The Magicians: Cello Squirrel Daffodil

March 5, 2020 10:33 AM - Season 5, Episode 9

It's a timey-wimey episode, with a bit of do-no-harm problem. Plus the return of two feared men, each with their own problems and solutions. Meanwhile, Alice and Kady try to set magic right, again.

The Magicians Season 5 Episode 9 Review: Cello Squirrel Daffodil -- Despite a chaotic narrative, The Magicians turns in another fraught but fun episode filled with callbacks to earlier episodes. (Michael Ahr for Den of Geek)

Although this week’s episode of The Magicians was disjointed as hell with stories shooting off in completely different directions, each arc gave us plenty to sink our teeth into, and the news that season 5 would end the series added a certain amount of urgency to our enjoyment of this installment. We gathered each disparate thread and held it close, especially when nostalgic elements appeared like the multiple Chatwin connections, returning minor characters, and of course Margo’s glorious exorcising axes from last season’s musical episode. The desperation of several characters in “Cello Squirrel Daffodil” therefore became our own desperation as we witnessed this buildup to the show’s swan song.

posted by filthy light thief (4 comments total)

(cw: finger damage D:)
posted by esker at 6:55 AM on March 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

Yeah. They just... Yep.
Are we supposed to know who that guy is?
Is he the couple? Or half of it? Have we seen him before?

He feels like he's on the wrong show.

I really liked the almost casual "let's get rid of the moon and replace it by growing a magic seed" idea.
posted by Acari at 7:09 AM on March 6, 2020 [2 favorites]

So Seb wants to destroy fillory so he can die, right?
posted by vibratory manner of working at 12:43 AM on March 7, 2020 [2 favorites]

I liked it a lot, even with the usual nonsense, not much else I can say. I'm just crossing my fingers they'll do every character justice by the finale.
posted by KTamas at 3:15 PM on March 7, 2020