Syfy’s The Magicians has been cancelled and unlike a lot of shows with fairytale endings, this one is going to be a bit more of a Fillory nightmare. The network announced this week that the longtime Syfy drama will be ending at the end of Season 5. If you are any good at math that means it will be ending at the end of the season that is currently airing on the network.
Last season The Magicians was struck a bit of a blow when Jason Ralph ultimately decided to exit the series. He was, in fact, killed off of the fantasy drama. Even though death is not always the end on the series, in his case it was pretty final.
Season 4 did a really good job of bringing us a Fen and Penny-centric episode in which Penny explained to a recent acquire at the library that the straight, white dude who often seems like the protagonist is not always the protagonist. It was an episode that really capably set the rest of the cast up for Jason Ralph’s exit.
Given Margo and Eliot are the most fun anyway, I honestly thought The Magicians (and fans) would be OK without Quentin Coldwater. Yet, this season ratings have been down, and actually down considerably, with the show averaging over half a million Live+ Same day ratings last season. The Season 5 premiere only did 430,000 viewers, in comparison and subsequent episodes have seen even fewer people tune in.
In a statement (via TV Line) the network officially thanked the crew ahead of the end of the journey, noting:
The Magicians has been a part of our Syfy family for five fantastic seasons. As we near the end of this journey, we want to thank John McNamara, Sera Gamble, Henry Alonso Myers, Lev Grossman, and our entire brilliant cast, crew, writers and directors for their beautiful creation. But most of all, we thank the fans for their tremendous support and passion. Because of you, magic will be in our hearts forever.
Syfy currently has a deal with Netflix where the first four seasons of the series are available for streaming (and full of f-bombs), so if weird magical problems are your cup of tea, you can go ahead and check the series out.
To be honest, it sort of felt during Season 5 that The Magicians was working toward an end of sorts. The characters are all dealing with the loss of Quentin and the magical problems they usually grapple with, but the stuff with the Dark King has felt bigger in scope and closer to the type of epic endings usually reserved for fantasy shows. I really did sort of think Syfy liked this show enough that I thought we’d have one more season to go after 5, but obviously the network had different plans.
Reportedly, the writers and creative minds involved had an ending plan for the season that will set up capably for a series finale. A lot of shows are cancelled too soon and don't really get the chance to wrap up so this should be somewhat good news for fans.
The news comes just a couple of days after Syfy has greenlighted two new TV shows. The first is The Surrealtor, following a team of specialists who will look at haunted houses. The second is Day of the Dead, a new zombie series paying tribute to George A. Romero’s works.
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