It's Bigger On The Inside discussion

^ Would be my reaction to watching episode two of The Magicians tonight.

I had zero intention of watching the show and was instead showing my Mom the Scientology documentary when the first episode aired. (My Mom was watching Grease and I suggested she see Travolta's best performance - being brainwashed by a cult.) When that was done, I saw one of my friends had been texting me through the show asking questions, knowing I'd read the book, but didn't know how I had once expressed eating the main character's goose liver as being preferable to reading him speak another line.

The show is so insanely different, it upsets me. Of course you expect it to be different - it *has* to be in order for the show to succeed. Quentin is SO likable. He is quiet and caring, and actually treats women with respect. Elliot is charming and voluntarily becomes Quentin's mentor from day one. Alice is Alice - mysterious and powerful, but not cliched. EVERYONE IS SO LIKABLE.

Oh, but Penny? Maybe the one somewhat relatable character, because he was an outcast and had try to be half as good as Alice - and probably because he disappeared for half of the book, he is the antagonist. Where in the book his punk appearance was clearly for show (like most teenagers), it's for real in the show. He is this real rebel exuding confidence and sleeping with this other punk girl who was invented by the show writers, and he hears voices and is dark and is clearly being geared towards "OMGZ he wants to be in league with The Beast", etc. When he punches Quentin in the school yard, you sympathize with Quentin, whereas when you read it in the book you shrugged thinking, "Eh, he deserved it."

Oh, and there's like tons of super magic. Everyone can fly and read minds from day one. I had to tell my friend, "Yeah, in the book all they did in Year One was move a marble." That's not compelling TV, obv, and I am in favor of them having super powers. That's the thing - the show is good.

I haven't even mentioned how Julia has a big role - we see what she was up to after she was rejected (I'm sure this subplot is probably only mentioned in Book Two), and IT IS INTERESTING. Or it's goddamn something at least when there was a whole lot of nothing going on at Brakebills. There's this whole other rebel world of magicians in Manhattan that she gets involved in, and it's tying into what's going on at Brakebills.

What's going at Brakebills is all over the place in terms of the book, but it works and it's better. It upsets me that the professors and students alike are already aware that there are other worlds and realms, and Quentin can just go to his professor and talk about this freely, and they respond, and there's more depth! The professors weren't even surprised when The Beast showed up. (I will say, how they handled that scene is the only time I liked the book better.) There's mystery and camaraderie that wasn't present in the novel.

Lev Grossman wrote one episode and it was the first episode that I missed. I am glad. I felt his absence in this second episode.

IDK, this is just a whole new feeling for me to see an adaptation of a book that I didn't like made into something better; but for that, it's actually almost equally unbearable to watch because it upsets me. I had to vent it here, because only you two would understand!

I doubt I will continue watching, or maybe I will. It's on SyFy (though it is good production), and will probably only last two seasons. I still want to punch Quentin in the face and think his goose liver would go well with some chianti and fava beans.

It is so interesting to see a book you hate be turned into something decent. I usually hate watching adaptations of most of the books I read and never am pleased by it. This sounds like it could be the exception.

HOWEVER, I too would be wanting to rave and rant when watching it and telling the world how stupid Quentin is and how the book is nothing like the show.

I laughed out loud at your marble comment. It is so true that TV would have to change a lot of the monotony of the book to make it likable, but it shouldn't even be based on the books then. GROSSman probably thinks he is a genius and super cool now for having a show based off his books, but the show sounds like its own entity, so he shouldn't be proud. His book had such promise, which SyFy saw, and then they decided to improve it. I can only imagine how annoying the first episode is if he wrote it.

I am glad you witnessed it, so you could report back. If it ever enters Netflix realm then I may watch an episode just to scoff at it and text you two in the middle of the night about how much I hate it.

My one co-worker is named Quentin and it really kills me to say his name, because all I think of is whiny Magician's Quentin.