Annoying child actors are a plague on this earth, but thankfully this episode worked regardless of that, thanks to a couple of fun sub plots.
Synopsis: Piper and Leo protect a young fire-starter when they discover his foster parents are evil bounty hunters trying to send him to work for the Source. Phoebe is put under a spell when she wears Grams’ old engagement ring.
It must be really degrading to be Cole during these episodes. Imagine having all the power in the world, and then have it just yanked away so quickly. This is especially hard when everyone around you has at least two other magical powers. Then when he gets a job, he ends up at the bottom of the chain, after being a hugely successful lawyer only a year previously. It’s hard not to feel sorry for him. I loved watching his little struggle to control himself; it’s strangely realistic behaviour for someone in such an unrealistic position.
Phoebe was a lot of fun in this episode. Alyssa Milano is one of those actresses that I feel that lends herself to comedy so well, probably more so than the rest of the cast. Here is no exception, with her at her comical best playing the Samantha Stevens housewife, which she obviously had a blast doing, and I definitely had a blast watching. ‘Making Soup For Cole’ is a personal favourite. It was also a neat way of showing just how progressive and independent these women are, since Charmed is one of those shows that really highlights the whole female empowerment thing.
Piper and Leo have their first fight about kids. This is the first time anything like this has surfaced since ‘Black As Cole’ so it was nice to see where they stand on the whole having kids thing. Even though he was the most annoying of child actors, Tyler was an excellent tool to get Piper and Leo’s problems of raising a magical kid out on the table. Strangely, it never seems to be an issue they argue over come Season 5.
Though the main fire-starter plot was uninspiring and it really brought this episode down, Ray Wise was fantastic as Ludlow. More of these kinds of villains could have surfaced more during the show, rather than the flatter ones that persist in other episodes.
7/10
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