Charmed season 2 episode 4 review: Harry uncovers his dark side

In the latest episode of Charmed, the sisters learn more about Abigael as Harry goes on a mission to uncover the secrets in the Book of Elders.

Last week’s Charmed saw the introduction of a dangerous new witch, Abigael.

This week kicks off with a bang as Harry and Macy contain Abigael, interrogate her and quickly learn she is in fact the demon overlord. Turns out that the assassin had shot her because demons are misogynists and don’t want women in charge.

(Honestly, I can do with a lot less of the demon politics, but whatever. I understand they need these characters to have motivations and stuff.)

Abigael also admits that she somehow extracted the poison from the assassin’s dart and used it to kill the witches in Vermont in order to set up the Charmed Ones.

However, Abigael insists the Charmed Ones need her on their side as she has power and they don’t. Outside in SafeSpace, Harry tends to agree – they do need allies as translating the Book of Elders is coming along slowly, even with the cipher.

Macy decides to go to Montana, where Abigael says she escaped the assassin, and look for clues and tells Harry to stay behind and work on the Book. They finally agree to a safe word so that if she comes across Sexy Harry she can tell the difference and it is such an exceedingly nerdy choice that only Harry and Macy would get it.

Meanwhile, back at the Vera House (a comforting set piece to revisit after so much newness), Mel is working on recreating as many Book of Shadows potions as she can remember one by one (which, finally, someone is doing this) when Maggie comes in with some exciting news–her powers may be coming back.

Maggie reports that in her new role as assistant manager at SafeSpace (ugh whatever), she shook Jordan’s hand and had some kind of vision of him saying, “I love you,” and that she wants to find a way to touch him again to see if she can have another vision.

Sidebar:  Charmed really wants us to be into Jordan as Maggie’s new love interest, but they have zero chemistry. He’s cute, I guess, but he’s also boring and kind of a jerk! Also, something about him is suspicious to me…

Mel retorts with a full name drop:  “Marguerita Emilia Vera…you better not be falling for this guy.”

Maggie insists that “it’s not like that” and they have a classic Mel and Maggie sister debate in which Mel wants Maggie to be serious and Maggie insists she is serious until Maggie finally stomps off and says Jordan may be the key to her getting her powers back.

Mel meets up with Macy for a status report. Macy tells her that she’s going to Montana and is going to take Abigael with her. “Smart girl,” Abigael purrs. “Yes, I am,” Macy retorts as she slaps a magical handcuff on the demon that renders her powerless.

Mel refuses to let Macy go alone with Abigael and insists she needs backup (she does have a bag of potions, after all). Macy agrees and the three of them jump through an Elder portal into Montana.

They wind up on a deserted country road on the other side of the portal and begin to follow Abigael based on her memories of what happened when she escaped the assassin. At this point, Mel and I both scream, “It’s a trap! It’s a trap!”

But we can’t scream for too long since a kyon, or skinwalker, shows up, mostly making lots of creepy noises. Macy pulls the marble out of her pocket to port them back to Elder HQ when Abigael takes the opportunity to make a run for it.

Mel and Macy run after her, but the kyon makes his presence known. Macy throws a fireball to distract it and the sisters make a narrow escape.

Back at Elder HQ, Maggie finds Harry working on the Book of Elders and inadvertently translates the password for him. Thanks to Maggie, he reads one letter differently and says the word aloud, and a spider comes to life from the page.

They follow the skittering spider across the room and pull a chest away from the wall to reveal a small safe. Inside, there’s a magical driver’s license and some billing statements for the Tulipe Institute in a folder labeled ALPHA.

Upstairs at SafeSpace, there just so happens to be a display on the women of the Tulipe Asylum… Harry knows he’s close to a breakthrough and so does Maggie as she decides to go back and talk to Jordan more.

In a very awkward business meeting, Maggie repeatedly touches Jordan on the arm to no avail. She doesn’t get anymore visions.

Jordan finally says, “You keep tapping me…which is weird,” and maybe he’s growing on me a little bit now. Maggie apologizes and explains she’s just trying to figure something out.

And then he says, “I love you,” exactly as she saw in her vision–to someone else, of course. While her empath powers are still gone, it appears Maggie has gained the new power of foresight!

Back in Montana, Macy and Mel find Abigael again, cocky as ever, who tells them, “You cowards wanted to go back. I wanted to go forward.”

“And I was right,” she says, pointing to a pile of green goo–the assassin’s poison.

Macy, feeling shivers of multiple kinds, fears that Sexy Harry has been there. But Mel, ever the skeptic, argues that Abigael could have planted it, just like when she killed the witches in Vermont.

Abigael insists that the witches are the murderers as she fully introduces herself:  Abigael Jamison-Caine, daughter of Alistair and half-sister of Hunter, whom the Charmed ones both murdered.

Abigael explains she grew up in England with her mother since her father was (again) a misogynist. (Look, we get it, Charmed. Feminism.) But it appears she picked up enough from her dear old dad to take on the demon side of the family and become a witch hunter.

After stumbling upon a trap, they figure out the assassin took the kyon queen and port back home and bring Abigael to the house for some stupid reason. Taking one of the kyon horns, they decide to make a reverse tracking spell using science and magic in a classic Macy and Mel moment.

Meanwhile, Harry puts the magical driver’s license to use and goes to the Tulipe Institute. Turns out the billing statements are for one specific patient who has restricted access, but the name on the driver’s license, Alex Graves, will get him in.

The patient, Helen, seems pretty comatose as Harry gently probes her until he finally says the word “Elders” and she freaks out and attacks him. Harry calms her down and tells her he’s not one of them and she heals him–Helen’s a whitelighter!

Of course, as soon as he realizes this, the orderly comes in and tells Harry his time is up. Producing a key from the Elders’ safe, Harry asks if Helen has a lockbox of belongings anywhere. The orderly takes him to it and Harry pilfers through old papers and photographs and soon realizes she is the original Whitelighter.

The orderly then mentions that Helen has a sister and takes Harry to her. While Helen is quiet and kind, the sister is violent and scary. Harry goes back to Helen’s room.

“That’s not your sister, is it?” he asks. He soon realizes the “great cost” it took to make whitelighters when Helen confirms, “I am half,” which means Harry is, too…

Back at Elder HQ, the potion is done, but it isn’t working on the compass because there is no “living agent.” After a long day of being taunted by Abigael and feeling like a useless “Fanny Pack Franny,” Mel takes the potion and embodies the kyon pheromones.

She leads the group through a portal to a mysterious storage unit. Multiple creatures are in hyperbaric chambers and Macy soon determines they’re being sedated. The assassin is catching as many specimens as he can.

Still in a magical state, Mel tries to free all the creatures and shrieks until the kyon queen breaks out of her holding cell. Abigael convinces Macy to take off her handcuff so she can help them and the two get ready to throw a fireball, but Mel “communicates” with the queen until she runs away.

Maggie opens the portal back to Elder HQ when Harry appears. But is it actually Harry? Mel asks for the safe word, but he orbs her out of there and the sisters go through the portal before he gives it.

The truth is confirmed when the sisters get back home and, after Mel wisely puts Abigael in a magical cage, see Harry, but don’t find Macy anywhere.

“It was him,” Harry says. “My darklighter.”

It turns out, Sexy Harry is no shapeshifting demon at all, but in fact the evil half of Harry that was created when Harry became a whitelighter. As we know, magic requires a balance in the universe, so it only makes sense.

A LOT happened in this week’s episode and more is to come as Maggie and Mel work to free Macy next week. What did you think about all the twists and turns?