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The Magicians - SyFy [SHOW SPOILERS ONLY]


RedEyedGhost

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I half watched it...as in I only half paid attention to it because I wanted to get a general sense to see if I might like it but didn't want to pay too much attention since the series isn't starting for another month.  All in all I enjoyed what I saw.  I'm a huge fan of the series but what I love best about the books isn't something you can film so I was on the fence about it.  But based on what I saw, I will watch it again when it begins airing later in January.

Perhaps what I liked best was how they included the Chatwins and Fillory as they did in the first episode.  I like how you actually see them as opposed to hear about them.  And I like how they are included Jane Chatwin in the first episode.

I also like how they are including the parts from the second book that take place at the same time as the first book.  I suspected they were going to do that and I think its the right thing to do. 

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I half watched it...as in I only half paid attention to it because I wanted to get a general sense to see if I might like it but didn't want to pay too much attention since the series isn't starting for another month.  All in all I enjoyed what I saw.  I'm a huge fan of the series but what I love best about the books isn't something you can film so I was on the fence about it.  But based on what I saw, I will watch it again when it begins airing later in January.

Perhaps what I liked best was how they included the Chatwins and Fillory as they did in the first episode.  I like how you actually see them as opposed to hear about them.  And I like how they are included Jane Chatwin in the first episode.

I also like how they are including the parts from the second book that take place at the same time as the first book.  I suspected they were going to do that and I think its the right thing to do. 

I was wondering if that Rupert Chatwin grave held some significance.

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I know nothing about the books this series is based on.  But after reading the rest of this thread, I see that my immediate reaction that this a mash-up of Harry Potter and Narnia is pretty accurate.  They could have called it Wizzard U and the Obnoxious Grad Students.  I assume this will be populated by cynical sexed up wizards with a level of violence kicked up from what we saw at Hogwarts.

Quentin so far doesn't strike me as a douche, just depressed, as others mentioned.

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I think they made Quentin more sympathetic by explicitly giving him a depression diagnosis instead of leaving it to be inferred by the reader. They also softened his actions a bit. I I remember that he was much more callous towards Julia when she tried showing him the spell she learned online.

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Also, correct me if I'm wrong but I think they made more of a connection between Quentin and the Beast (ala Harry and Voldermort? If that is the case, it might be missing the point.) that wasn't in the first book .  I don't remember Quentin being singled out by the Big Bad the way he was here.

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They've definitely fast-tracked the plot, covering something like a third of the first book plus part of the second book in just one episode. I didn't like how quickly Fillory was developed, as I enjoyed the slower introduction in the books, and Alice is pretty much a model with a pair of glasses on, not a mousey-looking nerd. Also, wtf was up with the sexual assault on Julia to get her magic going? That wasn't how it was done in the books at all, and seemed like an excuse to get the actress out of her shirt in a hurry.

Still, a decent translation of what is admittedly a VERY hard series to adapt. I'll keep watching.

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Also, wtf was up with the sexual assault on Julia to get her magic going?


Yeah, that was the one thing that really pissed me off.

And the rapidity with which they went through some things makes me wonder if they're planning on either vastly expanding the Fillory stuff or just doing the whole damn trilogy in twelve episodes  (the former seems more likely - I suspect they just want to get the 'grown-up Harry Potter bits out of the way asap).

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  • 1 month later...

I loved it! As others have said, it was trying way too hard and employed about every writing gimmick I can imagine, but hey it was fun! The rapey scene was definitely uncomfortable and I opened another tab there at first but I'm hoping that they use that to underscore some kind of disconnect with the 'others', where they don't realize what they're doing is a perversion of 'normal' magic or something like that.

I think that'd be cool with the dude's 'what!?! No, what!?!' reaction to her reaction. Definitely enough to get me interested, I guess I need to find out if I have syfy now 'cause I wanna watch it legit.

 

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I know it's sort of early to tell, but my faves Janet Margo and Eliot don't feel quite like the book version, the former especially. They also kind of butchered what is probably the best moment of the series, the attack of the Beast. And Penny's actor is bad and 100% not the book character. They might as well had named this guy Brian or Joe because he's something entirely different. I also don't like the whole "frat party" angle they have going on, it's not like the ennui feeling of the books. And yes, I realize the books are basically "white middle-class magic people's problems", but it is what it is. And I'm not digging this Kady character, she's basically Spy Janet Margo, which is lame. Also, where the hell is Josh?!

/whining

But whatever, I'll give it time. I like what they're doing with Julia's plot, seems promising, and like others said, this Quentyn feels a bit less douchy, which is good. And I'm already dreading the debut of

Reynard

if it gets that far. 

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On 12/18/2015 at 6:02 PM, Knight of Ashes said:

Also, correct me if I'm wrong but I think they made more of a connection between Quentin and the Beast (ala Harry and Voldermort? If that is the case, it might be missing the point.) that wasn't in the first book .  I don't remember Quentin being singled out by the Big Bad the way he was here.

Sorry, didn't see your comment before writing my post. While there's not a huge, clear connection a la Harry and Voldemort, the Beast

gets glimpses of the future and senses that someone from Brakebills is going to destroy him. He's right, of course, but it's Alice, not Quentyn. 

So maybe that's sorta what they're going for? 

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Since I haven't read the books, I looked up the description on Wikipedia, and I assume this  show will be like all other book-to-film/tv conversions, the basic outline will be similar but there will be changes, some substantial ones, to meet the demands of the media and the vision of the producers.

Like cramming in a huge amount of stuff in the first week or two of school instead of over a couple of years.

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I don't quite want to go read a summary of the books yet because I'm not sure whether or not I want to be spoiled.  But I'm hoping someone can answer whether or not this is another magical white boy chosen one story.  

Also, I like the choreographing of doing magic.  It's so much more interesting than pointing a wand. 

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