Galvin finally returns home from his quest for magical artefacts to cure Macy’s demon side, but he may not have returned alone. Meanwhile, the Charmed Ones struggle to adapt to the new Whitelighter the Elders have sent them.

There’s actually several storylines all jammed in at once to this week’s episode, but the theme uniting them all is around identity – what it is, what it means to an individual and how it can shape their lives.

The main storyline revolves around Galvin’s return and the unfortunate accompaniment he seems to have brought back with him from his questing. This is the monster of the week, and as is rapidly becoming the norm for the show, it gets very little actual development beyond being a bad thing which the girls must first identify and then defeat. Where it goes a little deeper is in how the events which unfold impact Galvin, which ties in with Macy’s own doubts about whether or not she wants rid of her demon side after all.

Tied oddly to that internal struggle of Macy’s is Maggie’s own struggle with the idea that she is not only Latina but also part black, being as how she and Macy share the same father. The way it gets initially brought up feels incongruously awful given the general tone of the show, but then it course corrects (or simply gets to where it was always headed – it’s not quite clear) and actually turns out to be something which allows the writers to have Maggie and Macy bond on a more meaningful, deeper level and not necessarily in the expected fashion.

Mel meanwhile has struggles of her own as Nico refuses to just leave her alone or believe that she’s no longer part of the Sarcana. Added to that is the knowledge of Nico’s impending nuptials and the fact that Mel herself has recently broken up with Jada. It feels like something is going to give here, and given how thinly sketched in one character in particular is, it doesn’t feel like I’m going to be surprised by what it turns out to be.

On top of all this, the Elders have sent the Charmed Ones a new Whitelighter, in the wake of Harry’s ‘death’, and it turns out this one isn’t half as friendly or relaxed as Harry ever was. That said, the writers don’t fall into the trap of just making her an all-bad character, and though it seems doubtful that she and the sisters will ever be close, a certain amount of mutual respect is already slowly being established by the end of the episode.

Verdict: It’s pretty much the standard Charmed formula with a few nice character moments thrown in to elevate it a little beyond the average. It’s also starting to feel like it’s finally gearing up for a big endgame, but I’m not confident it’ll stick the landing. 6/10

Greg D. Smith