The Magicians 2X09 “Lesser Evils” Review

A Les Misérables inspired battle cry, an unholy bargain, and a heartbreaking betrayal in The Magicians 2X09 “Lesser Evils”

Ever since we saw the teasers for this week’s “Lesser Evils” episode, we’ve been waiting for the musical scene with Eliot and the rest of the Fillorian high court.  It has finally arrived, and we can’t say enough about it.  Sadly, it was the only ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark episode that left us battered and broken.  

In Fillory, Eliot and Margo are consulting with their high court as to the best course of action in the impending war with Loria.  The magic sloth suggests a duel between kings as a way to resolve it with less bloodshed.  Unfortunately, Margo reminds her friend that he doesn’t know the first thing about dueling, and when he discovers that the Lorian king has fourteen kills under his belt, he begins to panic.  Luckily, Fen presents him with a magic sword, enchanted with a spell specifically for a king, and between that and a rip-roaring rendition of “One More Day” from Les Misérables, he heads off for his duel.  Margo makes a deal with the fairies to fix the wellspring before her friend is killed, but when Eliot has found a very Eliot way of winning the war, she knows she’s in trouble.

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Meanwhile, Julia, Kady, and Penny have located Senator John Gaines, the demigod son of Reynard.  After showing up to his office unannounced and revealing their magical abilities, Julia tries to kill him to harness his energy, unleashing his power for just a moment to stop her.  He passes out and is kidnapped by the trio instead and locked in a closet back at Brakebills.  When Reynard comes looking for him, a brownout allows him to bypass the extensive security wards.  Julia confronts him with Quentin in tow, throwing him out for slaughter – unless he agrees to release niffin Alice.  He stands his ground, and Kady and Penny arrive in time to watch as Reynard teleports John away.  Julia wakes up later in a clean room, unable to use magic, and discovers Kady has put her there.  

Now that Quentin’s secret is out, Dean Fogg locks him in a cage to prevent niffin Alice from using his body to create more chaos.  The brownouts of magic interferes with Professor Lipson’s healing spells, so her patient is left to slowly die with every minute that his body contains Alice.  While the others leave to deal with the Fillorian war and to find Reynard’s son, the blond niffin considers a deal with Julia to kill Reynard during the time she controls Quentin’s body.  When Julia offers up Quentin to Reynard as a way to free Alice and kill Reynard, however, he refuses to give in.  Tired of constantly fighting with her and on the brink of both insanity and death, Quentin finally releases her.  Judging by the look she gives him before flying away, it was not a good decision.

This week’s episode stayed true to its name, and we’re completely at a loss for how things will fix themselves.  So that history doesn’t repeat itself, why don’t we put on a stiff upper lip and see what went wrong?

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Apparently fairies can fix anything, but only at an unimaginable cost

With the brownouts from the wellspring happening more often, the repair efforts by the Fillorians are just not doing the trick.  With Eliot’s impending duel depending on consistent magic, Margo (Summer Bishil) demands to know how she can guarantee his safety.  The magical sloth reports through Rafe (Sergio Osuna) that there is only one way – a bargain with the fairies.  Margo jumps on the idea despite the warnings that the magical beings are notoriously demanding, and insists that they reach out for a face-to-face meeting.  Just when a brownout lands Eliot in a tree and the king trying to chop it down, Margo meets with the fairies’ ambassador.  Unfortunately, she is told they want a terrifying trade – Fen’s baby to be given to them and raised as a fairy.  The High Queen reluctantly convinces Fen to agree without actually telling her anything, and the fairies hold up their end of the deal.  

Margo: “Fairies?  Do I know about the fairies?”

Rafe: “They exist outside our realm, they can be contacted, and they have great powers.”

Margo: “Well can they fix the wellspring?”

Rafe: “Almost certainly.”

Margo: “Guys, the fuck!”

Rafe: “Uh, fairies are notoriously…mercurial?”

Margo: “Have you met your king?”

Rafe: “They make complex deals with steep prices, and…”

Margo: “Yeah, give me a meeting!”

