I don’t think Magic Man needed a tragic backstory, or that all magic does. It comes off as trying to recapture the magic of Ice King, and less effective each time. Magic coming from pain and loneliness and etc is a nice metaphor for the show’s balance of wackiness and pathos, but I don’t think it does anything beyond that.
Shout by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-02-07T06:27:08Z
8.5/10. I liked this one a lot better on rewatch. On the comedy side, the cowardly manticore was hilarious in his weak-willed bravado and demands for therapy, bread Finn was delightfully weird, and even Finn and Jake giving the thumbs up to brunch was cute.
On the more dramatic side, there was some unexpected pathos from Magic Man with the fever dream depiction of his using Betty to resurrect an approximation of his departed wife Margles and protect Mars. The idea that all magic in Ooo comes from some elements of madness and sadness gives a sense of tragedy to everything. Again, far more depth that could ever be expected of what is, on the surface, a goofy kids show.
That said, I'm still not really on board with Lena Dunham as a voice actor. There's a flatness to her performance as Betty that belies her importance to the mythos. What can you do? Still a solid episode, with some truly disquieting implications as Betty forgets her floaties while wading into the madness that comes from her trying to save Simon.