ElectricBoogaloo January 30, 2020 Share January 30, 2020 Quote Julia lends a book to some lady; Fogg finds a sock. Promo: Clip: Original air date: 2/5/20 Link to comment
iMonrey February 6, 2020 Share February 6, 2020 Is it just me or does this season seem way more scattered and complicated than previous seasons? I am not sure I am following the Fillory story with the Dark King very well, nor am I sure what's going on with Kady and Fogg. The only story I'm really following for the most part is the one with Julia, Penny and Alice and the harmonic convergence, although the Visigoths threw me for a loop. Considering that this impending convergence will end the world, Kady's storyline (searching for a spell to remove the Reeds Mark from hedges) seems sort of superfluous, no? It's not going to make much difference one way or another unless Julia and Penny figure out a way to stop the convergence. I think the hedges can wait. I'm not sure how the convergence affects Fillory since it's in a different world, but this story seems completely disconnected from the others. 1 1 Link to comment
Jynnan tonnix February 7, 2020 Share February 7, 2020 7 hours ago, iMonrey said: Is it just me or does this season seem way more scattered and complicated than previous seasons? I am not sure I am following the Fillory story with the Dark King very well, nor am I sure what's going on with Kady and Fogg. The only story I'm really following for the most part is the one with Julia, Penny and Alice and the harmonic convergence, although the Visigoths threw me for a loop. Considering that this impending convergence will end the world, Kady's storyline (searching for a spell to remove the Reeds Mark from hedges) seems sort of superfluous, no? It's not going to make much difference one way or another unless Julia and Penny figure out a way to stop the convergence. I think the hedges can wait. I'm not sure how the convergence affects Fillory since it's in a different world, but this story seems completely disconnected from the others. I don't know whether it's just you, but I've found most of the seasons delightfully scattered. Season four felt more complicated in a sort of stodgy way, if that makes any sense. But this season, so far, feels more like a throwback. Now, I will admit that I was never completely able to follow all the facets of the plot in the previous seasons either, so it could well be that those were somewhat easier in general but still outside of my grasp. I don't typically follow complicated plots very well, and mostly just love The Magicians for the way it zings off the walls while creating some really fascinating characters which capture the imagination even when you are not sure exactly what is going on. The writing in this last episode, in particular, felt that it had a similar edge to seasons 1-3, with so much cutting humor interspersed with catastrophic circumstances. I really, really enjoyed it, though I still feel as though it would take at least three more viewings before I'd really be able to follow it. So glad to have Eliot back, though! 2 Link to comment
AudienceofOne February 7, 2020 Share February 7, 2020 13 hours ago, iMonrey said: Is it just me or does this season seem way more scattered and complicated than previous seasons? Not just you, this season doesn't know what it's about. I could cue up my regular rant on this issue but they've played my song already. Just read back. 13 hours ago, iMonrey said: I'm not sure how the convergence affects Fillory since it's in a different world, but this story seems completely disconnected from the others. I suspect it won't be. I suspect all three quests are actually the same and something about the convergence will result in magic that caused the time dilation. 2 Link to comment
festivus February 7, 2020 Share February 7, 2020 This episode was pretty plot heavy and those aren't my favorite to comment on, I like the character stuff better. Plus, so much of my theories involve book stuff at this point. I will say that I figured we'd see the fairies again. When the DK dispatches the takers they have that smoky black looking fairy magic. 2 Link to comment
Hanahope February 7, 2020 Share February 7, 2020 11 hours ago, AudienceofOne said: I suspect all three quests are actually the same and something about the convergence will result in magic that caused the time dilation. Yeah, I think all three are going to be inter-related. With this being the 5th and likely final season, which I'm sure the show runners know, everything should get wrapped up together. Already Dean Fogg got a 'happy ending' and Julia and Penny have a more 'equal' status. Too bad Margo couldn't have been more subtle in what she saw, but we have to see why the fairies are involved. was that a fairie Margo knew? I didn't recognize her. Link to comment
JTMacc99 February 7, 2020 Share February 7, 2020 20 hours ago, Jynnan tonnix said: I don't know whether it's just you, but I've found most of the seasons delightfully scattered. It's almost always the case for me as well with the exception of season 3, which was complicated but engaged me early and completely. 6 hours ago, festivus said: This episode was pretty plot heavy and those aren't my favorite to comment on, I like the character stuff better. It certainly felt like this was one of those "time to set up some stories for our heroes" kind of episodes. But even so, it had a wonderful character moment for Dean Fogg. I love the things he said. So much pain over 40 timelines. 1 Link to comment
festivus February 7, 2020 Share February 7, 2020 1 minute ago, JTMacc99 said: But even so, it had a wonderful character moment for Dean Fogg. I love the things he said. So much pain over 40 timelines. Yeah, I did like that. Also liked seeing The Binder again. I love his snarky but dry attitude. It's just hard to comment on plot stuff without a bunch of spoiler bars for my book stuff which, nah. I've got a working theory that I told my son just so I can see how much I get right/wrong at the end. It did feel like now is the time to set up our shit, but that's okay. We had some really good character stuff first. They also took some stuff off the table like the books burning up, goddess won't help, and Penny can't travel. So no easy fix to the apocalypse. Link to comment
AudienceofOne February 7, 2020 Share February 7, 2020 28 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said: I don't know whether it's just you, but I've found most of the seasons delightfully scattered. Delightfully scattered but always thematically on point. That is not true of this season because its main theme is just 'not a cis white guy doing this'. I know this because they literally told me that was the theme i.e. they actually had it come out of a character's mouth. 1 Link to comment
iMonrey February 8, 2020 Share February 8, 2020 Quote I don't know whether it's just you, but I've found most of the seasons delightfully scattered. It's true there's always more than one storyline but the ones going on now seem strangely disconnected. There's usually an overarching theme, like the Tale of the Seven Keys, or the way the Eliot monster was dominating all the different stories last season. I don't usually have this much trouble following them either. Link to comment
Terrafamilia February 8, 2020 Share February 8, 2020 Are the surges related to the wellspring in some way or not? Is the siphon still in place? If the Library were functional maybe they could have put some sort of buffer into the stream to accommodate the surges. Or they might have handed out batteries that were primed to soak up the overflow whenever the ambient level of magic started to spike. Well, that would all seem beside the point now that they appear to be poised to nudge the moon enough to throw off the celestial feng shui of the harmonic convergence. That'll avert the apocalypse but the surges would still be thing for who knows how long. Link to comment
dini February 8, 2020 Share February 8, 2020 (edited) On 2/6/2020 at 5:26 PM, iMonrey said: Is it just me or does this season seem way more scattered and complicated than previous seasons? I am not sure I am following the Fillory story with the Dark King very well, nor am I sure what's going on with Kady and Fogg. God, yes. I thought I was nodding off and missing bits, but it does not seem to be very well edited. I am finding it very hard to follow. I binged and loved the last few seasons over a period of weeks, so perhaps that is why I am finding this difficult. But it is all over the place. Edited February 8, 2020 by dini 2 Link to comment
ElectricBoogaloo February 8, 2020 Author Share February 8, 2020 Dean Fogg is always a delight. Sorry, I meant Hank. I'm sure we will see him again soon - and maybe by then, Beach Dude will have convinced him to shed his bespoke suits in favor of aloha shirts. Or maybe he'll be doing tai chi with the Elvi when Kady comes back for him! Julia having to make a decision to take away Penny's psychic and traveling powers to save him seemed a little bit too on the nose, and for some reason Plum Chatwin kept her mouth shut until AFTER that happened and then just blinked right out of there. I remember when Buffy had to choose between saving Angel or saving the world and she did the selfless thing. As much as I like Penny and don't want to see another version of him die, it seems incredibly selfish to save one person instead of the entire world. Zelda setting the library on fire to keep the (Visi)goths from taking them was Margo level. The head goth Terrence is played by David Anders so more than likely he will be around for a while. I always love the Binder's commentary while he's conversing with the characters. Hopefully we won't be seeing Clarion again because I was not a fan. 2 Link to comment
