Maggie is struck by a premonition that someone is going to die but the Charmed Ones don’t have time to waste if they are to put a stop to Vivian’s horrific plans.

Someone has definitely out something in the coffee of the Charmed writers’ room. Last week’s opener for season 3 was genuinely the best the Charmed Ones have looked in some time, and this week follows up strongly with some nice surprises, tense scenes and genuinely emotional beats.

We open with Maggie’s titular premonition – someone (but she isn’t sure who) is going to die, and this of course freaks her out for a variety of reasons. It also brings up something which I’d honestly thought the writers may have forgotten – that Maggie, as established last season, suffers from panic attacks. This is actually handled very well and very sensitively, and it’s good to see the show follow up on that sort of character detail properly.

At any rate, the girls have a plan for Vivian, and one that relies on Julian, much to Harry’s discomfort. It’s genuinely not clear whether his issue is because of Julian being a ‘competitor’ for Macy’s affections or because he just has general misgivings, and it’s to the script’s credit it leaves this vague – I hope that this gets brought up later in the season because there’s fascinating potential there, even if it does end up messing with Macy’s love life for the umpteenth time.

Speaking of, Macy is like a different witch this season. Strong, calm, confident and absolutely assured of her place in the sisterhood. This is the Macy I always wanted to see – Madeline Mantock is a gifted actress and it was getting dull watching her have to play a character always second-guessing herself and putting herself down. It’s not that she’s now superwoman, but she’s definitely come into her own.

Maybe it’s just the impending threat bearing down on them, but Maggie and Mel seem more in synch than usual as well. Mel absolutely understands her sister’s fears and is there for her, Maggie is able to take a moment of reflection among all those feelings to recognise how Mel always seems to be the rock who’s there for everyone in the group. It’s just…nice.

As for Jordan, he’s off on his own running some mysterious errand or other for Abby, though we don’t know what or why – I suspect this will come up later down the line.

Just when it seems like the show is ready to move on with a new direction for the series, it basically shouts ‘PSYCHE!’ at the audience and throws a curveball that does promise change but not in the way that we expected. As the credits roll, it’s clear that this season my see the Charmed Ones facing their biggest challenge yet.

Verdict: Pacey, sweet, genuinely surprising and with characters who really seem to be growing. Great stuff. 8/10

Greg D. Smith