It's been hard to shake off The Magicians' season finale twist

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"The Magicians has done something I have never experienced on a show before: It gave me a chance to grieve," says Beth Elderkin, adding: "Speculative fiction has a way of helping us understand ourselves because it allows us to explore complicated, real experiences in a safe space...Likewise, watching this scene where characters used magic to express their mourning, singing out the feelings they may never be able to say out loud, broke me. Because I’ve done the same thing. My grief was echoed in their grief, creating a cycle of mourning. Back and forth, over and over. I’m still feeling it, even now. They never leave you."

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• It would be hard to continue watching in Season 5 after what happened in Season 4
• In defense of the season finale twist: "The Magicians has always been a show about growing up—about the hard realization that the world is painful and unfair, even when there’s magic in it"
• Some fans complain the finale reduced one of the show’s most triumphant moments to an instance of queerbaiting
• The Magicians missed the mark on a huge mental health issue
• A false ending was filmed so that The Magicians cast wouldn't know the truth about the finale
• Co-showrunner John McNamara says the season finale "was definitely constructed to be a way that the audience could say later, 'Oh, they were playing fair with me'''