The Magicians: Unauthorized Magic Show Only

January 25, 2016 8:24 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

Best friends Quentin and Julia are recruited for an entrance exam to Brakebills University, a secret institution for magical pedagogy.
posted by oh yeah! (8 comments total)

So okay, is this what it looks like from the promos?

Because what it looks like from the promos is Harry Potter: 90210.
posted by Naberius at 10:18 AM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

I thought the classroom attack was impressively creepy. The moths, the bone-breaking, the eye-ball trauma from hell. Having watched the sneak preview of the pilot last month, that was the scene that really stuck with me and made me need to see what happened next.

Because what it looks like from the promos is Harry Potter: 90210.

I feel like it's that, or maybe Narnia SyFy-ified? Something 'edgy' anyway.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:37 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

Mod note: Couple comments removed; if it's a Show Only thread folks need to not talk about book stuff please.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:09 AM on January 27, 2016

For anyone just joining this party, or wondering whether to watch the first episode: the books are often promoted as "Harry Potter for adults" (or at least high schoolers, as the characters are all set to graduate from high school in the books). It's less about the wonder of magic as seen in Harry Potter, and more about this parallel world where magic is taught and performed, plus the drama of trying to fit in and achieve your potential as a young adult, with sex and violence.

"Harry Potter: 90210, for SyFy" is a pretty fair summation of the first episode. It covers a lot of ground, which does a good job of setting up the worlds and their conflicts.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:22 AM on March 2, 2016

The score is like someone has listened to composers who reference Glass, and is trying to recreate it.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:02 PM on December 29, 2016

I really liked it, and I have generally been staying away from overly creepy or stressful things. It is on the edge of that. I really love all the actors so far. Not knowing who you can trust is pretty terrifying, I'd imagine.
posted by Glinn at 12:03 PM on January 14, 2017

and I have generally been staying away from overly creepy or stressful things. It is on the edge of that.

Fair warning, it probably will not stay on the edge. (I watched the season as it aired on SyFy, and after the finale I'm undecided on whether I'm going to watch season 2 when it starts back up again. I don't mean to say "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" just that if the horror-level of the pilot is about at your max tolerance level, there are other episodes that are going to go beyond that.)
posted by oh yeah! at 2:58 PM on January 14, 2017

So sure it’s like a million years later, but I just watched the pilot, and I’m way into it. I saw Sera Gamble all over the credits, and thanks to her excellent work on early seasons of Supernatural, I would have tuned in sooner based on that alone if I’d known.

For anyone still thinking of checking it out, yes, it’s a little Harry Potter: 90120, but somehow in a good way. I’m excited to keep watching.
posted by terilou at 8:43 PM on April 23, 2019