Post by Scott on Oct 15, 2018 15:46:10 GMT -5
What a muddled mess! The Power of Three is needed to sort this mess out. Let's start with the characters: Macy, Mel, Maggie and Mom (Marisol). Mom is a powerful witch, mother to the Charmed Ones who are fated to engage in an apocalyptic battle signaled by the election of an utterly incompetent president (Donald Drumpf). With Macy in town (Hilltowne), Mom unbinds the power of her daughters, none of whom is aware that Mom is a witch (Maggie and Mel) or even alive (Macy). During the unbinding, Mom is beset by an unkind constable of ravens that has broken through the circular attic window. A demon materializes: an Ice Demon, if you will. Taydeus is the demonic form of Mr. Thaine. In short, Mom is flung out of a polygonal attic window and lands quite dead on the grass below. Mel is a angry, lesbian graduate student in Women's Studies at Hilltowne University where her mother was department chair. Mel has an on again, off again affair with Niko, a Hilltowne detective. On the fateful night, she parts ways with sister Maggie who is off to a sorority rush event. Mel hooks up with Niko, her occasional lesbian lover. Maggie is quite eager to join Kappa Tau Kappa: a sorority seemingly making the most of a temporary ban on alcohol on campus because Angela Wu, a straight A student who mysteriously lapsed into a coma after ostensibly oding. Ms. Wu had accused Professor Thaine, a biology professor, of sexual harassment. Maggie is so bent on joining this sorority and leaving the Vera Villa where she and sister Mel clash incessantly. Maggie ignores text messages from Mom urging her to return home. Mel has to retrieve Maggie from the sorority, but too late to come to the aid of their mother. The two sisters return home, greeted by some of the ravens that have invaded the villa, and find their mother dead when they peer through the broken window.
Jump ahead three months. Of course, the girls feel guilt. Mel openly expresses her anger, especially when the cops cannot find an explanation for Mom's death that involves murder. Maggie silently carries her guilt with her and is hell bent on leaving the villa because of Mel's unbridled anger.
Let's pause to consider: this might remind us of real Charmed Episode 1 to a very, very limited extent. Prue is angry at Phoebe because Phoebe has broken up her relationship with Roger. But, in real Charmed, Prue and Piper are living in the manor. Phoebe was in New York trying to connect up with her absent father and establish herself independently of her sisters. Piper invites Phoebe to return and conceals this from Prue.
So there is some superficial similarity. Two siaters feuding with each other. A sister living in a far away town (re)turning to life in a familar place. An older, Victorian era house tightly wedged next to an equally old house...But differences abound.
True, the new Phoebe is Maggie, a bubbly, university Freshman (at Hilltowne University) with the power, not of premonition, but telepathy, a power unwittingly acquired by Prue during Season 3 to Prue's great dissatisfaction. Mel, though, is the middle sister. She will have the power to freeze. Macy, the eldest, is the product of a bi-racial broken marriage and acquires Prue's power of telekinesis. She is new to Hilltowne and freaks when she sees the villa on a walking date with a colleague. Macy has a picture of her mom in front of the manor and deduces that the i habitants - Mel and Maggie - are her half-sisters. She is a scientist after all.
Each of the sister witches - think Paige, Piper and Phoebe - discovers their new powers individually and are at a loss to explain what had just occurred in each instance. In real Charmed Phoebe read from the Book of Shadows and knew that each would have powers, though she did not know which sister had which power before their unexpected occurrences. In reboot Charmed it is left to whitelighter Harry, an obnoxious professor who has taken the position once held by Mom and engendered the hostility of Mel, a graduate student on a jeremiad against Mr. Thaine, a professor recently reinstated after the aforementioned sexual harassment accusation.
Macy is portrayed as a skeptic scientist (molecular geneticist) who wants to understand the material basis of powers. Consequently, she concocts an alkaline solution (baking soda) to negate the hydrochloric acidic related powers of a demon possessing a human and bent on killing the Charmed Ones. The possessed human (Brian) is/was an apparent love interest of Maggie. And all of this because of a vicious dog scratch on Maggie's face that is analyzed on a smartphone - or so it seems. If that sounds confusing to you, it sure is to me. Why not consult the Book of Shadows for the appropriate potion or invoke the Power of Three? The latter sure vanquished Jeremy, whose relationship with Piper is at least explored in the real Charmed pilot.
At least, molecular genetics is a real, existing field of research dealing with molecules involved in DNA, chromosomes and genes. Why molecular genetics? Maybe Macy will be better able to understand Mel's power of "molecular movement" or do a scientific analysis of "molecular witchenetics", a neologism coined by the very demanding, condescending and lecturing whitelighter Harry Greenwood. Perhaps Macy will win a Nobel Prize for investigating molecular witchcraft for published research.
