I always loved the idea that the only reason the Charmed Ones are so good at their jobs is because of their personalities and their relationships and their ordinary distractions, not in spite of all that. It's a subject explored pretty well here, with the sisters repeatedly criticized for their lack of preparation, their casual treatment of real threats, as well as their fashion sense (okay, the last one is justified). Whitelighter Natalie represents the by-the-book force of good who leaves nothing to chance. Obviously, she winds up dead within the hour, and the characters that try and live as full a life as possible end up saving the day.It was about time that we got to explore the whitelighter mythology, even if nothing is too surprising. Their headquarters is an underwhelming palace-type building bathed in white light and a lot of people walking around in hoods and robes. Meanwhile, they all talk in their own language, which pretty much sounds like people clicking tabs on a computer keyboard. It's pretty funny, especially in Holly Marie Combs' reaction shots.
Finally, the show also addresses the imbalance in Piper and Leo's relationship. She knows literally nothing about his world or his job, while he knows so much about her's. It's understandable that she'd be jealous of how 'together' Leo and Natalie were, especially with Natalie droning on about how inappropriate the witch-whitelighter coupling is.
Steve Valentine falls on the more palatable side of ham this week, and I also liked the character himself. His power was interesting, his motive actually intriguing instead of just 'crush, kill, destroy', and in general I liked his interaction with the sisters. The sisters themselves were a lot of fun together this week, especially in that quickly derailed training sequence. Pretty decent episode, all round. B
Credits
Guest stars Audrey Wasilewski (Natalie); Steve Valentine (Eames); Keith Diamond (Inspector Reese Davidson); Box (Themselves)
Writer Nell Scovell Director David Straiton
I just stumbled across your commentaries and I have to say, even though I - naturally - can't agree with every little detail, I really like your views on the matter. Most of the observations are pretty spot-on and I hope to read more of you soon.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work^^
Thanks so much for reading. It's always great to hear that folks are out there.
ReplyDeleteUnlike a lot of fans, I truly didn't like this episode and would rate closer to a D, with only the wonderful humor between the Charmed Ones and Natalie making it a C. I hated the Charmed Ones being able to go Up There where there should be no air (making it less like Heaven and making Leo less like an angel, allowing him to change from angel to magical doctor/taxi cab) and specifically hated Piper and Leo being able to get engaged just because they had saved the Elders' a$$es. It made the Elders seem more human - I always loved them best when we never saw them, just like the Source was always at his scariest when we never saw his face.
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