Charmed: Sword and the City (6.8)

As season six continues, it's become more apparent how tired Charmed has become. Most of the episodes this year have settled back on familiar ideas -- usually involving possession of some kind, the sisters being taken over by evil, or the purging of old stories that everybody is already accustomed with. Everything's become pretty predictable, and only Holly Marie Combs seems to be having fun anymore.

There's obviously some superficial enjoyment to be had from the Camelot story, notably Piper in her black leather ensemble and her own initial frustration at how ridiculous the whole thing is. But it quickly becomes pretty flat, with a demon wanting to unite the underworld and Piper being briefly seduced into evilness. Blah. And did they have to cast two guest actors who look exactly the same? At one point I assumed Morduant and the Dark Knight were going to be revealed as the same person, but it turned out they only looked like identical twins...

Phoebe and Paige's subplot is just as contrived as most of the other material they've been saddled with this year. Phoebe's all nervous because Richard is using magic, which itself goes against what Richard himself was saying only a couple of episodes ago, and she worries that he'll become consumed by it. Note the irony that this is coming from the same woman who defended Cole against Paige's similar rantings back in season four. Both girls are entirely awful. The story doesn't really go anywhere interesting, and Richard is another in a long line of charisma-free boyfriends for the Charmed Ones.

This is the kind of episode that I'm sure has its fans, but Sword and the City is just too goofy for me -- the lake lady, the Monty Python outfits, the same damn story over and over again. Boring. C-

Credits
Guest stars Balthazar Getty (Richard Montana); Mark Aiken (Dark Knight); Danny Woodburn (Head Dwarf); Brian Leckner (Executioner Demon); Edward Atterton (Morduant)
Writer David Simkins Director Derek Johansen