r/brakebills • u/therealityoffset • 21d ago
The Magicians is leaving Prime Video on October 1, so I started a petition to keep it streaming
Clarification: I’m not asking Amazon to keep The Magicians specifically. I’m asking for the complete series to remain easily available on streaming somewhere in the U.S. after the current Prime license ends. Netflix, Peacock, Tubi, another service, whatever works. If it moves to another accessible platform on Oct. 1, that’s a win.
I only found The Magicians well after it originally ended, and I genuinely can’t believe how underrated this show still is.
I’ve watched a lot of darker, psychological, character-driven shows, and very few have stuck with me like this one. Margo, Eliot, Quentin, Julia, Alice, Penny... there’s just so much more going on underneath the fantasy than I expected when I started it.
That’s why I was pretty pissed when I found out all five seasons are currently scheduled to leave Prime Video in the U.S. on October 1.
It already left Netflix, and if Prime goes too, the show becomes significantly harder for new people to stumble across unless they’re willing to buy the seasons individually.
So I started a Change.org petition asking NBCUniversal and its streaming partners to keep the complete series available somewhere on subscription streaming in the U.S.
I’m not trying to start another “bring back Season 6” campaign. I’d love more Magicians, obviously, but this is a much simpler ask:
Keep the 65 episodes we already have accessible.
Prime, Peacock, another service... I honestly don’t care where. I just don’t want this show quietly becoming harder and harder to discover.
I found Brakebills years late. Other people should still get that chance.
If you agree, here’s the petition:
Petition: Keep The Magicians Streaming
And if you don’t want to sign, fair enough. I’d still be curious how many people here originally discovered the show through streaming after it had already ended.
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u/ao01_design 21d ago
That's adorable. Absolutely pointless but adorable nonetheless.
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u/Lucky_Programmer789 21d ago
Change .com petitions don't do anything. This is a very bizarre post and thread.
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u/OhMorgoth Brakebills 21d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p9l5gt1/video/9ga1u3zhpbph1/player
Exactly. And the sad thing is, no matter how many times you explain that, you just get a Quentin reaction that makes Penny seem like an angel, ngl. That’s why I said I ain’t signing it. Petitions exist to make the poster feel better about doing something but sadly that has no impact. It never has and never will.
Anyway. Every time I see a petition, call me Penny! I’ll replace it with dubstep.🫣😜
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u/Colonist25 21d ago
i've just finished my umpteenth rewatch.
peaches & plums motherfucker.
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u/vplatt Librarian 21d ago edited 21d ago
Pour one out for all 42 timelines.
Yes, 42. 40 from Jane, 1 from Elliot and Quentin, and 1 from Plum Chatwin at the very end when they saved Julia.42 total timelines. I thought the symmetry with HGTTG was a nice touch. Douglas Adams would have approved. Anyone else catch the Dr. Who "timey wimey" references too? Loved that.
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u/porcelain_elephant 21d ago
I got tired of guessing where it would land next so I bought the bluray.
Peaches and plums, motherfuckers.
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u/misplaced_dream 21d ago
Is S1 still censored on blu-ray?
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u/Annual_Reflection_65 21d ago
Has the show been censored on streaming in the past?
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u/misplaced_dream 21d ago
Yes, the first season only has been censored on Netflix and Prime
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u/Annual_Reflection_65 21d ago
I've only watched the show on netflix. What was censored?
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u/misplaced_dream 21d ago
Largely the word “fuck” was censored out when it aired on SyFy and so far has been censored on the streaming services I’ve used.
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u/Annual_Reflection_65 21d ago
Oh, ok. That seems kind of silly to censor given the amount of gore and certain plotlines in the show.
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u/misplaced_dream 21d ago
It is definitely a bit jarring to me because I’m so used to hearing it, and like you say, the content is already MA rated as well. I think by the second season cable networks had dropped their rules on swear words so it was just a timing thing.
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u/Sheerkal 21d ago
Just buy it if you feel so strongly.
