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The Magicians - an adaptation of the Lev Grossman Series - S2 - Wed on SyFy

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C

Cornballer

Member
- Vox review
Syfy’s The Magicians fills a void in the TV landscape that’s stood empty for a very, very long time. I realized this while watching the first few episodes of season two, which premieres Wednesday, January 25: With its kicky, pulpy blend of quippy dialogue, pop culture references, continual inventiveness, and deeply painful plot twists, the show feels like some long-lost second cousin of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I already liked the show quite a bit in season one (enough to name it one of my favorite TV shows of 2016), but it’s taken a big step up in its second season. The jokes are sharper. The emotional turns are more hard-hitting. And the series’ playful spirit is more evident than ever.
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C

Cornballer

Member
- Paste Magazine interviews
“I think we may not have entirely embraced the extremes of horror and humor,” McNamara says of Season One. “Tonally, we were able to be bolder [in Season Two]. I certainly felt that I had fewer doubts; I didn’t edit myself in the episodes I wrote or co-wrote. I stopped the voice that said, ‘That’s a dumb idea.’ And nine times out of ten, what I thought was the dumbest idea—everyone else would say, ‘No, that’ll work.’” Pitching one’s dumbest idea was sort of a requirement for their writers’ room, Gamble notes: “We’ve always drawn from an emotional place; that’s the little nugget at the center of everything. From there you can pitch crazy fucking ideas, and people do.”

She and McNamara proceeded to name a litany of such crazy fucking ideas, none of which I can share because they remain embargoed. So instead I will say: This embrace of fluid tonality and narrative flights of fancy means that more than any of its peers, The Magicians is just fun to watch. It’s dark and it’s serious, but its darkness and seriousness are grounded by their opposites; it makes you feel good, then bad about ever feeling good, then good once more. This is a basic duty of fiction, but it seems like one that recent TV fantasy has mostly abdicated. HBO’s parades of calamity are often very moving, yes, but after enough calamity you get acclimatized: You don’t care so much when a given character dies or loses his hand or turns out to be a robot. Surprise, a feeling vital to storytelling in every form, goes away. But to watch The Magicians is to cross a thin sheet of ice over a deep, dark pond under a glittering night sky.
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- Blastr: Lev Grossman spells out The Magicians Season 2
Season 1 condensed a lot of the first novel and took elements from the second novel, so where would you place events at the top of Season 2?

It's not an exact science, and as you say, plot elements of the first and second books have been blended together. In some ways we're looking at the beginning of book 2: the main characters are about to start dealing with the realities of running their own Narnia-esque magical kingdom, which is something C.S. Lewis never got into in any detail, and which is going to turn out to be a lot harder than it looks. In other ways we're still towards the end of book 1 -- still wrestling with the Beast in all his awfulness.

Obviously TV demands changes and adaptations, but talk about being a creator who has a show based on his work, but with these changes in place. Is it exciting, as if you're seeing these characters and places in a new light? Or is it more surreal?

It's a challenge at first -- novelists tend to be a bit tyrannical, since they work alone. Creative collaboration is something I hadn't had much experience with. It was an adjustment. But [executive producers Sera Gamble and John McNamara] and the cast have managed to translate the characters onto the screen with amazing fidelity and they've taken them to places I never, ever could have gotten them to on my own. I love watching it.

Can you speak to some of the elements from the book that you're excited for readers see brought to the screen in this season?

I don't want to get too specific, but there are some pretty stunning magical spectacles that I've had in my head for a long time that are going to be up on screen. There's going to be some amazing FX. There's also the arrival of the Questing Beast, one of my favorite creations from the books, in the form of the White Lady.

How do you prefer to watch the show? Is it as a fan? As a creator?

Oh, I watch as a fan, week by week. They send me the episodes early and I watch them as soon as I can. I send them feedback, but in a fannish way.
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K

Kevin

Member
So excited for season 2. Went in and blind watched season one after it had just wrapped up and immediately preordered the Blu-Ray set for it. It's a great show!
 
W

Weetrick

Member
I noticed that none of the season 1 episodes are on the Syfy Now app. Does anyone know if season 2 will be added as the new episodes air? I would like to watch on the go.
 