We’re not going to lie, we screamed at our televisions when Margo agreed to the deal.  She was just starting to make some headway in learning to rule, and this was a huge step backwards.  We get it – Eliot is her beloved friend, but the fact that she just finished promising Fen to protect them both makes this all the more painful.  She doesn’t even give Fen a real chance to decide.  Instead, she resorts to old Margo ways and manipulates her way into success.  Well, now that the war is (sort of) over, she will face the consequences of her actions and possibly lose the one person she was trying to hold on to all along.  Even if Eliot forgives her, won’t that cause a rift between the two of them and Fen?  If this drives Fen back into the arms of the FU fighters, they will all be in danger…

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Julia goes too far, and even her best bitch can’t defend her anymore

We’ve already seen that Shade-less Julia is self-serving and single-minded in her ruthlessness, but this week she really upped the ante.  After being busted out of the dungeon by Penny and Kady, they end up in Senator John Gaines’ office.  Julia is quick to reveal her magical power, but when he is reluctant to believe her, she pulls out a knife.  Julia then reveals that her plan was always to kill John (Christopher Gorham) to release the intense energy of the demigod’s death and capture it to use against his father.  When she is foiled, she then approaches niffin Alice during her time in Quentin’s body to convince her to kill him for her.  When Reynard (Mackenzie Austin) breaches Brakebill during a brownout, she gives him up to the god and insists he save himself by releasing Alice.  When he refuses and Reynard takes John with him instead, Kady locks her up in a clean room.

Kady: “It’s called the clean room – no magic.”

Julia: “Did you put a sleeping spell on me?  Open this door!”

Kady: “I’ve been trying to understand you.  At least that’s what I thought.  What I’ve really been doing is trying to make excuses to you, but I can’t anymore. Not after what you did to Quentin today.”  

Julia: “But he’s fine, right?”

Kady: “That’s just luck, and you know it!  You fed him to Reynard.”

Julia: “He knew how to survive.”

Kady: “Yeah, by doing what you want!  That’s all you see anymore, is what you want.  You don’t feel anymore, Julia, not the way a human does.  It’s not your fault. I hope we can figure something out, but until then, this is it for you.”

Trust us when we say that we were rooting for Julia’s nightmare to end as much as the next guy, but this is not how we wanted it to happen.  When Julia (Stella Maeve) goes to negotiate with Alice (Olivia Taylor Dudley), we saw how both women had become twisted by magic.  Quentin (Jason Ralph) is trapped between two people he loves, and neither could care less if he lives or dies.   Jason Ralph’s brief scene playing niffin Alice tickled us pink, and we definitely saw the little gestures and intonations that Olivia Taylor Dudley uses. Stella Maeve is so convincing as the vengeful Julia that we tense every time she appears on screen, dreading whatever move she makes next.  In the end, Julia’s behavior directly affects his ultimate decision to let Alice go, because all he got for his valiant efforts was a twice broken heart.  All we know is, we haven’t seen the last of her, and we know Julia’s already plotting her next step for how to kill Reynard.

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Despite his early belief in his ability to win the duel, Margo’s revelation that King Idri (Leonard Roberts) has won all fourteen of his prior fights pokes a very large hole in his ego.  Even with his magical sword and swordsmith spell from Fen’s grandfather, Eliot is extremely worried about what will happen should he lose.  Margo reminds him that sometimes all one needs is a good battle cry, or in this case, battle song, and she tuts a spell that starts up the music to Les Misérables’ “One More Day,” a song that seems rather apropos given the situation.  Not only does the High King break into song, but one by one the rest of the court joins in as well.  The Fillorian delegation arrives at the agreed upon spot for the duel as they finish the last lines of the song, leaving King Idri confused and Prince Ess (Arlen Escarpeta) mildly entertained.  

Eliot: “…The sword’s good, the spell makes me great, but is it enough? If I lose, forget me, all of you are dead or in prison.  Why didn’t I see how huge this is?  I’m – I’m scared, for all of us.”

Margo: “You know what I’m thinking about?  That video of you showed me of your high school production of Les Mis.  You were such a great Valjean.”

Eliot:” “Uh, I was alright at the matinees.  Evenings I’d agree, I scaled the heights, but – what’s your point?”

Margo: “Well, all this reading I’ve been doing on war, I keep coming across soldiers who sing before going into battle.”

Eliot: “To avoid throwing up with fear?”

Margo: “And build confidence, yes. Projected power to destabilize the enemy.  So give me.”

Eliot: “What?”

Margo: “The big number.”