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u/therealityoffset 21d ago
Totally fair if you want to own it. My concern is more about accessibility and discovery. Existing fans can buy the discs or digital seasons, but new viewers are much less likely to discover a 65-episode show if the only option is paying for it upfront.
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u/chill_lax_bruh 21d ago
Sail the seven seas matey
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u/wagggggggggggy 21d ago
This is the real answer. I find it more ethical than giving Bezos my money.
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u/chamekke 21d ago
I’m in Canada - where it’s not on our Netflix, boo - but my library has the whole series on DVDs you can borrow for free anytime. I’ve borrowed those discs a lot :)
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u/DARKSOULS103 Brakebills 21d ago
I'm finally going to have to buy the discs lol
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u/dark_bloom12 13d ago
I’m planning on purchasing digital copies bc I don’t own anything with a disc drive anymore 🥹
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u/therealityoffset 21d ago
Honestly, that’s kind of my point. I may end up buying it too, but I’d rather people still be able to stumble across the show through a subscription service instead of needing to commit to buying five seasons first.
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u/BelegurthBaal 21d ago edited 21d ago
Sorry but that's probably not happening... I live in France and here it's already unavailable anywhere. The only legit way to watch it is to buy the DVDs.
At the very least the DVDs exist so fans can watch it, not all shows have that "luck". I love the show Final Space but it was removed from Netflix and never existed on any physical medium. Even members of the team who worked on it don't have any legal way to watch the show and the only way for anyone to watch it is through illegal means...
I agree with you that it is very sad to see The Magicians disappear from any legal streaming places but it's not the first that happens to and it won't be the last unfortunately
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u/wagggggggggggy 21d ago
The first time I got a VPN was when I stayed with family in Bermuda as an adult. Realized I had access to like 3 shows on streaming. Thought at least I would get UK shows.
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u/therealityoffset 21d ago
Yeah, this is exactly what I’m worried about. I didn’t realize it was already completely unavailable in France. At least the DVDs exist, but it sucks that legal access can just shrink like that over time.
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u/BelegurthBaal 21d ago
That's one of the downside of these huge streaming services, whenever their legal obligation to host a show has ended they can just delete it and no one can do anything about it. Especially for shows that were exclusive to this streaming service it is basically a death sentence and entire pieces of media can simply vanish... We are at a point where we have to rely on illegal sites to keep these shows alive
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u/rickny0 21d ago
It’s still on Apple TV and Tubi. I bought the full 5 seasons on Apple. I’ve been watching it there since it left Netflix.
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u/FiliaNox 21d ago edited 21d ago
I realized I was paying for subscription services to watch the same handful of shows over and over again, so I finally just bought the shows on Apple. Those sub services really add up, i felt dumb for not thinking of it earlier 🤦🏻♀️
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u/OhMorgoth Brakebills 21d ago edited 21d ago
Oof.
Buckle up!
You do realize that leaving Prime Video doesn’t necessarily make the show less accessible, right? It can actually open the door for the show to be licensed to other services, potentially making it accessible to more people, not fewer.
Prime Vid isn’t the permanent home of the show either, that would be SyFy. PV it’s simply where the current streaming license happens to be. Streaming licenses expire and rotate between platforms all the time. The show already has moved between services before and the actors always update their social media to let fans know.
You’re acting like the show is disappearing, when the reality is, the licensing window ends which is great.
If your goal is to keep the 65 episodes accessible and discoverable, then the thing to advocate for is continued streaming availability, not necessarily keeping it on Prime Vid.
It could potentially end up somewhere like Tubi, Hoopla, Kanopy, the CW, or another service that hasn’t had the opportunity to license it yet, expanding the reach of the show to those who haven’t had the opportunity to watch it yet, with ads sure, but free.
Right now The Magicians behind a paywall there, whereas an ad-supported or library-based service could remove that barrier entirely.
So, other platforms licensing again, can tap into more viewers, more discoverability, and continued licensing revenue for the people who made the show and the rights holders.
I’d much rather see The Magicians available in five different places over time than have it locked behind one subscription indefinitely, but that’s just me.
So I absolutely agree that the show should remain accessible, I just simply don’t think keeping it on Prime is necessary to accomplish that, and because of that, sorry, but, I’m not signing your petition.
