3.01 An Inconvenient Truth

[Tim]

Here we go.

Amazingly enough, I liked it. 

Liked how Macy began to have second thoughts about using that mind whammy potion on Julian.    She was right to say that they didn't have the right to mess with his mind, and realized that another way needed to be found.

They did use it on Jimmy though, however, in his case, there was no other way to keep him safe.  Looks like they left him in London.

And Macy used science to figure out the truth about Julian's sister, utilizing her scientific background. 

Looks like Julian may be on their side, now that he knows his aunt has been lying to him.

And the Maggie and Mel "spell gone awry" was not just there for laughs, rather in played into the plot. 

Mel's desire to return to a normal life is believable, and she didn't turn into later season's Piper, thank God!

When Jordan rescued that witch from being trapped in that painting, did anyone get "A Painted World" vibes?

Abby has a sister?

The plot seemed more solid, like the writers knew where they wanted to go here. Hope they can keep this up.

[Melinda Halliwell]

It seems like the premiere was an okay episode and that you enjoyed it Tim.

[adzpower]

Haven't found a link to watch it yet but did I read that right Tim, Abby has a sister? ANOTHER Cain?!

[Tim]

Yeah, Abby mentioned a sister.  However, the Cain's are her half-brothers.  Perhaps this sister belongs to the other half of her family.

No doubt we'll get more details before long.

[Pia]

Yikes, that is horrible. Glad I gave up, giving more story to Abby and her sister. This show really doesn't care about the sisters at all, they should be introducing another family member of theirs before they do more with the Cain's. LOL

I'll keep reading what you guys think of the episodes here, it will take a lot more for me to watch again.

[Tim]

I'll keep you all posted.

[adzpower]

Ok, so apologies for how messy this is, I was taking jumbled notes as I was watching because I knew if I didn't I'd forget things!

- Smart of Julian to use the internet to get people to find Macy
- Why do they find it hard to capture Julian when Harry can just orb to him and grab him?
- Harry asking Maggie to remove his feelings for Macy, this is absolutely unnecessary drama
- Jordan really went back to safe space for a water bottle when Viv is looking for him?
- Eurgh, his ghost is annoying me now, get over it, you shouldn’t punish him for something his ancestor did, can the sisters just use the power of three to remove thus dumb curse already?
- They’re trying to get answers out of Jimmy, why not just use the truth spell?
- I miss the REAL book of shadows
- Mel has Piper’s temper
- Harry calling the smell at the market “rank”, good use of English dialect there, I use that phrase all the time, I can only assume Rupert had some input on this because American shows are infamous for getting English/British sayings and phrases wrong
- Maggie’s new empath power seems really strong, I like how its displayed
- Also, what happened to Ray? Didn’t he escape with them last time we saw him? I don’t think it was mentioned where he went
- How convenient that the market seller is the same shoe size as Harry
- I like seeing Maggie’s power going awry, I hate it when characters are just instantly good at a new ability
- Oh, Abi’s back, uh-oh she’s definitely up to something with Jordan, can’t she just be nice for once?
- Harry has been alive for 60+ years and still doesn’t know how to talk about feelings
- I like Macy’s character development, she seems a lot more open and warmer now, very well acted by madeleine
- Market guy didn’t get very far after he ran off
- I like Maggie’s development as well, she seems to actually want to help, thank God because for some of last season it seemed she was starting to morph into a Phoebe clone, glad that isn’t the case now
- This poor woman has been on life support for 30 years, immediately just texted my brother and told him if anything happens to me I don’t want to be on one of those machines for any longer than a year, if no progress, pull the plug, that’s no way to live if you could even call it that
- Okay Harry did orb-nap Julian, at last
- Hmm are we seeing signs of Abi becoming good? Perhaps the influence of Jordan plus the sisters could help
- I like seeing the magical techniques like with the painting, opens the world up a bit more
- Oh God oh no Abi has a sister, please God don’t be another Caine, we just finally got rid of Parker we don’t need another one
- Viv seems to be tricking Julian after all, what a bitch
- How in the hell did Viv get to that hospital so fast?
- I find the fusion of science and magic interesting, reminds me of Dr Williamson from the original show
- I predict Julian will die once Viv finds out he’s helping the sisters
- Used the potion on Jimmy so he can start a new life, and I’m sure we’ll NEVER see him EVER again…..
- So Viv isn’t interested in furthering humanity at all, she’s just in it for her own agenda to gain power, kind of a lacklustre motivation but I guess it could be worse

I liked the episode overall, things seem to be improving, and the story actually seems to be tying together, though one thing I don’t get. Didn’t Viv send Jimmy after the sisters in the first place back at the start of season 2? So how did she not figure out before who they were until recently?

