Okay, I’m just going to say this up front: The Magicians may be my favorite TV show ever. Ever. There are many shows I’ve loved, and many I miss, and some I continue to rewatch, but The Magicians hit all of my viewer cookies in a big way.

The series is based on a series of books by Lev Grossman, The Magicians Trilogy. I haven’t yet read the books, although I’ve picked up the first one. I intended to wait until the show ended, and it did a while ago now, and I still haven’t indulged. (One reason being that my desired reading during this pandemic has not been fantasy.)

I’ve spoken many times about my love for portal fantasy (and even edited an anthology of it, Doorways to Enchantment). The Magicians is a portal fantasy within a portal fantasy. Score!

Slight spoilers for the first episode. Quentin Coldwater and his best friend, Julia, have loved a series of books about a magical land of Fillory since they were children. Now applying for grad school, Quentin still retreats to reading about Fillory while Julia is trying to move on.

First, Quentin stumbles upon (is led to) the very secret and hidden Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy, and is tested for an aptitude in magic. Real magic, not stage magic (which he’s already mastered). If I could go to Brakebills, I’d leave my life in less than a heartbeat. It’s perfect. And it’s portal number one.

Because Fillory also exists….

Another thing I love about this show is that the protagonists are adults. They have sex, they swear, the stakes are real. This is not a show for kids. Some have called it a reaction to the Narnia books (to some degree, I can see that) or an adult Harry Potter (not so much).

Warning: the first season is a bit dodgy. I’m actually rewatching it as I write this, and while I’m seeing nuances I missed the first two times, I can also see the cracks. One character, Margo, is just not the Margo of later seasons. Our Lodger wonders if this is a growth arc, but honestly, the actress portrays Margo very differently. Her whole manner of speaking changes.

Warning the second: awful things happen. Animals are killed. (This is usually a nope, I’m leaving, fuck you, for me, but (a) I love the show so very much and (b) the deaths are essentially off-screen and not played for laughs.) People get maimed and attacked and brutalized. (If you want specific trigger warnings, contact me privately.)

The Magicians has made me laugh, cry, hide behind a pillow, and fall in love with the characters. (Most of them, anyway. I challenged Ken and the Lodger to a “fuck, marry, kill” scenario and we all killed the same main character without hesitation.) The glorious, heart-wrenching episode “A Life in a Day” is one of the best moments in television.

If you decide to watch The Magicians, let me know. Right now I’m only five or so episodes into my rewatch, so we can chat!

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