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.

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.