Dimension 20: Misfits and Magic

Author's note: This post will include spoilers for Episode 1 of Misfits and Magic.

The new season of Dimension 20 just premiered last week, and let me tell you: I love it! Aabria is such a fun DM, and watching this story unfold was a joy to watch!

If you haven't watched the episode, why are you reading the review? This article will obviously contain spoilers, so be warned :)

Let's dive in!

A New Game System

In this season of D20, the cast is not playing Dungeons and Dragons. The system used in this season is Kids on Brooms - a different yet similar system that requires roles for six stats: Fight, Flight, Brains, Brawn, Grit, and last but not least - Charm.

Aabria explains the rules in the first couple of minutes of the episode. It's mostly a device to propel the story forward, so you don't need to worry about it too much. For me, it was the same as watching a Dungeons and Dragons-based season.

Character Introductions

This episode was all about introducing the characters and making sure they come together. It seems that in this magic world, there's this new initiative to bring in Muggles - I mean Namps - meaning non-magical people - into the secret magical world.

Let's go over them quickly:

Whitney Jammer

Whitney is a basketball player - played by the great Lou Wilson - invited into the magic school during basketball training. Lou feels like the leader of this team. His familiar is a basketball.

Whitney receives the letter from the magical school during a basketball practice game. The owl is getting his attention by tapping on a window. Whitney goes on break and interacts with the owl to get the letter.

Aabria narrates the contents of the letter for the first time, and it's the same for all four of the students.

Dream

Dream - played by Erika Ishii - is a goth wannabe who quickly realizes that pink is an integral part of her magic, and it drives her crazy. She's the kind of kid who prayed to Satan and read Harry Potter cover to cover.

While in her room, Dream receives the letter and gets her mom and dad to make a unified decision to let her go attend that school. That was an interesting dynamic, but it made for better storytelling in our contemporary world.

She quickly rests her eyes on...

Evan Kelmp

Played by Brennan Lee Mulligan, Evan is the sadder and lankier version of Gilear. Evan embodies Brennan's innate need/desire to make people cry - and it works well with Evan. He's involved in comical moments, but his reality is pretty tragic and he harbors a dark secret.

The owl finds him walking on a road in Iowa and gives him the letter. In stark contrast to everybody else, Evan's dark presence overwhelms the owl. And even snatches the owl out of the sky without Evan noticing because Brennan failed his roll.

Sam Black

Sam Black - played by Danielle Radford - is a streamer with lots of followers who goes viral when her viewers suspect that someone assaults her during her live stream when in fact, she confronts the owl that delivers her invitation to the magic world.

The owl is doing its best to stay out of frame and Sam's mukbang stream is interrupted when its taps on the window.

The owl that arrives at Daniel's house is pretty confrontational, but it all ends up fine, and her stream goes viral. Imagine going to a school that prohibits internet use when you just gained so many new followers.

Humble Beginnings

The unlikely team is teleported to the school to meet the headmistress, instructing them to get three things: a wand, broom, and familiar.

And then, they meet a trio that fans of the Harry Potter series will find familiar. Yes, you guessed it! Dimension 20's equivalent to Hermione, Ron, and Harry: Tallulah (Hermione), Digsby(Harry), and Fergus(Ron).

I have a feeling they'll be excellent joke fodder down the road, in addition to a direct connection for everything that Harry Potter could have done better.

Dark One

Remember that Dark secret that Evan keeps around? Well, it shows its ugly head in multiple instances during this episode as the team makes its way to get their supplies and familiars.

As it seems right now, that shadow is the only negative element to the show, but that's because we've not seen anything of value from Galpany - the magic school. We don't know the houses, we don't know how sorting happens, and we don't know who or what will conflict with our characters in this story.

Conclusion

There is a lot of character development and some world-building during this one. That is understandable considering it's the first episode of the show. Now, we will hopefully see some significant plot development.

After all, this season is like a short story. There are only four episodes, and we have just seen one! There's no time for long, flowery descriptions - we're driving forward fast.

Let's see what episode two will bring to the table.

Enjoy!

You can find misfits and magic, Episode 1, on Dropout: