Macy’s dreams continue to confuse and frighten her. Maggie and Mel have trouble adjusting to their new situation.

It’s a new season, with a new location and new parameters but somehow Charmed manages to follow the same old basic threads as it did in its first season.

That means Macy is feeling isolated and alone, this time because she keeps having dreams she can’t explain and is starting to look at Harry very differently. I have no idea why it is that the writers don’t like Macy (and I’m assuming they don’t because of the way they treat her character) but once again here she is, separate from the Vera sisters, being upset and ploughing her own path. Of course, she has Harry to turn to, but that’s a little complicated by the fact that she’s never quite sure whether it’s actually Harry she’s talking to or not.

Meanwhile, Maggie gets to have an arc this episode that’s all about her being so emotionally immature and how she really needs to grow. This is achieved by her doing a thing she shouldn’t and then realising why the thing is bad and learning some deep adult truth about herself and life which she will doubtless have forgotten the next time the writers get stuck and decide to run her character through this loop again. As poor as a lot of this writing is, you could set your watch by it.

And Mel, well she gets to learn a lesson about herself by realising that perhaps she isn’t the grown-up boss with all the answers she thought she was. Oh and by semi-flirting with someone. This is what passes for character development in this iteration of Charmed, our three main protagonists just going through the same narrative beats over and over, ad nauseum, learning their lesson for the week only to forget it in time for the next episode.

Still, there’s at least a slightly more cohesive overall plot this week – the war against witches by Demons gets a little more of a fleshed-out reason, but we still aren’t clear who the Harry doppelganger is or what exactly he’s up to. Still, never mind, I’m sure the girls will all have the opportunity to do more personal growth by running in circles again next time.

Verdict: Distinctly familiar in terms of what it has our protagonists doing and slightly dull as a consequence. Come back Parker, all is forgiven. 3/10

Greg D. Smith