CHARMED s2 episodes 1-6: WITCH TRIAL, MORALITY BITES, THE PAINTED WORLD, THE DEVIL'S MUSIC, SHE'S A MAN BABY A MAN!, THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC
CHARMED s2
episodes 1-6
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The show
hasn’t lost a thing in season two and just keeps getting better and better. The
comic timing of all three leads is perfect and their personalities comes to the
fore. The first one WITCH TRIAL, is a sort of celebration of the first year,
marking the anniversary of them getting their powers (back as they had them
when they were kids in the weak episode THAT 70S EPISODE). It also brings back
older villains and it’s a nice episode.
The second
episode, MORALITY BITES, is a bit weak, another time travel episode which should be great but sort
of isn’t. Phoebe in a future that may never be, killed a criminal (a killer)
and is waiting for her execution by fire. Everyone knows about and hates
witches in a sort of bigoted future in a cautionary tale. It didn’t really work
for me.
The third,
THE PAINTED WORLD, is an episode about being trapped in a painting. Frankly,
FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE SERIES episode WEDDING IN BLACK did this better
with Micki, Jack and Ryan lured toward and into a cursed SNOW GLOBE. In this CHARMED
version, the guy stuck inside is actually, well, it’s not hard to figure out
but there are some twists and turns but they’re not enough to make this a top
notch episode. It’s not a bad episode but not the best of the batch here or
anywhere. Kit is also put into the painting by …Phoebe who is trying to rescue
her sisters. As they exit, Prue can’t believe they almost forgot Kit. Sigh.
What can I say about that? Phoebe seems the most connected to Kit and she
remembered about the cat. In any case, it’s not a terrible episode.
The next
three episodes are very, very good. All of them are stuff we’ve seen before but
here done with flair and verve and nerve. In the first, THE DEVIL’S MUSIC, that
old Rock Music is evil takes a turn by blaming the manager for trapping souls
inside a demon in return for getting his band gigs. The souls trapped inside
the demon look like when Freddie Krugar in the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
franchise trapped souls inside him and they also reflect another FRIDAY THE 13TH:
THE SERIES episode where children are trapped inside THE PLAYHOUSE. I’m sure I’ve
seen people trapped like that in other shows, possibly movies, possibly POLTERGEIST
THE LEGACY episode. In any case, Jenny gets involved as does a man hounding
Prue to date him in return for him getting a loan for them for Piper’s new
place, P3. A lot goes on here and it all works. The energy the show brings to
it derives from a number of fresh takes on old sources and new spins on them
but mostly the energy comes from the three main leads, who are fantastic in
every scene.
The next one,
SHE’S A MAN, BABY, A MAN! has Prue turn into a…man. Phoebe is linked to a
Succubus, both plots here we’ve seen before (KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER had a
memorable---they are all memorable---succubus episode as did POLTERGEIST THE
LEGACY---don’t miss that show! And we’ve seen men become women and women become
men before and now it’s real life) but the new take on it and the reactions of
the main cast are priceless. The mystery of who is the Succubus isn’t the
mainstay of the episode and that works too, even if it is a bit predictable.
The men in this show are also very, very handsome. Not sure why but Dan as ogled
by the girls is in long jeans and sleeved T shirt washing his car in what looks
like summer, though probably not as it might be early October or November. A
shirtless scene might have come in handy there.
Prue as a man really works and the situation is
milked for all it is worth and every joke, every line really also works, rather
than make us think of past movies and shows, it’s all its own here.
The sixth
episode, THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC, and possibly the best steps up CHARMED in a big
way. Lots of firsts here, Leo getting thrown through a window which breaks
several times throughout the series I believe. Scrying to find a location of a
monstrous evil.
The first
evil witch, the excellent actress Brigid Brannaugh embodies her with a cold wit
and a nasty disposition that is just kept under control on the surface, the
first…though CHARMED has had some nasty and mean spirited villains who ALL work…this
one is the nastiest of them all, killing six people: an old woman burst into
flame, despite Prue saying she just vanished; two young men who are shrunken
and fed on screen to a demonic snake; and three lost hikers in a sort of nod to
and direct rip off of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (a great movie despite critics;
the names of the hikers are even the same names of the movie’s main
characters), which even as a rip off doesn’t stop or ruin the episode. She’s also seen removing a heart while the man
takes at least 15 seconds to die! Gruesome.
I don’t get
the adverse reaction to young people in shows. Many writers and commentators
think getting rid of Jenny was a good thing. Sure, she was a brat in the rock
episode before this one. Those critics think she served on purpose but in THIS
episode, she really does bring out the powers in Kyle and thus, she DID serve a
purpose. That written, this is her last episode. She will get sent back to her
parents and I think that is mentioned in the next episode?
These
episodes also build on the relation of Daryl (though he does not appear in the
sixth) to Prue and the girls, who still seem to mostly call him Morris. He also
still does NOT want to know what their secrets are. He has a temporary and
obnoxious partner in the rock manager episode and the differences between him
and Daryl bring out why Daryl is so good a character. BTW the manager is not
killed in the end, he even tried to get out of his deal with the demon but he
is put in jail as a kidnapper in the end, thus getting the authorities off
Daryl’s case, this NOT being another unsolved mystery of murders as Andy used
to face.
These
episodes also feature Dan vs Leo in a way that builds slow and believably. It’s
also Leo vs Piper who can’t take that he is very job focused. I’m not totally
sure what Piper’s problem is but the first time it was highly annoying and made
me dislike her for it. I see her point this time around. The sub plot of this
three way love triangle works as that: a sub plot that keeps the reality of
life in there and works in the supernatural angle, too; keeping it at bay so to
speak but keeping real arcs in there without overpowering the show.
I’m still
not sure Piper will eventually make the right choice by season three in picking
Leo as much as I love Leo. Dan’s a pretty straight from the hip kind of guy.
Prue gets a potential love interest in a new guy in the sixth episode. I don’t
think this goes anywhere. There are other interests of love for Piper or Prue
including Owen and Josh but none of those go anywhere.
The show on
the other hand goes everywhere at least by way of being entertaining, funny, surprising,
energetic, and dangerous and these episodes step it up even more than anything
in season one.
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