Apparently we need an
emotional prequel to really get Mel invested this episode and to properly feel
bad so we’re going to have a prequel to when Angela was reporting being
molested by Professor Frost Demon to Mel and her mother and she was worried
about the consequences since the professor was so influential and powerful. Her
mother wisely offers support but leaves the decision to Angela - while Mel
pressures her to report
Now to the present
Angela is tied up in the attic burning rats to death and generally being
demonic and scary. They’re waiting for the elders to drop in and tell them what
to do so they can get rid of the spooky demonic houseguest. Also Maggie
is worried about flunking and Macy makes a quip about her never attending
class. Oh Charmed poke that fourth wall, lampshade that she has never
actually attended a lesson
For more
complications, Niko and her partner Tripp drop in to ask about Angela because
she was last seen at their party. It doesn’t help that they’re super nervous
and awkward. Thankfully, mid interview, an elder arrives. Charity is classy,
clever and clearly capable of pulling out some awesome cover stories to shoo
the police out of there. She’s also skillful, magically awesome, able to
silence Harry when he insists on talking too much, runs a progressive
organisation providing micro-loans to develop female entrepreneurs and is
generally someone who is pretty impressive to everyone
She also reveals that
the Elders are actually senior witches (and not necessarily super old) and that
their mother, Marisol, was also one. This should be a surprise to no-one but
everyone acts surprised mainly because it’s a departure from old Charmed canon
but also weird because Mel was calling them “hasbeing witches” last episode… so
did she have sudden amnesia
In all I quite like
her introduction because she’s not a caricature of awful. It’s clear there’s a
lot about Charity to respect and honour - if not necessarily to be as
obsequious as Harry is. I do like it when authority figures aren’t presented as
incompetent monsters just to make rebellion easy and cool - I like the added
conflict that comes from disagreeing with an authority figure who is worthy of
respect and may actually be right.
Which is the
situation they have here - because Charity’s plan to stop the Harbinger is to
kill Angela, something they need the power of three for and some big big daggers.
Mel is, of course, super against this. Maggie is aghast they’re being asked to
make such a big decision. Macy, however, is more clinical and factual - she
thinks Mel is being super emotional about all this and they should consider the
Elder’s wisdom and maybe killing one to save many is necessary.
Charity gives them
various tasks and Macy goes to work and her studies kind of confirm her theory
- the rat the demon killed has like Super Smallpox and if the Harbinger escapes
(scheduled for that full moon) then everyone is going to be squished. But when
talking to Galvin she’s surprised that he doesn’t agree that killing one person
to maybe save everyone is a good idea: that maybe is a hook. He also thinks
it’s a very cold decision and while logical lacks emotion - and asks why she
thinks emotion is so unimportant. It gives her more to think on even as she
ducks out of another date with him
Maggie actually
attends class and tells Lucy, the kappa head, that she’s really struggling so
she offers up the services of her boyfriend Parker to help tutor Maggie
And I need a moment
to talk about Lucy. Part of me wants to praise Charmed for not making
Lucy a vapid mean girl shallow stereotype of awfulness… but I’m also not
entirely sure the writers realise that’s what they’ve created? I just get this
idea I’m supposed to roll my eyes at her even though by all accounts she’s
kind, she cares about Maggie, wants to help her and even tried to get Mel booze
at their dry party (when Mel through baking powder at her). Which sounds
ridiculous - but considering Lucy has every reason not to like Mel, she was
still going out her way to make Mel feel welcome. She may not be the deepest
pond but she seems to be a good person.
Mel gets instructions
to try and distract Niko and Tripp from investigating them - but instead goes
to use a spell to prove that Angela is still inside the Harbinger body - which
Charity denied. Charity is wrong (quelle surprise). Despite that she points out
that there’s no actual way to exorcise her and she still needs a good stabbing
for the greater good.
Mel also insists that
her mother, an elder, would never do such a thing which… maybe? But Charity
also knew Marisol well - and knew her as an elder and is confident she would
have backed her. Again, while Charity is somewhat cold here, her logic isn’t
sadistic and while she’s annoyed Mel ignored her orders, she still doesn’t make
that much of a fuss on it.
