The Magicians: Hotel Spa Potions Show Only

February 2, 2017 7:14 AM - Season 2, Episode 2

What's worse than a magical, murdering beast? A magical, murdering beast who sings. Julia turns to an old enemy, while the gang looks for help from a tricky Pixie and some cacodemons.
posted by filthy light thief (7 comments total)

FYI: the first two lines are from TV Fanatic's review of the episode.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:19 AM on February 2, 2017

Because I wanted to see them, here's an improved screenshot of the anagrams (preliminary list, and a partial view of the final list), for those interested in other Last Hope Options. And a longer list of anagrams from a decidedly un-magical route.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:15 AM on February 2, 2017

Kind of a meandering episode but I think its purpose is to set all the wheels in motion. And where the hell are they going with Elliot?
posted by Ber at 9:33 AM on February 2, 2017

I gotta say by the end of the episode I was more than a little annoyed with the Beast's singing. I kinda hope he dials back on that in the future.
posted by miss-lapin at 12:18 AM on February 3, 2017

I actually kind of love how annoying they're making the Beast. Like, he's not terrifying, he's just amoral in that way that children sometimes are but get trained out of? It kind of makes up for the whole 'he's evil because he was molested' thing.
posted by corb at 9:16 AM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

I actually kind of love how annoying they're making the Beast. Like, he's not terrifying, he's just amoral in that way that children sometimes are but get trained out of? It kind of makes up for the whole 'he's evil because he was molested' thing.

I agree, and I like a quirky villain these days, even if it's one who has the power to kill gods, and finds mortal morals a hindrance to achieving one's true potential.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:48 AM on February 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

I confess, I broke down at one part and thought, "Gosh, the Beast can sing all right." Initially, I wasn't a fan, but it's been growing on me. Part of it, I suspect, is to help undermine our own expectations of simply how dangerous Martin truly is. He's a jovial guy, until he decides it's time to cut your hands off, snap your neck, etc....etc. When the singing stops, get ready for the crap to fly.

Also, we officially know what the Beast's curse is on the castle. Hopefully they snap the paranoia curse quickly...cause those things have a way of getting old fast. More so, because we know where it's coming from rather than having Elliott slowly succumb to it without telling us what's happening ahead of time. The longer it goes unidentified, the more ignorant the others look for not connecting the dots. Incidentally, thanks to the proffering of a sprout to Elliot right before the others showed up, it's revealed it's been at least a few weeks if not longer since they'd left - whereas for them, maybe two or three days?

Julia is keeping her eyes on the prize.

The Pixie Battle Magic former instructor was...interesting.

Anagrams...made me think of the Beast's quip about all the things humans invented because they don't have access to magic. As Alice was using a spell to slowly create one anagram after another I was banging my head against an invisible keyboard, "YOU CAN JUST GO TO AN ANAGRAM ENGINE AND HAVE EVERYTHING IN TWO SECONDS."
posted by Atreides at 11:49 AM on February 3, 2017 [6 favorites]