It felt a little out-of-character for Piper to be so against binding her children's powers, considering she has always been the most vocal sister to whine about wanting an ordinary life. Here, she's stubbornly insisting that she and Leo allow their kids to grow up with full access to their powers, seemingly to prevent future crises. Surely it would make more sense for Leo, a magical being for so long, to want their children to have their powers from an early age? Eh. This is one of those things that really bugs me about Charmed, how writers didn't exhibit any real respect for the characters, re-writing their personalities at the drop of a hat. It's pretty disrespectful.The firestarter story had some interesting ideas. I liked the bounty hunter step-parents, and additionally Piper and Leo going undercover as the two of them. I liked the concept of a demon attempting to get hold of various 'magical kids' before they choose to side with good. Ray Wise is a great character-actor for evil characters. But, in general, the story flatlined after each promising idea was raised. Wise, in particular, is criminally wasted in such a thin role. And that pre-meth Aaron Carter lookalike is ridiculously heinous as firestarter Tyler.
Alyssa Milano's performance manages to salvage the dumb subplot with Grams' ring. She does a great Elizabeth Montgomery impression, and a couple of moments (the over-cooking, the ignorance of all things serious) were a lot of fun. Neat special effects, too, with her black-and-white flickering. But this is another filler episode in general, with a lot of 'blah'-ness that doesn't go anywhere decent. Meh. D+
Credits
Guest stars Ray Wise (Ludlow); Alex Black (Tyler); Dwier Brown (Foster Father); Ashley Gardner (Foster Mother)
Writer Nell Scovell Director Noel Nosseck
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