The sisters must try to work out what exactly it was that the woman who stole the scythe released from the underworld prison, and also who and what she is. Pursuing answers to the latter will throw up a lot of questions for Charity to answer. Meanwhile, there’s the small matter of youngsters disappearing around town from apparent supernatural causes.

This one may as well be called the exposition episode, because oh boy does it squeeze a fair amount of it in, and most of it not very elegantly either.

First there’s the mysterious woman who stole the Scythe of Tartarus from them. What was she trying to release, and more importantly, who or what is she and where did she come from? The answers, as they come slowly and from various sources, build up an intriguing albeit slightly confusing picture. We learn more on the way about witch lore (and law), the Elders, and the fact that there is more than one type of witch in the world. It feels like it’s setting things up to make the world of the show feel larger, and it’s done in a way that suggests much more intrigue to come, albeit a lot of the background is delivered through clumsy dialogue. One thing’s for sure – Harry’s past gets more intriguing with each passing episode.

Parker, meanwhile, is also turning out to be far more interesting. We finally find out a lot more about him, who he and his father are, and why his father is quite as obsessed as he is with getting hold of the charmed ones’ blood. What’s nice is that the show seems to be setting up Parker as a complex and interesting character, albeit again through clunky exposition. What’s slightly less inspiring is that the way in which that seems to be headed might be a little familiar (and therefore not all that interesting) to fans of the original Charmed series. Your mileage will, I very much suspect, vary on this one.

Macy decides (or rather is relentlessly pushed by Maggie, again) to get out there and start dating again. Once more I feel a little bit confused by a show that likes to showcase its feminist cred at every opportunity but then treats Macy the way it does. It’s not like she’s happy about being single, fine, but nor does it feel like she’s wandering around tearing at her garments and screaming in the night about wanting a man, but the show (and Maggie) seem to feel that she must keep being pushed into dating regardless of what she wants. Inevitably it goes south because a) Macy and b) it’s clear that she’s still after Galvin anyway, protective mark or otherwise.

The actual monster of the week is a little… odd. It feels almost like a sideshow distraction from the actual genuine plot stuff happening elsewhere, like the writers somehow felt obliged to add in a MOTW as if they somehow lacked faith in the other stuff to hold the interest of the audience. This might explain why the whole execution of the MOTW plot feels perfunctory, rushed and more than a little pointless. I’m no clearer having seen the denouement where this threat came from, why, or even if it’s connected to whatever got released from the demon prison or not.

Verdict: An eclectic mix of genuine intrigue and oddly lacklustre elements narratively speaking, hampered across the board by quite a few scenes of the action stopping while a character explains a thing. Oddly all over the place. 5/10

Greg D. Smith