Charmed: Spin City (6.18)

This is a strange episode that tries to do way too much at once, opening with a promising villain played by an actress who knows her way around some campy dialogue, only to dismiss her in favor of overplayed Chris/Leo angst. Until the overlong cave coda, Spin City's A-plot is actually pretty fun, something along the lines of The Wendigo in season one with the infected Chris slowly becoming more and more nuts, as well as an Elvira-lookin' demon to destroy. It's only when the script stumbles into an array of fugly subplots that Spin City begins to annoy.

Phoebe, spurred on by her vision quest at Magic School, is now literally jumping from man to man in the desperate hopes of landing a husband. Seriously, any feminist cred this show once exhibited has now left the building. Elsewhere, Paige encounters one of those damn leprechauns and an array of horrible magical creatures (including Pete from 30 Rock in a Nymph outfit, for shame) that need protecting. I did admittedly laugh at the nutty Wizard of Oz witch and her instant vanquish, but the rest of the story blew chunks like always.

Spin City would have been a hell of a lot stronger if the show utilized Jodi Lyn O'Keefe more, since anybody who's seen the Lifetime masterpiece Devil in the Flesh 2 knows that she's a dab hand with trashy thrills. Additionally, the Spider Demon's entire wardrobe and web-projecting powers were both pretty damn cool. Unfortunately, the script gets bogged down in familiar trappings, and eighteen episodes into the season I am so over the Chris/Leo tension. Move on already, show! D+

Credits
Guest stars Jodi Lyn O'Keefe (Spider Demon); Christopher Neiman (Sigmund); Hamilton Von Watts (Dennis); Kieren Hutchison (Mitch); Scott Adsit (Wood Nymph); Gildart Jackson (Gideon); Andy Stochansky (Himself)
Writers Doug E. Jones, Andy Reaser Director Mel Damski