Stop the presses! Piper's power did not involve the manipulation of molecules, although wikia and Charmed magazine did their best to spew this nonsense. Piper's power was rooted in the ability to slow down and speed up sub-atomic particles.
That's a quibble compared to the real question. Do we care about any of these characters?
We certainly did when Constance Burge was on board. Her writing focused on three sisters who happened to be witches. The storylines in real Charmed foxused on exploring the relationships among these women.
Did we care about the Charned Ones. We are introduced to Prue and Piper through dialog during a storm. Prue and Piper are discussing Phoebe. We learn that Prue is angry with her aimless younger sibling, an anger rooted in Phoebe's interference in her engagement with Roger. Piper is the mediator and tries to lessen the anger that Prue harbors toward Phoebe. Of course, Piper fails to disclose to Prue that Phoebe is on her way back to San Francisco and to the manor. A financially challenged Phoebe enters the manor all bubbly and sticks Prue with the taxi fare. Annoyed, Prue is pressed by Phoebe to admit that it is the Roger issue that lies at the root of her anger towards Phoebe. In short, these characters are people we can identify with and care about, especially as they embark on their newfound path as the Charmed Ones. Does the same hold true for the three Ms?
Mel? Okay, she is an angry lesbian. Angry with her sister Maggie who is determined to move out of the manor. Angry at the police for not considering her mother's death a homicide. Angry with Niko with whom she has an on again, off again affair. Angry at Professor Harry Greenwood who has replaced her murdered Mom as chair of the Woman Studies Department at Hilltowne University? Angry that he is a cis-male. Angry at the world? What is there to like in this character? Not much I fear.
Maggie? She comes off as an airhead. Yes, she is bubbly as was Phoebe. Whereas Phoebe had a lot of smarts and a never-ending curiosity, we don't know what Maggie has other than a desire to join a sorority and a concern for her looks ("Is this going to scar?") after she has been attacked by a demon dog. She's not very curious about the Book of Shadows. Indeed, she is repulsed by the thought of a demon turning her into a smoothie. She is reluctant to assume the burdens of the power of three. Whielighter Harry has told them each must agree within 48 hours to assume the burden of being a Charmed One or their powers will be reclaimed and any memory of their brief fling at witchcradt will be erased.
Sound familar? In the final episdoe of Season 4, Witch Way Now, the question is posed by the (first) Angel of Destiny.) Piper is the reluctant one because she has seen the that the Source (and Cole) have wreaked on the Charmed Ones and because she fears for a future as a mother. Here, Mel, the middle-sister Piper equivalent, is gung ho. Macy and Maggie are reluctant sister witches.
Macy? She is the scientist skeptical of these witchy powers. There must be a scientific explanation for her ability to move objects telekinetically. She is much taller than the other two half-sisters, and reminds me of Lori Rom, the miscast original Phoebe. Her arrival at baking soda as a solution to the problem of demonic possession seems a stretch and certainly does not endear us to this character.
In short, there is too much crammed into this pilot episode for us to get to know these characters. Will we care about them? Maybe. But the charm of the aired pilot of real Charmed was in the interaction between Piper, Phoebe and Prue, as well as the relationship between Andy and Daryl established during the investigation of the murder of a witch in San Francisco. We will learn that Andy and Prue had a love interest that may or may not be rekindled now that Prue knows she is a Charmed One. We will learn that Phoebe takes the spells and potions in the Book of Shadows seriously and devotes time to learning about the sisters' powers. We will be introduced to a whitelighter/handyman Leo whom both Phoebe and Piper take to initially. All of this unfolds during Season 1, a season during which the sisters are all alone for most of the season. Only towards the end does their whitelighter appear.
Whitelighter Harry? Well, he is thrown into this pilot. A spiritual guide and healer? Hardly. He first appears as an antagonist (at least to Mel) and annoying twit after capturing and binding the three potential charmed ones in the Vera Villa. Worse: he is a show off as he disappears and reappears. This whitelighter is no guide. He's more like the unseen director in Charlie's Angels (another Aaron Spelling production): Charlie Townshend. Worse: the new Charmed Ones are warned - via Ouija Board - by a now deceased Mom not to trust whitelighter Harry. Uh oh, is Harry another Dumain in the making?
Well, one thing is certain. The writers of this muddled mess - Jessica O'Toole & Amy Rardin & Jennie Snyder Urman - certainly know their Charmed. But to cram plot points from Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 into one pilot just adds to the confusing mess.
