TV Review: The CW Charmed Episode 1.04 “Exorcise Your Demons”

This episode begins 6 months earlier, with mom and Mel talking to Angela at the manor about taping the Professor to get proof that he’s a perv. Cut to present day Angela, possessed by a demon, is locked up in the attic. There really is no substantial information gathered in this opening, nothing that moves the story forward. Sure, we find out that mom and Mel were there for Angela before she went forward and brought the Professor down but that could have been sprinkled anywhere. It feels like a waste of an opening here. If the point was to show a compelling story of innocent Angela, I think the mark was missed here. The discussion at the manor is important, I just don’t think it was put in the right place here.

The next day, Maggie is concerned about flunking school and Macy’s “You’re in school?” question was absolutely hysterical for so many reasons. For one, the jab is relatable. Two, it’s fun to see the show poking fun at not only itself but young adult shows in general that if they’re not set in school already, you hardly see them in school.

Next thing you know, the girls are interviewed by the police, Nko and her partner specifically, since Angela’s mother filed a missing persons report and the last place she was seen was their Halloween party. Yes! I love the close calls and the sisters doing what they need to do to hide that they are witches and involved. To me, these moments in OG and in this rendition are just as exciting as when the sisters use their powers.

Cutting the police q&a short at the manor, a woman by the name of Charity appears and pretends to be an interior designer with men moving around furniture upstairs so the police don’t get concerned about the noise in the attic. Once Niko and her partner Trip leave, Charity introduces herself as an elder. She’s young, white, blonde and not at all the conventional look of an elder. It was jarring at first but I dig it.

Charity, Harry, and the sisters have a pow wow in the attic in which Charity tells them exactly how to kill the demon, which will kill Angela, there’s no getting around that it seems. The sisters aren’t happy about that, understandably so. In this meeting, it is revealed that their mother was an Elder and three Elders have been killed since their mother’s murder. I like this information and I love that mom was an Elder. I hate that I’m saying this but she has more of an Elder look than Charity at first glance, dark and serious might have something to do with it. But magical beings come in all shapes and sizes and looks and Charity is part of that and it took me a second to accept that just because it’s not the norm that we get and society standards and all of that jazz but I like this change. The Olivia Pope reference made me chuckle. Also, Elders can mute people while they talk so that’s a thing. That only comes in handy when she wants to suppress the voice of a witch doing a spell they have no business chanting, it seems.

To raise the stakes, it’s homecoming week and if they don’t kill The Harbinger by sundown, it will be its most powerful and will feed on everyone with blood. Mel isn’t convinced that Angela is too far from saving and decides to do some research.

Meanwhile, Maggie heads to class (we see her in class! Woo!). The blonde sorority leader gets her bf, Parker to help Maggie study for the midterm so that the sorority house GPA isn’t brought down. The only thing being brought down here is her relationship with Parker if she keeps throwing him in Maggie’s face ha ha ha. I don’t know why I just laughed there.

Anyway, Mel picks up Maggie at school with the Harbinger in the trunk. Before heading out of the parking lot, they realize that Trip is following them. So Mel freezes time and they drive right out of there! They head to the warehouse where the homecoming floats are housed and worked on, to get rid of the Harbinger out from under Charity’s eyes.

Charity tells Macy that she has a knack for leadership, just like her mother…and that none of the Elders knew about Macy. So to clarify, just because Elders are super wise witches, it doesn’t mean they are omniscient. Only one was close…turns out mom’s power was prophecy. So she knew the moment would come where they would have to defeat The Harbinger and there was a way to save Angela while doing it. So with Macy on board and even whitelighter Harry, the gang decides to save Angela Wu, against Charity’s direction.

Outside, Maggie runs into Parker outside, dropping off a box of illegal fireworks. To distract him from the Harbinger inside, she kisses Parker. She says immediately after that it was a mistake…but we all know it wasn’t! It just may have happened sooner than she planned ha ha ha.

Charity shows up and they all convince her to do the spell mom left for the girls to get rid of The Harbinger while saving Angela…just as Trip pulls up outside. He comes in and sees the girls around Angela but it knocked out any debris from the exorcism and is apparently dead after that. LOL. How convenient. And Angela doesn’t remember being possessed, she just has holes in her memory. Cool cool cool.

Wrapping up the episode, Maggie gets an extension at school and reminds Parker that their kiss can’t happen again. Sure, Jan. Mel can’t get Trip out of her head and we see that Niko told Mel that he hung himself at the warehouse and there’s evidence leading him to the Halloween murders…the police think he killed all of those people. Only she tells her sisters that she hasn’t heard from Niko.

The episode ends with Charity still on earth but on the phone saying she’s headed to the (Elder) office. She’s carrying the paint can that she put the Harbinger’s soul in and a demon walks into the elevator that she’s in and I have no other words to describe it but he compels her to switch paint cans, so he has the Harbinger soul and she has a paint can that could very well just be a paint can or it could be something else. Either way, the Harbinger is in enemy hands and frankly, we’re back where we started. I really hope we don’t see more of the Harbinger until the end of the season because any sooner and it will just feel like we are walking in circles.

I will say that the demon that walked into the elevator felt like a demon. He felt like an OG villain and I loved it. We need more of that. Whether more like him or more of him specifically (hello, new Cole lol jk, not really).

What do you think?