charmed_autistic

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Plot: “Mel turns to Harry for guidance after learning information that leaves her questioning everything she knows; Macy is determined to not let fate get in the way of her potential relationship with Galvin.”

The plot was very interesting and well-paced. Significant but not overabundant time was given to each character and story arc. The Sisters got the most screen time and focus, as should be. Each of the supporting characters got enough screentime to serve the purpose and tell their storyline this episode but not enough to steal focus.

Positives: The episode was obviously the midseason finale. I normally hate those episodes because they are, generally, poorly written and cause a disjoint in the season. However, this one was very well written. It concluded a bit of the story arc questions that have been quite up in the air. Exanples Include: 1) When will Maggie discover the truth about Parker? 2) How is Galvin’s protection rune going to be circumvented? 3) What are our villians main motivations? 4) When push comes to shove, who will Parker side with? 5) How could the source come into play? On the Other side it propsed a lot of new questions going forward. For Example: 1) What are the main goals of The Sarcana and how does recruiting Mel play into that? 2) Are the Elders really as pure intended as they like to protray themselves? 3) Is Jada really into Mel or is she just seducing Mel to her side? 4) Is Maggie going to forgive Parker and does he really deserve forgiveness? 5) Even if Maggie does forgive Parker, could their relationship actually survive? 6) Is Galvin now going to be in on the sisters’ secret Life as witches? 6) How is Harry going to be rescued from Tartarus and exactly how will this experience affect him?

Negatives: Harry being dragged into Tartarus makes a lot less sense when you consider that Harry could have orbed to safety at any point. I guess we’ll have to pass that off on Harry being intoxicated and not thinking clearly. Otherwise it turns the cliffhanger into a massive plot hole. Now that Galvin’s protection rune is null and void, it seems as though Macy/Galvin may officially become an item. Not looking forward to seeing that. Dr. Wagner was proven to be untrustworthy and working with/related to the villians. This is unfortunate because I was hoping she’d become the Elise of this reboot.

References to the original (This section contains spoilers for the original series.): Parker seems to be a counterpart yet also an antithesis for Cole. While both Parker and Cole are half-demons who manipulate the youngest sister and that manipulation becomes something else, their motivations are quite different. Cole started out as a totally evil demon with little humanity intent on killing the sisters before developing an obsession with Phoebe and abusing Phoebe and her family. Parker, on the other hand, is very human and seems to truly love Maggie. While he did do some bad things, he never wanted to and was forced into those actions. His motivations weren’t evil. He was simply seeking to survive but even at that he didn’t want to hurt Maggie or her sisters. We learn some aspects of The Source that differs from the original Charmed. In this one, the source can only be brought out into a demon born from a human. In the original, options were much wider as the source could be any upper-level demon. I like this change as it makes the source more unique and it narrows the chances of us seeing multiple versions of the source like we did in the original. A demon shapeshifted into one of the sisters. We saw a lot of that in the original series. I’d go as far as to say too much. Mel and Maggie talking about Maggie’s deadbeat father reminds me a lot of how Prue would talk to Piper and Phoebe about their own deadbeat father, Victor.

Theories/What I’d Like To See: I think we will have to wait at least an episode or two before Harry is rescued. I hope this isn’t just skated over and Harry is actually impacted by it. He could potentially develop PTSD and this could lead to showing a positive representation of trauma recovery. I think we will also learn more about why The Sarcana need Mel so badly. I’d like to see other whitelighters and see how they compare and contrast to Harry.

Favorite Character This Episode: I’d have to say it’s probably a tie between Macy, Parker and Harry. I’ve been loving Macy and Harry for awhile but this is the first time Parker has won me over. I kinda want to adopt him. He may only be 7 or 8 years younger than me but regardless he is my son now. Over the hiatus I will be busy drawing up adoption papers for my new child.

Favorite Quote/Interaction: I loved the bonding between The sisters and Harry this episode. Especially, the Vera’s sharing Marisol’s traditions with Macy and Harry.

Tidbits: I kinda need family history of the sisters. I wonder if we will get to see Tartarus or if it will remain mysterious. Honestly, I’m hoping we don’t get to see it and our only knowledge of it comes second-handed.

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Rating: 4 out of 5

Plot: “Harry informs the sisters that Hilltowne is a portal to hell; Macy is given an exciting opportunity at work which comes with unexpected complications; Maggie has a conflict of conscience over her relationship with Parker.”

The plot flowed well but was at times predictable and repetitive. Some scenes were drawn out too long. The acting has gotten even better. No storyline felt overshadowed.