Remember the teaser in the original Charmed? We are treated to a witch performing ritual who gets brutally murdered. The suspense in the reboot pilot is bizarre at best. As suspenseful music suffuses the screeen, Maggie tries to sneak past Mel whose boots she has borrowed for the sorority rush event at Kappa Tau Kappa. Mel catches her in the act and bemoans the use of her boots for the military themed sorority event. (Why aren't any of the other sorority rushees dressed according to a military theme?) After this bit of fakery, the teaser becomes more suspenseful when a raven comes into the villa followed by a swarm of ravens that smash through a circular attic window.
Well, what to make of this mess? Of all the characters, the most interesting is Lucy, the head sister of Kappa Tau Kappa. Alas, she does not seem to be a recurring character. She, though, plays the bimbo to the hilt. Bring her back! Should we watch all 18 of the episodes played for Season 1? Maybe, if only out of a morbid curiosity to see how much more muddled the reboot of Charmed can become. Maybe it will get better. Maybe it will get worse.
Jump ahead three months. Of course, the girls feel guilt. Mel openly expresses her anger, especially when the cops cannot find an explanation for Mom's death that involves murder. Maggie silently carries her guilt with her and is hell bent on leaving the villa because of Mel's unbridled anger.
Let's pause to consider: this might remind us of real Charmed Episode 1 to a very, very limited extent. Prue is angry at Phoebe because Phoebe has broken up her relationship with Roger. But, in real Charmed, Prue and Piper are living in the manor. Phoebe was in New York trying to connect up with her absent father and establish herself independently of her sisters. Piper invites Phoebe to return and conceals this from Prue.
So there is some superficial similarity. Two siaters feuding with each other. A sister living in a far away town (re)turning to life in a familar place. An older, Victorian era house tightly wedged next to an equally old house...But differences abound.
True, the new Phoebe is Maggie, a bubbly, university Freshman (at Hilltowne University) with the power, not of premonition, but telepathy, a power unwittingly acquired by Prue during Season 3 to Prue's great dissatisfaction. Mel, though, is the middle sister. She will have the power to freeze. Macy, the eldest, is the product of a bi-racial broken marriage and acquires Prue's power of telekinesis. She is new to Hilltowne and freaks when she sees the villa on a walking date with a colleague. Macy has a picture of her mom in front of the manor and deduces that the i habitants - Mel and Maggie - are her half-sisters. She is a scientist after all.
Each of the sister witches - think Paige, Piper and Phoebe - discovers their new powers individually and are at a loss to explain what had just occurred in each instance. In real Charmed Phoebe read from the Book of Shadows and knew that each would have powers, though she did not know which sister had which power before their unexpected occurrences. In reboot Charmed it is left to whitelighter Harry, an obnoxious professor who has taken the position once held by Mom and engendered the hostility of Mel, a graduate student on a jeremiad against Mr. Thaine, a professor recently reinstated after the aforementioned sexual harassment accusation.
Macy is portrayed as a skeptic scientist (molecular geneticist) who wants to understand the material basis of powers. Consequently, she concocts an alkaline solution (baking soda) to negate the hydrochloric acidic related powers of a demon possessing a human and bent on killing the Charmed Ones. The possessed human (Brian) is/was an apparent love interest of Maggie. And all of this because of a vicious dog scratch on Maggie's face that is analyzed on a smartphone - or so it seems. If that sounds confusing to you, it sure is to me. Why not consult the Book of Shadows for the appropriate potion or invoke the Power of Three? The latter sure vanquished Jeremy, whose relationship with Piper is at least explored in the real Charmed pilot.
At least, molecular genetics is a real, existing field of research dealing with molecules involved in DNA, chromosomes and genes. Why molecular genetics? Maybe Macy will be better able to understand Mel's power of "molecular movement" or do a scientific analysis of "molecular witchenetics", a neologism coined by the very demanding, condescending and lecturing whitelighter Harry Greenwood. Perhaps Macy will win a Nobel Prize for investigating molecular witchcraft for published research.
Stop the presses! Piper's power did not involve the manipulation of molecules, although wikia and Charmed magazine did their best to spew this nonsense. Piper's power was rooted in the ability to slow down and speed up sub-atomic particles.
That's a quibble compared to the real question. Do we care about any of these characters?
We certainly did when Constance Burge was on board. Her writing focused on three sisters who happened to be witches. The storylines in real Charmed foxused on exploring the relationships among these women.
