Episode Recap: All That Josh

Returning from their ordeal in the Underworld, Alice, Quentin and Kady find themselves back in the cottage, and frankly, a little out of things to do. So, they take another look into the book so they can get their quest back in gear and stumble across a code that turns out to be music. When they sit down and actually PLAY the song, they find themselves in yes, oh yes, a musical number led by Josh. (Where’s HE been all this time, btw?)

It turns out that they're trapped in the cottage, where Josh is in charge, they can't leave and they have to have a good time. (Have to. Like, it definitely seems they'll be punished if they don’t. Also, it weirdly seems like Todd’s in charge of enforcing the “everybody have fun tonight” vibe here.) That’s a lot to take in but everyone’s pretty distracted by the fact that, uhm, MAGIC IS BACK! The party continues, but Quentin and Kady and Alice are mighty suspicious.

Meanwhile, back in Fillory, Margo and Elliot have had a trial by wombat (legit, that's a thing…they meant combat, but…Fillory.) They're given a choice to choose their execution, and they're somewhat tricked into choosing the eternal waterfall, where they'll be dashed against rocks until they bleed out. On the Muntjac, Eliot and Margo get a little excited that Tick will let them go. But actually? Tick is fed up with them too. He's not helping them, AND he's even roped the Muntjac herself into the part where they're going to row the boat to the rocks and then they'll put Eliot and Margo in a lifeboat and toss them over. They're basically hosed.

Alice and Quentin continue to get to the bottom of what's happening, and while they go off to interrogate Josh, Kady does a MUSICAL number. Todd is, as per usual, an ass and tells her to sing it in they key of E, even though it's in the key of A. Josh is tied to a chair as Alice and Quentin interrogate him. Kady, by the way, manages a fake marionette magic trick and joins them. Josh is clearly under some kind of spell, and the gang has to convince him that this world is not real. Eliot, Kady, and Alice learn that Josh came here via the help of a magic key. When THEY recall that they came here via the piano, Kady remembers that Todd told her to sing in E and not A. And so, when they open the piano, bingo - the key. But how to get out of this version of the cottage without upsetting those partygoers?

When Tick comes down to tell the Muntjac to slow down, she doesn't. That panics Tick, who refuses to untie Margo and Eliot but also causes him to abandon ship with his crew. Meanwhile, while all of that is happening, Julia had snuck into the McAllister's house to find Sky, the fairy who Irene has CHOPPED THE LEG OFF OF. (That’s what that magical cocaine is made of.) Turns out, on Earth, the fairies don't think they have magic powers. Julia convinces Sky to meet her in the Brakebills lab at some point, so they can test that out. And it doesn't go well. In fact, it freezes and kills her. All the while, Julia's magic seems to emanate from her eyes and not from her hands. Looks like Julia's magic is leveling up.

So it turns out that this KEY is about unity. Quentin explains that that the quest brought them to a world for the quester that's been left behind (Josh) - and now they're all unified and can hear each other's thoughts. And can do something together. And so, though it's weird, they have to unite. In song. It's full on Queen and David Bowie "Under Pressure." All of them join in wherever they are: Eliot and Margo on the Muntjac, Penny in the Underworld Library, Julia in the lab at Brakebills and Alice, Kady and Quentin – who rescue Josh. Julia's singing actually cures the fairy of that bloody eyes thing and she re-joins the world of the living! And Eliot and Margo's singing causes the Muntjac to go off the waterfalls and then FLY INTO THE AIR - saving their lives! Turns out, Josh was being kept by a God who fed off happiness. And now, he's released them back to their world, with their key in hand - ready to tackle more.

But..what could POSSIBLY happen next?