15 Reasons You Should Be Watching ‘The Magicians’

There are certain shows that come along once in a lifetime. They all come at different times, just when they’re needed most. The 70s had Star Trek, the 90s had Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and then came shows like LOST and Game of Thrones; all of these shows changed television in one form or another.

The Magicians deserves a spot on this list of life-changing television shows. It’s one of the best shows on the air today. No other show is as relevant to our current social-political climate.

For those who don’t know, The Magicians is a show created by Sera Gamble and John McNamara based on the novels of the same name by Lev Grossman. The incredible cast includes Jason Ralph, Summer Bishil, Hale Appleman, Stella Maeve, Arjun Gupta, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Jade Tailor, Rick Worthy, Brittany Curran, and Trevor Einhorn.

The show could be described as, “Harry Potter goes to Graduate School and later finds a door to Narnia.” But honestly, one of the best parts of The Magicians is that it defies description.

It’s a fantasy show with mythological characters, epic quests, musicals, fascists, grad students, talking animals, revolutions and Santa Claus — yes that Santa Claus. You have to experience the show for yourself. It’s — dare I say it? Magical.

Here are 15 reasons why should be watching The Magicians. (Contains some spoilers!)

1. Genre-Bending

As previously mentioned, other than fantasy, you can’t place The Magicians into one little genre-box. It is so many things at once, and yet it works. The writers have created a world where wacky and strange things are commonplace. The only explanation for it is: it’s The Magicians.

We can get a bank heist or an epic quest. We can experience life in a day or play a Welters game to win sponsors. Sometimes, it means Eliot and Margo bursting into One Day More to prepare for battle, or Quentin and the rest dealing with dragon porn and an egg hangover.

Sometimes the episodes are told in vignettes (some in black and white and entirely silent) or via flashback. The Magicians has a surplus of narrative tricks to draw on, and it’s all the better for it.

2. Fantastical Creatures

Since The Magicians is a fantasy show, it gets away with bringing in assorted mythological and fantastical creatures. Of course, they all have a Fillorian twist, so to speak. We have talking animals like Abigail the Sloth and Humbledrum the Bear.

We have Fairies, gods and goddesses, and villainous moth men. There are also distinctly unearthly creatures such as dragons and more. The visual effects team and the make-up department deserve so much praise for what they do.

This show has a sentient ship, people coming out of books, and characters like “The Great Cock,” so what’s not to like? If you love seeing strange and fantastical creatures, then trust me, this is the show for you.

3. Imperfect Characters

Often on television shows, we get a group of characters that do everything right despite one or two screw ups. Here, we have three mostly competent people while the rest of the characters screw things up royally. The best part of the characters in The Magicians isn’t that they’re magicians; it’s that they’re human.

The characters aren’t written to be perfect people who get everything right. They don’t have a deus ex machina come in to save the day. Sometimes, they work extremely hard for an entire season on a quest to bring back magic and it all falls apart at the last possible moment.

The characters don’t always make the right choices. A lot of the time, actually most of the time, they make dumb, emotion-based decisions that end up screwing them over and then they have to deal with the consequences.

4. Guest Stars and Recurring Cast Members

Not only does this show have one the best casts on television right now, but the guest stars and recurring roles are also iconic. During Season 2 and 3, we were treated to an amazing performance from the incredible Candis Cayne.

The fairy queen started out as a villain and became a complex character who only wanted the best for her people.

We have an actual deaf actress portraying a deaf character whose storyline isn’t about being deaf. Harriet is an amazing character who has a story and we get to see her signing with other characters.

The Magicians brings in the hilarious Felicia Day as dragon-obsessed Poppy, Camryn Manheim as Sheila, Jewel Staite as a librarian, and Julian Richings as a demon. It’s always fun to see recognizable faces in minor roles.

5. Musical Moments

The Magicians doesn’t just do one musical episode. It’s done multiple musical episodes with countless musical moments in between. It’s clear that music is a big part of the writer’s room and that’s a beautiful thing.

There is Quentin’s hilariously terrible “Shake it Off” in Season 1, the aforementioned “One Day More” in Season 2, all of the Questers singing “Under Pressure” in Season 3, and Season 4’s incredible Margo-centric episode.

