Syfy’s The Magicians Continues to Chill and Thrill

It’s unbelievable. Just when I thought The Magicians had laid most of its cards on the table, along comes episode six and blows everything up in the viewer’s face. To describe the episode would be one big spoiler, but I’m not going to do that because you must see for yourself why this viewer spent an hour looking like a slack-jawed trout. We’re talking holy cow patties.

Quentin, Alice, Penny, and Kady are surprised by an unexpected challenge that seems to be literally live or die. They continue to grow as magicians while stripping bare their former identities. Julia is out of control and seeks help from another hedgewitch, one with a rather shady reputation. Together they try to take down Margo and her gang. The outcomes of both are stunning.

There are quite a few funny potshots Penny hurls at Quentin, but he shouldn’t dismiss Quentin or Fillory out of hand. Julia’s desperation is nerve-wracking, to say the least. Alice’s confession will leave you wondering what exactly she is actually capable of. The end of this episode flies off in a new direction, leaving viewers wondering where this enticing series will go next. It’s been said before – this is a grown-up Harry Potter-meets-Narnia – on crack.

Jason Ralph continues to astonish as Quentin, but the other cast members get memorable lines in this episode too. I just love Eliot (Hale Appleman); no matter what he does, he’s smooth. Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley) is like Alice in Wonderland, but wait until you see her wonderland (and just what she can do there)! Stella Maeve is both sympathetic and terrifying as the ever more desperate Julia. Penny (Arjun Gupta) gets all of the great one-liners. Kudos to a stellar cast and superb writers for bring Lev Grossman’s wonderful novels to life. The Magicians is definitely one of my favorite shows this season.