K

Killthee

helped a brotha out on multiple separate occasions!
Weetrick said:
I noticed that none of the season 1 episodes are on the Syfy Now app. Does anyone know if season 2 will be added as the new episodes air? I would like to watch on the go.
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Most likely. They were posting them as they aired last year and even premiered the first 2 episodes on the app a month before they aired them iirc.
 
K

Killthee

helped a brotha out on multiple separate occasions!
gutshot said:
Do you need a cable sub to stream the episodes on SyFy.com or their app?
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Yup, though sometimes premieres don't require a sign in and I think you can skip the app sign in for up to 3 episodes before you have to sign in.
 
W

woodland

Member
Man. Was a little hesitant about the show last season, but loving this ep so far.

"Now clap" man that fucking made me laugh
 
P

PhoncipleBone

Banned
Julia continues to be the only truly interesting character on the show. The others are good for a bit, but Julia is the only one that has a compelling arc for me.
 
J

Jest Chillin

Member
Epcott said:
How close does the show follow the books? Was thinking about getting the audiobooks.
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Not that close. Season 1 pulled elements from the first and second books but tossed in new stuff and put it's own twist on a lot of it.

One thing for certain, you will dislike the book characters more than the show characters. They have less redeeming/entertaining qualities.
 
P

PhoncipleBone

Banned
Jest Chillin said:
Not that close. Season 1 pulled elements from the first and second books but tossed in new stuff and put it's own twist on a lot of it.

One thing for certain, you will dislike the book characters more than the show characters. They have less redeeming/entertaining qualities.
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That was my wife's takeaway as well. She started the books after we watched season 1, and said the characters are almost completely unlikable in the books.
 
J

Jest Chillin

Member
PhoncipleBone said:
That was my wife's takeaway as well. She started the books after we watched season 1, and said the characters are almost completely unlikable in the books.
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Yup. It's not really a taste thing either. They are objectively unlikable. Screwed up characters whose flaws dictate their actions more often than not. I'm pretty sure that's the main aspect that made people call the books "Harry Potter for Adults" because it really isn't very similar to Harry Potter outside of magic secretly existing and there being a school that teaches it. It's more like... How a cynic believes a world with magic would be.

That's not to say the books are bad. I just wouldn't want someone who saw the show first to go into the books expecting the levity the show uses to break upthe depressing aspects of the story.
 
S

Siegcram

Member
I feel the show is much more purposeful in its pacing and direction than the first two books, which could be fairly meandering at times.

It comes at the cost of a bit of world building, but especially Julia's character in the show benefited greatly from them intertwining parts of The Magicians and The Magician King.

Hopefully the show makes it to the endgame of the trilogy with this level of quality. That would be some amazing television.

Oh yeah, premier episode was aces.
 
Q

Qvoth

Member
what's the point in so many f words if you're censoring them all?
wtzgU.gif
 
A

AndyD

aka andydumi
We didn't really enjoy last night's episode. They glossed over the meaningfullness of the previous encounter too much and moved right along. They built up to it with a whole season and now they are treating it like it's nothing. And nothing on Penny's inner drama over
losing his hands
. In the book it was made obvious that it's so destructive for a magician... And all that wasted time on crowning each other and stupid quips. They should have taken those three-five minutes and done something else instead.

We loved the books and S1 in general, but this start seemed off.
 
Jag

Jag

Member
AndyD said:
We didn't really enjoy last night's episode. They glossed over the meaningfullness of the previous encounter too much and moved right along. And nothing on Penny's inner drama over
losing his hands
. In the book it was made obvious that it's so destructive for a magician...

We loved the books and S1 in general, but this start seemed off.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Penny stuff was kind of muddled. I thought it would be a bigger issue.
 
S

saunderez

Member
Absolutely loved the premiere.

The contrast between the ridiculousness of what was going on in Fillory and the seriousness of Julia's uneasy alliance with The Beast was brilliantly executed. The conversations between Julia and The Beast definitely gave me Will Graham/Hannibal Lector vibes.

I agree the whole crowning ceremony dragged a bit, but I also felt it fit because as if Quentin wouldn't completely geek out given the opportunity. The Penny stuff definitely could've used some more time (dude's standing there doing nothing with his hands in a box for 20 minutes) but hopefully that will be fleshed out a bit more in the next episode.
 
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