Frank Rawland

I read Lev Grossman's three "Magicians" books in 2015 and had liked them well enough, but not as much as I'd wanted to like them. SyFy's adaptation was an accidental discovery I thought I might indulge for a few episodes or perhaps a season. Now, after binging all five seasons I feel bereft there won't be more. It won me over, unequivocally and unambivalently. I love what SyFy did with the material. It didn't replicate the books point by point, it took all the relevant concepts and reimagined them, cut them up and reassembled them, broadened and deepened them, in the process filling holes that hadn't caught my attention before. The most crucial change is that instead of focusing on one central character and an assortment of side characters, the show deftly turns them into an ensemble. Quentin Coldwater is arguably still the spiritual center, but Alice, Eliot, Janet (renamed Margo Hanson), Julia, Penny, Josh, and Dean Henry Fogg are all fleshed out and given more back story. In some cases, a lot more. As if that weren't enough, there are pivotal additions like Kady Orlof-Diaz and Fen who have no direct analog in the books. Bringing it all to life is an outstanding cast. I'd never heard of Jason Ralph (Quentin), Stella Maeve (Julia), Olivia Taylor Dudley (Alice), Hale Appleman (Eliot), Summer Bishil (Janet/Margo), Arjun Gupta (Penny), and Rick Worthy (Henry Fogg) before this show. They aren't just picking up a paycheck. They inhabit their roles with conviction. (In Fogg's case had to throw away the book's description of him as having a "mild, open face and thin blond hair," as well as blue eyes. Nope, that's wrong. Fogg is a black man, a middle aged, care worn alcoholic who nevertheless carries himself with a measure of rectitude and dignity). Sad as I am to have The Magicians end, I look forward to seeing what they do in the years to come.