Watch: An Appreciation of The Magicians

Now in its fifth season on Syfy, The Magicians is kind of like Harry Potter, but American, and focuses on college-age characters. It’s based on a series of novels by Lev Grossman, and follows Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) as he enrolls in a magic university called Breakebills to be trained as a magician. 

Naturally, there are friends and enemies and Big Bads along the way, and plenty of fast-moving plot points, but one of the things that has made the show so unique and worthy is that it addresses mental health issues in thoughtful, compelling ways, and how that colors the experiences of the cast (which includes Stella Maeve, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Hale Appleman, Arjun Gupta, and Summer Bishil). And that—even in a world with magic—magic doesn’t necessarily solve everything.

Below, Paste TV Editor Allison Keene and Editor-in-Chief Josh Jackson discuss the soulful series: