Are you a self-prescribed nerd? Have you not seen the amazing show that is The Magicians? Well, those two statements don’t make very much sense. They’re an oxymoron, if you must. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. You’ve been out of the loop on quality television programming. Here’s why The Magicians should be your guiltless pleasure.
1. Two words: Finger… Tutting.
While it has been on a constant climb to notoriety over the past decade, it had yet been used as meaningfully as it is on The Magicians. The series even takes their use of finger tutting and its application to spell casting so seriously that the finger choreography was outsourced from experienced choreographers Kevin Li and Paul Becker. The finger tutting language is essentially a language itself, with gestures that each carry their own distinct meaning.
2. A guest appearance by Marlee Matlin.
3. Shows magic as a tool that never makes things better permanently and always has undesirable results.
Great stories are built on this cycle of dealing the protagonist one shoddy hand after another. Most renowned stories of magic such as Harry Potter avoid the bilateral nature of magic and its inability to truly “fix” things, but the creators of The Magicians insist on addressing it with every occasion.
4. Magic looks as realistic as possible.
But what if I told you that an incomparable story with characters you loved or loved to hate and magic as realistic as it could get does exist? You’d look at me as if I insisted I was Santa Claus and ship me off to Arkham Asylum, but alas it does. The magic in The Magicians appears as realistic as it could. The fact that it is a Syfy series rather than a theater block-buster just makes it even more impressive.
5. Pays homage to several classic fantasy series.
Just in case you might not have noticed, the book series that is so popular among magicians in the series, Fillory and Further, is undeniably analogous to The Chronicles of Narnia. The Magicians itself could be said to resemble the Harry Potter series, with its focus on modern day magic and on the school that the protagonists attend. The use of these works is never subtle in the show and the blatant transparency shows there’s no way the series could do such unspeakable wrongs.
6. Has a source material, isn’t just out of thin air.
7. A relatively diverse cast, thanks to and despite the source material.
In this series; both men and women are shown to be equally powerful; one of the protagonists is very fluid in his sexuality; and one of the characters is of an ethnic persuasion. I’m sure there are other cases of diversity I’m missing here, but these are the show’s central characters and they’re each given generous screen time. While Eliot was also sexuality-fluid in the novels, Penny’s nationality was never stated. The show creators made a decision to cast Penny as a man of color and the decision worked better than they could have ever dreamed.
8. Endless Pop culture references dating at least as far back as the 80s.
9. One episode featured a musical number inspired by Les Misérables.
The song in question was “One More Day” from the play Les Misérables. The situation would have been funny on its own, but it’s made even funnier by the fact that they’re really singing because of a spell one of the protagonists placed on them and herself. Suffice it to say, their opponents were puzzled to no end when a singing congregation met them on the battle field.
10. Taylor Swift and Imagine Dragons are excellent mental defense against psychic intrusions.
11. Much of the show revolves around or takes place in a magical school in upstate N.Y.
12. Co-written by Sera Gamble, creator of Supernatural.
Gamble mainly produced Supernatural, only taking on a writing role a few times during the early years of the show (when it still had some quality). On the adaptation of Lev Grossman’s work, she has lent her writing capabilities to every episode and so far, so good. So very, very good.
13. Syfy hosted a Magicians writing contest.
14. Every episode has a corresponding behind the scenes on Facebook.
The Facebook page for The Magicians regularly posts videos of behind the scenes, one for each episode of the second season, and I’m sure we’ll see more as soon as the third season returns. While some of the videos mention filming techniques, others are simply fun moments from on-set. Never have we felt so close.
15. The Magicians has a name for their fandom and the creators let their fans choose it.
16. A wide variety of fantastical creatures, some of them we’ve never seen before.
17. The antagonist of the first season is really just a hurt child lashing out for the horrors he experienced. The antagonist of the second season is just another hurt child, this time lashing out over abandonment issues.
The Beast, the first season’s scoundrel, was sexually abused as a child by the man who wrote the novels that inspire most of the protagonists. In an attempt to amass enough power to forever hide away in the world of Fillory, he lost humanity. So can we really blame him for acting like he doesn’t have a soul since, you know, he lost it trying to save himself when no one else could?
18. Magical books have a mind of their own, from dirty ones to violent, prejudiced ones.
As soon as they reach the den, the book they’ve been using as a hound dog of sorts flies out of their possession and into another room with a different flying book. The passionate sounds of love making, and by that I mean loud thumps, show Quentin a side to literature he never could have imagined.
In the second season, books cause more mischief when a librarian at the Brakebills library informs Penny that the book he seeks was destroyed… by other books. The books were from another time, the victim was written by a Jewish author and the other books were of a certain sinister political party that shall not be named.
19. Even Quentin has racist subconscious conceptions and we see them.
When Penny invades it to rescue him, he encounters Quentin’s version of him, an offensive caricature of Indian people. Penny takes it well but, it’s Penny, so he voices his disapproval. Look past the surface of this moment and you’ll see that the series loves to play with its characters’ flaws. A flawed character is a deeper character.
20. A great soundtrack that comes into play at the most opportune moments, like Eliot’s disco ball distraction.
21. The show is dark, as it should be.
In just two seasons, we’ve seen the writers introduce rape, sexual child abuse, unwarranted death, alcoholism, abortion, and a wealth of other issues you wouldn’t expect to see paired with the whimsical world of magic. It’s always been done with taste and for purpose, but it’s been a rough ride. Who knows what’s in store for season 3. Whatever may come, I’m sure we won’t be disappointed.