Introducing The Magicians

The new Syfy drama The Magicians will air two back-to-back episode on January 25 at 9 PM.

The series centers on Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph), a brilliant grad student chosen to attend Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, a secret upstate New York university to be trained as a magician.  There he discovers that the magical world from his favorite childhood books is real and poses a danger to humanity.

Meanwhile, the life of his childhood friend Julia is derailed when she is denied entry, and she searches for magic elsewhere.

Quentin Coldwater has always been on the outside looking in. He’s awkward, unsure, overthinks everything, He’s the sort of guy always pining from afar (especially for his childhood best friend, Julia). It’s no wonder the world of magic – especially in his favorite book series, Fillory and Further – has been such an escape. But, as Quentin discovers upon entering Brakebills University, magic is more than the card tricks he’s learned over the years. It’s very real and he can wield it. For the first time in Quentin’s life, the future doesn’t look so bleak.

Alice Quinn (Olivia Taylor Dudley) is a phenomenally talented magician, but you’d never hear that from her. In fact, you never hear much of anything from her. Alice is painfully shy, but that all evaporates when she’s practicing magic. Her potential is limitless, unsurprising given her family legacy. But Alice’s past is filled with some darkness, moments she’s determined to not let interfere with her future.

William “Penny” Adiyodi (Arjun Gupta) – For Penny to know you is for Penny to loathe you. Perpetual annoyance might be the best way to describe his demeanor. It’d be less infuriating if Penny wasn’t so talented. So gifted, in fact, that the true limits and nature of his powers may be unknown. Brakebills may be the best thing for a loner like Penny but he’d never, ever admit that.

Eliot Waugh (Hale Appleman) is one of the more established students at Brakebills. He’s got an opinion on everything and – if you ask him – it’s usually right. Don’t let his excellent sense of aesthetics and “vigorous hedonism” lead you into thinking life has been easy street. As Eliot is one to remind you, magic comes from pain. And he’s a very good magician. He also makes a fantastic cocktail.

Julia Wicker (Stella Meave) is Quentin’s longtime best friend, has always been a perfectionist and an overachiever. She’s embraced pragmatism; a nice apartment, a respectable boyfriend, an acceptance to Yale. Everything Julia has wanted, Julia’s gotten. Except for magic. And she will do anything to get it.

Margo Hanson (Summer Bishil) isn’t a bitch; she’s just honest. At least, that’s what Margo will tell you. She’s as equally gifted in partying as she is magic. In fact, Margo’s a study in contrasts: intellectual yet academically unfocused, reserved yet social. The only thing that’s dependable is her unpreditability. Well, that and consistently excellent wardrobe.

Here is a trailer for The Magicians:

The Magicians will debut for two hours on Syfy on January 25 at 9 PM.