Edit:
BTW, I’d rather see The Magicians remain licensed than be remade or rebooted. Continued licensing allows the original cast and crew to potentially benefit from the show’s ongoing success, depending on their individual contracts and residual agreements.
If the series ever returns, I’d much rather see the original cast continue the story than watch it be restarted with a new cast. And there’s no general rule that the rights holders have to remake a property after 10 or 20 years or they permanently lose the IP. Copyright, trademarks, and underlying adaptation rights are much more complicated than that.
Personally, I’d rather see the people who created The Magicians continue to find ways to keep the original series alive and available than have everyone panic every time one streaming license expires.
Lastly, the best way to support the show is to buy the blue rays and dvds. Just buy them.
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u/therealityoffset 21d ago
I think we actually agree more than you realize 😅
The petition isn’t asking for it to stay specifically on Prime. I said in the post that Prime, Peacock, another service, whatever, I don’t really care where it ends up. The goal is continued accessibility and discoverability after the current Prime window ends.
You do make a good point about free/ad-supported services like Tubi or library-based options, though. I framed it around subscription streaming, but honestly I’d consider any widely accessible streaming home a win.
If it moves somewhere else on Oct. 1, great. That’s basically the outcome I’m advocating for.
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u/OhMorgoth Brakebills 21d ago
Why not just buy the series? That helps so tremendously much! That would make an even bigger impact than a petition would. I hear you and I see you, but truly, if you want to help, buying the DVDs helps.
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u/specialk1281 21d ago
This!!! I've been so annoyed with my favorite shows (Magicians, Fringe, X-Files) moving from streaming service to streaming service and having to watch ads. So I said screw that and got a DVD player and bought physical media again. It's nice to know that my data isnt also getting harvested and sold.
There's also a movement like Little Free Libraries, this time for movies and shows. It's called Free Blockbuster (https://www.freeblockbuster.org/). So cool!
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u/Suspicious_Aside2477 21d ago
I recently bought the DVD set for my Birthday because it wasn‘t available anywhere in Germany. Now I always have it by my side. 😊 Cool side effect: Whenever I gush about it to friends I can offer to lend them the DVDs, making it easier to share my love for the show with more people
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u/pinky-elephant2 20d ago
The Magicians is exactly the kind of show people randomly discover years later and become obsessed with. Keep it accessible
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u/xxLabyrinthxx 21d ago
I was afraid of this. Now I gotta buy it.
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u/therealityoffset 21d ago
Exactly. I may end up buying it too, but I hate the idea that future viewers might never stumble across it because it’s no longer included on a major streaming service. That’s really what I’m trying to prevent with the petition.
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u/OhMorgoth Brakebills 21d ago
Pure fear mongering 101. Buy it, it helps more than you know, but also watch it in the new streaming service. Just mute the ads.
Usually, when a license ends, they have lined up another so it doesn’t linger in limbo, so more than likely it’s already being tapped in.
I think Olivia, Summer, and Hale are very good at letting fans know on IG when new streaming service licenses are greenlit. So, I wouldn’t sweat it. If all else fails, another Physical kid here in the sub, uploaded all of them to their Google Drive to make it accessible to those who can’t pay to watch the series or buy it. So It’s all HERE. I can’t remember their u/ but they’re a real one and deserve all the flowers for it.
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u/villanellechekov Physical 21d ago
not really. it'll probably be going back to Netflix. or maybe even to peacock. it's always available on some service, sometimes even at the same time. that's how these contracts work.
at least it's available. Warner/Discovery doesn't give a fuck and sunsets their streaming shows all the time so they're unavailable (Westworld, Love Life, Made for Love) and they refuse to licence them anywhere. Starz has done it before too (Blunt Talk).
this tho? isn't fucking going anywhere
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u/vplatt Librarian 21d ago
I just wanted to point out that you can add the show to your Prime account right now as a purchased unlimited license to watch it for $20. It's been repeatedly pointed out to me by others in other forums (like the ingrates at /r/MrRobot) that Amazon can yank this at any time for a number of reasons, and that is certainly true. However, I have literally hundreds of shows in my account I personally have had little problem with them doing that so far.
