Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

The Magicians: Season Three Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 18, 2018

If anyone is considering, for whatever reason, jumping into The Magicians with season three...don’t. It’ll be an exercise in frustration. But that’s a given with nearly any show, at least one that builds and works through a single arcing narrative and various subplot constructs that have their origins much earlier in the run and promise to build towards future endeavors. But for those who have been with The Magicians through both seasons one and two, season three is a treat. Its multi-tentacled narratives not only work through established ideas and loose plot threads but weave new directions for the show to take through this 13-episode arc and beyond. It’s never shy about either looking back or hinting at the future, overtly and subtly, while season three looks to bring magic back to Brakebills and build towards the future for a fourth season that was recently ordered to air next year.

Spoilers appear below.

There is no shortage of plot lines to follow as season three opens. Magic has disappeared, and it's not been an easy transition for those who wield it. Julia (Stella Maeve) oddly remains able to wield it -- limitedly -- and the search for answers why occupy her, Quentin (Jason Ralph), and Josh (Trevor Einhorn), and they seek none other than the gods themselves for answers. Penny (Arjun Gupta) is still fighting an aggressive form of cancer while keeping up with his duties in the library. And with everything going on, Brakebills is in danger of shuttering for good and the fairies, under the rule of the Queen (Candis Cayne), have sized control of the magic-less Fillory. Eliot (Hale Appleman) receives a quest from "The Great Cock" (Faran Tahir) to kickstart the process of battling back the fairy occupation that will require highly coordinated tactics -- and bunnies -- between this world and Fillory to make it a successful venture.

Season three is arguably the finest yet, but it has its ups and downs. It's sometimes a bit too self absorbed, occasionally too concerned with working in pop culture references, and it's sometimes a little too complex for its, and the audience's, own good. But the story proper, all the arcs, all the character growth, everything that makes a season a season and The Magicians a compelling and entertaining show work in harmonized synchronicity in a way that builds on the previous two seasons, honors the source writing, and forges a unique path and identity for the show going forward. The season-long plot line is not resolved in a nice and tidy manner, and that is to be expected, par for the course so far through three seasons yet still fresh and engaging in its structural predictability. The show is beautifully messy, with complex and convoluted character paths, interactions, comings, and goings that not only satisfy the need for end-of-season fulfillment but shake up the landscape yet again -- something that The Magicians is unafraid of doing -- that promises another wild, and hopefully just as funny and well-versed, ride in season four.

The following episodes comprise season three. The rather terse (and humorously so) summaries are courtesy of the Blu-ray packaging.

Disc One:

• The Tales of the Seven Keys: Quentin and Julia sing hip hop.
• Heroes and Morons: Alice gets a cat.
• The Losses of Magic: Margo talks to a boat.
• Be the Penny: Penny can't turn off a lamp.
• A Life in the Day: Quentin and Eliot eat fruit.

Disc Two:

• Do You Like Teeth?: Quentin annoys himself. Felicia Day guest stars.
• Poached Eggs: Todd fails at his job. Eliot and Margo take a carriage ride.
• Six Short Stories About Magic: Penny spoils Game of Thrones.
• All that Josh: Kady teaches music history.

Disc Three:

• The Art of the Deal: Fen discovers emojis.
• Twenty-Three: Josh gets a sweet new jacket. Alice stacks boxes.
• The Fillorian Candidate: Margo befriends a bear.
• Will You Play with Me?: The gang takes a trip.

The Magicians: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Magicians: Season Three conjures up a well-rounded, but certainly imperfect, 1080p transfer framed at the broadcast 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The entire season is fairly dark with some bursts of more forgiving light here and there, but generally it's just different degrees of "dark." Black levels are a strength, maintaining integrity and depth in darker corners. Crush is kept to an agreeable minimum, and what's here is at least tonally complimentary to various scenes, particularly in terms of stylistic tone and the feel and flavor of any given scene or sequence or even entire episodes. The image does reveal some banding, at times, though it's largely unobtrusive. Colors are well saturated as they're prominent enough to matter, which is most of the show, even in low light. Clothing is full and nicely saturated, exteriors reveal enough firm and balanced punch to please, and flesh tones satisfy though they can vary, of course, based on location and lighting circumstances which can push them warm, cold, or lightly gray or even slightly green. The digitally sourced image is a little flat and smooth. Essential skin textures are adequately revealing. Clothes are suitably sharp and environments are generally crisp but complexity is certainly not at format pinnacle. A good example is character hair, where there's often not a significant level of fine, individual strand detail to be seen. Overall clarity is quite good; there are no signifiant examples of unsharp objects, even at distance. Light noise interferes but never rises to a level of distraction. This is a good overall image that's largely in-line with previous seasons.

The Magicians: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Magicians: Season Three's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers a quality listening experience, though one that is not necessarily of pristine, absolute excellence. It's fairly unassuming, really, a talk-heavy track with modest atmospherics and occasional bursts of activity to break up the monotony. More prominent effects, such as big swirling sounds and rising energy during key moments, extend into the back and engage the subwoofer as necessary, creating fairly convincing bursts of activity that punctuate key moments throughout the season. There are some positive atmospherics here and there across various locales and a nice weight to the airship as it moves about. Musical definition is fine, playing with good front-side width but not a massive amount of surround content. Dialogue has a mild boom to it but is otherwise well defined, clear, and seamlessly integrated with good prioritization and firm front-center placement.

The Magicians: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Magicians: Season Three contains one supplement, a gag reel (1080p, 6:27), on disc three. No DVD or digital versions are included, but the release does ship with a nifty embossed slipcover.

The Magicians: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Season three is the most complex and convoluted but also the most rewarding and arguably the most enjoyable and humorous yet. It begins with most everyone in trouble and ends with a substantial turn for nearly everyone involved in the story, setting the table for a fourth season that has quite some large shoes to fill if it's going to match the insane excellence of this third season. Universal's three-disc Blu-ray set is nearly featureless, but video and audio remain good-quality series stalwarts. Recommended in conjunction with seasons one and two.