Charmed season 2 episode 9 review: Ray of Light

This week’s episode of Charmed introduces Maggie and Mel’s dad, Ray Vera, for the first time, bringing magic and family together in new and exciting ways.

When we last saw the Charmed Ones, Maggie narrowly escaped a demonic wedding with Parker, only for him to attack Jordan and be “killed” by Abigael.

We pick back up with a concussed Jordan who conveniently doesn’t remember any of the magical stuff, but just remembers that Parker was a bad guy. And apparently, there’s nothing like a demonic encounter to make you more obsessed than ever before with the witchy girl next door.

Jordan continues to train Maggie, taking it to the streets, where she uses her new vision powers to anticipate his moves and beat him with a baton.

Maggie comes home from training to find Mel practicing her new powers (boiling water). Mel is, of course, worried Maggie may be getting too close to Jordan. As Maggie reassures Mel, she has a vision and sees the darklighter.

Meanwhile, Macy still hasn’t gotten powers from the magical tree sap. And things are still awkward between her and Harry. (So much sexual tension!)

Harry, Mel, and Maggie gear up to go fight the darklighter, but Macy doesn’t go because she’s just now getting over the mind-bending allure of Sexy Harry. Since she’s staying behind, Maggie asks her to fill in for her at SafeSpace–which Macy is totally thrilled about. Not.

Swan tells Macy that the new investor for SafeSpace, Julian (Eric Balfour!), is about to give a big speech. Despite him purposefully ruffling Macy’s feathers during her tour, the two quickly hit it off. Is this another love interest for Macy?

Maggie, Mel and Harry go to the hotel that Maggie saw in her vision and track down the hotel room that they think the darklighter is in. (Harry orbs inside and sees that the door is boobytrapped.)

They start searching the room only to hear someone outside. Maggie hits them on the leg with her baton and they fall through the window–it’s their dad!

Harry still thinks it could be the darklighter and throws him up against the wall, eliciting his nicknames for Maggie and Mel. They tell Harry to let go and ask for some time alone.

It turns out Ray Vera isn’t just an archeology professor–he sells ancient relics on the black market.  Because of this, he has someone after him. And one of the items in his bag is the boomerang knife that belonged to the darklighter.

Harry sees a man in a black hat and coat headed for the room and tells them they have to go. He knocks out Ray (so he won’t see the magic) and orbs them back to the house just in the nick of time.

Maggie and Mel have to figure out why their dad has someone magical after him and decide to tell him about the magic. He wakes up in the house, confused since it burned down. He doesn’t believe them so Mel finally shows him by freezing his water and melting it again.

He then gets super excited, saying that the truth he’s been hunting for his whole life was under his nose all along. Mel isn’t impressed.

Back at SafeSpace, Julian announces he wants to grow farmland underground to combat climate change. They’ll be excavating–which means digging up Elder HQ.

Macy awkwardly interrupts Julian and asks him to dinner to talk about the excavation. She goes back to the house to make a potion to slip into his drink at dinner, much to Harry’s dismay. (When will these two kiss already?!)

After Macy leaves for her date, Maggie, Mel, and Harry corner Ray to interrogate him and learn that he may have inadvertently woken up the darklighter after stealing and selling a talisman that belonged to Marisol (which he found after her funeral).

When he heard about the house burning down, he found the boomerang knife (which he had sold to the same buyers) and thought they’d killed the girls.

Maggie and Mel are disgusted and upset with Ray and Harry demands to go through all of his relics again. He finds a box that has something rattling inside.

Maggie and Mel do a spell to open it up. There’s a ram’s head stone inside the box and when Rey grabs it, there’s a huge blast of magic that drops the invisibility spell on the house. Their dad really is the worst!

They try to take the stone from Ray but it won’t leave his hand. (He also really wants to sell it.) Mel and Harry go to Elder HQ to find a spell that will cloak the house again and leave Maggie with Ray to protect him. Cue sad conversation about abandonment and childhood.

Meanwhile, Macy goes to dinner with Julian and, of course, they hit it off about all of the nerdy things. (Plus, have you seen these two? They’re gorgeous! Of course they have good chemistry!)

Macy eventually brings up the excavation project and asks a bunch of ridiculous questions, even bringing up a salamander habitat that could be endangered by the project. Julian gets a phone call and leaves the table and Macy takes the opportunity to slip the potion in his wine.

But when he comes back, he tells her that she was right and they’re going to slow down the project to make sure it’s done correctly. Macy, of course, feels guilty about bewitching someone who seems to be so good. (Is he really just a nice investor? Or something else?)

So when he toasts her to honesty, she clinks their glasses and spills his wine all over him. And Julian, being as charming and handsome as he is, is still unfazed as he just laughs and asks for club soda.

Julian and Macy go back to SafeSpace where she tries to clean up his shirt. (Why he isn’t actually shirtless in this scene, I don’t know.) Harry and Mel come upstairs just in time to see full blown flirtation, much to Harry’s dismay.

Back at the house, Maggie has a vision of the monster attacking her dad as he arrives on the doorstep. She attacks him with the baton which only makes him double. They run to the attic.

She uses a protection potion, but it doesn’t stop him. Maggie calls Harry and he orbs to the attic with Macy and Mel. Macy uses a fireball, which makes him replicate again. (This demon is giving all of the best, weird Buffy vibes and I love it.)

Harry tells Ray that the demon just wants the stone, and Ray steps in front of Maggie to put it back into his mouth, finally not being a total monster for once.

As the episode ends, Ray actually sticks around, enjoying a nice coquito while Harry and Mel talk about her “not a date” with Julian.

The next day, Maggie is back at work and Jordan is more intrigued by her than ever, having  finally googled her and discovered that she’s supposed to be dead. Despite this, he still likes her for whatever reason, and is about to tell her as much when he chickens out.

She thanks him for being a nice guy (is he, though? I’m still not sold on Jordan.) and goes on about her day. Jordan gets the nerve back up and follows Macy into the secret access room for Elder HQ, only to discover she’s completely disappeared…

What did you think of this week’s episode of Charmed? Sound off in the comments below.