I hate TV except when I don't
I'm the fandom version of the Grumpy Old (wo)Man when I talk about what I took for granted about TV shows back in the day that have gone the way of the dinosaur. Remember when a TV season was 20+ episodes? Remember when each episode ran a good 45 minutes? Remember when there was no "mid-winter/pre-spring/post-holiday" break of time, smack in the middle of a perfectly good story arc? Remember when seasons ended in May on a cliffhanger, you bit your nails all summer and then, presto! Brand new eppies in September.
The other thing I miss is that each episode seemed to be a good, solid little nugget all in itself. Maybe this is the whole 45 minutes/episode in play, but I had lots of time to get good and invested in the action and, even if it continued into an overall plot line, it was self-contained in a way that episodes no longer are for me. I almost dread a new episode because I'm sure it's just a vehicle to what's coming next, if that makes sense. My questions aren't going to be covered in any real way and will spawn new ones. Or perhaps I've gotten spoiled by binging entire seasons whole on Netflix?
One show I've managed to enjoy almost as much as Buffy is The Magicians, really because the characters all fascinate me. The series is guilty of many of my above criticisms, especially the often painfully long wait between seasons. Most of the episodes speed right along, gaining traction and carting the characters forward, furthering the plot without settling a few things first.
The one exception to this is A Life in the Day - my God, this episode is absolutely perfect. You could watch this and almost have it exist independently, regardless of the series. Almost the whole episode, but the Q & Eliot parts, especially, since they live a life in one day. It makes me wish that every TV show I watch could do this and yet, I'm almost glad it doesn't, because I can truly appreciate when something this good comes along.
If you don't know the synopsis, it's under the cut in case you don't want to be spoiled. I didn't write it, Den of Geek did, but it says what I want to say in less time. As my spirit animal, Margo, would say, "Tick-tock, motherf***er, tick tock." I gotta get back to work.
"...the real success of “A Life in the Day” lies with the journey of Quentin and Eliot, who must be applauded for their commitment to the quest, even once they realized it would take years. Eliot in particular was uncharacteristically strong in his conviction that they should keep trying to solve the mosaic even as Quentin despaired. The irony of them being in Fillory’s past with magic all around them and not being able to use it to solve the puzzle was one of the many perfect touches in the ensuing montage of a lifetime spent working on the problem.
Beginning with an impulsive kiss that no doubt sent “Queliot” shippers into apoplexy, the formation of a family, with all of the love, loss, and sacrifice that decades of companionship would inevitably contain, was the “beauty of all life” that the mosaic was meant to portray. That’s why the final solution was the golden tile Quentin discovers while digging Eliot’s grave, not the assembly of colors in different combinations. Their life together was the mosaic! Genius! What a wonderful, heart-breaking, inspirational message...Thank god Q and El somehow remember their time together; for it never to have happened would be too tragic. The new bond between these two characters moving forward enriches The Magicians just as much if not more than forming new relationships such as that between Alice and Julia. “A Life in the Day” may pose a lot of unanswered questions about divine power, forced marriages, and involuntary psychiatric commitment, but the lifetime of experience between Eliot and Quentin is a crowning achievement of the series not likely to be equaled anytime soon."