Charmed Season 2 Episode 9: Where Is This Season Going?

Charmed (2018) season 2 returned this Friday with episode 9, “Guess Who’s Coming to SafeSpace Seattle”. Maggie and Mel discover that their father is still alive and in serious trouble. Meanwhile, Macy meets a SafeSpace investor who’s plans to grow an underground farm threatens to expose their headquarters. This episode was fun, but I’m still asking myself “where is all of this going”?

This season has, and I counted, approximately 14 storylines. Some have been resolved, some have been put on hold and other’s just fade in and out, but NONE of them threads through each episode. Perhaps the most important one: the demons killing and waging war against the witches storyline, has been by far the most anticlimactic of them all.

There is no imminent threat, no reminder to the girls or us that they’re fighting something bigger. The demons have not attacked in ages and there’s no clue as to how the girls manage the safety of the witches they save. Because of this, there’s no urgency and no tension. There’s also no clear goal. What are the girls even doing this season aside from just dealing with whatever conflict is thrown at them each episode?

What we have here is a plot-driven season that’s trying to manage too many storylines at once that it ends up looking something like this:

These are some of the major the consequences of that.

Mel Has No Personal Storyline

What is Mel doing this season besides finding magical solutions to problems? Well, nothing, really. There was that storyline with Katrina that happened entirely too fast and went nowhere. You can argue that this is due to Mel urging her sisters not to get close to anyone because it puts them and that person at risk. It’s the reason why she kept her distance from Katrina (who, in the end, decided to leave on her own accord). However, that’s not a necessarily a good thing. Staying away from everyone, especially when you’re dealing with a crisis, can be isolating and lonely. Not to mention that it prevents you from being able to get help from others. Why isn’t Mel dealing with the consequences of that?

Mel’s character arc isn’t the only one that leaves much to be desired, Macy’s does, too. What is Macy supposed to learn this season that she didn’t already learn last season? To tell someone you like them? We saw her struggling to tell Galvin how she felt about him last season, but here’s Macy again, struggling to tell Harry about her feelings. Why is that? What’s preventing her from doing so now?

What’s interesting is that Macy has expressed how much she misses being a scientist. There’s something here to dig into, but the show only addresses this on a surface level. Is she a little resentful about the fact that she had to put her career on hold for the safety of her family and the witches? Can she eventually learn to find a compromise? These potential internal conflicts should be threading through all of their interactions and decisions so that it doesn’t feel like these characters are simply vehicles for the plot.

Jordan's Inauthentic Motivation to Protect Maggie

Why does Jordan care so much about protecting Maggie? Throughout the season, he’s made it clear to Maggie that he isn’t romantically interested in her and yet I feel like the writers are using his feelings for her to be the reason why Jordan wants to protect her from Parker. This, in my opinion, feels inauthentic precisely because it contradicts Jordan’s initial intentions.

At the beginning of the season, Jordan made a comment that made him seem like he’s used to working or dealing with troubled women, so much so that he assumed Maggie was stealing from him to buy drugs or get out of some trouble. This episode, his girlfriend even tells him not to get sucked into Maggie’s drama. There’s subtext there; as if she’s aware that Jordan is used to doing this—like a bad habit. Does Jordan have a history of helping or protecting troubled women? Who did it start with? If so, this would be an interesting motivation for helping Maggie. I understand that the writers want to bring them together romantically and they can! But, perhaps not by forcing Jordan’s motivations to change.

By the way, the “Jordan is cursed and might die” storyline has been put on hold, so there’s no pressing concern from the girls, and thus the sense of urgency is gone. Is Jordan going to die soon? Who knows?

Redeeming Their Irredeemable Father for The Sake of Closure

Mr. Vera is alive and as it turns out, had faked his own death. Apparently, after learning about Mel and Maggie’s sudden death, this man’s primary concern was not that his daughters died, but that they died because someone was after him and thus, he had to fake his own death to avoid the same fate. Who was after him? Well, as it turns out, Mr. Vera was selling stolen artifacts for God knows what reason, and had gotten into some trouble with some “bad guys”. His shady business dealings is also the reason why he been has an absent father.

Despite the girls confronting him for being a terrible father, the show did manage to redeem him, even though he was still acting in his best interest up until the climax of the episode. In my opinion, Mr. Vera is irredeemable and the only reason they redeemed him was to give Maggie closure and internal resolution. They could have given her this resolution without redeeming him. Maggie could have accepted that in the end, her father was acting in his best interest and while it was not okay, unfortunately that is how he is. A sad conclusion, but a real one nonetheless.

Friction Between Macy and Harry for Friction Sake

In this episode Macy meets what seems like another love interest in the form of Julian, the SafeSpace investor, and, we are yet again treated to Harry’s jealousy. How much longer are we going to keep doing this? How much longer are we going to keep throwing love interests to stir up conflict between these two?

At this point, I’m just tired. Have these guys go ahead and date other people because I’m sick of them being jealous and passive aggressive towards each other. Seriously though, why aren’t they directly dealing with their feelings for each other with each other? What would be the consequence of that? Because if you ask me, there are no real consequences. Sure, it was said that the Elders forbade relationships between witches and white lighters, but they’re all dead now. So, nothing is stopping them…except for the plot.

It’s clear that they want to drag out this tension the entire season because they want us to wait until the very end to see them to get together, but having these characters avoid confronting the truth for this long is just nonsensical. What’s going to happen (and what’s already happening to me) is that your audience won’t care anymore, which is not what you want. You want your audience to care about your main pairing, but this is certainly not the way to do it.

Overall, I'm Just Disappointed

I love this show. I love the relationship between the sisters and their relationships with Harry. I believe in these relationships; it’s mostly why I watch. However, I just don’t understand what they’re meant to be doing and why. It’s exhausting trying to follow each storyline when they keep either getting put on hold or dropped entirely. Worst of all, it feels like all of it is leading nowhere.

Now that Season 2 is back, I hope that they tighten up the storylines and regains focus. Give us a clear direction, then head straight for it.

Do you watch Charmed (2018)? What do you think of Season 2 so far? Comment below!

Hi! Shantal here. I’m a writer and a storyteller. I created Shantal Writes to share my experiences with writing fiction. I also provide new writers with tips, tools, and writing advice. I hope you find something helpful while you’re here!