[Tim]

So Viv isn’t interested in furthering humanity at all, she’s just in it for her own agenda to gain power

Viv may have started out with the intention of helping humanity.  However, absolutely power corrupts absolutely.

[Astral Echo]

Trying to cast my mind back slightly so I can give some sort of review of this episode. I really am glad I'm not the only one watching as over at the Cafe, I sadly was. I believe Silas is, he just hadn't found his way to this thread yet or hasn't started the new season. I'll probably find a way to sum up my thoughts on the series so far but this isn't the place so I'll just dive straight in.

One thing that's worth noting is that Maggie is really starting to grow on me. Up until now she's been a little like a petulant child at times and at others she was a self absorbed airhead. And as someone who isn't a big YA series fan, that was really grating on me. But it feels like she's starting to turn a corner now and the further we get away from the Parker storyline, the more mature she's becoming. The way she's clearly got feelings for Jordan but is putting his safety over her feelings first is really sensible behaviour. Interestingly, she often plays the mediator role too or, like here, thrown into the position of the leader who has to figure out a solution to their problems.

The Macy/Harry side plot was both interesting and unnecessary in equal measure. It was fun to explore a new location and black market is something quite new to the wider Charmed universe. I feel they could've intensified the spooky vibes as the premise of a market where everyone is cloaked or watching from the shadows is really creepy. The Trickster was a fun little side antagonist, it's just a shame the shoe gag is ruined by its complete impracticability or nonsensical coincidence. The main issue with this side plot is that it's all in the name of creating more tension between Macy and Harry. Tension which seems completely unnecessary at this point. It feels like we've already done all this before. Maybe we haven't? Maybe I'm just completely over them already.

I like how they use science to disprove Julian's beliefs but it's odd they didn't explain to him why the whitelighter didn't save his sister and admit that perhaps it was wrong. This discussion further explores Harry and the sisters coming away from the Elders' rules and teachings and admitting that while they can't constantly meddle in human affairs, they do have a moral obligation to help when they can. Particularly in scenarios like Julian's because it's possible the witches were responsible for the accident. It would just be nice to see both sides compromise in some way.

The Viv revelation is completely unsurprising. Nothing in Season 2 suggested Julian's actions were malevolent while they've been building Viv to be the big bad ever since she was introduced.

Finally, Abigael. I don't know what you're feelings are towards her but for me, she has been the most engaging character of the show so far. Her morality is complicated, she's got charisma, she's got depth and steals the spotlight in every single scene she's in. Her presence reminds me somewhat of Julian McMahon's Cole, except McMahon wasn't the only powerhouse on the show. I think all three sisters could hold their own when his character was first introduced. Unfortunately, Diaz, Mantock and Jeffery haven't shown me enough to suggest they're capable of bringing to the table the kind of range Poppy Drayton has already shown over the last 14 episodes. So that said, I'm really intrigued to see where this new subplot goes. I imagine that this is a sister from her mothers side so someone who is likely to be a witch, perhaps the one that Jordan might have to save, and someone who is going to help bring Abi firmly to the side of good from now on. She's someone whose always going to have the capacity to do bad things and she's not ever going to be driven by the same blind morality that the sisters are but if her leaning into her witchyness more keeps her on the show, I'm all for it.

[adzpower]

I think my main issues with Abigael stem from them maing her a Caine, after drippy Parker left at the end of season one, I was glad to see all the Caine's gone, but then they bring in Abigael and it seemed so unnecessary to have her be a part of that family when she could have been something new. My only real issue with her in season 2 was that she kept appearing at times she wasn't needed, it just seemed like the writers wrote her into the episode just for the sake of it, rather than because she was required to be there.

As for her charisma, that is both a blessing a curse imo, because you're absolutely right, she is engaging and does sort of command attention in most scenes. So whilst I enjoy watching her, I also think she completely steals the spotlight away from the sisters - who the show is supposed to be about. In the original it got to the point where Leo was getting more screentime than some of the sisters, and I hated it. So whilst I like Poppy Drayton, and whilst I think she is a good actor, I do think the writers need to tone down Abi's appearances somewhat, that or give the sisters more engaging material.

[Tim]

I really am glad I'm not the only one watching as over at the Cafe, I sadly was.

I felt the same way over here.  Glad that isn't the case anymore.

I believe Silas is, he just hadn't found his way to this thread yet or hasn't started the new season.

It's possible that the new episodes haven't reached him yet.  He's in the Netherlands.  Jana (MattCody/Chrisaholic) has often complained about being months behind on shows here (she's in Germany).