The Magicians - SyFy [SHOW SPOILERS ONLY]

[Dragon in the North]

3 hours ago, Jack Bauer 24 said:

What does the button do?

They called it the key to Fillory, so I assume it transported Penny there. It reminded me of those pins in Tomorrowland.

[Martini Sigil]

This was the first time I heard the word "twat" on basic cable... This is one dark fucking show.

[RedEyedGhost]

10 minutes ago, Martini Sigil said:

This was the first time I heard the word "twat" on basic cable...

This is the only time I remember.

[Arkash]

Okay, this is not going to be a constructive post but... I really love this show ! 

I love the new generation of SyFy shows ! The Expanse and 12 Monkeys are both dark, deep and thrilling ! 

And then you get Killjoys and the Magicians who are both absolutely fun but more than that, they dont shy away from darker storylines, stakes and character writing, so a huge kuddos to SyFy !

[Astromech]

Good episode. Creepy, but well done. When episodes focus on Fillory, they are actually quite good. It seems to me Penny has the only useful talent, though. Alice and Q just seem to be along for the ride. Again, Julia's quest for magic leads her into another terrible situation. My favorite character on the show.

[Knight of Ashes]

On ‎15‎/‎03‎/‎2016 at 7:52 PM, Fragile Bird said:

Sooooooooooo.......does all this shit happen in the books?  Or have the producers turned it into a sort of American Horror Story light?

I have a theory about the author.  He must be the guy who started the theory on the internet that Harry Potter imagined all the Hogwarts stories because it was the way an abused child who gets locked under the stairs escapes what he's suffering.

I'm pretty sure the haunted house and the two non-Chatwin kids that were killed are not in the books; I don't think Plover's sister was there either.  What Plover was doing and the button were in the books (though the Scooby gang had different methods of going to Fillory).

Anyway, I still have minor pangs over how a few of the characters are re-interpreted -particularly Quentin, when he's at his twitchiest- but I've come to like this show more and more.  Julia and Q keeping touch may actually be an improvement over the novels; I don't think they were as close in the books, and initially, I had reservations over actually being shown a version of Julia's travails but I'm over that.

[Starkess]

That was creepy as fuck. I am definitely enjoying this more as it goes on--seems pretty far from what I remember from the book, but as long as they make it good, I don't mind.

Not sure if Margo is ever coming back or going to be part of the group? Wish they would do more with her character, she is the least developed and I worry they will slot her into the "villain" role.

[Fragile Bird]

So, I know I said this looked like this was going to be like Hogwarts with more sex and nudity, but, as much fun as the last couple of episodes have been, they really need to get a new plot device.

The relationship between Penny and Kady started with sex, Margo and Eliot are all about sex (ok, and booze and drugs), Quentin and Alice rapidly moved to sex, and the Beast is all about sex at his roots.  Julia got into Quentin's head because their relationship broke down, the Beast got into Breakbills through sexually enticing Eliot, Alice and Quentin had to pass their Antarctic course by having sex...I'm sure there's more if I put my mind to it.  Did the writers have a good night one night and say, "Wow, good sex is like magic"?

Is this the Game of Thrones effect?  Or I guess every show is about sex, some more, some less?

And speaking of GoT, did you getta a geeky thrill from Quentin's dream with the Daenerys-nudge-nudge and who...Princess Leia? nudge-nudge, with a Bechdel test thrown in?  Or did you throw up a little in your mouth?

At least, so far, the Julia line of plot isn't all about sex.

Anyone want to bet where that plotline will end up?

Spoiler

the god they conjure up turns out to be the Beast?

 

It was looking like a fun episode until we got into all the magic on my planet is sex magic.  And I'd have an "ugh" look on my face if I teleported into their room in the middle of sex.  I mean really, coming triggers the magic beacon?

Eh, I must be getting old.  

ETA:  Joe's like a Swiss army knife was a pretty funny line, though.

[RedEyedGhost]

These are characters in their early 20's everything is about sex.

[Knight of Ashes]

I really have a hard time not liking an ep that has a Margolem in it. 

I actually found Q & A's discussion of sex quite believable, moreso than Elliot's spiraling down because of that guy whose name I've already forgotten.

I was pleased they actually included the Neitherlands and its library; I was afraid they were actually gonna skip it.  Sure, the Neithelands looked kinda lame because it was just a bunch of fountains, but still...

[Astromech]

Again, I like the creativity and writers' imaginations when it comes to the magic in the show, but also sometimes have the impression they're a bunch of virgin geeks living vicariously through the characters in the show. This episode was entirely too obsessed with sex. The drugs are just thrown in to reflect some sort of post-teen angst and some bizarre notion of drugs being cool or edgy. It feels like the writers(or maybe Lev) are trying way too hard to be edgy, like assholes that wear band t-shirts and can't even name two or three of that band's songs.

