With the tension mounting, it’s a tough, emotional ride this week, in The Magicians episode 5 of Season 4: ‘Escape from the Happy Place’. The following contains some SPOILERS!
After only really getting to see the Monster, rather than Eliot (Hale Appleman) so far this season, this episode was a chance to finally experience what has been going on inside his mind. As teased at the end of the last episode, we now know that Eliot is trapped inside a corner of his mind, and not dead as the Monster has claimed. Unfortunately for everyone, they don’t have any proof of life and so all begin their own grieving process, while Eliot strives to tell them he’s still alive.
What this means is that we get a whole episode of great Eliot scenes and dialogue, both from his whimsical side, but also from the melancholy, emotional depths. At first, we see a series of memories from his past at Brakebills, mostly with Margo (Summer Bishil), where he is generally hosting parties. We also see him interacting with Todd (Adam DiMarco) and learn that Todd’s real name is also Eliot, and that it was Eliot that got him to use his middle name instead. Throughout these reveries, there is an insistent knock at the door, which turns out to be Charlton (Spencer Daniels), the previous host of the Monster.
Charlton turns up because the Physical Kids house at Brakebills, where Eliot is having his reveries, is the only safe place in his mind, and outside there are creatures that will kill them. He also tells Eliot that it is possible to resurface and tell his friends he’s alive, by finding a door, which exists in a repressed memory. Normally this memory is hidden in the place that the person least wishes to remember. We therefore get an emotional ride through Eliot’s deepest regrets and painful moments, although not as many of the farm upbringing as I was expecting, given his comments in the past! There are also some great gags in here, not only verbal ones, but also visual ones, like some of the items on the chalkboard, as they try to narrow down the right memory.
Elsewhere, the impact of the news of Eliot’s ‘death’, is taking a serious toll, and Fen (Brittany Curran) seems the most affected, while Margo charges onward trying to keep it together; she later admits to Fen that if she allowed herself to cry, she would never stop. This is all played with a brilliant balance, giving both extreme emotional moments, but also humour, showcasing the actors and the writing. Mysteriously, strange things are happening in Fillory, with all the talking animals suddenly becoming silent, but no one really has the energy to look into that right now. No doubt this will be a plot point which comes back to be a key portent later.
Outside of Eliot’s mind, the Monster is up to his usual tricks, and needs to figure out what to do with the body parts he’s harvesting, enlisting Quentin (Jason Ralph), Julia (Stella Maeve), and Shoshana (Jolene Purdy) to help. Julia however, has been contacted by Iris (Madisen Beaty) who threatens to kill her unless she paralyses the Monster using blood from a ‘life stone’. With Julia unable to perform magic, Q then takes that on, while Julia and Shoshana distract the Monster by helping him look up the markings on the body parts. This would be a fairly mundane bit of story, if it weren’t for the arrival of Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley), who has read about Quentin’s death in his book, and is trying to save him. The dynamic here is still very much placed in a grey area, with Quentin not having forgiven her, despite loving her, and Alice still in morally ambiguous territory having just sent Christopher Plover (Charles Shaughnessy) deliberately into the wrong fountain. As we have come to expect with The Magicians, nothing is ever clear cut, or simple, and that ambiguity on top of the emotional conflict and pain they each feel is excellently realised.
What is a little strange this episode is the question of where Kady (Jade Tailor) is? I have a feeling this is a question that gets asked every so often and usually there is a good explanation, so hopefully that will be the case again. This season, after a strong start, she has been missing for two episodes, which is odd, as no one is asking after her! At least Josh (Trevor Einhorn) gets a mention on screen, even if we don’t see him. Similarly, Penny (Arjun Gupta) is pretty much sidelined in this story, although it does look like one of his scenes will kick off a serious plot development in the future.
Despite those minor quibbles, this was an intense ride through the emotions for most of the characters, and had some nice throwbacks to previous episodes, including last season’s masterpiece ‘A Life in the Day’. As an action light episode, it was a nice change and was rich in depth and character. It also sets up the rest of season with most of the main characters in play, including Alice, who is no longer segregated. As ever, The Magicians shows us a different side, and delivers it perfectly.
