The Magicians: The Flying Forest   Books Included 
February 17, 2017 7:25 AM - Season 2, Episode 4 - Subscribe

Quentin and Penny embark upon a quest and bond a little. Margo works on a way to help Eliot. Julia seeks out an old friend's help. Magic might be in trouble. But at least we get Abigail the Sloth!
posted by filthy light thief (10 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I have forgotten a good bit of the books, but does Quentin's turn back to the "real" world track with the end of the 1st book, after the death of The Beast? Will he get a high-paying non-magical job where he spends his time playing video games, before he gets pulled back into Fillory for the tax-collection quest that kicks off the 2nd book? They alluded to that in this episode, when one of the unnamed court officials said "There are stirrings of rebellion in the Southern Orchard, the Outer Islands, refusal to pay the Crown's taxes."
posted by filthy light thief at 7:33 AM on February 17, 2017


It appeared from the trailer that we will see Quentin working in an office. OK. One of my favorite moments from the books is Quentin sitting in that dreary office when the gang shows up outside his window, floating. I am quite looking forward to it.

Eliot having sex on two different planes of existence was rather amusing but part of me wonders if the writers aren't trying to "straighten" him.

The Penny/Q quest was quite good - letting those two characters banter back and forth without the "Alice angst" was very much necessary.
posted by Ber at 7:53 AM on February 17, 2017 [2 favorites]


This was a bit more of a low key episode than the last one, which I guess was necessary.

It does seem like they are setting up a bit more of the second book...what with Abigail and mention of the outer islands...which could be interesting but since Julia was a pretty major part of that story line I do wonder how they plan to put it together.

Seems they also sort of abandoned the "time in Fillory vs. time on Earth running differently" bits...which I guess could get confusing but again was sort of a major reason Quentin was in a hurry to get back after ending up on earth.
posted by Captain_Science at 8:20 AM on February 17, 2017


part of me wonders if the writers aren't trying to "straighten" him

I doubt it; the character is a fan favorite and I think the writers are well aware that his sexual orientation is part of that. I think it was more their attempt (largely successful, in my opinion) to put a magical spin on the experience of weird sex happening when you hook up at college parties.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:20 AM on February 17, 2017 [2 favorites]


We spent the end of the episode yelling at Quentin for not fixing the wellspring with his wish.

Also, did Penny specify that he wanted his hands back uncursed?
posted by purpleclover at 2:15 PM on February 17, 2017 [3 favorites]


Are they not going to fully Niffinize Alice? This is unacceptable.
posted by Justinian at 3:37 PM on February 17, 2017 [1 favorite]


Are they not going to fully Niffinize Alice? This is unacceptable.
They have been very vague/coy about Alice's FINAL fate....producers and Olivia Taylor Dudley said that "Alice" is dead but also alluded to us seeing a character played by Olivia Taylor Dudley again....they aren't saying if that will be 'niffin' Alice from the start of book 3 or some version of Alice 2.0 from the endish of book 3.
posted by Captain_Science at 3:59 PM on February 17, 2017 [2 favorites]


As a "the world isn't about to end" type of episode, I enjoyed it. I agree that they weren't trying to straighten Elliot, so much as having him experience some magical craziness. It would hopefully allow for an heir and then Elliot could avoid having to sleep with his wife in the future with that royal task satisfied. I would think anything else would be pretty awful.

Count me in that Alice will return in one form or another. Or rather, her at least her actress will.

Question: Is the truth about Fillory still basically a secret from the rest of the magical community? You'd think being the high king of a magical kingdom would get you some respect back at Brakebills, no?

I'm glad they fixed Penny's hands (hopefully). He'd learned his lesson quite a bit back, so it was sort of an unnecessary distraction for the character to deal with. Okay, maybe it wasn't that long a problem, but it felt like it!

I really want Julia to take down the Fox sooner rather than later. I'm guessing it will be more of a season finale event, tho'.
posted by Atreides at 1:16 PM on February 21, 2017


We spent the end of the episode yelling at Quentin for not fixing the wellspring with his wish.

Same, but Quentin thinking of his own mopey problems first is sort of his M.O.
posted by tofu_crouton at 7:22 AM on February 23, 2017 [6 favorites]


Does anyone know if this is available streaming somewhere? My DVR only had episodes 1-3 available for some reason and I want to finish the season.
posted by fiercekitten at 12:45 PM on June 1, 2017


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