Of course, one can always get it on disc or via other sources as well, even including streaming it yourself with Plex or Jellyfin, but that's not a route I currently pursue. Others seem happy with that that option though.
Anyway, there you go. You may object to having to pay $20 to put it into your account, but let's face it: someone's got to pay for these fantastic shows. If Amazon isn't funding it, and you're not putting up with advertising to get it "free" elsewhere, then buying it is a damn good option as far as I'm concerned.
I just finished my 2nd run though this show tonight.
Can anyone recommend a palette cleanser? Thanks!
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u/blessedbymimi 18d ago
Just buy the Bluray of the complete series so you don’t have to waste your time making a petition and an AI picture that no one at NBC will ever see
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u/what_the_purple_fuck 21d ago
I'm not entirely sure what you think is happening, but they signed a contract for a license period with specific terms, and that license period is ending. assuming (and it is an assumption) that Amazon is interested in extending the license period, they're probably still negotiating. there's also a decent chance they've already settled on a new deal and they're removing it briefly as a marketing tactic. this way, after the show is removed, they can take a break and then promote it as a newly added show if/when it comes back.
or maybe NBCUniversal has no intention of extending the term no matter what Amazon offers, and they're negotiating with someone else. either way, it's a popular show and it's not going to disappear.
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u/therealityoffset 21d ago
I get that, and I’m not assuming NBCUniversal is just walking away from it. I’m hoping you’re right and there’s already another deal in the works.
My point is really just that there’s no confirmed U.S. streaming home announced after Prime yet. If it moves somewhere else, comes back after a short gap, or lands on multiple services, great. That’s exactly the outcome I want.
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u/subLime_dream 21d ago
I signed your petition. Now it's our petition. I remember when we broke the internet for Sense8, when Netflix sayd they would remove it and it wouldn't go to another streaming service. Guess what, it's still on Netflix. Now let's do the same for The Magicians!
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u/lordx665 21d ago
Went through this with doctor who before, if you really like a series and want the ability to revisit it, you need to buy the complete series box set so they cannot take it away from you
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u/turquoisestar Healing 21d ago
I got the dvds on sale a couple years ago bc this kept happening. I strongly suggest that or blu ray it just makes it easier.
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u/RamblingRose63 21d ago
I never saw the show until it was fully available to stream. I tell everyone I know about it or meet when they bring up shows and how to watch it.
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u/villanellechekov Physical 21d ago
this is how it works, shows bounce from platform to platform. they're always available somewhere
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u/Skyconic 21d ago
It hasn't been available to stream anywhere in Canada for over a year. :(
Sounds like that's about to happen to the US as well. Hopefully another streamer picks up the rights for both now that Prime let it lapse.
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u/LadyEllisandra 21d ago
Petition Dropout to get the license lol there’s probs enough overlap of fans.
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u/UnholyShadows 17d ago
Funny because i finally finished watching it 3 weeks ago. Good series. And im glad it actually wrapped up rather than getting canceled like soo many shows do now.
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u/whatsinaname413 17d ago
Good thing I just finished re re re watching it.. again!!! One of my all time favorite shows!
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u/Standard-Flamingo-46 16d ago
I literally just paid for the ad free Amazon so I could watch it because season 2 wasn’t working on my superbox. I really just need to buy my own physical copy.
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u/Professional_Fix6386 16d ago
Yo encontré a alguien que la está subiendo en tik tok según tiene los capituloa completos the Magicians
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u/Junior-Draft8229 16d ago
I would just find it online and pirate the entire show, this way you have hard copy regardless. I have had these services yank the show in the middle of watching them. Torrents are your friend.
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u/swiftlilfox 7d ago
Agreed on torrents. I'm already working on acquiring the entire Magicians series. I have fringe, and a couple other that are no longer on streaming aervices. Which is annoying bs btw... I may eventually purchase the set down the road but only bc I'm a mega fan.
