As we reach the penultimate episode, the songs are back in The Magicians, in episode 12: The Balls.  This review contains SPOILERS!

As is the case every year, The Magicians goes musical theatre, with the plot being infused with song.  This is normally handled pretty well, and isn’t too jarring, as there is a reason slotted into the storyline to justify it.  This year, it’s the use of a particular spell that makes some sense, and doesn’t stretch credulity too far.

In comparison to some years though, this musical episode is a bit more downbeat than some of the more bombastic affairs we’ve had previously.  This may be because everyone is staring at the end of the show and wanting to wrap things up, but there is also quite a natural ebb in the character arcs at this point.  If there is a criticism this year though, it is that the song choices and their effectiveness aren’t as successful as previous years.  They don’t seem to fully ‘bed in’ to the show, and sit on top a little too much.  On one hand, the feeling of separation is probably a sound mix issue, but thematically it didn’t quite gel either.

On the plus side, we get a lot more of Marina (Kacey Rohl) this time, including some highlights alongside Zelda (Mageina Tovah).  There could have easily been a future for these two in an awkward buddy sitcom, as there’s a nice spark between them and lots of contrasts to play with.  Tovah and Rohl play with these dynamics and shine.

THE MAGICIANS — “The Balls” Episode 512 — Pictured: (l-r) Meera Simhan as Neela, Stella Maeve as Julia Wicker — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)

There are also some interesting scenes with Penny (Arjun Gupta) and Julia (Stella Maeve) as they track down Penny’s mother Neela (Meera Simhan). This gives us a lot more backstory about Penny, and we discover some more details about the type of issues that Julia’s pregnancy will bring up. With so little time left in the season though, we are unlikely to fully get the story payoffs that Neela’s lack of knowledge of magic suggests.

THE MAGICIANS — “The Balls” Episode 512 — Pictured: Arjun Gupta as Penny Adiyodi — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)

Aside from that, plot wise, this episode is mainly concerned with the heist, where they will steal the world seed.  They need to infiltrate a secure hotel where The Couple (Geoffrey Arend and Carmela Zumbado) are staying, with Marina directing operations from the apartment.  While this could easily have been given the standard Mission Impossible style treatment, their solution for how to communicate is what sets this on the very Magicians tangent.  They end up using a spell created by a conductor to communicate with his orchestra, and it’s this which prompts the bouts of singing when their emotions run high.

THE MAGICIANS — “The Balls” Episode 512 — Pictured: (l-r) Brittany Curran as Fen, Trevor Einhorn as Josh Hoberman, Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice Quinn, Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson, Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh, Jade Tailor as Kady Orloff-Diaz — (Photo by: Jeff Weddell/SYFY)

As you’d expect, things occur which mean that they each need to let their emotions run free at some point or other to get past a problem.  Luckily this is handled fairly well, and doesn’t seem gratuitous or unusual.  We therefore get a scene between Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley) and Eliot (Hale Appleman), where Eliot helps Alice through her pain, and includes Bowie’s ‘Afraid’, and ‘Don’t Give Up’ by Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush.  There has been a lot of character development over the years between these two, especially compared to the first season, and they’ve come a long way.  It was nice to see this moment and show how much things have changed.

THE MAGICIANS — “The Balls” Episode 512 — Pictured: (l-r) Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh, Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice Quinn — (Photo by: James Dittiger/SYFY)

Elsewhere, we get other songs, including Nick Lowe’s ‘Cruel to be Kind’ from Sir Effingham (Sean Maguire), which kicks off a whole Glee style dance affair.  In the tail end of the show, the whole ensemble also end up singing The Ramones ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’, although the sound mix steals the power behind the track, leaving the vocals hanging far above a distantly quiet band underneath.  Not even the great voice of Jade Tailor can save it.

THE MAGICIANS — “The Balls” Episode 512 — Pictured: (l-r) Brittany Curran as Fen, Trevor Einhorn as Josh Hoberman, Olivia Taylor Dudley as Alice Quinn, Summer Bishil as Margo Hanson, Hale Appleman as Eliot Waugh, Jade Tailor as Kady Orloff-Diaz — (Photo by: Jeff Weddell/SYFY)

While this is clearly not the best musical episode they’ve ever done, there is a lot to enjoy here.  The character scenes are well done, and there is an abundance of typical Magicians humour on display.  More ‘minor’ characters get some good scenes, including the always underused Fen (Brittany Curran), and the aforementioned Marina and Zelda.  Generally it feels a little like things are petering out, rather than going out with a bang, which is a shame.  Hopefully, the last episode will be explosive and give this amazing series the end it truly deserves.