Considering the darkness that hung over the rest of the episode, we were really grateful that John McNamara convinced Sera Gamble to include the scene.  We knew that the executive directors and writers love their musical numbers, as evidenced by the ear candy that was Charles Mesure and the K-Pop disco ball, so this was just another great moment.  As McNamara stated in an interview with TVLine,

“It really felt like there was a moment in the script that needed to take Eliot from being terrified to being willing to fight for his kingdom.  If you’ve ever sung in a big group, it kind of fills you with courage you didn’t know you had.”

We wholeheartedly agree that the words of the song (or at least the part that Margo included, anyway) fit perfectly, even down to the unspoken tension between Fen and Margo for Eliot’s affection.  It was also a great way to showcase Hale Appleman’s beautiful tenor voice, as well as an equally stunning performance by Brittany Curran.  This was a brilliant way to move the plot along while giving us as the audience a little reprieve from the drama.

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Final Verdict: The Magicians 2X09 “Lesser Evils” gave us a shining musical moment but also filled us with dread for what’s to come

Yes, we know, drama is what makes the world go round, but we had to sit back and take a moment after the events of “Lesser Evils.”  The teasers did not prepare us for the horror that filled the rest of this episode, but it made us all the more grateful for the rip-roaring musical number involving the Fillorian court.  We were blessed with the musical talents of Appleman and Curran, but also powerful performances by Summer Bishil, Jade Tailor, and Stella Maeve.  We also can’t get over the costume design by Magali Guidasci (especially all of Margo’s outfits).  It set us up for the end of season two (too soon!) by introducing the main conflicts that will need to be resolved.  So, despite the amount of betrayal and unhappiness we saw this week, we’re definitely invested in continuing to watch!

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There are so many loose ends that have to be tied up in the last four episodes of the season.  For one, as we already have mentioned, what is going to happen between Eliot, Margo, and Fen with the fairy deal hanging over the trio?  Julia may be imprisoned for now, but she’ll figure out how to manipulate her way out, won’t she?  Why did John go with Reynard?! What’s going to happen to him?

Speaking of which, we have a bone to pick about that.  Considering that less than twenty four hours before, the senator had no idea about the magical world around him, he was very quick to go with Reynard.  We can’t imagine that a rational man would just take Reynard’s word right after refusing to believe our magicians.  We suppose we could assume that he went with him to keep everyone else safe, but it just didn’t seem to be that simple.  Also, how come the wards didn’t protect Kady and Julia from the freezing spell?  

Nonetheless, “Lesser Evils” was still pretty strong given its flaws.  While not quite as tightly done as some of the earlier episodes, it also had to cover a lot more ground.  We have to give Elle Lipson, John McNamara, and the rest of the writing team props for giving each conflict its distinct space, while still managing to weave them together in the details.  Hale Appleman was not only phenomenal in his lead singing role, but also expertly guided Eliot through the final emotional stages of owning his title.  We really felt his uncertainty and determination, and raised our fists in support when he hit the battlefield.

“Lesser Evils” was exactly that – an episode that gave each of our magicians two terrible choices to make.  For some, like Eliot and Fen, their decisions paid off and brought them a little closer to their goal.  For others, such as Julia, Quentin, and Margo, their actions will have far-reaching consequences for themselves and all those around them.  The Magicians has shown us the dark side of magic, and we have a suspicion that happy endings are not in the cards for everyone.

It seems The Magicians have enchanted us with their penchant for musical numbers, drool worthy costumes, and amazing cast.  We admit we’re still a little more than exhausted from riding the emotional roller coaster of this episode, though.  Thankfully, we have a week to recover, and then we’ll be right back in our seats with our popcorn made and our tissues ready for when things hit the fan!

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Our poor babies!  Let’s distract ourselves with questions…

• How will Julia get out of the clean room?  We know she still wants Reynard’s head.
• Should we be super worried that now both trickster god and demigod son are together at last?
• Will Margo own up to her mistake?  Will she try to lie her way out of things?
• Speaking of which, will Eliot ever forgive her?  What about Fen?
• Can Fen deal with the idea of sharing her husband with yet another person?
• Will Fen be driven back into the arms of the FU fighter?  Speaking of which, is he still in the dungeon?
• What do the fairies want with Eliot and Fen’s child?
• Who didn’t love Margo’s royal blue battle dress??
• Can you imagine how good a singer Eliot and Fen’s child will be?
• Just exactly how do you get sexually transmitted lycanthropy?

The Magicians returns next Wednesday March 29th, 2017 at 9/8C on Syfy.