The least we could say about The Magicians 4×12 “The Secret Sea” is that there is a lot to unpack. But there is something that has been building up for a season and some change that we just need to talk about. First things first, we want it written in stone that we want – nay, need – Eliot Waugh back. It is a testament to Hale Appleman’s exquisite skill that we can see him every single week and still miss Eliot desperately. Because that thing onscreen? It’s not Eliot. We are not prepared to give up on Eliot any more than Quentin Coldwater is, and we hope for his safe and full return to his friends (and into Quentin’s arms *ahem*).
That said…we kind of love the Monster. Certainly, we have to acknowledge that the Monster does go about murdering perfectly innocent bystanders with absolute dispassion. We’re not excusing the happy-go-lucky homicidal attitude, but maybe a few millennia in near-complete isolation after witnessing the rendering apart of one’s twin sister does things to a person. Ok, you got us, we’re more than a little bit #TeamJennifer. There, we said it.
When we first heard about the Monster, the tone of terror and dread that surrounded him called up images of something Eldritch and impossible – many-headed and tentacled, perhaps, or a beast with poisoned fangs. So when our first look at the Monster at the End of the World was a boy not much older than our heroes, sweet and confused-looking, and asking (in an admittedly creepy voice) for someone to play with him, well…some of us were instantly enthralled and surprised. The Monster we sometimes call “Jennifer” (a nickname courtesy of Hale Appleman and likely a reference to the 2009 horror-comedy, Jennifer’s Body) is a complicated beastie.
Jennifer likes pockets, in episode 4×03. (SYFY)
For most of the season, we didn’t know much about him except that he was “mistake of the gods”; an indestructible abomination that had to be locked away in the most perfect prison in the multiverse. The prison, Castle Blackspire, was indeed formidable – it only took our #squad a whole season to break into it. And then it took Eliot Waugh’s devotion to Quentin Coldwater, along with a god-killing bullet, to set this the Monster free.
The time between the shot heard round the multiverse and the moment Jennifer possessed Eliot is unaccounted for. We don’t know if the identity spell was ever given to Eliot at all, or if the monster found an English Lord’s bastard named Nigel and crept inside of him. What we do know is that he chose Eliot, the man he met only briefly and was shot by, and that he then went off looking for Quentin – the man Eliot shot the Monster for in the first place. We’re just putting that out there, casually, that Jennifer might be a bit of a romantic.
Aside from maybe unconsciously shipping Queliot, there is a lot to make the Monster a sympathetic being. As far as we could tell, Jennifer has no idea why his parents decided to shun him and lock him away without anyone but a sacrificial knight to care for him. It’s difficult not to feel for his confusion and despair when he asks Bacchus, “We have the same parents. Why am I monster, but you’re a god?” And he has a solid point, the gods we have seen are in general no less cruel or dismissive of human life than Jennifer is – so why is he treated like a monstrosity? There may be an answer to this, one more piece of the puzzle that will make the panic surrounding him make more sense, but for the moment all the hubbub is looking kind of unwarranted.
“I remember you. You took something from me, something important, and then you…threw me in a cage, and I would like for you to explain.”
“You remember all that, but you don’t remember what you are, what you did.”
– The Monster and Bacchus, 4×03
We’re probably a little biased; it’s probably a little difficult to hate a character that Appleman is putting so much work into making complex and hard to pin down, but there are other small things that make Jennifer sympathetic. From his creepy but oddly childlike fixation on Quentin (the Monster is into random and constant displays of affection), his petulant love of junk food, and his graphic tees, there’s clearly a little humanity rubbing off on our resident vengeful god-child. We don’t want to lose sight of how murky the moral situation is here; Jennifer hurts Quentin constantly, both physically – a swing of his fingers is a powerful thing – and emotionally once he learns how much he can get his way by threatening Eliot’s body. All in all, we get it, he’s a pretty messed up dude with an equally messed up sense of what’s okay. There are things, though, that hint at something deeper in this Monster we call Jennifer. He has acquiesced to Quentin’s wishes to a surprising degree because, really, what is keeping him from jumping from body to body discarding them like cheap yoga pants if it isn’t his affection for Quentin? He doesn’t exactly ask before showing affection, but his attempts at affectionate behavior towards Quentin are limited to coltish hugs and awkward petting. Also, boy, do we love them graphic tees, even if they are more often than not splattered with the blood of innocents.
