In the space of forty minutes, the entire established universe of Charmed is permanently altered.

Last year, Charmed undeniably took a long while to find its feet. Elements in the lead-up to the season finale should have been embedded in the story from the beginning, with Maggie’s staff and Mel’s time bracelets being brilliant additions to the witches’ arsenal. The end of the season saw the main sources of conflict, both the Elders and the Sisters of Arcana obliterated, setting the scene for a second season about the Charmed Ones stepping up to lead the magical community.

Or so we thought.

In the aftermath of a huge party, the Charmed Ones are attacked by an incredibly powerful demon, who seems immune to the Charmed Ones’ powers. When he destroys the Book of Shadows, the Charmed Ones enter a portal that deposits them in an Elder safehouse, which is part of a communal workspace called “Safe Space”. Now without their powers, the Charmed Ones answer a distress call within the Elders’ bunker revealing that two witches are in danger. Though they are too late to arrive, they are warned by a demon, “We’re coming for you witches.”

The Charmed Ones manage to escape, with help from Harry and Mel’s demonic powers, which haven’t been stripped from her. Now in Seattle, the sisters have the choice whether to return to an ordinary life or to take up the mantle of protecting witches from the Elders’ secret bunker. Obviously, the Charmed Ones take the latter option, settling themselves within their newly cloaked house in Seattle to aid witches against the oncoming demonic threat.

Mark’s Maundering Musings

It is alarming how much of a U-turn that Charmed has made only in its second season, but this was a hugely cohesive episode and genuinely suspenseful. It’s nice to shake off the trappings that the old show offered and venture into something entirely new.

I suppose with the sisters relocating to Seattle and being for all intents and purposes dead mean that the likes of Niko, Parker and Lucy are all no longer part of the fabric of the show. For some of those it’s quite a shame, though this new version does seem more mature and gritty.

I’m really hoping that they find a way to get their powers back soon. How will they be able to protect innocents from oncoming demons without their powers to back them up?

Something is seriously up with poor Harry. Alongside the revelation that he is the last whitelighter left, the masked assassin that attacks the Charmed Ones (and killed Harry) is revealed to have his face. What could that mean?

A lot is made of Macy and Harry’s chemistry in this episode, which was one of the accidental strong points of last season. We are similarly introduced to Maggie’s seeming new love interest, Jordan (Jordan Donica) and there’s the hint that a woman working in a witches’ apothecary might have romantic tension with Mel.

It’s exciting that this season is so distinct from the first. It looks better visually, and this episode was exciting and full of high stakes. With a new showrunner in place, there’s evidently quite a clear idea as to what is in store this season, instead of the first season which appeared quite messy at some points.