MovieChat Forums > The Magicians (2015) Discussion > Every Single Character Sucks (Spoilers)

Every Single Character Sucks (Spoilers)

posted 8 years ago by britmiester05
14 replies | jump to latest

I just finished season 1 on Netflix, and I must say that I've never been more intrigued by a show where every character is basically unlikeable in every way. Literally, every character is sucky...yet, I enjoyed this season immensely. It's very puzzling.

Q: I found his total lack of confidence in every aspect of his life (except for Fillory, of course) to be oddly endearing at first but, after the 3rd episode or so, it was so overwhelming that I just wanted to reach through the screen and shake him. That, and his random bouts of 'high and mighty-ness' made him a hot mess that I couldn't stand by the end of the series.

Julia: She traps her so-called best friend in a mental hospital (within his mind) and makes him think he's going crazy...knowing good and well that he's struggled with feeling crazy his whole entire life and has been in and out of mental hospitals since he was 16. This almost kills him. Sometime later, she writes him an "apology" letter saying that she's sorry, but he hurt her by not trying to get her into a school that already denied her because they felt she wasn't impressive enough. Fail.

Penny: I believe the word I'm looking for is "douche". For whatever reason, he immediately takes a disliking to Q and makes it blatantly obvious for the whole entire season...not only through his continual verbal smack down of Q, but also through his actions. He steals Q's book, spills beer on it, then throws it away, yet continuously lies about it, saying he never took it, for over half the season. Then, he has sex with Alice, fully knowing how Q felt about her seeing as though he's a psychic.

Alice: Convinces the gang to help her contact her brother, which results in the Beast coming to Earth through a portal, which results in him wreaking havoc and rendering the Dean of the school sightless and handless. Even still, she wants to keep trying to contact her brother... and eventually succeeds, finding out that he's no longer himself, but a magic fueled maniac. He tries to kill her, Quentin saves her by capturing her brother, and she tells him to F off. And oh yeah, she has sex with the guy who openly mocks and makes fun of the guy she has feelings for because he made a mistake when he was basically drugged and not in full control over his emotions/actions.

Margo/El: I'm just gonna lump these two together because that's how irrelevant they are to me. Two supposed "cool kids" who try waaayy too hard to be cool and are so emotionally and psychologically co-dependent on one another that they should both seek therapy...individually, though.

Kady: Honestly, she's probably the least sucky one of all to me. She has that played out "tortured, sexy, bad girl" thing going on which is annoying...but at least she has the capacity to forgive and take responsibility for her actions, which is more than I can say for any of the other characters.

I'm honestly dumbfounded by how many times I wanted to throat punch each and every character, yet...I still liked it??

[–] tbgoku182 8 years ago

I agree with you 100 percent. This has to be one of the most recent shows I've watched in which I don't like none of the main characters. But at the same time...it's makes the show more watchable. Hopefully season 2 will have some major character development.

[–] dalisasmith 8 years ago

Totally. But I LOVE the show. I think it's because they ARE so much more like real people than what tv shows contrive real people to be like. I guess that's the best way I can sum it up. There is not one single one of my friends who doesn't annoy me at some point. But I love them. And I don't judge them. That is this show for me. I LOVE it. Even when Q and Elliott are annoying me and I wanna take them to wake the F up I'm also understanding that they are NOT perfect in any way. :-)

[–] kiemic20-570-6655 8 years ago

No one in this show is like a real person. NO ONE.

[–] levoices 8 years ago

It was absolutely crappy that Julia trapped Quentin because she didn't understand the magic she was using as you can see when they tell her reversing it is difficult. Same with when Quentin summoned The Beast and Julia Reynard. That seems to be the point though that seeking to perform magic without understanding is dangerous. All the characters also exhibit selfishness at various points but also caring for others. Julia was the most natural magician though and was supppsed to pass the exam but they purposefully failed her in this time loop to see if that could allow the beast to be defeated.

[–] darthbalzzz 8 years ago

I couldn't agree more. Seems like the people that are supposed to be the villains have higher moral standards than the protagonists.

[–] lwarner2005 8 years ago

I'm not detecting the lie in anything you wrote. I almost never enjoy shows, movies, books, etc. when I don't feel connected to the characters. I love character driven stories. For me, I think that's part of the reason that I still like this show. Parts of this show are still, to some degree, character driven. I wouldn't say that it's completely character driven, but who these people are and the pain that fuels their power and motivates their actions is the cornerstone of their stories. So while I don't feel personally connected to any of them (I too have wanted to punch most of them in the face at some point), I can still see the connection that they have to one another, and it's interesting, albeit highly dysfunctional. There's also the fact that I love fantasy stories, and generally speaking, I want to love those types of stories in and of themselves. So, I tend to give them a lot more room for error than I would give to the average drama set in hum drum, everyday life. So yeah, the combination of character drama, even unlikable character drama, and fantasy are still a recipe for a decently watchable show.

[–] apixielife-ms 8 years ago

Ive watched 4 episodes and cannot understand how it has 5 stars. I greatly dislike the show. The cast, the writting, the cheap barely magic tricks, not to leave out the constant nagging and winning of Q. I would not rate it even 1 star if I could. Cancel the show.

[–] misc614 8 years ago

Completely agree. I came to this board especially to see if anyone else hated Quentin as much as I did.

[–] Neechie 8 years ago

I completely agree, but I think them being so flawed makes a scyfy show a little more "believable" dare I say it. It makes me care about the characters more, not less. Their pain/ issues helps them do magic, so showing them as such, doesn't bother me.

They are all flawed characters, but I don't want to punch them, I like them. Because the "hero" is not a hero, the cool kids are just pretending to be cool, etc.

Oh... Hai   