Jennifer loves tequila, in episode 4×06. (SYFY)
As much as there is mystery surrounding the Monster and his imprisonment, a lot became clearer after the Binder’s shadow puppet show. The Binder, a cursed magician whom Julia sought for answers about her godhood, gave us a full rundown of the Monster’s tragic tale. Jennifer and his sister were born to be unkillable, and as such, were the perfect beings for high-on-the-knowledge-juice Librarians to capture and torture. His sister, much stronger than himself, was split in parts that the Librarians used to turn themselves into wannabe-gods. For reasons that have yet to be revealed to us, the brother was imprisoned rather than torn to pieces for crimes which no one has told us about…but are likely not befitting the punishment. We would love some answers about how the Old Gods play into all this, and their relationship with the Librarian!Gods.
Once we meet his Big Sister in episode 4×12, who has taken possession of Julia Wicker (given life by the ever incredible Stella Maeve), the two have such incredible chemistry that we couldn’t quite help cheering them on as they laid siege to the Library. After being so atrociously wronged by Librarians, we were kind of like…yeah, get your revenge, Murder Twins; go for it.
“It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account, we shall be more attached to one another.”
– Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus
Finally meeting his Big Sister also illuminated a lot more about the Monster, as she accuses him of becoming far too attached to humans. This is never more evident than when we see him with Quentin, as Jennifer has shown himself to be jealous of Q’s desire for Eliot to return, even lying to him about Eliot being dead. He also wants to please Quentin when he really has no need to, there is no real reason for the Monster to keep Quentin or his friends alive, as he is perfectly capable of finding and killing the gods that did him dirty all on his own. He also has no reason to listen to them when they ask him to kill less people or to stop giving in to the cravings that ravage Eliot’s body. But if there is one thing that Jennifer is terribly good at, it’s wanting; and he wants Quentin’s friendship and constant attention and maybe, as his late jailer, Knight Ora, suggested, to be loved by him.
Jennifer shares a “tender” moment with Quentin in episode 4×02. (SYFY)
Perhaps the most concerning and sympathetic trait that Jennifer possesses (pun fully intended) is how childlike he really is. Certainly, again, much too much murder going on with him. But he’s also a creature who loves cheesy treats and ice cream and apparently wants a name so he can properly order Starbucks (RIP probably so many NYC baristas). He wants, most desperately, to have a friend – someone to love him, and he has for better or worse chosen Quentin Coldwater for the job. Stories of monsters who become monsters because their creators made something they could neither control nor find it in themselves to love are as old as time, but none perhaps as popular as Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. From what we’ve been able to piece together, there are lots of parallels: the Old Gods, like dumb-old Victor Frankenstein, made creatures of immense uncontainable destructive power (a.k.a. the Murder Twins), and when they realized creating immortal beings with very little of any self-control was just not the best idea of the millennia, they branded them monsters and then allowed monstrous things to be done to them. We call some abandonment and rejection shenanigans on that nonsense.
“I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend. Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous.”
– Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus
A lot about the Monster still remains unanswered as we await the finale. What exactly did this god-child do to get himself imprisoned? Did he deserve it? A lot of other gods do monstrous things – like Reynard, for example – and they don’t get locked up in the Upside Down’s Azkaban. Or was his imprisonment, as the Binder implied, simply a way for the wannabe-gods to keep their secret safe and their powers intact? And has he really grown to care for humans, and one floppy-haired human in particular? For at least one more week, the mystery continues, and our love for Jennifer does, too. Here’s to hoping that the finale will give us the Monster’s heart growing three times its size.
The Magicians Season Four Finale airs Wednesday, April 17th on SyFy. Seasons 1-3 are available for streaming on Netflix now.
