On last week’s episode of “The Magicians,” Julia in her thirst for more magic, cast a spell on Quentin. Marina was able to steal back her memories and Quentin performed a Taylor Swift dance and song routine. This week, Quentin receives bad news. Can magic fix everything?
Julia
What does one do after being kicked out of Brakebills and now the Hedge Witch club? You get desperate. Julia demands a share of the spells that she helped bitch witch Marina still from Brakebills, but Pete blocks the way. Marina will hurt her and probably him for helping her. Having convinced her clueless boyfriend that she is a drug addict who is trying to come clean, Julia uses Pete to find other hedge clubs.
While Pete and Julia get hot and heavy, Alice receives a visit from Dean Fogg. While the Harry Potter films did not contain sexual scenes, “The Magicians” holds nothing back in the nudity or language department. Hint to the parents out there before letting your little ones watch the series.
Alice
Professor Fogg’s pleas works and Alice shows up in time for Alumni Week. She’s brought her Aunt Genji, who apparently has a reputation for being a great magician. The purpose of Alumni Week is for students, if they’re lucky, to be assigned a mentor. I was surprised that the smooth talking, deal making, Eliot didn’t already have a mentor, but apparently good looks and money don’t buy you everything.
It was funny watching Margo and Eliot attempting their best with bribes of food and Saki to get Alice to put a good word in with her aunt. If you didn’t recognize the actress playing Aunt Genji (Denise Crosby), you might remember her as Mary from season five of “The Walking Dead.”
Penny
Our loner magician, Penny, is assigned a special mentor. Stanley is another traveler who lost a leg after accidently zapping himself to Mount Everest. Stanley tells Penny that the gift of a traveler is a life destroying burden, but a tattoo may help keep Penny safe. Penny would only be able to do astral projections, which frees the mind, but leaves his body behind. Many spiritual people claim that they can perform astral projections.
Most of the time, this is done while sleeping or in a deep trance, but beware the dangers. Although Kady tries to convince Penny to use his gift to become a thief, I’m hoping Penny ignores her. I don’t like the Kady character at all. She is a spy for Marina and she is using her friends. Penny decides to try astral projection as gets the fright of his life.
Quentin
After Alice gives Quentin a note concerning his father, he rushes home. Dad thinks that Quentin is at Yale learning how to be a whiz at finance; if he only knew the truth. Dad has glioblastoma, a most severe form of brain cancer, which the dad refuses to treat; sometimes, with cancer, the cures or worse than the disease.
When people know that they’re dying from cancer, they usually try to mend all fences before they die. Quentin is reminded of accidentally breaking a model airplane that the father made as a child. Quentin is devastated that his father doesn’t know the truth about his real career choice and, that he doesn’t know any spells to cure his father. He goes to his mentor, Doctor Meers.
Welters
We are introduced to a game that is played at the school. Quentin is told by Margo that Welters is like chess. It has squares and you need to use the right spell to win.
I honestly don’t know why this was even in the episode as it smelled too much like Harry Potter’s sport to me, but it is a way to win over perspective mentors. Quentin, worried about his da, releases a scary storm. Thankfully, Alice is there to save the day.
Google Magic vs Cancer Puppy
Hey, a girl has to do what a girl has to do, and Julia is not one for giving up. Unable to find another Hedge Club, she studies magic via an online class. Don’t laugh, you can find the most amazing shit online. There is even a class on becoming a full fledged Medium. Unfortunately for Julia, Google didn’t tell her how to stop fires. When Pete wants some more loving, Julia reminds him that she already has a boyfriend.
While Pete receives a major slap down from Julia, Quentin is introduced to Cancer Puppy. This puppy is 150 years old, but it has all the ailments you’d find in an older dog. Quentin wants Eliot to help him come up with a spell to cure his dad. They practice on the puppy.
Conclusion
I actually enjoyed this episode even though Quentin did not break out into another Taylor Swift song and dance routine. Margo told Quentin that magic doesn’t come from a happy place, but from pain and suffering. Quentin wanted to cure his dad, but when you are dealing with real life and death issues; magic is useless. Quentin is not only unable to cure his dad, but his experiment has killed little Cancer Puppy. Quentin finally reveals the truth to his dad by using magic to restore the model airplane to pristine condition.
We’re learning more about the Penny character and his quest to understand what his powers are. His practice trip using astral projection had brought him face to face with one of the missing 3rd year class students and, the Beast. The coat of arms that he saw on the wall is from Fillory. Will Quentin, Penny and Alice be able to figure out how to save Victoria from the Beast?
Julia has also learned a lesson about magic; never tease someone with powers stronger than you. Did Pete cast the spell out of anger, or to protect James? When Julia attempts to tell James the truth about her magic, he doesn’t know her.
Eliot and Margo are dissed by Aunt Genji. They’ll have to wait another year to find a mentor, but Eliot is pretty cool and he’ll figure out something. Magic is addictive and I can’t wait until the next episode.
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