The Companion February 8, 2020 Share February 8, 2020 This episode somehow managed to throw in too many things and be incredibly boring, IMO. Julia - Her story was probably the only one I really enjoyed until the bullshit at the end. I loved her interactions with the binder and her attempted negotiations with the deity. I enjoyed the cool, confident way she handled both. I even enjoyed they mature goodbye between her and Penny at the beginning (trusting him to handle it, showing some worry but not letting it takeover). Where it fell off the rails for me was the damn choice and the implication that it was all good now. Last year, Penny 23 had the choice to make her a godess or human. She couldn't stay in her current state. Either saves her. Penny23 makes the decision to make her human because he wants to be with her, taking away her magic. There was an option that she was considering before the injury that would have preserved her magic that he discardef for his own selfish reasons. Here, Julia is presented with only one choice. Let Penny die or let him live magicless. She doesn't have a third option. She triages the problem which is a hell of a lot less selfish than what Penny23 did (though, I would have been fine to see him go because I still hate him because of comparison to original flavor Penny). But the worst of it is Penny explaining how it's cool cause it's karma. No it's not. It wouldn't make what he did okay even if the parallel weren't so forced because you can't unring that bell. But also, she made the choice he would want. There wasn't the slightest conflict in his response. It was his death or the miracle for the world. These situations aren't in the same hemisphere. Alice - hooray for giving her something other than sad face moping about Quentin to do. And I am actually glad to see Zelda. Of course she still had to make it about her own sadness, but it was a solid story, so I won't push the issue. Someone PLEASE help me out. Who was the main Visigoth? Was that David Anders? I was actually super intrigued by them. Kady and the Dean - woof. This did not land right for me. It just felt so far from the main storyline and it feels like they have shorted Kady more developed scenes of fighting her addiction. Were we supposed to be happy for the Dean? Was his body transported or is he wandering in a stupor somewhere? I like that she is fighting for the hedges, but they aren't integrating her story well at all. Eliot and the dark king- so help me, if the dark king is his son, I will burn it down. Or some new version of Q. I actually quite liked him and his bedroom eyes at the king, though. Margo -with Eliot, she carries this show for me. I could watch her sarcastically quip at people holding axes all day. I loved the use of the fairy eye. I am intrigued by where the fairies fit in. Other observations I am really excited about the Chatwin revelation. I am excited to follow that thread. Where the hell are Josh and Fen? Wtf? Overall, it was a bit boring. A lot of setup. I am alarmed by the two parter next week, particularly with the ratings in the toilet. I mean, killing off Q has major consequences with the fans, but I hate the idea that this is it, primarily because they can't fix it. 1 Link to comment
iMonrey February 10, 2020 Share February 10, 2020 Quote I am alarmed by the two parter next week, particularly with the ratings in the toilet. Are they? Where did you read that? I watched this one a second time. I think the reason the whole Fillory storyline was confusing me was that I didn't understand what, exactly, the centurions and the Dark King were doing. So apparently some map makers went missing, and the DK sent the centurions out to find them. I'm not sure why there are map makers out on some kind of map-making trip - surely Fillory is well-mapped at this point in its history. And I don't know what the DK even needs the centurions for if he's the one with the power to kill the takers with just the power of his mind or whatever. I don't understand where the fairy comes in either or why the head centurion insisted on staying behind and exploring the cabin. Is the entire world of Fillory under siege by these takers? Because in the first episode this season all those tourists were wandering pretty freely and fearlessly through the woods to reach castle Whitespire for the annual play or whatever. I'm not sure I understand the nature of the threat. Then there's Kady and Dean Fogg. Kady says the only way to move the library repository is through the acid realm so they go there and the Emperor of said realm (?) says one of them has to stay because, why again?? So Fogg stays behind, Kady gets pushed out of the realm back into reality with a scrap of paper that says "Hell's kitchen." WTF. So the library repository was moved through the trippy realm but didn't remain there. If it's in the real realm I don't see why they needed to go to the acid realm at all. Surely some locator spell would suffice. 2 Link to comment
