Charmed ~ 1.06: Kappa Spirit

[luvbarryfefe]

As Maggie attempts to make amends with Lucy, she asks for Mel's help to figure out who the new Kappa member is.

Original Airdate: November 18, 2018

Directed by:

Jeff Byrd

Written by:

Emmylou Diaz

Hey, friends. This recap will be a bit barebones again simply because it is super late going up. I apologize that this keeps happening. I don’t know where the time goes. If you find it, please return it to me! lol

This was another winner of an episode for me. I really enjoyed it. My mom, a self-admitted cynic and a devotee of our beloved OG series, watched it with me and she even kind of liked it - or at least thought it was an improvement over the other episode she watched that she called a ‘sleeper’ lol

So, let’s get right into it, shall we?

• Macy and Maggie yank the covers off Mel. She’s spent the whole day in bed but claims it’s not because she’s moping over Niko or anything. (Impossible, right?) She says she’s been doing research. The pattern (or did she say powder??) found on their mom and the other Elders who were killed comes from people who have been struck by lightning. That’s a good lead but the bad news is there are 893 demons associated with lightning and electricity. So, it looks like the girls have their work cut out for them, but Maggie and Macy decide Mojito night at The Haunt (I like that name for a club!) is what the doctor ordered.

• At The Haunt, the sisters are bantering back and forth. Harry is with them, saying he likes their inane chatter. Mmkay. He congratulates Macy and Maggie for getting Mel out of the house. Maggie is glad to be out of the house because she’s been practically an agoraphobe since Lucy kicked her out of Kappa. Macy says she can’t stop thinking about Galvin and the mark on his side. Harry lets Mel know he got her an interview with the administrative department on campus. To say she’s not thrilled about the job prospect would be an understatement.

• Lucy shows up with her Kappa cohorts doing her best bitch in red high heels routine. Seriously though, red is totally her color! Maggie thinks skinny mojitos will win over angry Lucy and wants to buy a round on her. Lucy takes that as a challenge and moves to toss the drink onto Maggie’s head. Mel freezes time to stop the onslaught, saying Lucy can’t treat Maggie that way. Maggie says she deserves it (this martyr act is a little extra TBH) but Mel makes it so the drink splashes at Maggie’s feet instead. The Vera-Vaughn sisters leave, and the Kappa girls tell Lucy she’s going overboard. Like, WWGPD - What Would Gwyneth Paltrow Do? That is seriously random LOL They encourage her to find her Zen.

• Lucy finds her Zen via a weird-ass-looking candle in the Kappa cupboard. A strange wind blows through the room, scattering everything and even making the opening title card go on the fritz. Cool effects!

• At the lab, Dr. Gregorian asks Macy for the analyses she owes him. She says she will have them on his desk within the hour. He tells her Morningstar Biotech is doing mandatory drug tests now. That raises a red flag for me. Big time! How about you? Macy sees Galvin’s mark again and texts Harry it’s getting brighter. His reply is thoroughly unhelpful. She overhears Galvin talking about his birthday party and invites herself. He warns her Summer will be there and she’s like, cool, so cool. Except we all know she’s not feeling it.

• Maggie shows up at Kappa in another hella cute outfit (see it above; I swear the wardrobe designer must have loved Sarah Jeffrey because all Maggie’s stuff is great!). Lucy opens the door and reminds her she was told to stay away. Maggie says Lucy’s so important to her and she just wants to make things right and so on and so on. A girl standing behind Lucy looks very suspicious and hostile and tells Lucy to get rid of Maggie. Maggie asks if she knows her, because clearly, she does not, and neither do we, the viewers. Not yet anyway. Something is afoot. They close the door on Maggie. Brenda (Lucy’s new “friend”) asks Lucy if she’s ready for Hell Week. Lucy is enthused as she walks right through Brenda. I should note Brenda is rocking the denim skirt and big hair, ’80s style!

• Maggie is supposed to be helping Mel get ready for her job interview, but instead she’s trying to find information on this new Kappa girl Brenda. Lo & behold she finds a newspaper clipping from 1989. Brenda Mancini is a freaking ghost! We been knew.

• Macy burns her bundt (that sounds funny lol). Harry talks about ghosts. There are all types - ranging from Casper to The Conjuring. It is decided that Mel and Maggie will consult the book and figure out what to do about the Kappa situation while Harry will accompany Macy to Galvin’s b-day party. Oh no, I feel a romantic setup coming on here and I am not sure how I feel about it. I am still into Galvin/Macy though I don’t think they’re meant to last long-term. And Harry is still a character that takes some getting used to. I like some of his scenes with the sisters, especially his burgeoning, unique friendship with Mel, but he can be so goofy.

• Mel and Macy ask the Book of Shadows for help. It takes them to the past to relive the moment Brenda can’t move on from. They’re suddenly ‘ghosts’ on campus in the 1980’s. We have students doing aerobics in the quad wearing sweatpants and wristbands okay? We are not in 21st-century Hilltowne anymore, folks! The girls see Brenda getting yelled at via megaphone by the then-Kappa president Jenna. Apparently, Kappa is all class and Brenda is all trash. While they’re in the past, the Veras spot a pregnant Marisol talking to a friend. Marisol is saying something feels wrong with the baby (little fetus Macy). Wow, what does that mean? I am seriously intrigued here.

