Title: Misfits and Magic
GM: Aabria Iyengar
Players: Erika Ishii (she/they/any) as K (she/they/any). Lou Wilson (he/him) as Whitney Jammer (he/him). Danielle Radford (she/her) as Sam Black (she/her). Brennan Lee Mulligan (he/him) as Evan Kelmp (he/him).
Streaming Service: Dropout

If you missed them, check out our reviews for episode one, two, three, four, five, and six!

Sam and K travel further into the island of Weugan, leaving Jammer and Evan to recover from the force of Sam’s amplified charm. At the center, the pair find a massive funnel. Red gathers inside it. A soft whisper ricochets back violently. The closer Sam and K go, the more pressure they feel. K asks for Sam’s consent to attempt magic, but after the damage the whisper caused, there’s not much to be enthusiastic about.

Still, K manages to amplify the protective properties of her sunscreen before sending out a drone. Rather than a well, the redness appears to be a pipe; however, she’ll either need to amplify with magic or go down there themselves.

Back with Jammer and Evan, the two chat about the spell as it slowly breaks down. Jammer frees himself. Evan struggles more with the idea, which inspires a heart-to-heart. When Evan admits he took the phone to correct his definition of fjord, Jammer forgives him and confesses that he avoids talking about Gowpenny. As they speak, they end up catching up and seeing Sam, who has risen to avoid the potential fallout.

Unfortunately, left on her own, K takes a dangerous risk, breaking her magical glasses to draw in some of the essence from the heart of Weugan. Honestly, when the image came up, I couldn’t help but think it was a combination of New Media from American Gods mixed with a tiefling.

Though concerned about her new appearance, her friends express hope, especially Evan. With this success, the group return to their hoopty. Evan fixes their ride, optimistic that things have turned around.

To all of their surprises, Tabby awakens, excitedly talking in full sentences. The magical tablet happily talks to them; however, when they ask about the wall which Tabby came from, the tablet avoids the subject completely. He expresses terror that they’ll leave him. Admitting he came from Gowpenny, Tabby questions if he was useful, clearly seeking affection and reassurances.

Before heading out, the group heals themselves before taking to the skies once more. When they land, Jammer puts together a shelter as Evan sets up the air mattress from his backpack. As his friends decompress with crafts, Evan create a shadow-puppet dog and sends his shadow into his goat book to hunt down answers. However, before they can sleep, Tadeshacourt appears.

Highlights

The conversation between Jammer and Evan was a long time coming. Though they struck up a brilliant friendship in the first season, there was some distance between them. With Jammer leaving magic behind, and Evan’s struggle with family not meaning as much as he had assumed, there seemed to be a struggling mix of understanding and almost grief.

Jammer’s forgiveness came quickly, unsurprising as he knows Evan’s good intentions and struggles with interpersonal connections. However, they did still dance around some of the deeper topics which they each had addressed with their other friends.

What’s most interesting to me is that Evan desperately longs for connection and to be useful in order to ensure people stick around while Jammer has grown exhausted beneath the pressure of others’ expectations for him. If they could figure out a way for Jammer to outsource some of the responsibilities people put on him to Evan, I think they’d both be happier.

Final Score (4 out of 5 Stars)

A ramped up magical misfits are closing in on their final episode. Tabby clearly has no desire to go back where he came from, and considering Weugan’s statement about the well, we’re inching toward another impossible choice, but with K’s internal magical server and new appearance, maybe our Pilot Program has already worked their way around that trouble.

Then again, what will our misfits do once this adventure ends? We’ve had plenty of heart-to-hearts, but that doesn’t guarantee everything won’t revert back. Will Evan trust in his friends and visit them? Is there a chance Jammer will stand up for what he wants? Or will he crumble under the pressure? Now that they’ve embodied a magical server, which has pretty much been their whole life for the last three years anyway, will K return to her isolated nomad lifestyle?

There’s no clear way to know yet, but with the climax swiftly approaching, we’re in for chaos, so it’s anybody’s bet. Let us know what you think in the comments below or go over to our Discord channel to join the conversation!

Featured Image: Dimension 20

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