The TV adaption of Lev Grossman’s book series “The Magicians” released its second season to Netflix Dec. 11 about one month before the premiere of the show’s third season on the network channel Syfy.
The show’s first season ended with one of the most jaw-dropping twists in television. Quentin’s (Jason Ralph) friend Julia (Stella Maeve) made a deal with The Beast (Martin Chatwin) to kill Reynard (Actor Name) who took over Richard’s body when they tried to summon The Lady Underground (Garcelle Beauvais). By doing this, she left her friend Quentin with Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley) wounded on the ground. Eliot (Hale Appleman) and Margo (Summer Bishil) were knocked out of the battle while Penny (Arjun Gupta) writhed in pain over the loss of his hands.
In season two, the series picks up with Quentin desperately searching and running through the forest of Fillory to find help, only to discover that Alice has already healed them with the powers that she gained from the God Ember (Dominic Burgess). Meanwhile, Martin and Julia work out the terms of their alliance with some bumps in the road.
The acting in this show is exceptional and exquisite. The actors express difficult emotions like pain and sadness in such a way that shows off the characters’ strengths. Most people consider those emotions to be a weakness, but in “The Magicians,” that surely is not the case. A prime example of the execution of this pain is Eliot’s loss over his love Mike which inevitably makes him a stronger magician as power within the world of “The Magicians” is not gained through skill or ability but pain.
One of the many problems with a cast that is as large as “The Magicians” is how much focus is dedicated to a single character. In one episode, the producers may spend way too much time on Quentin and not enough time on either Julia, Eliot, or Margo. In other instances, they just spend the whole time with Eliot and Margo even though other characters should have screen time to move the show forward rather than keeping it at a standstill.
However, the producers’ reasoning behind that choice may lay in the fact that they might not want the show to feel extremely rushed. Therefore, they may have shortened or elongated moments within the show to keep it at the perfect pace. All in all, “The Magicians” maintains its dramatic flair and dark themes that draw their audience to watch the next episode.
Rating: 4 out of 5 paws