Positives: Maggie is starting to come into her own and discver what she’s passionate about, which seems to be psychology. The sisters ate finally being honest with each other. The CGI has improved.

Negatives: Some plot points this episode came off quite offensive. First, we have an autoimmune disorder called a weakness and then we have one of our main characters specializing in genetic splicing, a process that is being used by ableist to attempt to eradicate and erase us autistic people. Considering they hired and defended an ableist cast member, Ser'Darius Blain, that is doubely offensive. This is throughly pissing me off. On a less serious note, the way they use music here can be quite distracting. There’s a reason instrumental music is generally used for background music. It’s because people don’t want to hear singers overpowering the scenes and characters we’re supposed to be paying attention to. This is most obvious in the Maggie/Parker scenes. If we’re struggling to understand the characters then it’s an issue.

References to the original (This section contains spoilers for the original series.): The Maggie/Parker relationship is obviously their take on Phoebe/Cole. I hated that pairing in the original series. If they are planning to make Maggie/Parker long term, I hope it written better and less abusive than their original series counter parts.

Theories/What I’d Like To See: I want Darkliighters to be introduced in this series. I thought that was what the electric demon was going to be. Darkliighters were one of my favorite magical beings in the original series so I hope the reboot utilizes them. We’re going to be seeing Charity again next week. While Charity is an interesting character, isn’t there other Elders we could be introduced to. The sisters think they found their Mother’s killer. Something tells me that this might be another red herring since it’s still early in the series.

Favorite Character This Episode: it’s a tie between Mel and Harry. They were the most interesting and enjoyable this episode.

Favorite Quote/Interaction: Maggie to Mel: “Does this make me the smart one?”

Tidbits: Harry seems to show favoritism to Mel. I think because Mel reminds him of his previous charge, Fiona, he sees Mel and he tries to give extra care to Mel so she doesn’t go through the same fate. I’m afraid my Maggie/Lucy ship is never gonna sail. I didn’t have much hope but I can dream.

Please join me again for next week’s episode. In the meantime, please send me asks and/or messages. I would like to get more involved with the community.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Plot: “While waiting for The Elders to arrive, the sisters’ patience grows thin as they keep a watchful eye on their new charge; Charity arrives and gives specific instructions on how to handle the situation; Mel does not agree with the solution.”

The plot was fairly solid. It had a good bit of character moments, which I love though I know not everyone does.The scenes flowed well and were well written for the most part. However, some portions feel forced. Nico’s partner being suspicious of the sisters didn’t make any sense. It was clearly forced simply so the writers can get him there to kill him. We get to see quite a bit of mythology building in this episode, which I hoped for.

Positives: We get to see quite a bit of mythology building in this episode, which I hoped for. We also get more hints towards Harry’s past, which seems to involve Charity. That seem to have some history together. Also, a decent amount of magic was used this episode so that was great, even if a huge portion of that was used by Charity instead of The Charmed Ones.

Negatives: Nico’s partner being suspicious of the sisters didn’t make any sense. It was clearly forced simply so the writers can get him there to kill him. This better lead to some majorly interesting storylines because otherwise it was just pointless. We still don’t know why Macy was given up so that needs to be explained posthaste.

References to the original (This section contains spoilers for the original series.): There are the obvious Mel/Nico and Prue/Andy comparisons. Though I hope Nico fairs better than Andy did. I can’t go through that again. What is it with The Charmed Ones and their attraction to law enforcement? Also, The comparations between Macy/Marisol and Paige/Patty.

Theories/What I’d Like To See: We know Charity tried to make the partner’s death look like a suicide but did she truly frame him or was that the work of the elevator demon to cause distrust between The Charmed Ones and The Elders. However, if Charity did do that then we can expect The Elders will be just as horrid as their original series counter points. Since they changed how Elders work in this reboot it also changes whitelighters and how they operate. Witches have control over the dead apparently because how would whitelighters get made otherwise now. Marisol was an Elder. Hopefully that leads to something.

Favorite Character This Episode: Macy is my favorite this episode. The best emotional beats were from her.

Favorite Quote/Interaction: Macy and Charity talking about Marisol.

Tidbits: I would love for Macy to be canonically labeled autistic. Macy has so many autistic traits. Plus it would help make amends for their shitty insistence on keeping that ableist piece of shit Ser'Darius Blain onboard instead of recasting the bastard. Ableism isn’t cute or acceptable. Sincerely, Your Local Pissed Off Autistic

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