Did we care about the Charned Ones. We are introduced to Prue and Piper through dialog during a storm. Prue and Piper are discussing Phoebe. We learn that Prue is angry with her aimless younger sibling, an anger rooted in Phoebe's interference in her engagement with Roger. Piper is the mediator and tries to lessen the anger that Prue harbors toward Phoebe. Of course, Piper fails to disclose to Prue that Phoebe is on her way back to San Francisco and to the manor. A financially challenged Phoebe enters the manor all bubbly and sticks Prue with the taxi fare. Annoyed, Prue is pressed by Phoebe to admit that it is the Roger issue that lies at the root of her anger towards Phoebe. In short, these characters are people we can identify with and care about, especially as they embark on their newfound path as the Charmed Ones. Does the same hold true for the three Ms?
Mel? Okay, she is an angry lesbian. Angry with her sister Maggie who is determined to move out of the manor. Angry at the police for not considering her mother's death a homicide. Angry with Niko with whom she has an on again, off again affair. Angry at Professor Harry Greenwood who has replaced her murdered Mom as chair of the Woman Studies Department at Hilltowne University? Angry that he is a cis-male. Angry at the world? What is there to like in this character? Not much I fear.
Maggie? She comes off as an airhead. Yes, she is bubbly as was Phoebe. Whereas Phoebe had a lot of smarts and a never-ending curiosity, we don't know what Maggie has other than a desire to join a sorority and a concern for her looks ("Is this going to scar?") after she has been attacked by a demon dog. She's not very curious about the Book of Shadows. Indeed, she is repulsed by the thought of a demon turning her into a smoothie. She is reluctant to assume the burdens of the power of three. Whielighter Harry has told them each must agree within 48 hours to assume the burden of being a Charmed One or their powers will be reclaimed and any memory of their brief fling at witchcradt will be erased.
Sound familar? In the final episdoe of Season 4, Witch Way Now, the question is posed by the (first) Angel of Destiny.) Piper is the reluctant one because she has seen the that the Source (and Cole) have wreaked on the Charmed Ones and because she fears for a future as a mother. Here, Mel, the middle-sister Piper equivalent, is gung ho. Macy and Maggie are reluctant sister witches.
Macy? She is the scientist skeptical of these witchy powers. There must be a scientific explanation for her ability to move objects telekinetically. She is much taller than the other two half-sisters, and reminds me of Lori Rom, the miscast original Phoebe. Her arrival at baking soda as a solution to the problem of demonic possession seems a stretch and certainly does not endear us to this character.
In short, there is too much crammed into this pilot episode for us to get to know these characters. Will we care about them? Maybe. But the charm of the aired pilot of real Charmed was in the interaction between Piper, Phoebe and Prue, as well as the relationship between Andy and Daryl established during the investigation of the murder of a witch in San Francisco. We will learn that Andy and Prue had a love interest that may or may not be rekindled now that Prue knows she is a Charmed One. We will learn that Phoebe takes the spells and potions in the Book of Shadows seriously and devotes time to learning about the sisters' powers. We will be introduced to a whitelighter/handyman Leo whom both Phoebe and Piper take to initially. All of this unfolds during Season 1, a season during which the sisters are all alone for most of the season. Only towards the end does their whitelighter appear.
Whitelighter Harry? Well, he is thrown into this pilot. A spiritual guide and healer? Hardly. He first appears as an antagonist (at least to Mel) and annoying twit after capturing and binding the three potential charmed ones in the Vera Villa. Worse: he is a show off as he disappears and reappears. This whitelighter is no guide. He's more like the unseen director in Charlie's Angels (another Aaron Spelling production): Charlie Townshend. Worse: the new Charmed Ones are warned - via Ouija Board - by a now deceased Mom not to trust whitelighter Harry. Uh oh, is Harry another Dumain in the making?
Well, one thing is certain. The writers of this muddled mess - Jessica O'Toole & Amy Rardin & Jennie Snyder Urman - certainly know their Charmed. But to cram plot points from Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 into one pilot just adds to the confusing mess.
Remember the teaser in the original Charmed? We are treated to a witch performing ritual who gets brutally murdered. The suspense in the reboot pilot is bizarre at best. As suspenseful music suffuses the screeen, Maggie tries to sneak past Mel whose boots she has borrowed for the sorority rush event at Kappa Tau Kappa. Mel catches her in the act and bemoans the use of her boots for the military themed sorority event. (Why aren't any of the other sorority rushees dressed according to a military theme?) After this bit of fakery, the teaser becomes more suspenseful when a raven comes into the villa followed by a swarm of ravens that smash through a circular attic window.
Well, what to make of this mess? Of all the characters, the most interesting is Lucy, the head sister of Kappa Tau Kappa. Alas, she does not seem to be a recurring character. She, though, plays the bimbo to the hilt. Bring her back! Should we watch all 18 of the episodes played for Season 1? Maybe, if only out of a morbid curiosity to see how much more muddled the reboot of Charmed can become. Maybe it will get better. Maybe it will get worse.