The Magicians Season 1 Episode 12 Review: Thirty-Nine Graves
Elena Zhang
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The set-up for the season finale was well-executed during The Magicians Season 1 Episode 12. Everything moved at a fast pace, and once the threesome nonsense was dealt with, each story flowed well from beginning to end.
Quentin and Julia's reunion was sweet and very well-done. Julia has matured and grown so much over the entire season. Her wisdom about magic definitely felt earned.
She had to endure all of that desperation and suffering, reaching a bottom point in her life, in order to achieve clarity about what magic really means.
Julia has actually matured a lot more than Quentin, and perhaps that's because Quentin was always expecting magic to be easy, and to be able to use magic to fix anything he wanted.
Even though Quentin has had a lot of experience failing to use magic to solve all of his problems, he still doesn't seem to understand. Julia at least knows that anything worth achieving requires dedication and hard work.
Quentin: Okay, what is magic actually for?
Julia: For fixing things, dummy.
These traits are infinitely more admirable than any Quentin possesses, which makes Julia a lot more likable.
It was still heartwarming to see them work together, though, like they were meant to if Julia had gotten accepted to Brakebills. Watching them travel to Fillory was actually joyous, like they were children again, best friends who just happened upon a fantastical world.
Quentin: I never thought I'd say this, but thank god for Hitler.
Julia: Yeah, no, that still sounds bad.
I'm not sure what to think about the whole goddess storyline, however. It seems too easy that Our Lady Underground would grant everyone's wishes just like that. I'm not sure if that works with the whole philosophy of actions having consequences.
Isn't the lesson to accept that some sicknesses can't be cured, that some decisions can't be reversed? Having your wish granted to reverse all the horrible things in your life seems like a cop-out to me. Of course, there could be more to it that hasn't been revealed yet.
Here's hoping that the goddess isn't all that she seems to be.
The relationship drama was a little unbearable in this episode. Everyone was acting like a petulant teenager, refusing to talk maturely about what happened like adults. Penny was a breath of fresh air.
Without his own relationship drama to bog him down, he became a really great leader, shepherding the group with focus and determination, while everyone else behaved like children.
You all look like you did a crime last night.
Penny
I also thought it was a little ridiculous that Alice and Penny slept together. There's nothing wrong with Alice having rebound sex, but did it have to be with Penny? It just seems a little incestuous and soap opera-esque that within this small group of friends, everyone has slept with one other.
And Quentin really shouldn't be angry with Eliot and Margo for what happened. They were all under the influence of intense emotions, and Quentin needs to take some accountability and be honest with himself.
As for Eliot and Margo, I'm sensing that something truly awful is in store for Eliot, given the way he's been behaving these past few episodes. He is still tortured by what he did to Mike, and is taking all sorts of drugs and alcohol to dull the pain.
Breaking formation was a near-miss; I get the feeling that next time, he won't be so lucky.
And now we have both Margo and Penny committing their first murders. Killing someone would probably lead to some sort of trauma, but with one episode left, there might be enough time to deal with their feelings about it.
What did you all think of this episode? Do you think Quentin and Alice are done for good? Will Eliot and Margo ever repair their friendship? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
And don't forget, you can watch The Magicians online anytime here at TV Fanatic!