AudienceofOne February 10, 2020 Share February 10, 2020 1 hour ago, iMonrey said: I am alarmed by the two parter next week, particularly with the ratings in the toilet. 1 hour ago, iMonrey said: Are they? Where did you read that? They are, the show is being tipped for cancellation. This is season 5 and the ratings are nonexistent. I would be very surprised if we got a season 6. Hopefully the writers are prepared to wrap this up in some way, otherwise we'll be left with some crappy incomplete ending. My main source is Cancelled Scifi, which has put it 'On The Bubble' and is suggesting a Call to Action for fans to convince the network to keep it or to get someone else to pick it up. I'm of the opinion they killed their own show last season so I don't really care either way. Link to comment
daisycat February 10, 2020 Share February 10, 2020 It’s cancellation will break my heart. I don’t even care about the storyline; I just love these characters so damn much. A world without Eliot and Margo? Unacceptable. I’d settle for a weekly viewing of the characters just drinking and being bitchy and badass. 3 Link to comment
Hanahope February 11, 2020 Share February 11, 2020 4 hours ago, daisycat said: It’s cancellation will break my heart. I don’t even care about the storyline; I just love these characters so damn much. A world without Eliot and Margo? Unacceptable. I’d settle for a weekly viewing of the characters just drinking and being bitchy and badass. I wouldn’t put much hope into a season 6. Syfy has almost never kept a show beyond 5, even shows with good ratings. Link to comment
iMonrey February 11, 2020 Share February 11, 2020 Quote This is season 5 and the ratings are nonexistent. Heh. Well, they exist, they are just lower than Season 4, which averaged between 500K - 600K viewers per week. This season so far is averaging about 350K a week. But it was up in the demo the past two weeks. I tend to agree they pissed off way too many viewers when they killed off Quentin and they aren't going to get them back. Link to comment
The Companion February 12, 2020 Share February 12, 2020 On 2/10/2020 at 2:03 PM, daisycat said: It’s cancellation will break my heart. I don’t even care about the storyline; I just love these characters so damn much. A world without Eliot and Margo? Unacceptable. I’d settle for a weekly viewing of the characters just drinking and being bitchy and badass. I would 100% watch those characters snarking on random things. On 2/11/2020 at 1:24 PM, iMonrey said: Heh. Well, they exist, they are just lower than Season 4, which averaged between 500K - 600K viewers per week. This season so far is averaging about 350K a week. But it was up in the demo the past two weeks. I tend to agree they pissed off way too many viewers when they killed off Quentin and they aren't going to get them back. Yeah, losing 30% of your viewership sends a pretty clear message. Sadly, I suspect they really change it this season, even if they want to, so they have made their bed and we all have to lie in it. https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/the-magicians-season-five-ratings/ Link to comment
ElectricBoogaloo February 13, 2020 Author Share February 13, 2020 (edited) Kady And Dean Fogg enter the etheric realm: Zelda burns books: Edited February 13, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo Link to comment
jaigurudeva March 1, 2020 Share March 1, 2020 (edited) On 2/7/2020 at 12:53 PM, JTMacc99 said: It certainly felt like this was one of those "time to set up some stories for our heroes" kind of episodes. It felt less like setting up the story, and more like preemptively patching plotholes. "Why not go to the Library, read one of our life books, and see exactly how we stop the Harmonic Convergence? Oops, can't, we had to burn the books because Visigoths." "We have to move the moon? Well, thank goodness we have a Traveler who can just blink us up there. Maybe with some kind of spacesuit spell... Nope, oops, he can't travel safely anymore. And now the other Traveler's gone, too. Great." "Can we ask Dean Fogg to help us? Oh, no, he's stuck in Acidland hanging out with the Bootleg Lebowski." If Clarion wants to be a mortal rockstar, doesn't she also have a stake in whether or not the Harmonic Conpocalypse happens and the world goes to hell? Seems like she'd stop it just for herself before she gives up her goddesshood. I don't think it's anywhere in "the rules" that gods can't perform miracles for themselves, or Zeus would've had way less animal sex. Edited March 1, 2020 by jaigurudeva 4 Link to comment
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