The Magicians Opens New Doorways – Preview of Episode 8, The Strangled Heart

Syfy’s The Magicians continues to push the envelope with surprise twists and turns, and ever more doorways to move through. In fact, doorways are one of the themes of episode 8. The Beast has wormed his clever way into Brakebills, in hopes of closing doors forever. In doing so, Penny nearly loses his life defending Quentin in an unexpected attack coming from a surprising corner.

Julia, too, moves through a doorway. Not just into rehab, or a potential truce with Marina, but into a yet unexplored realm of magic – that from the natural world, from a deity. That passage is opened also by an unexpected source, and what he reveals – and what Julia experiences – is luminous and breathtaking.

Quentin and Alice are trying to figure out just what happened between them at Brakebills South, and they dance around each other, not sure if their attraction is real or simply brought about by circumstances and pheromones. Penny, distraught after Kady’s departure, is full of snarky one-liners to keep both Quentin and Alice (but especially Quentin) in their place.

Death and the Beast come calling, and havoc rains down on everyone. Trigger warning: this episode is not for the squeamish, especially animal lovers. There are no winners when the blood settles, literally. There is no telling where The Magicians is going to take viewers next. The series has done what Game of Thrones has done with its source material, weaving bits and pieces from different books together to create a tense, thrilling visual voyage through modern-day magic users.