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Charmed: Witch Perfect

“I’m the world’s worst sister.”

‘Witch Perfect’ is the kind of episode that shouldn’t have worked. On paper it seemed like a hot mess. An acapella obsessed demon? A magical pitch pipe? Jaime Camil hamming it up? On Charmed? But somehow, under the solid direction of Jaime Camil’s Jane the Virgin co-star Gina Rodriguez, the episode was just a whole lot of fun and a personal highlight of Charmed 2.0 so far.

The demon hunt this week is probably up there as one of the more absurd magical plots this show has attempted so far. After he gets his hands on a magical pitch pipe, the college a capella director Mr Morales is possessed by a demon that attempts to use the college’s “Hilltones” to enact his perfect symphony; turns out he was burned by the Sirens a long time ago and longs to reclaim his former glory.

The show goes so far as to ham up the Pitch Perfect inspiration with a guest spot from the movie series' vet Chrissie Fit. Jaime Camil’s casting as Mr Morales/ The Maestro is equally as over the top; I was concerned his appearance would unintentionally amplify the flat comedy this series tries so hard to pull off. Instead, the script balances this fun casting with the Siren craziness, while still incorporating some wonderful family drama, and the results are mostly great.

After she discovered a life altering fact about her sisters’ parentage in the previous episode, Macy struggles to break the news to Maggie and Mel this week. You have to feel for Macy here; is there an easy way to tell your newly discovered half-sisters that one of them is, in fact, the half-sister, and the man they thought was their father is just a stranger? Probably not, but Macy sure does make a bad situation worse by blurting out the news to Maggie with reckless abandon.

While Maggie channels her frustrations into her a capella group, Mel confides in Jada, who she seems to have grown to trust a whole lot. Mel makes a huge effort to reveal all of her secrets this week, secrets that Jada isn’t wholly surprised by. Looks like Mel’s undercover operation wasn’t as undercover as she thought.

Niko’s real identity did surprise the half-whitelighter, though. Jada was taken aback to learn that the detective had come to town working looking for her, and she was more shocked to learn that Niko is actually Mel’s ex. Will Niko’s return cause trouble for this newly formed couple? I’m sure it will, but I would like to see them survive it; Jada is one of the better supporting characters on this series and I want to see her stick around and not get pushed out once she’s romantically split from Mel.

The sibling tension that bubbles over at the top of the episode is played up well over the course of the hour, eventually coming to a head when the girls’ attempt to stop The Maestro using the Power of Three is hindered when their problems with each other prevent their magic from taking hold. Only listening to one another and understanding their own motivations unlocks their magic. This element has been missing for a while; the bond between the three sisters. The decision to incorporate it into the girls’ personal issues with each other was a wise move, and gives me hope that the writers haven’t totally lost touch with the OG’s true message.

Plus

Macy made another shocking discovery this week; her mother and father brought her back from the dead. Is this why she’s marked with darkness?

Harry decides he shouldn't be the girls whitelighter anymore because of how much he's changed since Tartarus.

He Said, She Said

Macy: “my sisters, they don't want to face the facts, but the truth is still out there.”

Tonally this episode was a tad jarring; the show is still struggling to deftly switch from the magical hijinks to the more personal drama with minimal fuss. ‘Witch Perfect’ did hint at that ability getting strong over time, though. When an episode can move between gratuitous musical content, family drama and magical mystery and manage keep the momentum going, it’s a good sign.

7 out of 10 magical pitch pipes

Originally posted at PandaTV.

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