The Magicians boss says final musical episode is 'the biggest one we’ve done'
The Magicians hopes to top itself with its latest and final musical episode.
"It's probably the biggest one we've done," The Magicians co-showrunner (and resident musical lover) John McNamara tells EW about the showstopper, which is also the Syfy drama's penultimate episode ever. "It's probably got some of the most character rich moments, but it's also, I think probably of all the musical episodes we've done, the most intricately plotted."
Last week, the gang realized they needed the World Seed in order to create a new world for the people of Fillory once it's destroyed. Unfortunately, the sadistic Couple have the seed and are hold up at a heavily-guarded magical hotel called the Nave. In this Wednesday's musical episode — written by McNamara, Elle Lipson, and Joseph Mireles — Eliot and company attempt an elaborate heist on the hotel while trying to resist the urge to sing (You can guess how well that goes).
James Dittiger/SYFY
"I just started with the idea of, what genre or sub-genre can we do where the musical is part of a very intricate plot, as opposed to just being an emotional experience," says McNamara, explaining why they made the musical episode a heist.
While crafting this episode, the writers tried to keep in mind that the audience cares less about the McGuffin and more why the characters care about it and each other in a great heist. "The more you are drilling down into the characters, the more it feels less like a series of pre-designed tropes," says McNamara. "With the musical, what made it interesting, challenging, but ultimately, for me anyways, pretty satisfying is we tried to make every musical number — that was also a piece in a very complex heist — about what the characters are going through at this moment."
He continues: "Most of them are going through a particular crisis, some more so than others. We found that the music was a way to access those emotions quickly and deeply, and sometimes very beautifully. For me, weirdly, each genre helped the other genre feel less cliché."
To prepare for the musical episode, check out this behind-the-scenes video below.
The Magicians airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Syfy.
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