It's been a very long time since I started a new TV show and even longer since I reviewed one! I decided to get back in it with a bloody great one...
The Magicians!
If you haven't heard of it or seen it, it's a new SyFy fantasy that I only knew about because of the billboard I see everyday when I go to work. The poster looked pretty damn cool and I love fantasy so why the hell not give it a try.
Going into it I knew it wouldn't have the highest production value, it is SyFy after all. However, it's not the production value that jumped at me for being below par. The effects and cinematography were actually pretty decent. I found the color grading slightly too much as they wanted to achieve that undersaturated look of brooding teen fantasy. But I can totally live with that. I was very much intrigued when the lead was introduced to us. He's charismatic and different from the usual male characters you get in fantasy fiction. The first few scenes involving him and his girl friend weren't half as bad, they even were compelling. However, the acting and the bloody sanity of it all took a huge turn once the magic really kicked in.
I loved the fact that the latter was actually cool. I always find myself disappointed whenever magic is introduced as a power. For me, magic either means spells that can protect your entire house from Vampires (Buffy) or fireballs and electric cages (all RPGs ever). When I first saw Harry Potter for example, one of the thing I hated was the lack of coolness in this actual awesome power. They just wiggled wands as they recited super long nonsense just to light a bloody candle. We all know that real magic doesn't require a staff or wand!!! (I am going to get hate for this!). Anywho. I liked that the supernatural in this show was a little more super than usual when dealing with magic. However, the reaction to it by our main characters was just unbelievable in its strictest sense. We basically get a one liner on why these two 20 something are predestined to be magicians and, people, it's because they did magic tricks in high school. That's it. Fast forward 3 minutes and here they are, propelled in this hidden enchanted school without questioning 1. What the fuck is going on 2. Why there are there 3. How is magic real 4. What the fuck is going on. Also, the tone of it all is way too serious. In the first 24 minutes, there was 1 joke, that's it. It didn't even land right. When dealing with fantasy and powers, the number 1 and most important rule is to take it lightly or to aim it a children.
The characters in The Magicians were just not self aware enough, especially the two leads, to make this believable and entertaining. And the thing is, they had very decent actors all around to deliver good dialogue, the problem is that none of these talented people got a good line out of their script. One scene, to me, totally defined this pilot and it was the "Flashdance" scene. The lead, Quentin, gets in front of a panel of judges to basically be accepted into this school he never heard of 2 seconds ago. He has to perform a magic trick with a deck of cards and gets yelled at, very terrifyingly, by the Dean. The dude gets in his face and yells at him and scares the shit of Quentin so hard that he does awesome magic. First, I do not think it's legal to bully someone into applying for your school and second, it's not legal either to threaten a kid into performing any sort of entertainment...Whilst we are on the subject of the supporting cast, the two senior students Quentin makes instant friends with are so cliche. Also, why would they be friends with this awkward new kid? And very mean to the pretty blonde talented one? That doesn't make a drop of sense for anybody who actually went to any school.
Suffice it to say that they really rushed through this pilot to try and cram as much information as humanly possible in it. The exposition and character developments could have been fleshed out a lot more to make this an interesting first dive into what could have been a decent attempt at a story about magic and people who can harness it. Perhaps they took more time with the next episodes, I sure hope they did, for their sake, because at this point, I really don't care if this show is renewed or not!
1 cat out of 5 for the good use of magic!
The characters in The Magicians were just not self aware enough, especially the two leads, to make this believable and entertaining. And the thing is, they had very decent actors all around to deliver good dialogue, the problem is that none of these talented people got a good line out of their script. One scene, to me, totally defined this pilot and it was the "Flashdance" scene. The lead, Quentin, gets in front of a panel of judges to basically be accepted into this school he never heard of 2 seconds ago. He has to perform a magic trick with a deck of cards and gets yelled at, very terrifyingly, by the Dean. The dude gets in his face and yells at him and scares the shit of Quentin so hard that he does awesome magic. First, I do not think it's legal to bully someone into applying for your school and second, it's not legal either to threaten a kid into performing any sort of entertainment...Whilst we are on the subject of the supporting cast, the two senior students Quentin makes instant friends with are so cliche. Also, why would they be friends with this awkward new kid? And very mean to the pretty blonde talented one? That doesn't make a drop of sense for anybody who actually went to any school.
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