The Magicians Review: Hotel Spa Potions (Season 2 Episode 2)

The Magicians Season 2 Episode 2, “Hotel Spa Potions,” continues where we left off on the previous episode, “Knight of Crowns.”

On a book hunt.

On “Hotel Spa Potions,” we get back to Brakebills in search of a book on battle magic, as the Armory in Fillory has been ransacked. On the back of one of the remaining books in the Armory is a sticker from Brakebills library, which clues our heroes to Earth.

After a dive down the fountain to Earth, our heroes are all safe. Only Penny finds himself in an Evil Dead conundrum of unruly hands!

Hoping for an actual magical spa resort, which the episode title hints at, we are led through the library corridors by Professor Pearl Sunderland (Anne Dudek), who tells our heroes they need a battle magic spell called “Last Hope Options.”

The spell is hidden in the library, somewhere inside the cover of Hotel Spa Potions.

Over in Fillory, having been crowned High King, Elliot may not leave the magic realm, so he’s stuck with a kingdom at his disposal.

What, and who to do?

One quote comes to mind from Mel Brooks History of the World, Part 1 (1981).

It’s good to be the King!

Getting access to the throne room, Elliot gets the inside scoop on a test that every high King of Fillory must pass to remain in court. On display on the throne is the skeleton of the previous king, quite dead and withered.

This is overlooked, and we are told a secret from Elliot’s childhood. He actually was born on a farm, which he has suppressed, but is remembering  as he needs those memories to save Fillory.

The people of Fillory used to farm with magic. Without magic, they can’t grow crops. Elliot to the rescue!

Elliot, High King of Shit.

Also on Earth, we find Julia babysitting a sugar rushed Beast, who copes with earthly delights such as munching Treasure Crunch cereals and the art of singing badly. It’s not that bad, really.

It turns in to a musical number, where The Beast does an Abbey Road in crossing the street, as if in a Broadway finale.

Julia and The Beast are working on a plan to capture and kill Reynard The Fox, a task that doesn’t pair well with singing and acting silly. The Fox is a dire threat with a blood-thirsty sadistic mind, not to be taken lightly.

For that, they snatch up Marina, the street hedge witch, in the vicinity of New York. She walks out the door as Julia don’t initially agrees to use her in the fight against Reynard.

But, this symbiosis of lighthearted drama, alongside a dark plot, rings true to what The Magicians is all about. The concept just need to be better executed to work. The errors of the season premiere “Knight of Crowns,” with plot holes, have been rectified on “Hotel Spa Potions.”

It never gets dark enough to soften the blow of The Beast song and dance bonanza.

At this rate, it’s sad to see that the trailers for The Magicians promise more than they can keep.

What did you think of this episode of “Hotel Spa Potions”? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Magicians airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on SyFy.

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