After such a stellar premiere for The Magicians season 3, it was painful to see the missteps in the latest episode, “Heroes and Morons.” Although the story moved forward and the quest was still enticing, the execution was haphazard and choppy, dramatically different from the tightly written premiere. The search for Mayakovsky’s battery and the first part of Eliot’s quest on After Island were particularly messy, overshadowing some more interesting elements, such as the lamprey’s pursuit or the always fun pop culture references from Eliot and Margo.
The Magicians is best, it seems, when it’s gracefully subtle or gloriously over the top. Just as it was last week, the idea that Alice is being pursued by the lamprey was wonderfully understated. When Alice acquires a kitten, we assume it’s part of her early warning system; we don’t need to be told. Although exploding kittens aren’t often seen outside of tabletop games, the passing construction worker tells us all we need to know, and ending the episode with Quentin being taken over by the lamprey was admirably unexpected. If only the rest of the episode had unfolded similarly.
Sadly, the introduction of the long-awaited Muntjac fizzled, and even seeing the omnipresent Roger Cross as its captain couldn’t jazz it up (in fact, Cross felt uncharacteristically out of place here). Making Bingle the swordsman almost an afterthought must have horrified the readers of The Magicians novels, even though his character will surely see more development later. The fact that Tick thinks the sentient ship is a bit of an asshole was the one bright spot, since it’s almost certain Eliot will both identify with and run afoul of the Heartwood at some point.
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