Line #17 Recap/TheMagicians2016S04E03TheBadNewsBear


1	'''Season 4, Episode 3'''
2
3	!The Bad News Bear
4	Margo barters the location of Bacchus for the lives of her friends, while the rest of the group hatches a plan to protect themselves from Irene.
5	----
6	!!Tropes That Appear In This Episode:
7	* AmbiguousSituation: It's still not clear if Eliot is still alive inside the Monster. When Margo asks to talk to Eliot, the Monster simply says he can't do that, and though he implies he could leave Eliot if he desired, he has no intention of doing so.
8	* AntiMagic: Julia attempts to hold the bad luck charm first, reasoning that she's the best choice due to her invulnerability, but the charm simply won't connect to her so she tosses it and Quentin ends up being the one to catch it.
9	* BadLuckCharm: Played with. The forger uses the enchanted bear to anchor the bad luck from his luck spell on the forged card. Quentin suffers ridiculously implausible misfortunes such as cutting himself on paper towels, having a snake attack him from the toilet, and a ceiling fan collapse on him. However, in exchange, Penny and Kady experience ridiculously ''good'' luck. Kady later swaps the charm to one of the magic coins she gives to Marina as payment, letting her get one over on Marina while also benefiting herself in the process.
10	* BatmanGambit: Marina's anti-god security system relies on her guess that no god (or being of godlike power) will be able to resist the "total power move" of claiming her coolest-looking chair. She's right, too; the Monster obligingly plonks right on down.
11	* BigBrotherIsWatching: The Library uses the books on everyone to keep tabs on everyone as necessary. Santa steals his book before escaping, while Alice has to stay because hers and those of her friends are currently being revised to fill in the blank space.
12	* BrickJoke: In the previous episode, Fogg told a fellow faculty member about a bottle of liquor in his office. Now that he's back, he finds most of his stash has been raided.
13	* CallBack: Margo tells Josh to "start acting like a real pussy", meaning he needs to buck up and poison Bacchus already, like Margo 23 told Eliot 23 not to "cock out" on her.
14	* ChimneyEntry: Santa pulls a chimney exit. His magic allows him to snuff out the fire and teleport out through it. A reindeer-towed sleigh then flies him to safety, much to the surprise of a Librarian outside having a smoke.
15	* CrazyPrepared: Marina 23 stuffed a chair in her apartment full of ambrosia just in case a god showed up attempting to kill her, since that's how Marina 40 went out. In small doses it's like a drug, but could overdose a god with a large enough concentration, which can be set off by ringing a bell on her table. Margo doesn't go through with it because she hopes to save Eliot and is legitimately concerned that the Monster would just body-hop again.
16	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Bacchus is vivisected by the Monster and has some kind of magic artifact ripped out of his chest. The magic it puts out is blinding to Margo's fairy eye.
17	* EquivalentExchange: Luck magic grants the user incredible luck, but an equal amount of bad luck is experienced by whoever holds the charm that is being used to anchor the bad luck, and someone ''has'' to hold it for the spell to function. While Penny and Kady retrieve the magic coins, Quentin is stuck experiencing horrible luck. Kady then exploits it to get some revenge on Marina and benefit herself in the process.
18	* ForcedToWatch: The Monster decides to kill the Physical Kids in the order he thinks would most torment them. Josh gets to go first, Penny is slated to go before Kady, and Quentin gets to be last. Margo trades the location of Bacchus for their lives, instead.
19	* HeistEpisode: The main group hatch a plan to steal Deweys (coins that can power magic) from a bank. First, Quentin cheats at a card game to win a Dewey, Penny steals a credit card, a MasterForger copies it, and Penny and Kady use it to withdraw Deweys while Quentin takes the brunt of their great luck.
20	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Alice uses the AntiMagic paint in her cell, diluted with water, to short out the magic lock on the door.
21	* IHaveYourWife: Margo tries to talk the Monster out of Eliot's body, but he refuses because he knows how much she and the others care for him, so he's not inclined to give his body up.
22	* InstantlyProvenWrong: Julia makes Quentin a bowl of soup, saying it's not scalding and has nothing that'll choke him, so it's perfectly safe--but the spoon slides into the bowl as soon as Quentin reaches for it.
23	* KickTheDog: Kady swaps the bad luck charm to one of the magic coins she gives to Marina, as retribution for Marina 40 killing her mother. In a bit of irony, this causes her to literally PetTheDog, as she (luckily) adopts a puppy from a cardboard box soon after.
24	* MotivationalLie: Marina claims to have placed trackers on the group so they'll keep their end of the deal, only to admit that she didn't actually do it because she knew they were noble enough to honor it.
25	* NighInvulnerable: Julia being a descended god has made her virtually impossible to kill, hence her reviving from the battery killing her in the last episode.
26	* NotSoDifferentRemark: The Monster claims that he and Margo are the same, because they both do terrible things out of a desire for companionship and love. Although Margo rejects his subsequent offer to take Eliot's place in her life, she doesn't seem to reject the comparison.
27	* PaperThinDisguise: Penny and Kady's bad disguises are justified, as the luck charm means anything that could catch them out as imposters just doesn't work. (For example, the photo of them in the Banned Magicians book falls into a shredder at just the right moment.)
28	* SadisticChoice: When Josh can't go through with poisoning Bacchus the first time, Margo threatens to spike all the drinks with ambrosia, which would surely kill all the party guests, unless he can go through with it. He reluctantly complies.
29	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
30	** When the Monster teleports right through her wards with no resistance, Marina bails, letting Margo take the risk of subduing him.
31	** Bacchus took over Fillory and impersonated Ember because he learned the Monster had escaped and needed somewhere to hide.
32	* ShoutOut: The title of this episode, is "[[Film/TheBadNewsBears The Bad News Bear]]".
33	* SomeKindOfForceField: The Library section with the books on everyone is cloaked by a spell which creates the illusion of a solid wall. Unless one walks at a deliberately slow place, it's just as solid as any wall.
34	* TheUnreveal: Bacchus tries to offer Josh some life advice, but suddenly realizes his drink has been spiked and passes out.
35	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Irene's family took credit for restoring magic and were given unlimited access to magic as a reward.
36	* WhatTheHellHero:
37	** Josh calls out Margo for making him betray Bacchus in what may be a pointless attempt to save Eliot, when they had a chance to use the ambrosia overdose on him. Margo points out they have little say in the matter, since the alternative is being killed by the Monster, and they already know killing the host body doesn't work, whereas they aren't sure Eliot's not still in there.
38	** Julia lays into Dean Fogg for betraying them to the Library. He insists he was trying to protect them, but Julia thinks he was too quick to compromise.
39	* WindsOfDestinyChange: The forger specializes in luck magic. His use of it is so extensive that he experiences constant good luck without even having to cast a spell. For example, a pigeon delivers him a sandwich from a sandwich shop. We're left to guess as to how the pigeon purchased it. This extends to his forgeries, which use luck magic to make those using them so lucky that no one will ever question their authenticity.

Context Recap / TheMagicians2016S04E03TheBadNewsBear