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Charmed: Bug a Boo

“You have no idea what these witches are capable of.”

Though it was badly paced, ‘Bug a Boo’ was probably my favorite episode of Charmed 2.0 so far. That’s mostly thanks to the many elements introduced this week that opened up the show’s universe in exciting and mysterious ways.

After her surprise theft of the Scythe last week, the witches’ attempts to get the magical device back from Jada end up being all in vain, as they fail to stop the former from using the Scythe to release an unknown witch from the demonic prison that it keeps sealed shut. The identity of this witch remains a secret, though other reveals later on in the hour hint at who it might be.

Striking out on her own, Mel confronts Jada one-to-one, but she’s met with a proposal rather than a fight. As it turns out, Jada is a half witch/half whitelighter (!) who is part of a rogue group of witches known as the Sarcana. They don’t abide by the Elders’ rules, and use their magic to help out whomever they please. The Elders have so far proven to be quite rigid in the rules they enforce, and how they enforce them. The idea of using magic in a much more fluid way might be quite enticing to Mel, as she’s the sister who has found it hardest to conform to the Elders’ ideals. It’s great to see the series open up its magical world like this, especially in ways that are new, but also pay homage to concepts present in the OG version.

Charity returns this week, and Mel’s reveal of Jada’s identity and her part in the Sarcana breaks the Elder’s typically stiff upper lip. Harry reveals that the charge he lost, Fiona, was actually Charity’s sister. Not only that, but Fiona was supposedly heavily influenced by the Sarcana, which is what lead to her committal and subsequent death. I’m not sure I completely buy this story, especially in light of the reveal at the close of the episode that Fiona is potentially still alive and kicking. Is she the witch Jada released? Does Charity know what really happened to her? One thing we do know for sure; Charity and Harry were 100% a thing.

The exposition-heavy episode continues in other ways, as Parker starts to really struggle to enact his father’s plan to keep Maggie under his influence. It’s obvious he’s falling for the baby Vera, and I don’t blame him; she’s adorable. Parker’s brother seems more understanding than his father, though Hunter is only sticking by his half-brother because he believes Parker is fully demon at his core. I don’t think that’s the case, and we’re going to see Parker fight to balance those sides over the next few episodes. Nick Hargrove still remains an underwhelming performer, but I’m liking this story, even it pales in comparison to Cole’s introduction.

One element of the episode that felt gratuitous was the demon-of-the-week abducting dating app users to mate. The fun show-down at the close of the episode was all kinds of camp, and I really enjoyed it (well, maybe Mel’s vanquishing punch-line was a bit cringe worthy), but the over arcing plots were so all-consuming that the shift between the various stories felt quite jarring. So far I’ve hated any attempts to shoehorn in references to social media, and this was no exception.

Potions and Notions

The reason Jade can teleport is because she’s a half witch/half whitelighter. The magical rules are starting to become a little clearer at this point, but I don’t know if they’ve clarified if Mel stops time, or if she can just freeze a certain target or limited area like Piper.

Charity asked Mel to accept the Sarcada’s offer to join them so Mel can work undercover for the Elders. When Mel attempted to find them, she was knocked out because she apparently came close to seeing Fiona in the flesh.

A wonderful call-out to the OG version this week; Mel referenced level “P3”. More of this would be very welcome.

Despite getting abducted by the weird bug demon, Macy decided to give her romance with Galvin another try, despite the mark situation. Unfortunately for both of them, Galvin was hit by a car before he could meet Macy for their first official date. Was it the mark that caused the accident?

I wonder what happened to Parker’s human mother.

Alastair’s plan appears to be to destroy Parker’s human side by creating some sort of serum using the Charmed Ones’ blood. Thanks to Hunter’s theft of Macy’s blood a few episodes back, and Parker’s manipulation of Maggie leading to both her and Mel’s donations to “help” Parker, he now has the blood of all three.

Spells and Chants

Charity: “If we took the time to sort out every human crime among a global population of seven billion, what room would that leave us to do our actual jobs? Which is to save the world from supernatural peril.”

Jada: “According to your precious Elders, because I'm the child of a forbidden whitelighter-witch relationship, I'm what they call an abomination.”

Macy: “You know, if I can survive almost getting impregnated by a demon bug queen, I'm hoping he and I can figure out a way around this mark.”

'Bug a Boo' was a messy hour, for sure, but I was so sucked in by how quickly the series expanded its magical universe. There was great forward momentum in the script too, despite the pacing issues, and it’s got me quite excited to see where things end up in the mid-season finale next week.

7 out of 10 bug demons

Originally posted at PandaTV.

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