Season Two’s premiere kicked off with the highest ratings in the series’ history, but a slow start (by slow we mean the limited amounts of action and actual spell casting in the middle of a high stakes situation) wasn’t saved by the hilarious writing and we’ve seen a drop in viewership.
Source: The Magicians SYFY
EPISODE 3 FIXES EVERYTHING
Even from the beginning, this episode delivered the self-aware humor that has made this season great while also upping the level of urgency. The cursed throne subplot was a little goofy and gave Penny too much opportunity to play the hero (no, we still don’t forgive him), but it let Margo have a shining moment and was hilarious in its own right.
The Game of Nerds Disclaimer: If cursed do not try that trick at home because A) dangerous to get the timing right without brain damage B) that was way too much adrenaline. Please see a licensed witch doctor to remove any and all curses.
Somehow The Magicians took the a light hearted scene about regicide and transitioned into a HIGHLY traumatizing scene with Reynard torturing Marina. Nothing about this scene was okay, except it was somehow executed perfectly for what it was…even if we don’t condone it.
But there were plenty of other things The Magicians executed perfectly this episode:
*HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD*
1) Margo busting Quentin’s balls every other line
2) Marina’s perfectly acted role…she didn’t deserve what happened and we will miss her.
3) Cacodemons everywhere
Source: The Magicians SYFY
4) The really bad ass amped up first year spell shield
5) The Major Arcana
6) The Niffin transformation–from acting to sfx it was FLAWLESS
Source: The Magicians SYFY
7) Olivia Dudley’s shrieks of pain, and her spot on portrayal of Alice
8) Martin Chatwin’s demise. We won’t miss him.
8) The plot change from the books where Quentin kills Alice
Things we wish didn’t happen this episode:
1) Quentin’s speech before the final battle where he SELFISHLY compromises Alice’s emotions.
2) The really confusing timeline–how long had they been at Brakebills? What about the time difference with Fillory?
3) The kitty….
4) The kitties owner…
5) Reynard is still alive
6) The blade is gone
7) Defecating in the wellspring so the world is actually going to go to shit? Gross and a little too silly
8) The implication that Quentin’s cacodemon could stop Alice in niffin state after she killed Martin seems like a reach
Do YOU think the gray cloud demon could kill the Alicia Key’s Girl on Fire cosplay?!
Even if The Magicians never tops this episode we are dedicated to seeing where it goes after all of this juicy setup, and everything and anything they do was worth getting this scene
Source: The Magicians SYFY
And everyone needs to watch for the episode where Reynard finally gets what he deserves. And we will gif that moment for you to watch again and again.
