The Magicians Seasons 1 – 4 is currently available on Netflix. The fifth and final season is available for purchase on Amazon Prime – but we think you’ll be satisfied with the first four for now.
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Look, The Magicians is f#@king weird, unabashedly. It’s like mid-20s Harry Potter on opium meets The Chronicles of Narnia with a drinking problem and chronic depression. And I absolutely adore it and its misfit band of nearly-broken college students more than any fictional characters I’ve ever become familiar with.
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The Magicians is a SyFy television adaptation of the trilogy of books by Lev Grossman, and some have said that the TV series is even better than the novels (gasp!). The Magicians TV series is a modern rendition of a chosen-one high-fantasy tale full of tropes turned on their head, and is unafraid to be queer, sex-positive and foul-mouthed. It features a diverse, dynamic cast of characters that take front-and-center just as often as said chosen-one, with room to breathe and grow on their own. It’s nerdy, dramatic, sarcastically hilarious, occasionally awkward, surprisingly relatable and cathartic, and just my style.
Twenty-something Quentin Coldwater is the chronically depressed, listless main character who finally discovers that the magic he’s dreamt about since his childhood is actually real, but it’s not all magically refilling cocktails and firebolts at magic grad-school and beyond.
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Mysteries and danger are around every corner for Quentin and his would-be friends, and though endlessly entertaining, that’s not even the main draw of The Magicians. It’s about – well, it should be obvious – the magicians themselves; their problems and struggles and hopes and love for one another and deepest fears and the internal disorders that make them come true.
Even long-running TV darlings like Game of Thrones featured characters that were always kept beyond arms’ length, but The Magicians’ central cast squirm with real flesh and blood, with believable problems of a modern 20-something with a sprinkling of magic to cover the stench of monotonous hardship that can sometimes be life.
Each of The Magicians’ characters is a train-wreck of a person in their own, unique way, but they come together to support each other with deep platonic (and sometimes romantic) love, acceptance and appreciation not often explored in television.
It’s dark and gritty, sure, but even still The Magicians never takes itself too seriously, like any 20-something trying to pass as “ok.” Impromptu musical numbers are a main-stay. For example, Quentin, while in a (deadly) magically induced coma, starts a group-singing session of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” to get the attention of a telepath. Later, a self-aware underworld gatekeeper says, “No, I’ll eat you – I’m a f#@king dragon – what do you expect?” (Yes, of course there are dragons.) The Magicians, with all its satisfying, heartfelt emotional exploration, is also genuinely funny in an often wry fashion.
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What I’m trying to say is, The Magicians is a chronically under-talked about, underappreciated, funny, smart, thoughtful show, and you should watch it. The Magicians’ first four seasons, each with 13, near hour-long episodes, are available on Netflix. Seasons 1-4 can be binged as is, as there are no cliffhangers at the end of Season 4.
Sadly, The Magicians’ final episode, the last in Season 5, just aired on SyFy this week and I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch because I feel like I’m mourning the loss of a friend. But, if you’re ready to take the plunge into Season 5, it can be purchased on Amazon Prime. (But oh my God, don’t read the Season 5 summary on Amazon Prime; there is a HUGE spoiler! Jesus Amazon, come on.)
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Binge It! is IGN’s recommendation series. Movies, TV shows, books, comics, music… if you can binge it, we’re here to talk about it. In each installment of Binge It!, we’ll discuss a piece of content we’re passionate about — and why you should check it out.
Source: IGN.com The Magicians Is a Modern Heartfelt Fantasy for Adult Nerds