The Magicians: The Bad News Bear Show Only
February 6, 2019 7:30 PM - Season 4, Episode 3 - Subscribe
Kady gets a puppy. Quentin meets a snake.
How do you get a paper cut from a paper towel?
posted by Karmakaze at 7:29 AM on February 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Karmakaze at 7:29 AM on February 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
Dare I say that this season is better than the books? Yes, yes I dare.
I feel like the books were too bound to a certain idea of what a fantasy-set-in-reality could look like, and the show is now "hey, what if ignored those boundaries and just went over this way?"
Then again, if the books went this far, they might have been written off as ridiculous or over the top.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:32 AM on February 7, 2019 [3 favorites]
I feel like the books were too bound to a certain idea of what a fantasy-set-in-reality could look like, and the show is now "hey, what if ignored those boundaries and just went over this way?"
Then again, if the books went this far, they might have been written off as ridiculous or over the top.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:32 AM on February 7, 2019 [3 favorites]
I am really impressed with this season. They had successfully departed from the books and found new and compelling stories, possibly even better stories (Quentin and Eliot growing old together to trap that puzzle was a marvel). And last night when Q's phone rang my wife and I were both screaming at the screen for him to not answer it. I guess you could say we're just a little caught up in this show.
posted by Ber at 8:10 AM on February 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Ber at 8:10 AM on February 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
From Margo, FKA Janet*:
"You nutsacked out, didn't you? Oh, well, "pussied out" makes perfect sense here?"
Awesome bit of anti-misogynistic slang, and then ...
"unless you start acting like a real pussy and take one for the fucking team"
... heavy.
* one of the rare book-walker references :)
posted by filthy light thief at 9:58 AM on February 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
"You nutsacked out, didn't you? Oh, well, "pussied out" makes perfect sense here?"
Awesome bit of anti-misogynistic slang, and then ...
"unless you start acting like a real pussy and take one for the fucking team"
... heavy.
* one of the rare book-walker references :)
posted by filthy light thief at 9:58 AM on February 7, 2019 [5 favorites]
I really like Kacey Rohl aka Marina. Though she always reminds me of Hannibal and then I has a sad. But I hope we see some more of newly Unlucky Marina.
posted by Justinian at 6:22 PM on February 7, 2019
posted by Justinian at 6:22 PM on February 7, 2019
yeah "nutsacked out" is one of my favorite sayings now. that whole exchange was feminist af and I loved it.
posted by numaner at 8:10 PM on February 7, 2019
posted by numaner at 8:10 PM on February 7, 2019
So, is Julia is still a demigod, but without powers ?
posted by Pendragon at 2:08 AM on February 8, 2019
posted by Pendragon at 2:08 AM on February 8, 2019
Apparently? That explains why she couldn't die when Fogg's battery knocked her into the wall repeatedly. I thought the not dying was an effect of the glamour, but that didn't make sense so at least now we have an explanation.
posted by numaner at 9:01 AM on February 8, 2019
posted by numaner at 9:01 AM on February 8, 2019
Who was the guy that Marina met at the end of the episode as her bad luck was kicking in?
posted by thecaddy at 11:54 AM on February 8, 2019
posted by thecaddy at 11:54 AM on February 8, 2019
We only see him from the back, so I don't know. I didn't recognize his voice.
posted by Pendragon at 1:00 PM on February 8, 2019
posted by Pendragon at 1:00 PM on February 8, 2019
Question: I saw Jewel Staite's name in the opening credits and I'm like 95% sure she was the librarian who saw Santa's sleigh and said "what the fuck?" - but was she in the episode in any other capacity? Did I just miss something? Or was this one of those "I love the show please let me be on it for even a second" kind of things?
posted by komara at 10:09 PM on February 8, 2019
posted by komara at 10:09 PM on February 8, 2019
How can we answer that question ? She wasn't in previous episodes and any info about future episodes are spoilers...
posted by Pendragon at 5:29 AM on February 9, 2019
posted by Pendragon at 5:29 AM on February 9, 2019
I love how spooky Monster!Elliot is. He hates being alone and says that he's missing a part of himself that knew things and he immediately connected with Elliot's actual BFF, Margot, so I wonder if he used to have a twin/sister/counterpart? I feel like maybe what he's missing isn't something but someone?
I like that Kady is so vocal about feeling left out and underappreciated because honestly, she does seem to be treated as some random side character. Her complaints are very meta! The thing of passing the bad luck to Marina and keeping the good luck for herself was hilarious. Can't wait to see how that turns out.
Are we just not going to see "our" Penny again? Penny23 is OK but...
