WATCH & DISCUSS [REBOOT] 2x13: Breaking the Cycle

[Assassin Witch]

Charmed | 2.13 - "Breaking the Cycle"
Original Airdate: Feb 21, 2020 @ 8PM


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Episode Summary
Harry can't expel his past so The Charmed Ones rush to his aid but ultimately he makes
a deal with the devil. As The Charmed Ones continue their efforts to restore the Power
of Three, they find themselves in the gravest circumstance yet.
Source

[Melinda Halliwell]

This episode was okay and a sisterly one which we'd been waiting for that had them working together to try to solve the lockdown problem and free themselves from that.

I liked how Mel, Macy, and Maggie dropped what they did to address the situation ahead that felt like original Charmed seasons 1-2 that I'd have liked the latter season sisters to still do too.

Didn't anticipate Harry potentially sleeping with Abigael when their job was done which thankfully never happened though liked the girl and Harry helping her control her powers to unfreeze the public which was good seeing reminding me of early seasons Leo like when he tried helping the boy to defeat Tuatha using his wand.

Will Harry get other charges in future perhaps?

I got Supernatural vibes with the magic detector acting like an EMF meter reading magical energy instead of spiritual energy.

And were those extractors Witch Hunters perhaps working for the lab people previously seen whom Jimmy's also working for then?

So the Charmed One's here aren't unique like the original set but a long line of sisters born every generation like Buffy who inherit the P03 to protect the world from whatever dangers around at the time that I'm not sure whether I prefer this or the original or not.

I suppose it would be cool if Mel, Macy, and Maggie fought out about Piper, Prue, Phoebe, and Paige somehow who were Charmed in the past from an alternate universe but no longer existed or retired explaining why there not here now giving a nod to their predecessors of course.

Macy got her telekinesis back and Harry sniffed Jimmy's poison finding out more about him entering his mind whom I feel will have to go back inside his bottle for Harry to live.

[codebox]

While I liked the sisters being together for the first time since like the premiere, I don't like how they had to be forced together rather than being naturally together to organically fit the plot. I also wasn't a fan of how Maggie stated she felt relief after Parker's fake death, it really gave me Phoebe/Cole vibes, specifically in Season 5 where everyone forgot (or ignored) Cole was under an influence outside of his control, in that case Parker was under influence by the apple and the show wants to ignore that just to paint a "He's demon= irredeemably evil" message. Instead of focusing on what he actually did wrong. (like when he violated her mind, but rather than focus on that they just want to focus on how him being half demon makes him an iredeemable monster)

I'm not going to act like Parker is a good character or anything (he really isn't, though I will say he's somewhat better than in Season 1) but the whole angle and just general framing of this narrative just frustrates me in the same way with the Cole situation. I really don't want Maggie to turn into MagME the same way Phoebe did with PhoeME. But that scene gave really bad vibes to it. Along with her being a general homewrecker and having her relationships starting with cheating or how generally indecisive she is.

(As a note I have just watched the episode proceeding this one Sudden Death upon typing this and I really hated that scene where Maggie rips into Parker for reminding me exactly why I hated the Phoebe/Cole storyline and for having shades of that.. She went PhoeMe on him and felt like MagMe.)) -_-

I think not referencing the OG sisters was a HUGE missed opportunity, it could've felt like a nice way to connect the two worlds together. I mean it's not like its a rights thing considering how much they've literally copied plots/characters from the OG show. I think having the Prue/Piper/Phoebe/Paige there with maybe Prue's name written in red? (but then again I actually liked Prue the most) I also think it should've been one of the OG sisters who came down to them (But then again I don't think Holly/Alyssa would agree to be ghosts/spirits on the show)

I liked Macy admitting her feelings of feeling like the third wheel and having her own independence, it sorta reminded me of Paige in Season 5/6 of OG Charmed where Paige kinda wanted her own space/independence as a person away from just the sisterhood..

Hated Harry/Abigail plot. I still dislike how Harry/everyone else have to be complete idiots just to make her seem smarter. Ignoring how she's a murder and a manipulator. I did like the moments with Harry and Cassie where he's using his whitelighter side to properly guide Cassie into controlling her power. But I hate how even when Abigail did an obviously evil thing in front of him (like using Macy's demon power combined with her own to incinerate a group of people) he doesn't question or scold her for that. Yet still persists she isn't evil, when even Cassie had uncomfortable vibes from her.

[Esmeralda]

You keep making me happy that I've never wasted a second on the rip-off! It sounds like they keep ripping off the worst parts of Classic Charmed without fixing them. And they're even more demon-hunters who happen to be related than the second set of Classic Charmed Ones! I didn't think that was possible, but is sounds like it is.

SOOO glad that in both sets of Classic Charmed, Done Our Way (CCDOW), we let the episodes start and end with the sisters, even during S2 since both groups are totally ignoring the triangle - in Saturday's version, Piper is still with her non-magical Jeremy and in Sunday's version, Dan finds out the secret and moves away before Leo returns for the first time since 'Love Hurts'.

Now doing that in S3-8 with its episodic arcs might be tougher, but you know we'll do our best!

[Melinda Halliwell]

Abigael and Parker are two characters the reboot could've certainly done without and as I stated previously I also liked Harry guiding the girl Cassie.

[yanpo]

The difference between Parker and Cole and why I'm perfectly okay with them not treating him like an innocent is because he chose to eat the apple knowing full well what Godric did to get it and then kept that information from Maggie.

Cole was always an innocent. He never chose to be Belthazar, and while he chose to be the Source, he did it to save everyone. Once the Source was in Cole, it was the Source calling all the shots. Cole's nigh indomitable goodness was the only thing that kept the Source from being completely evil and killing off the Charmed Ones. None of the OG sisters, in the innumerable times that they were turned into demons and other assortment of evil monsters, had been able to suppress the evil that came from the transformations. Cole managed to do it with Belthazar and then managed to influence the choices of the Source of all Evil itself.

Parker on the other hand chose to get drunk on the power that came from the genocide of the Dryads, and he deserves all the punishment that comes with that choice in the same way a drunk driver deserves all the punishment that comes from choosing to drink and drive.

I like the Abigail character, but I would have killed her the first chance I got. That would have ultimately been a mistake mind you. Her existence has given the sisters and all witches the reprieve they needed to rally and organize after the destruction of the Elders. Harry has been playing his role of keeping her happy and I commend his ability to resist Abigail as much as he has. I personally find her quite intoxicating, even though I wouldn't hesitate to kill her at a moments notice. She's way too dangerous to keep alive, yet is unfortunately a necessary evil..for now.