Charmed takes us back to the Roaring Twenties in new episode
By Anna Govert
Charmed has returned for a new episode, which takes the Charmed Ones on a blast to the past, and answers a long-asked question. In this week’s episode, titled “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Sandwich,” the Charmed Ones are faced with their toughest opponent yet: Fake news.
The episode kicks off with a real-time look at a hobgoblin, a worker from the terrorized spa the Charmed Ones visited last episode, get indoctrinated and brainwashed by fantasy Joe Rogan. He is convinced the Charmed Ones are apart of a larger conspiracy that includes them being a stain on the magical world and also responsible for the rising gas prices.
If a little heavy handed, the metaphor worked really well in this episode. The hobgoblin, Donnie, invades the Blue Camellia, holding all the patrons as well as the Charmed Ones hostage via magically explosive gloves. The clear parallels to our current political climate allowed the series to equate the magical world to our human one, while bringing up a topic all viewers would know all too well.
Seeing the people around us become warped and twisted by the conspiracy theories they read online is a heartbreaking reality. Seeing it translated to the magical world against our favorite witches was just as hard to watch. The suspense created through this storyline was incredible, though, as it was impossible to guess what Donnie would do next with those he was holding hostage.
While Mel and Roxie stayed behind in the present, Mel put her newfound time powers to use and sent Maggie and Kaela to the past: 1926, to be exact. Though the trip through time was a clear mistake, it made for an incredible journey for Maggie and Kaela, who were able to further build upon their relationship and meet Roxie’s wife along the way.
Kudos to Lucy Barrett and Sarah Jeffery for their great rendition of “Lady Marmalade” to a crowd of 1920’s flapper magical creatures, which actually didn’t come out until 1974. So move aside Labelle, in Charmed canon, Maggie and Kaela invented “Lady Marmalade” 50 years before its release.
In the present, Mel and Roxie struggle to save the Blue Camellia from its captor, especially with Sunny, the bartender, actually being a rogue Charmed Ones-hater as well. This episode gave us our most solid look yet at the potential future of Mel’s love life, which most likely resides with Roxie.
Though I am excited to see their relationship unfold, her morally gray motivations and tension with Mel reminds me of the flirtation Mel had with Abigael in seasons 2 and 3. The similarities between Abigael and Roxie, as well as their interactions with both Mel and Harry, make Roxie feel like a replacement for Abigael, and I just wonder if Abigael’s one-sided feelings would’ve become something more had Poppy Drayton stayed beyond season 3.
Aside from Roxie, Mel’s relationship with Ruby seems to be stabilizing post-break up. It’s revealed that Swan, the manager at Safe Space, is now dating Ruby, and by the end of the episode, Mel seems to have come to terms with that.
It’s nice to see Ruby and Mel speak together so openly and freely, and it feels like they have had more deep conversations on the show post-break up than they ever had while they were together.
Jordan was a stand-out in this episode as well, putting his military training to good use to keep the bar calm and keep Donnie distracted. We also caught a glimpse of Harry at the end of the episode, confused and looking rather rough. It’s still unknown what Roxie did to him, and if she’s as much of an ally as she presented herself to be during this episode.
Finally, Maggie, Mel, and Kaela find a picture frame that would magically analyze a drop of blood to paint a portrait of the person’s biological parents. When the Charmed Ones recite the spell, the picture frame reveals that any of the potential parental links to Maggie and Mel, Marisol Vera, Ray Vera, and Dexter Vaughn, aren’t Kaela’s parents at all, but rather two people they’d never seen before.
Overall, this episode was a lot of fun and featured a great deal of suspense, while still incorporating some hard-hitting real-life issues and answering some of our burning questions even if those questions just led to more questions.
Charmed airs Fridays at 8/7c only on The CW, or stream next day on The CW App.