Mel asks the book for
a spell powerful enough to exorcise the Harbinger… and gets a blank page.
So she decides to
sneak out, with possessed Angela in her boot (because Mel makes good decisions)
to grab Maggie and use time freezing to try and avoid Tripp - who is following
them. He’s super suspicious of how evasive they were and though he accepts
Niko’s explanation that as a woman of colour she has every reason to be nervous
around the police and that she doesn’t like guns, he continues to follow them
With no plan, Mel and
Maggie take demon Angela to where the Kappa float is being prepared for the
parade.
While Macy, newly
informed about the plague the Harbinger will unleash goes to Charity fully
expecting to do some stabbing but then finds that Angela has been taken - she’s
quite stunned that Mel would disobey. Clearly she doesn’t know Mel. Harry is
dispatched to find her but Mel says (to his surprise) that Charity was wrong
but also how she feels to blame: she pushed Angela to report which led to her
coma which led to her being possessed
And damn, what is
this? 6 degrees of separation to make someone else’s choices all about you?
Leave that for the Legacies Mel.
Macy and Charity talk
about how Cool unemotional Macy is a perfect leader - and about how
Marisol once asked her to cast a terrible spell to free her from some utterly
devastating emotional pain. Macy realises it was the pain of abandoning her and
gets very emotional and tearful.
And with this
emotional wave she goes to the others to offer to help… she knows she seems
cold but she’s always suppressed emotion to protect herself but now she’s all
tapped in. And with the three sisters present the book reveals the exorcism
spell. It was written by Marisol, to all her daughters, in Spanish and based on
Santeria magic
Which I definitely
celebrate - it is common in the genre to have POC without any cultural markers;
this is especially true in adaptations when original white characters are
recast as POC. Too many writers think merely casting someone with a darker skin
tone is sufficient to transform the character, missing how life experiences,
culture, et al are likely to differ. I won’t say old Charmed was celtic based
because I think the celts would like to be excluded from a narrative that
includes the spell “get him the Trokk out of here”
The Harbinger escapes
- and they have to call Charity to stop her. They appeal to her in the name of
Marisol and her gift of policy - and with Harry’s support Charity agrees for
them to try an exorcism
Oh and Parker just
happens to be passing -so Maggie has to convince him to leave… and she kisses
him. Before realising this is a total mistake and he should go. Maggie, Lucy
has been nice to you, this is officially a Dick Move. Parker - not stepping out
of that kiss is also an ultra dick move. As is not agreeing that it was a
mistake.
Also visiting is
Tripp - mid exorcism. He pulls a gun and Charity throws out some magic easily
disarming him.
The exorcism goes
ahead and, aided by Maggie’s empathy, they succeed - they cleanse Angela and
trap the demon in a paint can.
But in the fight,
Tripp is hit by falling debris and dies. Mel is duly shaken by this but Charity
is comforting and caring and tells them to leave and she will deal with it
Mel is wracked with
guilt because if she’d have done what Charity asked and diffused Trip and Niko’s
suspicions. Charity is kind and reassuring and tells her sadly this is just a
very hard part of the job of being a witch
Which is comforting,
especially with Angela alive and well. Except she then has to comfort a tearful
Niko when she learns Charity staged Tripp’s death as a suicide and left
evidence that maybe he was behind the killings. Yes it’s a great, professional,
neat cover up - but it’s also heartless and cruel.
Harry congratulates
them, complains about their tea but also warns them that there will be
consequences to disobeying the elders
Maggie doubles down
in telling Parker that they cannot be a thing
And Charity loses the
harbinger to a mind controlling magic man. Oops
I say again, I like
Charity. She wasn’t evil, she wasn’t incompetent. She was capable, powerful,
intelligent and even caring. But, as Mel points out, just a little TOO certain
she’s right. She’s overly confident and, like many who have fought a dangerous
war for too long, perhaps too quick to make those hard decisions. She’s a good
leader and a good person but also one who has been playing
end-justifies-the-means too long. It makes for a more interesting characters
than the elders of original Charmed who were all involved in Piper and
Leo’s lovelife.
