Picking up not long after last week’s “The Magicians” left off, we learn that the complication from Julia’s pregnancy being terminated is kind of a big deal. Kady and Penny team up to track down Reynard’s son while Quentin drops Julia off in Fillory with Margo to keep her safe in "Word as Bond."
Julia without her shade is completely different
That complication from Julia having an exorcism for the demigod growing inside her? Her shade was “nicked,” according to Kady. A magician’s shade, you might remember, is the part of them that allows them to have empathy for others as they utilize their magic.
In other words, it’s the emotional part of their magical life that makes them human. Having it amputated is one heck of a complication.
While Julia doesn’t seem to care what anyone around her thinks or does, she also seems a whole lot happier. Looks like the angry Julia hasn’t just been wallowing in her own feelings, but in the feelings she has about nearly everyone else. Has guilt been contributing to that huge weight she’s been feeling?
Summer Bishil turns out an amazing performance
Summer Bishil has always been great as Margo, but in “Word as Bond,” we get to see the many side of Margo. We see her disinterested and annoyed when Q decides Julia needs to stay in Fillory for her own good. We see the scheming and opportunistic when Julia proves her knowledge of Fillory useful to her.
But we also see her just on the verge of breaking down as she talks to a comatose Eliot about Fillory.
Bishil begins the scene as the usual Margo, ordering everyone else out as she prepares to speak with him. A few sentences into telling him that he has to come back though, her composure breaks. Bishil holds all of your attention as her voice wavers and she’s on the edge of completely falling apart, but she holds back from crumbling at the last second.
It’s a fantastic performance and gives us a great look at Margo. Likewise, her scene with Brittany Curran, promising to take care of Fen, no matter what, is riveting.
Kady doesn’t want to be Penny’s girlfriend
Kady and Penny have a complicated history to say the least. Them sleeping together last week has probably only further complicated things.
As Kady feels like their search for Reynard’s son has come to yet another dead end, she gets drunk and lashes out at Penny, telling him she doesn’t want to be with him, that she’s not his responsibility, and, oh yeah, she’s a junkie.
This scene plays very much like Kady lashing out because she’s hurting, and that’s fine, but I also don’t necessarily need to see Kady and Penny will-they-won’t-they long term. In fact, given what we’ve seen of all the characters, I’d be happier with Julia and Kady embarking on a romantic relationship instead. That being said, Penny’s “I love you, okay? Deal,” was pretty great.
Q and Niffin Alice don’t see eye to eye
Having the Niffin version of Alice in his head is getting to Q, and Penny can sense it.
Penny, who has always been able to get into Q’s head, knows that something is off, though he can’t put his finger on what it is. Niffin-Alice helps Q place wards on his mind to lock Penny out, but really, Penny is the least of Q’s problems. It appears that Niffin-Alice is looking for a way to reverse the process. She wants out of the box that is Q’s body, and she’ll do anything to get there. Lucky for Q, Penny gets inside of his head in the final moments of the episode to see that Alice is somehow in his head.
The verdict and what’s next
With Julia screwing things up for Fillory and Eliot awake, we know war is inevitable. The best parts of this episode though were Margo and Julia finally getting a little shared screen time, and I wish there was more of that.
4 out of 5 stars.
Next week, Julia, Kady, and Penny go on a search and Fillory heads to war in “Lesser Evils.”