I feel terrible for Quentin. His dad was/is such a sweetheart, it would be awful to think that his only kid just abandoned him while he died. Jeez. But the show is making such a big deal over Schroedinger's Dad that I think there's a good chance he's actually alive. If he were dead, what would be the point of stringing us along like this?
Honestly don't care about Julia's powerless goddess storyline, because I wasn't really that keen on her becoming a goddess in the first place. The idea reminds me of that bullshit in the movie "Split" about how horrible experiences make you superhuman or whatever. I mean yeah right, if only.
I love that Alice's partner in crime is Santa Claus, but Alice herself is kind of just disturbing and sad to watch. I like her and all but it's just kind of too much, with the boundless promise as a magician and the maybe suicide attempt that ends up being useful for a powerful spell and etc.
Josh is growing on me, and I like that he felt so terrible about betraying Bacchus. And I mean, he should feel terrible! Although honestly, if I were him, I would have just told Bacchus that I had drugs for him and let the god get himself high. It's not like Bacchus is the type to say no to that or to be so careful not to overdue it.
I have to say, I'm missing Elliot. But I'm intrigued by the monster, too, so I'm torn. The actor is doing a good job, he really does seem like a different character.
posted by rue72 at 10:02 PM on February 9, 2019 [3 favorites]
I like that Kady is so vocal about feeling left out and underappreciated because honestly, she does seem to be treated as some random side character. Her complaints are very meta! The thing of passing the bad luck to Marina and keeping the good luck for herself was hilarious. Can't wait to see how that turns out.
Are we just not going to see "our" Penny again? Penny23 is OK but...
I feel terrible for Quentin. His dad was/is such a sweetheart, it would be awful to think that his only kid just abandoned him while he died. Jeez. But the show is making such a big deal over Schroedinger's Dad that I think there's a good chance he's actually alive. If he were dead, what would be the point of stringing us along like this?
Honestly don't care about Julia's powerless goddess storyline, because I wasn't really that keen on her becoming a goddess in the first place. The idea reminds me of that bullshit in the movie "Split" about how horrible experiences make you superhuman or whatever. I mean yeah right, if only.
I love that Alice's partner in crime is Santa Claus, but Alice herself is kind of just disturbing and sad to watch. I like her and all but it's just kind of too much, with the boundless promise as a magician and the maybe suicide attempt that ends up being useful for a powerful spell and etc.
Josh is growing on me, and I like that he felt so terrible about betraying Bacchus. And I mean, he should feel terrible! Although honestly, if I were him, I would have just told Bacchus that I had drugs for him and let the god get himself high. It's not like Bacchus is the type to say no to that or to be so careful not to overdue it.
I have to say, I'm missing Elliot. But I'm intrigued by the monster, too, so I'm torn. The actor is doing a good job, he really does seem like a different character.
posted by rue72 at 10:02 PM on February 9, 2019 [3 favorites]
The idea reminds me of that bullshit in the movie "Split" about how horrible experiences make you superhuman or whatever. I mean yeah right, if only.
My read of what made her a goddess was her choice to spare Reynard. If she hadn't, Our Lady Underground wouldn't have given her his power. It felt like, if not quite a reward, than an acknowledgment that she'd been able to become the sort of person who didn't kill him. Julia finally found something akin to what she was looking for in the first place when they tried to summon Our Lady Underground. And then she gave it away to bring magic back. I dunno, it worked for me anyway.
It's great that Marina is back (ish, obviously) and being her usual sociopathic self. The actor is so good at it. Breakfast burritos indeed.
posted by BungaDunga at 10:26 PM on February 9, 2019 [3 favorites]
My read of what made her a goddess was her choice to spare Reynard. If she hadn't, Our Lady Underground wouldn't have given her his power. It felt like, if not quite a reward, than an acknowledgment that she'd been able to become the sort of person who didn't kill him. Julia finally found something akin to what she was looking for in the first place when they tried to summon Our Lady Underground. And then she gave it away to bring magic back. I dunno, it worked for me anyway.
It's great that Marina is back (ish, obviously) and being her usual sociopathic self. The actor is so good at it. Breakfast burritos indeed.
posted by BungaDunga at 10:26 PM on February 9, 2019 [3 favorites]
But the show is making such a big deal over Schroedinger's Dad that I think there's a good chance he's actually alive. If he were dead, what would be the point of stringing us along like this?
There was no audible dialogue when Quentin listened to his voicemail, right? But it must have been there in the draft of the script that was sent to the captioning house, because with the CC on it had Quentin's mom saying something like "I hate to leave you bad news in a voicemail, call me back, it's about your father." Dramatically, I think no dialogue was the right choice.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:26 AM on February 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
There was no audible dialogue when Quentin listened to his voicemail, right? But it must have been there in the draft of the script that was sent to the captioning house, because with the CC on it had Quentin's mom saying something like "I hate to leave you bad news in a voicemail, call me back, it's about your father." Dramatically, I think no dialogue was the right choice.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:26 AM on February 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
> How can we answer that question ? She wasn't in previous episodes and any info about future episodes are spoilers...