• The girls are suddenly yanked back to the attic to the present time. They conclude Brenda must be a banshee because she died broken-hearted and is now spreading sorrow and misery. Um, that doesn’t ring true to me somehow because doesn’t a banshee scream? Like blood-curdling screams? I try not to compare OG Charmed and Charmed 2.0 because to me they’re different animals, but does everyone remember when Phoebe was turned into a banshee? Yeah, those screams made my ears bleed. So, something tells me the girls aren’t on the right track here because my ears are just fine lol Brenda is not a banshee unless they rewrote the mythos, so she must be something else… but what?? Hmmm.

• Macy shows up to the party with Harry. Galvin is none too impressed by Harry or his rarebit (??) food, though Summer is. Harry can’t see the mark on Galvin. Macy is looking at pictures of Galvin. In one, his grandmother wears a curious necklace that catches her eye. Summer comes over and warns Macy to back off. Macy is flustered and tells Harry they can leave.

• Mel and Maggie break into Kappa (using a method Niko taught Mel - awww, there's nothing like a little breaking and entering to bind a couple together) and find all the girls bound and gagged. Believing Brenda is going after her old Kappa president Jenna, they call Harry to look into the alumni records to find her and to wipe the girls’ memories. He quips that a Whitelighter’s work is never done. Hey, no complaining.

• Macy deduces that Galvin's mark is a cowrie shell. In Yoruba tradition, it’s placed upon infants to give them lifelong protection from magical beings. Harry believes Macy activated the mark when she kissed Galvin on Halloween, which is why they’ve been at cross purposes lately. She says she drove him away; she’s pretty much unapproachable. Harry tells her not to talk that way about herself, it’s not true. Oh, the writers are definitely heading somewhere here. I have many thoughts, most of them not good lol I know it was bound to happen - a witch falling for her Whitelighter - but I don’t feel the chemistry between these two yet. Not strongly anyway, so we’ll have to see what happens.

• Mel and Maggie go to see Brenda’s Kappa sister Jenna claiming to be writers from BuzzFeed. Good one lol She tells them that Brenda was basically a stone-cold bitch who was sleeping with two of the Heathers’ boyfriends and doing all sorts of nasty ish. The night she died, she got drunk on wine coolers and carried a sign with horrible things written about Kappa up to the roof but ended up falling in her drunkenness. Ever since there’s been a murder each year at Kappa and the administration has been covering it up. The Vera girls are shocked, but Mel realizes they got it all wrong. Brenda isn’t a banshee (I could have told her that!). She’s a revenant (Okay, I didn't know that part) and she’s going to kill Lucy the same way she died!

• Macy goes to see a priestess who has ‘the gift’. She asks about the mark and is told to stay away from him or her - they’re not for Macy. Why? Because Macy’s got the “ibi” (did I spell that right?) in her. Macy asks what that is. It’s darkness and it’s been there since she was born. Doesn’t Macy feel it, the woman asks. Macy is different from her sisters. WOW. Holy plot twist Batman! I did not see that coming! Sweet and gentle Macy has a dark side?? Bring. it. on! Gimme all the details. This is something new and pretty exciting for the Charmed-verse. Which is exactly why I don’t call this a reboot of my beloved OG Charmed, but instead, a reinvention.

• Brenda is on the rooftop scaring the crap out of Lucy, telling her to jump, just jump! Mel, Macy, and Harry show up and start the vanquishing spell. It doesn’t work. Lucy takes a flying leap. Mel freezes her mid-dive, but she won’t hold for long. Maggie realizes she has to make things right, that she’s the treacherous friend. Harry orbs mid-flight to grab Lucy and pull her to the ground. Lucy grabs Maggie by the throat as Maggie apologizes to her again and promises to give her space and stop trying to push her to forgive her. Lucy lets go, Brenda fizzles out into nothingness, and Lucy slips into unconsciousness. She later comes to and finds Maggie sitting beside her. She doesn’t remember anything but does know she’s not as mad at Maggie anymore. Maggie says she’ll give Lucy space, but she’ll be around when Lucy is ready. I feel like this is the last we’ll see of Lucy for a while at least. She served a good purpose but is that the end of Parker, I wonder? I am not so sure about that, even if he didn’t appear in this particular episode.

• Mel is sorry Maggie won’t get into Kappa. She understands now that it’s important to have other things in their lives besides just being witches. She admits she misses Niko so much. Aww, Niko. Wherefore Art thou dear Niko? Mel knows she has to start living a new life, so she doesn’t end up a ghost with an ax to grind.

• Macy tells her sisters about what the psychic/priestess told her about the darkness that’s been around her since she was born. They choose not to tell her about seeing their mom during their time travel.

• At the manor, Mel performs a ceremony to induct Maggie into the magical Vera-Vera-Vaughn sisterhood, complete with stick-on letter V’s. Harry passes by with suitcases. The Elders have told him he can go back to his condo now. They all say they will miss him and decide to make him an honorary member of the sisterhood. LOL Fun times!

• At the lab, Dr. Gregorian catches Hunter with the vial of Macy’s blood. Hunter kills the doctor and walks out.

• We finish the episode with Macy discovering a mysterious key in a secret panel “from the pillar of her past” at the manor. Wow! I am so ready for the next episode (here’s hoping I can post it in a timely fashion!).

Some food for thought:

a)Thoughts on the Macy ‘darkness’ twist?

b)Do you think we’ll see Lucy again? Do you want to?

c)What do you think that key unlocks?

d)How do you feel about a possible Macy/Harry matchup?

e)What plots would you like to see the girls get wrapped up in next?

f)Anything else?