She was a High Queen, a High King, a Destroyer, and a Creator. She lost an eye that eventually got replaced with a magical Fairy eye. She cursed a lot. She is Margo Hanson from The Magicians.
“I’m your queen, you motherfuckers!”
The Magicians: A Syfy Gem with a Stellar Ensemble Cast
The Magicians was a show that ran for five seasons on the Syfy network, based on the book series of the same name by Lev Grossman. The show had an incredible ensemble cast and gave every character room to breathe and grow—but arguably, the character with the most growth across all five seasons was Margo Hanson. She was played by Summer Bishil and was the type of character who certainly did not suffer a fool and could read you for filth and look good while doing it.
“I think what made our show unique and successful is both the writing and the strength of the ensemble cast. Every character was written as interestingly and complex as the other,” Summer Bishil told us over email, “It truly was an ensemble, and that was its strength as a show.” Bishil is absolutely right—there wasn’t a bad character in the bunch. All the relationships were complex and well done, but the relationship between Margo and Eliot (Hale Appleman) shined the brightest. They were quite possibly the best gay guy/straight girl best friend duo to ever grace our TV screens. The lengths Margo goes to save Eliot in season 4 show how much love she has for him.
Margo’s Desert Quest: A Showcase of Summer Bishil’s Range
She licks a lizard, gets high, sings some songs, and goes into the desert looking for a way to get rid of the demon inhabiting her best friend. “My favorite scenes were when I was on the desert quest,” Bishil said. It’s one of the series’ strongest episodes and it’s all credit to Bishil’s range as an actor. She plays it silly yet serious; she is high and singing songs that are fun to watch, then has a complete breakdown at one point, where she screams. “The scene in the tent was very cathartic to shoot,” Bishil said.
The fact that Margo was allowed to be fashionable, aggressive, ambitious, sex-positive, and strong without ever being punished for it felt incredibly refreshing.
“I need to stress how much I don’t give a shit.”
Margo Hanson: Redefining the Mean Girl Trope
Cordelia Chase from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gale Weathers from Scream walked so High King Margo could run. The mean girl with layers is a trope that is not done nearly enough. At one point in the show, Margo and Eliot even have a discussion about how much they’ve changed. “I also believe that the way the show could be self-aware at times was really special and appealing to me as an actor,” Bishil told us.
The Magicians’ Pop-Culture Charm and Self-Awareness
The show knew what it was—and that’s what made it so enjoyable to watch. It would include horror elements in the absolutely brutal way characters would be killed, elements of comedy, and a plethora of pop-culture references.
The show referenced its biggest influence, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, numerous times. Margo and Eliot even discuss the show’s spin-off Angel at one point. But the biggest pop-culture reference of the series was a scene where Margo and Eliot need to speak in code so the Fairy Queen (Candis Cayne) can’t understand their plan to take her down.
Margo and Eliot’s Pop-Culture Code: A Nerdy Highlight
So what do our heroes do? They reference Britney Spears, Harry Potter, Buffy, X-Men, The Craft, and even Game of Thrones. It’s pop-culture heaven. And it’s sold 100% by both actors. Both are even allowed to say, “I didn’t see that one” or “I didn’t read that,” which makes the whole scene feel pretty realistic.
The fact that they also let Margo and Eliot, arguably the two characters who present as the least nerdy of the bunch, be nerdy was fun. Margo knows her TV shows and her books!
“Great, well, enjoy our death screams, I guess.”
Margo’s Rise to High King: Progressive and Unapologetic
Margo also wins the first Fillorian election and is crowned High King, after not even being on the ballot. She wins because Fillory has talking animals and she is kind to said talking animals. Margo is shown to be incredibly progressive—even at one point saving a sentient boat from being forced to mate. A plot point that later saves the lives of both Margo and Eliot. “The scene I had talking to the boat about consent was also a very special scene to me to shoot,” Bishil said.
Margo the Creator: A Heroic Finale for Fillory
In the series finale, Margo fully becomes the hero of the series—she is the one who saves the day. She triggers the destruction of Fillory so she can save everyone in the land and start a new one. She sits on a table, eating a sandwich, as Fillory collapses around her. No witty lines or anything; she just accepts it.
Then Penny (Arjun Gupta) teleports in and saves her. She accepted her hero’s death and then was allowed not to die—something also refreshing about a character that was allowed to grow so much over five seasons. With the help of the whole gang, she helps create a new Fillory for all Fillorians—thus making her Margo the Creator.
Summer Bishil on Margo’s Future: Happy and Settled
As to where Summer Bishil sees Margo now? “I see Margo rebuilding a new world alongside her friends. I see her having found a way back to her best friend Eliot as well. I see her happy. Still Margo, but happy and more settled with nothing to prove.”