Yeah, the cliffhanger ending was rather harsh. In not sure how they go forward from here as shorthanded as they are.
I’m dying here.
Sorry, I just couldnt resist.
Wow…just wow.
I have read (and watched) so much high fantasy that when GRRM came along, the break from (most) of the cliche that was ASoIaF was such a breath of fresh air, I attributed it to the magic in fantasy. A lot of people did.
I think The Magicians just proved the magic wasn’t it; it was never that.
Now, I confess I wasn’t trying very hard to figure out where all of this was going as I watched the series. I pretty much just consumed and then put it out of my mind until the next episode. But apart from the first three episodes or so which I was familiar with because I started (and did not finish) Lev Grossman’s book – almost every real plot twist in this show took me unawares. That’s quite remarkable, actually. That just doesn’t happen for me.
The Magicians has turned out to be one of the best shows on TV – and certainly one of the best genre shows, by far. Totally surprised at the quality of all of this.
I will listen to the first book now to its end but I think I will leave it at that until after next season. I am not really sure I want to go on to Book Two and Three and spoil (in great or small measures, as it appears they are departing from the novels) what I just watched over the past three months for next time.
Oh well. Play it by ear I guess.
Yeah, I’ve been thinking about how I would be watching this show if I’d read the books, and I decided I probably wouldn’t like it all that much. If I knew what was coming… it would make all of the little niggling issues here and there get to me and I would end up not liking it. But being consistently surprised by what’s next has really driven my enjoyment of this thing.
Other than sex magic, of course. That was shit.
Having read the books doesn’t mean you necessarily know what’s coming on the show. They’ve taken huge liberties. As someone who has, though, I feel like the shop’s big strengths have been the acting and the humor and not so much their handling of the more dramatic side of the story, though they’re decent at creepy.
I read the first book and thought it wasn’t that great. The show is miles better.
I finally saw the last episode of this. We (My GF and I) found the last two episodes alternating between boring, supremely dark, and very interesting. I really dig a lot of the stuff they do, but on the other hand, its just so damn easy to see that they have exactly zero money for the show.
The actors are all great (I really dislike Quentin, and I assume thats because he’s a decent actor) and Julia is pretty awesome.
I don’t really understand what the heck is going on, other than I expect the usual handwaving that always occurs with cliffhanger season endings, so that things arent quite as handwringingly bad as they appear. (It was a dream, timetravel, turning back the clock and whatever other fantastic way to handily explain things away, so to speak).
Anyways - The show started extremely strong, but ended a bit shorthanded as I see it, but I’ll see it once it comes back of course. Raise your hand if you can stay away from an end like that!
[quote=“Razgon, post:68, topic:77873, full:true”]
…but on the other hand; expect the usual handwaving; things arent quite as handwringingly bad; whatever other fantastic way to handily explain; but ended a bit shorthanded; Raise your hand; [/quote]
I see what you did there. :)
Too funny. Love Quentin, Julia drives me bonkers. Actor-wise though, they are all great.
Heard good things, so binged to catch up before the new season starts. It definitely has a bit of a CW feel with the whole magic/models combination (but Supernatural is a guilty pleasure, so I’m fine with that). Bit of a slow start, but man it gets good. Some silly things, like the sex magic and out of the blue relationship drama, but more than compensated for by the overall plotting.
Really like how it subverts a lot of the traditional fantasy tropes. After the first two episodes I figured it was just a Narnia/Potter ripoff with slightly more adult themes. Halfway through the season that all gets flipped.
As for Julia. I thought her plotline was annoying at first, but by the end of the season I thought she’d had the most interesting (and brutal) arc.
Eliot and Margo for MVP. Those two have awesome chemistry and I’m excited to see what Season 2 has in store for them.
I thought the sex and relationship drama stuff made a lot more sense in the book. They glossed over quite a bit of the relationship building in the show - not enough time, I suppose.
This being on Netflix now I watched it over a couple days.
So, so much better than the books. There are actual redeeming qualities about the characters instead of them just being horrible, stupid people all the time.
Or maybe I just didn’t get that it was supposed to be an ensemble cast of young adults struggling with various mental illnesses, and just found them tiresome idiots in the books. Props to the show in either case.
Strong recommend from me.
And Jesus riding a unicorn that farts rainbows, the actress who plays Alice is distractingly attractive. Wow.
Indeed. Shame about that.
So Season 3. I don’t know if The Magicians counts as guilty pleasure (there is a lot to legitimately like and find unique about it), but I still think it’s entertaining and great fun.
Also, Julia (who was always hot) - was smokin in Episode 1 of the new season 3.
The conversation using pop culture references to confuse a someone listening in was brilliant.
Wow, this last episode. This show can really hit some highs.
The ending was perfect(ly horribly).
Just finished Season 3. Very good season overall. I didn’t like some of what they did in the last episode but they always seem to find ways to break the traditional fantasy mold.
Highlights of the Season:
“Be the Penny” - Arjun Gupta as Penny is the redoubtable bassist in this band, always on rhythm, rarely stealing the limelight, but he was excellent in this episode.
Julia’s arc, in all it’s many permutations. Stella Maeve is the acting MVP of this season IMO, hands down.
Julia & Kady’s scene with Reynard: short scene, but incredibly effective and satisfying.
“Under Pressure” - no more need be said.
Jade Tailor can sing, like really sing.
The continuing evolution of the Quentin and Alice characters, in very different directions, was also very good.
Lastly, “A Life in the Day.” Probably the best episode of this show to date. Hale Appleman as Eliot got the weakest plotline of the main cast, but he was a star in this episode.