Remember that dude who used to come on TV and do magic for the kids on KBC? The guy was a true magician, especially with his memorable handkerchief trick! He was even better than the guys who tried to make this awful B-series called The Magicians.
Yes, there are B-movies, which feel like second hand productions from Hollywood, and B-series, which feel like a TV series without a purpose.
The magicians is essentially a story about two good friends: Quentin and Julia, who grew up with a love for magic until it reached a time that Julia outgrew the magical fantasy of her youth. Quentin seems to be lost in his childhood leading to depression and an obsession with books about a magical place called ‘Fillory’.
When by some twist of magic, Quentin discovers he can do real magic, and on the way to convincing the very now skeptical Julia, they both get magically enrolled in to a university of magic. The story kicks up a notch as they are given an entrance exam – which Julia does not pass!
Sad and despodent, but now believing in magic, Julia takes a more interesting path than Quentin, teaming up with some witches and trying to learn magic the hard way. Quentin learns magic the formal way but ends up making more of a mess than Julia.
The whole story becomes 100% engrossing when we discover that all this is happening inside Quentin’s head – who is mentally sick and all the characters are those that are with him in a mental hospital. This is arguably the best part of the entire series. It is so convincing that you start feeling sorry for Quentin, and realize that the series much be practical….real….until the magic creeps back with a very thin story line at the very end, taking the audience back to a magic land and a creepy feeling that this series might just be a waste of time.
Julia’s path – seeking God himself as the source of magic – is a novice approach to magic, but the translation of God to gods is silly, the devil himself looks like a nuisance, and ‘the beast’ is actually more scarier than the devil that played a trick on Julia.
Overall, the series feels like Heroes, with a simple name change.
There are some characters who don’t add value to the story – yet they are constantly in the story, for instance Julia’s boyfriend. Also, some characters are killed just for fun?
I would say half the series is great and half is rubbish, making it a complete B series with an underwhelming story line.
This series does not deserve season 2 – it deserves an entire rethink of its very premise – the magicians
Season 2 is coming out January 25th.
Rated 3 out of 10
