2025-03-07 19:12:50 ¶ ●

# Recap Notes: MAGP 12 “Getting Off”

Spoiler Warning: this is a purely selfish exercise in remembering what the hell happened last season (from someone caught up thru MAGP32, 3/6/2025 & all of The Magnus Archives). No promises I’ll keep up with it.

Summary: Bonzo! Bonzo! Bonzo! Oh, and Sam is done with Magnus stuff, apparently. Pfft.

Casement: CAT1RB4728-09032024-13032024

Alice being the MOST ok with Sam & Celia is oof.
As for Celia, It’s a stretch, because we know she’s busy with the whole sleepwalking to Oxford thing going on, but just pointing out that she pivots pretty quickly from hesitancy to agreeing to meet Sam under the clock at Leicester Square for their first date. A 10 minute from Soho Jack’s (where Bonzo goes for a bro buffet). Most likely London is London and things are bound to be close every now and again, but if Celia wanted to do a little freelance investigation, I’m just saying it’d be a convenient trip to hop over and check it out. That’s all.

Otherwise, great showing from Bonzo. His chant “he wants to play, he wants to stay” does make me wonder if his whole monching deal is what keeps him able to manifest / stay in this world to do it. A trade, like the one Celia’s gearing up to make.
And still no closer to defining CAT1 but at least worth mentioning most of our classic monsters do seem to filter into there. Mowbray, Bonzo, Ink5oul, Needles, Rupert the demon child, etc. Don’t think it’s as easy as “inhuman”, but something to watch.

“I dream about it most nights. In the dream it digs through all those men to get to me, grabbing fistfuls of them and throwing them to smash against the wall. The strobe fires as its hands plunge into the pile of us and each flash shows a little less flesh between me and it, between me and all those teeth… Finally everyone else is gone. I raise my arm to protect myself and it gently but inexorably lifts it into its mouth, smiles and bites.”

Haven’t been paying too much attention to dreams in TMP, but I might retroactively look to see if there’s anything there. Doubt it’d be the same mechanism as Jon’s dream hopping after he feeds from TMA, but suppose I shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater just yet. In general, I hope the more this mystery unfolds the more it’s it own thing. I like the homages, and of course adore the source material, but I think it’s a much more compelling game to take what we think we know and twist. Part of the reason I never tried too hard to fit any of the early casements into Smirke’s 14. We don’t know the rules here. That’s the joy of playing.
I will also be keeping a lazy eye out for mention of a Barry, Basil or Sebastian. With Gwen’s upper class contacts, and the way she keeps her cards close to her chest, I wouldn’t put it past her having known Baz before he was on the menu. Feels like a real Lena move to test Gwen’s mettle by having her be responsible for the death of someone she rubbed elbows with.

GWEN
You never wonder what the point is? Who benefits from all this awfulness?

ALICE
I don’t wonder. I know.

GWEN
What? (sitting up) Really?

ALICE
Oh yeah. (portentous) I’ve known for a while, what we’re doing here. It’s all part of a grand plan to satisfy one of the most unspeakable evils known to mankind…

[Gwen’s on the edge of her seat.]

ALICE
(almost a whisper) …the UK government.

[GWEN sighs, sitting back]

GWEN
Thanks, Alice. Utterly useless as always.

Hilarious, but Alice’s probably not wrong. Again.