The Charmed Ones defeat the Tallyman in new episode

After the explosive ending of last week’s episode, it felt like Charmed couldn’t throw us any more curveballs, but this week’s episode, “The Tallyman Cometh,” proved quite the opposite. With surprise confessions, sudden kisses, and a twist ending, Charmed’s sixth episode put everything on the table.

A particular highlight of this episode was once again Maggie’s storyline, which is proving to bring some of the best moments of the season. In the episode, we learn that Maggie has to participate in court-mandated anger management, with the threat of jail time looming if she doesn’t comply. When she arrives to her appointment, her father, Ray Vera, is there.

It was wonderful to see Ray again, especially after he was hardly featured in season 3. Ray eventually gets Maggie to talk, using an elephant stuffed animal named Trunky, and Maggie finally breaks down her feelings and her anger.

She admits that she wasn’t mad at the man that catcalled her, she’s not mad at Jordan or Macy or Mel, she’s actually angry with herself. She blames herself for not being able to predict Macy’s death, for not being able to save her when she had the chance.

The survivor’s guilt Maggie is feeling is an element often glossed over in these types of shows; the heroes are often forced to give up so much for the world, but they’re not always allowed to mourn what they’ve lost or feel guilty for being the one that survived. Charmed allowing Maggie’s guilt and grief to dictate her story this season, the series finds a grounded place for her emotions while still portraying her as the strong, world-saving Charmed One that she is.

While Maggie is dealing with her emotions, Mel and Kaela finally get some one-on-one time. This is the first time that we’ve seen Mel and Kaela work together for an extended amount of time, and it’s a lot of fun to watch them build a relationship together in real-time.

At the end of the episode, this relationship is built upon when the three Charmed Ones convene in the living room, talking to each other about their feelings. This is the first scene with the three of them that feels absolutely natural, with the three witches finally falling into place without the ghost of Macy hanging over their heads.

This episode also featured a big step for Kaela, who kisses Blue Camellia singer Dev after butting heads throughout the episode. While the relationship between the two of them is cute, it does feel a bit rushed. After all, they only met two episodes ago, and have barely spent any time together. Their passionate confession at the end of the episode almost came out of nowhere and felt odd in the moment.

I also can’t help but notice that, almost immediately after confirming Kaela’s status as bisexual, she gets into a relationship with a man. While being with a man doesn’t make her any less queer, it is frustrating to a queer audience. It feels like the age-old ‘no more than one,’ rule is rearing its ugly head, dictating that, even though we have two queer Charmed Ones, only one can be in a relationship with a woman at a time.

In addition to Kaela’s complicated love life, we finally learn the motivation behind Harry’s two-week absence. The mushroom that he ate at the end of episode 3 sent him to a still-unknown place, where he traded in his Whitelighter powers for the ability to speak to the dead, making him a Necrolighter.

He tells Jordan that he did this so he could speak to Macy again, but all he’s been able to do so far is speak to others in the Veil, where spirits reside while they have unfinished business.

Jordan’s frustration in this episode was palpable, and not only in his scenes with Harry. He is clearly untrusting of Roxie, and his breakup with Maggie is hitting him particularly hard. He only softens when Ray asks him for help, revealing that he’s been cursed, just like Jordan had been during seasons 2 and 3.

Finally, this episode ended with the season’s big-bad, the Tallyman, ingesting his explosive liquid and blowing up after failing to bomb a Faction victims memorial. With the Tallyman gone, it seems that his followers will have to pick up where he left off. It will be interesting to see the Charmed Ones have to fight an idea, rather than a singular person, now that the Tallyman is no longer a single threat to focus on.

Overall, this episode provided even more shock and awe than the last, with this season gearing up as we approach the halfway point. Despite a few missteps, this season of Charmed is proving to be a genuine delight all-around.

Charmed airs Fridays at 8/7c on The CW, and streams for free the next day on The CW App.