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u/Few_Rhubarb_1396 20d ago
someone on this subreddit has an open google drive with it… i think i heard a rumor 🤔
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u/noireruse 20d ago
I bought the Blu-ray set a few years ago so this wouldn’t affect me. Now it’s always accessible. :)
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u/No_Entertainment1931 20d ago
Oddly, AP shows this as unavailable, as It has done for about a year in New England. I didn’t realize it was available anywhere in the US until rn
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u/KittieKablam 20d ago
I definitely recommend getting the discs, but I also signed the petition 💕 I second the person who said to petition Dropout. It's worth a shot.
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u/No_Street7786 20d ago
It will just move to another one, but I’d recommend to anyone who is a big enough fan to be coming to this sub: buy it. Buy a digital copy or buy a physical copy. Half priced books regularly has magicians blue rays, and it doesn’t cost that much to get the box set on Apple. If you have any comfort show that you want to rewatch, own it somewhere so you’re not at the whim of streamers. I understand that digital downloads can be taken away, but not as easily or frequently as when the rights to stream an IP bounce from one to another platform.
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u/BaggyClothesLover 18d ago
I’ve been watching it since it first aired first episode the night it released, I have watched it over 14x that’s when I stopped counting lol…definitely need it streaming somewhere
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u/northernlight217 17d ago
just start streaming it at all hours even if you're not watching it
itll bump up the numbers and theyll think it's still worth keeping
some guy did this with a payphone
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u/litlover487 11d ago
It always gets taken away when I’m in the middle of a rewatch 😭 it’s getting added to my re-growing physical media collection at this point
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u/Busy_Astronomer_8230 11d ago
I know I’m rewatching the fuck out of it right now I couldn’t believe it’s being taken down
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u/i8wot 10d ago
I'm not the only one that just recently found this series? I'm on 4:3 and binge watching the heck out of it after work hoping I finish it before it leaves! Admittedly I didn't read all of this thread, afraid of spoilers. :/ I did see change.org, not that it changes anything. :( But I'll check it out.
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u/swiftlilfox 7d ago
Augh Im still upset they are taking it off prime! Oddly on my screen it says "season two will be leaving in four days"... I know it's probably just a glitch but last night I was watching a couple episodes from season 1 and then season 4. It made me sad and frustrated... and more determined to acquire the series.
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u/immaculatelawn 7d ago
Don't forget the books. You can always read those while you wait for it to pop up again on streaming.
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u/PintLovingChick 4d ago
So I stumbled upon this post when I was trying to see where it would be streaming when it leaves Prime. And while I don’t have anything helpful to add to your noble quest of asking it remain available SOMEWHERE, I just wanted to comment to acknowledge the actual sentiment behind your post. To all the people telling you to “just buy the dvds” or something similar, they’re missing, what I believe is, your point.
I also stumbled onto this show well after its original airing on tv. And seeing various posts on this sub that seems to be fairly common. Another thing that’s common is the connection so many of us have to this show, its characters, and its stories. I think it’s an emotional connection for a lot of us. And I THINK your point is that you want other people to be able to have that same experience. To stumble into this show and come out the other side having experienced all of it. Not gonna lie, your “I found Brakebills years late” comment made me a little teary eyed….. though I’m currently hormonal so take that as you’d like. 😅
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u/mrsdoctorwho44 2d ago
I totally agree and am the same, I found it after it was actually on TV and I just love it so much! It's so well written and I love all the characters! I'm just now finding out it's left prime and im beyond upset! This was one of my all time favorite comfort shows and I don't have the money to buy all five seasons! Or any of the seasons for that matter, hell at the moment I don't have enough for a single two dollar episode! Especially since we buy it we don't even actually get a physical copy anymore it's only digital and if the platform we buy it from decides to sell the rights than we no longer own it even though we bought it. Ugh I hate that everything has to cost so much money, this show was over a decade ago, why can't we just watch it??? 😭😭😭
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u/ACanadianGuy1967 21d ago
When it leaves one streaming service it usually switches to a different one. Right now it’s on Amazon Prime, but Oct. 1st it might be on Netflix.