Stream It or Skip It: ‘Charmed’ on the CW, a Reboot That Brings Three Sister Witches Into the #MeToo Era

Charmed didn’t seem like a show that needed to be rebooted. It only left the air 12 years ago, but the idea of three sister witches butting up against the #MeToo movement seemed too interesting to ignore. So Charmed is back with a new cast and a new purpose. Is it as good as the original?

CHARMED: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A voiceover goes “This is not a witch hunt!”. A girl tries to sneak through a darkened hallway, and screams when she’s caught by her older sister… who’s annoyed that she borrowed her boots without asking.

The Gist: Mel and Maggie Vera (Melonie Diaz, Sarah Jeffery) both go to Hilltowne University. Mel is a graduate student in the women’s studies department headed by her mother Marisol (Valerie Cruz), and she’s definitely a loud voice when it comes to various causes, especially the fact that a professor has been cleared of sexual harassment charges after what many feel was an unfair investigation, even after the woman who accused him mysteriously ODed and is now in a coma. Maggie, an undergrad, just wants to have a fun college experience; she wants to pledge a sorority, for instance.

When they’re both out — Maggie at a rush event, Mel with her cop girlfriend Nico Hamada (Ellen Tamaki) — Marisol gets attacked by demons posing as crows. She casts a spell to get rid of them, saying “I have three!” but the demons kill her. Three months later, the girls are still trying to figure out how it happened, and Mel is none too happy that her mother’s replacement, Harry Greenwood (Rupert Evans) is a man.

Macy Vaughn (Madeleine Mantock) moves to Hilltowne to work for the same professor as a research scientist; she shudders when she sees the Vera house, leading her to figure out that the mother she never knew was Marisol. When she introduces herself as the Vera’s sister, Mel is especially angry and refuses to let her into their life.

But all three start realizing they have powers — Maggie can read minds, Macy can move things via telekinesis and Mel finds out she can freeze time. Harry, who turns out is a “Whitelighter,” brings them all back to the Vera’s attic to let them know that they’re all witches, whose powers were activated by Marisol before she died, with the express purpose of fighting off the demons who will take over the world. Only all three of them need to agree to do it for their powers to take effect.

Our Take: We were never big fans of the original Charmed, which aired on The WB (and for a half-year, The CW) from 1998-2006. But the episodes we did see were full of wit, with the witch sisters balancing being modern ’90s and ’00s women with their responsibilities to fight the forces of evil. The new version does the same thing, adding in the idea that the Mel, Maggie and Macy will be fighting the patriarchy as well. #MeToo factors in strongly in the pilot, and seems to fit in quite well, not just tacked on because the show takes place in 2018 instead of 1998.

And it may seem like a gimmick that the sisters are women of color, but that actually helps the show go in a new direction, along with the opposites of Mel’s fighting spirit getting along with Maggie’s desire to just fit in. It also helps that the show is run by Jennie Snyder Urman, who gave us the funny and warm telenovela Jane The Virgin. Standing on its own, the show feels like it’ll go into that warm and funny direction, with special effects added for the witches’ powers and the demons they fight. And it actually can stand with the first show, which is a lot to say in a year where certain reboots pale in comparison to the originals.

Sex and Skin: Nico and Mel hook up again after Mel starts realizing how she can control her powers — by not being angry.

Parting Shot: The girls try to contact Marisol via a Ouija board; the pointer spells out the words “DON’T TRUST HARRY”.

Sleeper Star: This is a good spot to mention Ser’Darius Blain as Galvin Burdette, Macy’s co-worker and the only one in town that she knows when she moves there. Wonder if he’s holding some dark secret?

Most Pilot-y Line: “This is not a witch hunt. It’s a reckoning.” Yes, we know we’ll likely hear this a lot this season. Still clunky.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The three leads are fun to watch and who doesn’t want to see a bunch of witches fight a bunch of predator scumbags?

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Where to stream Charmed