The musical moments always fit perfectly considering the context. Whether it’s Margo having a lizard-induced hallucination of Eliot as her conscience or Alice singing “Don’t you Forget about Me” to call her Niffin brother to her, all of the musical numbers fit within the story/plot — and they’re all stunning.

6. Relevant Storylines

Fascists don’t always realize they are fascists. This season, The Magicians is attempting something other shows have attempted before: a storyline that alludes to fascism. Other shows have tried, but have at times gotten a bit heavy-handed with the allegory, to the point where it goes too far

Here we have the Library, which started with a noble purpose and became corrupted over time. We all know that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Though Zelda’s eyes we come to see that the organization she devoted her life to might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

In our current socio-political landscape, things don’t always go our way. In fact, lately, they never seem to go our way. This also holds true for Quentin and the rest of the Questers. Sometimes they fail at saving the world, no matter how hard they try.

Despite the fact that it’s a mystical universe, we can still draw clear parallels to our current lives; it helps us connect more with the show and the situations the characters are placed in.

7. Cast Members Who Love Their Roles

A lot of the time, when a show is in its fourth season or so, the cast members might start phoning it in. Sometimes because of lackluster writing, or maybe just boredom.

The cast of The Magicians truly loves their characters, and they love exploring their characters. You can see in their interviews how well they know their characters, and how excited they are to see what’s next.

From the way they interact with fans to the way they talk about their characters, you can practically feel the passion radiating from them as they talk about dynamics they’re excited to explore. The way the cast loves their characters makes you, as a fan, fall in love with the characters.

They have good things to say not only about their own characters but about their cast-mates as well. When you have all that love in a show, what’s not to like?

8. Nuanced Women

The ladies of The Magicians are among the best female characters out there. In them, we see everything a woman can be.

Margo has an immeasurable strength. At first glance, you might think she’s the Mean Girl™, but you’ll come to see that she is also compassionate and caring. She’s angry and resourceful and all sides of her are seen as valid.

It’s not just Margo who is wonderful. We get Fen, Alice, Kady, Zelda, Julia, and many more incredible women. The Magicians has women with a quiet strength and a kind heart. Women with strong moral compasses who want to do what’s right but also love to punch first and ask questions later.

There are misunderstood women, characters who would be praised to the ends of the earth if they were men. Alice knows she’s the smartest in the room and the most adept at magic, but not even she is aware of her own potential.

The female characters in The Magicians contain multitudes; you can’t box them in.

They can be selfish and caring, they can be angry and soft, emotional and strong. They are written as actual human beings.

9. Realistic Depictions of Friend Groups

Friendships are hard and we’re all human. Sometimes a friend will screw you over: you are allowed to be mad at them for it. That’s something television doesn’t always understand — friendships aren’t always sunny and perfect.

The Magicians has one of the best depictions of what being in a group is like. Half the time you may not care about all the people in the group, but they’re still in your group.

Almost all of the Questers have hurt another Quester in some way.

Quentin and Julia are terrible to each other in the first season and they have to work to repair their friendship. Kady was mad at Julia for her actions but was still willing to help her. Alice literally died for the group after they betrayed her.

These characters are allowed to be mad at and feel hurt towards their friends. It’s that emotion that makes a friendship real and genuine.

10. Character Growth

Have you ever been annoyed at shows that refuse to let their characters grow? Characters that learn the same lesson every season or every couple of episodes? The Magicians turns that on its head and actually develops their characters.

Sure, they may still backslide every now and then, but that’s to be expected. After all, we’re all human and we all make mistakes. The point is that you can look at the characters in season one, and then look at them again in Season 4 and there’s such a difference.

It feels great to re-watch the show because you see the characters change in the best of ways. Well, this is The Magicians so — maybe it’s not always in the best way.

The Eliot of the first episode is leagues away from the Eliot we see in the later seasons, even though at his core he remains the same. Margo has grown immensely from the girl she was in the pilot to the king we see now. Julia has been shaped by her experiences, as has Alice.

Alice’s transformation might be the most drastic of them all. She’s still trying to find out who she is and the show gives her the space to do that. The Magicians doesn’t put its characters back in their comfortable little boxes; it lets them out to shine, and to go wherever they need to go.

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