PILOT REVIEW: Charmed

CHARMED

Starring: Melonie Diaz, Madeline Mantock, Sarah Jeffery, Ser'Darius Blain, Ellen Tamaki, and Rubert Evans

Created by Constance M. Burge
Developed by Jenna Snyder Urman, Jessica O'Toole, and Amy Rardin
Teleplay by Jessica O'Toole & Amy Rardin, Story by Jessica O'Toole, Amy Rardin, Jennie Snyder Urman, & Constance M. Burge, Directed by Brad Silberling

IN SHORT: Charmed gets woke

THE PREMISE:
In a reimagining of the popular early 2000s WB show, Charmed once again centers on three sisters who are witches known as "the charmed ones." We first meet the two younger sisters, Mel and Maggie (Melonie Diaz & Sarah Jeffery). After their mother's mysterious death, the sisters meet their long lost older half-sister, Macy (Madeline Matock). They are brought together and told of their abilities by guardian angel Harry Greenwood (Rupert Evans). Rounding out the main cast is Mel's part-time lover, Niko (Ellen Tamaki) and a friend and colleague of Macy's, Galvin (Ser'Darius Blain).

THE REVIEW:
I'll start by saying that I've never seen the original Charmed so I have no grounds to compare this reboot to. But I have a feeling that both this show and the original are not my type of show. If you've been reading this blog over the years, you know that I am not a fan of supernatural shows. I am intrigued by the concept here, but every supernatural element makes me realize that this is just not a show I'm going to be watching on a weekly basis. The special effects seemed decent for a CW show, but I wonder if that will change beyond the pilot.

The strength here is the performances and the chemistry between the three sisters. Melonie Diaz, Sarah Jeffery, and Madeline Matock are all strong individually and together. If I was into shows like this, I would be intrigued by the chemistry of the sisters. They are funny and they each already seem to have their own personalities (not to mention their own powers). The three of them were cast well so let's hope they can get along better than the infamous bickering original cast. The rest of the cast is decent too, particularly Rupert Evans as the guardian angel.

Where this show stumbles a bit is it's insistence on trying to be a major voice in the #metoo movement. I think there are plenty of shows that could effectively have #metoo storylines or arcs and some already have. But in a show about a trio of witches, they already needed to have a lot of exposition in the pilot and I felt like some of its "woke"-ness just felt forced instead of being a natural weaving with the plot. It's not even that I think a supernatural show is incapable of tackling major issues, it's just that it needs to earn the right to do that effectively and it hasn't yet.

BOTTOM LINE:
I think there's some good things here but it's not for me. When I want to watch a show about witches, I'll watch Bewitched on DVD.