With the apocalypse at the doorstep, the sisters work together to try to bring an end to things, but various personal connections stand in the way of all three, and saving the world presents them with some difficult choices.

If there’s one truism in genre television and film, it’s that not everything is always going to make sense. The elegance of the best genre writing is in making what happens entertaining enough that questions of logic fade into the background as the audience simply enjoys what’s going on. Unfortunately, that’s a point on which Charmed tends to fall down, and a line this week about a place being the ‘a safe haven for all who need shelter; very few people know of its existence’ was where I parted company entirely with proceedings. Something that wilfully contradictory and daft just can’t be hidden away by the sorts of visual FX that a mid-budget TV show on The CW can bring to the table.

Indeed, it feels a little cruel berating a TV show for not having the resources to do the End of the World justice in terms of visual spectacle, but then again one might also argue that working towards a literal end of existence scenario in an opening season a) leaves a show nowhere else to really go in terms of stakes and b) rather creates the problem for itself. It was bad enough that Tartarus was as disappointing as it was, but this really does feel like the least impressive apocalypse ever.

Still, part of that may also be down to the fact that despite this impending doom, each of the girls is far more distracted by their own personal issues. Maggie is desperately upset at the thought of Parker being under his father’s demonic influence and determined to save him, Mel is beside herself that Niko seems to have been caught up in the spreading issues, although there’s more to that than meets the eye and Macy has Galvin’s best interests at heart when he volunteers to take an incredible risk himself to help out.

It also probably doesn’t help that the only tangible agents of the impending chaos after Hunter’s demise last week are Alistair and Fiona, with Parker sort of hopping in and out of the frame. Add that to the fact that each of them have their own separate agenda, and it feels like the least organised End of Days ever. As CGI clouds roil darkly, and the odd drop of red dye is splashed onto an outstretched hand to imply the titular crimson rainfall, it all just feels a little cheap.

But that’s nothing compared to how the show chooses to wrap the episode. I have a feeling that the writers probably thought they were doing something dramatic and clever which would make the audience gasp, but all they really do is pull a narrative trick that’s already been done in the genre both in print and on film (and indeed will be done again in the not too distant future). If you’re going to borrow from somewhere for your inspiration, at least try to make it something that isn’t quite so current in people’s minds.

Verdict: With one episode to go, it’s difficult to feel like we are headed anywhere near a satisfying conclusion. Disappointing. 3/10

Greg D. Smith