TV #6 of 2017:
The Magicians, season 1
This show’s writers made a lot of very smart choices when it came to adapting Lev Grossman’s book series, seamlessly weaving together plot points from the first two novels to create the arc for this season. Some of it was faithful adaptation, some of it was a remixing of elements from various parts of the books to create more compelling television, and some of it was entirely original. All throughout, though, it was a confident vision that I actually liked a lot better than the source material… right up until the last 20 minutes or so. The second half of the season finale was a complete shitshow, with most of the material being new, all of it being bad, and the one thing that was closest to the books being a rape scene that was originally from a different storyline and was 100% unnecessary both there and here. I’m gonna keep watching, since 1/26th of the season being awful isn’t really a bad metric (especially given the much spottier quality of the source material). But ugh. What a letdown after such a strong run.
★★★★☆
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