Charmed has recaptured its magic in fourth season opener

Another season of The CW’s Charmed is upon us, and the premiere episode delivered hilarity and sincerity while introducing us to the newest Charmed One.

Since the ending of the third season of Charmed, which found the Charmed Ones down a witch after the passing of their sister Macy, it was hard to know exactly where the series would go and if it would ever be the same.

It’s safe to say that those fears were quelled by the season opener titled, “Not That Girl.”

With three new showrunners steering the ship, it felt like this season premiere was truly a love letter to the fans of Charmed; a way to show appreciation for seasons past while ushering in a new era.

In a way, this Charmed reboot got a reboot. It leaves the show in the position for a wonderful season that brings back many elements fans of Charmed have been asking for.

For starters, the new Charmed One, Kaela, whose whole name is Michaela, is incredibly charming. She’s funny. She’s cool. She’s an artist, and this episode goes a long way to make even skeptics fall in love with her.

This episode proves that even if she doesn’t know anything about magic or what she’s even doing running around with Maggie and Mel, she has an incredible heart which is all you truly need to be a Charmed One: A good heart and the will to do something with it. New star Lucy Barrett is wonderful in this episode, as she brings a playfulness to Kaela that the series needed post-Macy.

Maggie and Mel begin the episode at odds, six months after Macy’s death and still not being able to quite fit back together with the way they used to. Mel is going out to a new magical bar and ghosting girls left and right, while Maggie takes Jordan out demon hunting to burn off some steam.

Seeing them have this tension between them brings me right back to season 1, and I love it. It’s upsetting to see them split apart again after they’ve worked so hard to truly see each other after a tumultuous first season, but of course, Macy’s death would drive a wedge between them again, and I’m excited to see how it plays out throughout the season.

By the end of the episode, they’ve made amends, but I’m sure six months of misconnection can’t be resolved in a night.

Other call-backs to the first season included an appearance from Chloe, the pixie from season 1 highlight “Manic Pixie Nightmare,” as well as a nearly identical lighting strike when the new Charmed Ones unite for the first time, exactly as it happened with Macy.

Along with familiar faces from the first season, Josefina was back in this episode, and I couldn’t have been happier to see her. She’s a wonderful character, and she brought a lightness to the episode and the Vera household that was truly needed. Also, Josefina getting turned into Flat Stanley via a side effect of Kaela’s manifesting powers was hilarious.

In addition to a wonderful introduction to the new member of the Charmed Ones, the show also introduced a menacing new villain: The Tallyman.

He’s faceless, for now, but it seems that docile and harmless creatures are being turned into violent versions of themselves. Chloe’s sister informs her that she made a deal with the Tallyman, but that’s all we learn before she collapses from merely writing his name.

In terms of queer representation, I’m extremely excited to see what happens this season, especially since in August of last year, new showrunner Joey Falco promised on Twitter that the representation would improve in season 4.

So far, Mel’s “never messier” love life seems extremely promising, and hopefully Josefina will be around more than just this first episode as well. Even though Ruby was written off entirely without mention, which is odd, to say the least,  I hope we’ll find out how her relationship with Mel ended later in the season.

Also, Falco confirmed on Twitter that Lucy Barrett’s Kaela is also bisexual, meaning there are two queer Charmed Ones! It’s incredibly exciting to see this show embrace having more than one queer lead, and for it to put representation at the forefront of the series through both Mel and Kaela. Though it wasn’t heavily featured in this episode, we’ll have to wait until next week for on-screen confirmation.

Overall, this is an incredibly promising start for Charmed’s fourth season. After so many changes both on-screen and behind the scenes, this premiere episode feels triumphant and hopeful, both for the future of the show and the characters within it. It’s truly recaptured its magic.