The Neitherlands was a cool concept. Penny still has the only cool or useful talent. The golem was humorous, as were Q's dream and the mention of the Bechdel test.

I now understand why Alice is the way she is; she's the only adult in the room when with her parents. Maybe her brother was the lucky one  

I am still engaged in Julia's arc. I wasn't too fond of Katy showing up and so quickly forgetting about her mother's death/seemingly forgiving Julia. I'm interested in seeing how their summoning goes.

[RedEyedGhost]

54 minutes ago, Astromech said:

I am still engaged in Julia's arc. I wasn't too fond of Katy showing up and so quickly forgetting about her mother's death/seemingly forgiving Julia. I'm interesting in seeing how their summoning goes.

It seems like a significant amount of time has passed based on that storyline alone.  There was one line that alluded to that, but it wasn't specific in how much time had passed, and it's been two days so I don't remember it exactly.  I also get the feeling that Katy blames her mother for her own death more than she blames Julia - with that and the poorly conveyed significant passage of time I can understand her getting over it quickly especially when it gets in the way of learning more magic.

[Jack Bauer 24]

Isn't her name Kady?

[SpaceChampion]

A review I read somewhere seemed to imply Asmodeus is not Kady in the books (the article said it was a twist), so they've combined characters for the show.  Is that right or did I misinterpret?

[Astromech]

49 minutes ago, RedEyedGhost said:

It seems like a significant amount of time has passed based on that storyline alone.  There was one line that alluded to that, but it wasn't specific in how much time had passed, and it's been two days so I don't remember it exactly.  I also get the feeling that Katy blames her mother for her own death more than she blames Julia - with that and the poorly conveyed significant passage of time I can understand her getting over it quickly especially when it gets in the way of learning more magic.

A significant passage of time would make it less odd. Kady(how's that Jack?) seemed to quickly brush her mother's death aside when she encountered Julia.

[Knight of Ashes]

5 hours ago, Astromech said:

Sorry, never mind. Can't post outside the quote box for some reason.

[matt b]

12 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

A review I read somewhere seemed to imply Asmodeus is not Kady in the books (the article said it was a twist), so they've combined characters for the show.  Is that right or did I misinterpret?

Yeah, that's right. Kady isn't in the books at all.

I kind of feel like the only reason they changed Janet's name to Margot was to make the Margolem joke. And I am completely okay with that.

[Fragile Bird]

I found this latest episode quite confusing, even after watching the repeat.  (The channel I watch it on repeats the show immediately after it is first run).

In case you were a bit confused as well, here is a description from a review:

After recovering, Penny agrees to learn battle magic and go to Fillory, but only if the group promises to rescue the young woman that the Beast has imprisoned; there's plenty of empathy under that gruff exterior of his. By this point, the Physical Kids have visited Kady at Julia's apartment. The trick Kady teaches them involves literally toying with their own emotions: bottling them up so they can focus all of their energy into battle magic, since these first-year magic students are generally incapable of pulling it off otherwise. The trick works, as the gang learns to fire magic missiles, set up shields around themselves and set objects on fire. But when they keep their emotions bottled up for too long, it has disastrous consequences.

http://www.polygon.com/2016/3/28/11321406/the-magicians-recap-episode-11-remedial-battle-magic

 

[Tears of Lys]

I'm happy for any help I can get, understanding what the hell's happening in this show.  It must **really** help to have read the book(s)? beforehand. 

I see a lot of really cool and interesting things going on, which makes me watch the show.  But take Quentin, for example.  At first he's set up as a "hot" guy whom all the girls are wanting to get with (understanding that he's a serious fantasy reader, of course.)  In these recent episodes, however, he seems to be quite the doofus. 

I do quite like the Beast, though.  But when he's making people vomit up blood and appear to die on the floor, why do they pop up right as rain as soon as he departs?  And WHY does he depart?  If he can pop in and out at will, why doesn't he just take over the whole shebang? 

I guess I'm not paying as close attention as I should to this show.   

[MisterOJ]

9 minutes ago, Tears of Lys said:

I'm happy for any help I can get, understanding what the hell's happening in this show.  It must **really** help to have read the book(s)? beforehand. 

I see a lot of really cool and interesting things going on, which makes me watch the show.  But take Quentin, for example.  At first he's set up as a "hot" guy whom all the girls are wanting to get with (understanding that he's a serious fantasy reader, of course.)  In these recent episodes, however, he seems to be quite the doofus. 

I do quite like the Beast, though.  But when he's making people vomit up blood and appear to die on the floor, why do they pop up right as rain as soon as he departs?  And WHY does he depart?  If he can pop in and out at will, why doesn't he just take over the whole shebang? 

I guess I'm not paying as close attention as I should to this show.   

The whole scene with them vomiting blood wasn't real. The gang were doing "probability magic." It was sort of explained in the next scene. They were basically doing a spell that allowed them to see possible outcomes based on what they chose. The scene with them throwing up blood was just one of several possibilities that they saw.