The Magicians Review: Home Improvement (Season 4 Episode 8)
Fen fights to find her own destiny, Alice visits her mother for help, Poppy and Quentin fall under the spell of a dragon egg, and Julia gets some confirmation on her goddess situation on The Magicians Season 4 Episode 8, “Home Improvement.”
Fen’s destiny is something that’s been on her mind a lot because she feels like she’s meant for something more. Fen does deserve more than what she has right now. She’s the one who basically runs the country, and has run the country, alongside Margo and has more responsibility than most.
Fen deserves to have her own special something, but I don’t think it’s dethroning Margo publicly in front of all the leaders. Fen is courageous and does what she has to do to get the job done, so the only thing I can think of is that Margo goes wholly nuts and Fen has to step in for the greater good.
If that’s not the case, then Fen is going to have trouble going through with the task. Her love for Eliot outlives all, but Margo is probably second or third. She’s with her every step of the way and there for her when she needs any sort of help. Margo is her best friend and doing what the Napster says is going to be difficult.
Alice’s mother has been a piece of work since day one, and nothing has changed since then except now Alice knows that it’s genuinely all from a place of love. I had my doubts about Stephanie as she begins to blame Carol, but her speech to Alice proves that no matter how she acts she does love her.
I hope that this little interaction between Alice and Stephanie does some good because they’ve never gotten along before and right now Alice is in a dark spot of her life. She could use some family, even if this is the most interaction they have in a month, it’s still validation that her mother doesn’t hate her and she does have someone she can run to.
You can tell that Alice feels betrayed by Sheila joining the library. Shelia is the first person to make Alice enjoy magic in a long time, but now she’s joining the bad guys that she was trying to protect her from. And on top of that, there’s no way that Zelda didn’t already know that Sheila was working for the library, so Alice got conned.
Poppy writing dragon erotica doesn’t even phase me one bit; it’s something that I expected her to already do from our various interactions with her. She’s obsessed with dragons and will do anything to be near them, including stealing dragon sperm to fertilize a dragon egg.
I am happy for Poppy that the outcome of her becoming a crazy woman protecting an egg is that she now wants to keep her baby. She has an insane life that’s not going to slow down unless something makes her, and this is it, but she’s happy about it now because she understands and feels the bond.
There’s a part of Quentin that hoped the child would be his because he wants to be a father. He knows that he’ll make a great father because he’s already done it before. Quentin was a good father alongside Eliot, and he’ll be a good father in this world as well.
The dragon confirming that this phase Julia is in is only temporary is the most exciting thing to come about in the episode. Everyone continued to have hope that they’d find a solution for Julia, but had no confirmation that it was possible until now.
Julia will now be a goddess forever, and she’s vital to their species. She is more powerful than any of us know, and I can’t wait for her powers to return so she can show us what she’s really made of.
With the penultimate episode next week there’s no telling where things could go. I hope that Eliot returns next week and in the finale, there’s a fight between them and the monster, but that would be too generous to us.
Favorite Quotes:
- “Are you bitches ready for a puppet show?” – Carol
- “I know what you’re capable of, good and bad, but there is nothing you could do that would make me turn you in. You are all I have.” – Stephanie
- “Don’t kink-shame.” – Kady
- “Little trick from my friend Margo, a potion called Ambien. I may never wake up.” – Fen
What did you think of this episode of The Magicians? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Magicians airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Syfy.
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Cade Taylor
Cade Taylor is a television and film critic living in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a Senior Writer for Tell-Tale TV. His love for television developed at a young age, with a concentration on queer stories, sitcoms, teen dramas, and science fiction thrillers. In addition, he works full-time as a news producer, telling the stories of Missourians and helming "Produced in the Bi-State," a segment spotlighting actors, musicians, and entertainers from the St. Louis area. He can be reached by email at cade@telltaletv.com.