The Magicians keeps rolling on, with an episode that fans of the book have no doubt been waiting to see.
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| Ok, guys and girls! Put all your weed in the mason jar. |
The end of last week's episode teased the
students' travelling to Brakebills South in Antarctica, and this week's episode
certainly didn’t disappoint in that regard.
But where other episodes are heavily Quentin or Alice or Julia-centric,
this one really showed the strength of the ensemble, giving each member of the
young cast meaningful things to do and even showing a bit of growth.
The students arrive at the afore-mentioned Brakebills South,
overseen (and fully staffed) by a stubborn, eccentric professor named
Mayakovsky. Fueled by vodka and his
disdain for Brakebills status quo, Mayakovsky pushes the students to their
limits, with regard to both their growing magical ability and mental strength. This leads some of the students to connect
with magic and each other on a far more intimate level than ever before,
forever changing some of their relationships.
Quentin and Alice are as usual the focus, but Penny (the excellent Arjun
Gupta) gets plenty of well-earned attention as well, as he begins to learn the
extent of his unique powers.
Another pair of characters that gets their best chance to
shine yet this week is Elliot (Hale Appleman) and Margo (Summer Bishil). Elliot and Margo (known as Janet in the
books) serve as the series' comic relief, providing a refreshing break from
Quentin's neuroses. The characters are a
bit older than Quentin, etc., and they tend to drift between seen-it-all ennui
and the perverse joy of busting underclassmen's chops. The duo's onscreen chemistry is flawless, as
is the ease with which they inhabit their roles and perfectly embody Lev
Grossman's characters. It would be hard
to argue that anyone else on the show is having as much fun as they are, which
is saying something.
The Magicians has remained consistently entertaining
throughout its short run, and shows no signs of slowing down. it's a shame that the show doesn’t get the
lavished attention that other genre shows on more high profile networks get,
however deserving it might be. Thought
it has already gotten picked up by a second season and seems to be doing well
by the standards of a network on Syfy's tier, the right word of mouth could
really put it on the map. Hopefully The
Magicians is able to continue to find and grow a dedicated audience so
dedicated viewers can spend even more time in the dangerous, magical world of
Brakebills.
Score
Mike Stec