To be clear, what I said was: "but was she in the episode in any other capacity? Did I just miss something?" In other words ... actually, there aren't really other words. Was she in any other scene in this episode and somehow I didn't catch it? That's all I was asking.
Thank you for the information that she wasn't in previous episodes though.
posted by komara at 7:48 PM on February 10, 2019
To be clear, what I said was: "but was she in the episode in any other capacity? Did I just miss something?" In other words ... actually, there aren't really other words. Was she in any other scene in this episode and somehow I didn't catch it? That's all I was asking.
Thank you for the information that she wasn't in previous episodes though.
posted by komara at 7:48 PM on February 10, 2019
Question: I saw Jewel Staite's name in the opening credits and I'm like 95% sure she was the librarian who saw Santa's sleigh and said "what the fuck?"
Good eye! I didn't notice the credits and I didn't recognize her in that scene until reading your comment led me to go back and rewatch it. That's definitely her watching Santa fly off.
posted by Secret Sparrow at 8:21 PM on February 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Good eye! I didn't notice the credits and I didn't recognize her in that scene until reading your comment led me to go back and rewatch it. That's definitely her watching Santa fly off.
posted by Secret Sparrow at 8:21 PM on February 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
IMDB shows that she'll be in the next couple of episodes, not sure how spoilery that is but feel free to flag this comment if it is.
posted by numaner at 11:29 PM on February 10, 2019
posted by numaner at 11:29 PM on February 10, 2019
Give that IMDB is user edited and often fan-added information is speculative, casting spoilers of that sort can be taken with a grain fo salt anyway.
I think Alice is supposed to be disturbing. Her damage has always been in the form of picking one goal and becoming monomaniacal about it. It's a little frustrating that everyone else has had some character growth, but her realization that other people are more than tools or obsctacles related to her current fixation never last for more than a few minutes at a time.
posted by Karmakaze at 6:08 AM on February 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
I think Alice is supposed to be disturbing. Her damage has always been in the form of picking one goal and becoming monomaniacal about it. It's a little frustrating that everyone else has had some character growth, but her realization that other people are more than tools or obsctacles related to her current fixation never last for more than a few minutes at a time.
posted by Karmakaze at 6:08 AM on February 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
Wouldn't Marina stop having bad luck if she stops holding the bad luck bearcoin?
posted by mikepop at 5:40 AM on February 19, 2019
posted by mikepop at 5:40 AM on February 19, 2019
I really want to like this season, but I'm finding it incredibly hard to follow. I feel like I should just give up, wait until it gets cancelled and then go back and binge watch from the beginning. Because I feel like I can't keep track of who all the people are and what all plot threads have gone where. I feel like I'm missing half the story half the time. Is it just me?
posted by rikschell at 12:37 PM on February 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by rikschell at 12:37 PM on February 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I feel like I'm missing half the story half the time. Is it just me?
I find that I do forget exactly what happened with some of the recurring characters in between seasons. And it seems like the budget this year isn't big enough to have the entire cast in every episode, so sub-plots get dropped for episodes at a time. I don't mind too much though, as I'm looking forward to a series re-watch someday (just keeping my fingers crossed for a series finale that isn't a retroactive show-killer a la 'Penny Dreadful' or 'How I Met Your Mother')
posted by oh yeah! at 9:40 PM on February 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I find that I do forget exactly what happened with some of the recurring characters in between seasons. And it seems like the budget this year isn't big enough to have the entire cast in every episode, so sub-plots get dropped for episodes at a time. I don't mind too much though, as I'm looking forward to a series re-watch someday (just keeping my fingers crossed for a series finale that isn't a retroactive show-killer a la 'Penny Dreadful' or 'How I Met Your Mother')
posted by oh yeah! at 9:40 PM on February 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
My favorite bits were Alice running into a wall, like Wile E. Coyote, and the ridiculous bank disguises!
Less favorite: Yup, confusing who's who.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:33 PM on February 24, 2019
Less favorite: Yup, confusing who's who.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:33 PM on February 24, 2019
Oh yeah: Also, I liked how Alice broke the lock, and I hope somehow that the person who interacted with her was the first Penny.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:35 PM on February 24, 2019
posted by Pronoiac at 11:35 PM on February 24, 2019
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posted by oh yeah! at 7:32 PM on February 6, 2019 [5 favorites]