Tonight The Magicians returns to kick off its fifth season on Syfy. As the fourth season came to a close, the monster had taken Julia, but the group was able to rescue her. However, she was wounded in the process, and Penny had to make the tough decision to have Julia turned back human in order to save her, but it meant the loss of her magical powers. At the same time, Josh was returned to his human form, but was left with some residual fish magics, and Margot got her eye back. Quentin and Josh sought out an old god, who told them how to eliminate the monster once and for all—by finding the seam between this universe and the anti-universe and trapping it in there. So, utilizing coordinated spell-casting from all the hedge witches around the world, the group was able to release the monster from Eliot’s body and trap it in a bottle. However, when Alice, Penny and Quentin went to throw the bottle into the seam, things went wrong and Quentin sacrificed himself to save the others. Quentin went to the underworld, where he was greeted by the original Penny, who showed him his friends grieving over him with a group sing-along of “Take On Me”. He then showed Quentin what happened to his friends afterwards. The Librarian had stepped down and planned to put Alice in charge in her place; Eliot and Margo headed back to Fillory to reclaim their thrones, but discovered that they were somehow 300 years in the future and that King Fen had been overthrown by the Dark King; and Julia was experiencing so much pain over the loss of Quentin that it caused her magical powers to return.

The fifth season picks up a month later as the group is still trying to come to terms with the loss of their friend Quentin. Alice has pretty much locked herself in her mother’s house, ignoring the library’s daily letters requesting her presence. Julia is also struggling, trying to figure out what good she could do with her newfound powers—something that would be worthy of losing Quentin in order to regain them. Meanwhile, magic has returned in full force, and due to this surge in magic, more and more students have discovered their powers and have been passing the Brakebills exam. The school has become overcrowded, and Dean Fogg has asked Penny to come back to the school to teach a new class of travelers. And in Fillory, Eliot and Margo try to figure out how to deal with the time shift, learn what happened to Fen and Josh, and find out who this Dark King is who seems to be ruling through fear.

I thought the fourth season finale could have made a perfect series finale, but after checking out tonight’s premiere, I’m really happy to have this show back. I missed it’s unique blend of humor, fantasy and adventure, and I’m excited to see where the story will go this season—particularly with what’s going on in Fillory. It will also be interesting to see how the group dynamic changes without Quentin there—he was such a major part of the group and of the series since the beginning.

In tonight’s fifth season premiere, “Do Something Crazy”, Penny and Julia go stargazing; Eliot and Margo forget a sandwich.

Tonight, I’ll also be watching/recording Modern Family, Single Parents, Stumptown, Almost Family, Party of Five, and 68 Whiskey.

For additional suggestions on what to check out tonight, including the series premiere of 68 Whiskey and a new episode of Chicago PD, check out the If We Controlled Your Remote… 1/15/20 post at TVisMyPacifier.com.