episode promos for season one actually showed the plot along with clips of Magnus and Alec, many of the promos for season 2 showed plenty of Alec and Magnus to remind viewers why they should watch. There was even one promo for season 2 that just focuses on Alec and Magnus' relationship rather than the plot of the season.

So why exactly is this a problem? They have a canon gay couple, which is better than most shows on television. But what's annoying is how they exploit their relationship in order to get more LGBTQ viewers. With the way the Freeform advertises "Shadowhunters" as basically "The Malec Show" it's like they are saying, "Look what great LGBT allies we are because we have a gay couple, watch our show!" A tactic used by "The 100" creator Jason Rothenberg for the couple Clarke and Lexa just to get more viewers, rather than supporting actual LGBTQ characters and fans.

What makes the use of Alec and Magnus' relationship to promote the show even worse is that it's specifically catered to straight girls and women, rather than actual LGBTQ boys and men. Sure, LGBTQ men and women both enjoy watching the show, it's the straight women that are being enticed through these promos.

For queer fans of the show, all they want is a healthy representation of a queer couple, which, to be honest, is something "Shadowhunters" gives us. But what straight women want is a gay couple, usually men, is something for them to fetishize and get excited about.

When "Shadowhunters" has promos showing Alec and Magnus kissing and touching it's for the straight women who want to see a gay couple be cute, not LGBTQ fans who want to just see the emotional relationship along with the physical relationship. In a specific example, after Alec and Magnus shared their first kiss I saw multiple gifs from every angle, close-up, for straight women to freak out over.

Queer relationships are not meant for entertainment. All LGBTQ fans want from a queer relationship on television is for them to happy and healthy, but all we get are shows that give LGBTQ couples to straight people. While we are on the right track with "Shadowhunters," and it is great to see a gay couple actually exist on TV, we do need to be more aware of the dangers of queerbaiting.