Charmed 6.07 'Soul Sister'

Paige’s struggle for independence is a recurring theme when it comes to her character. Her new temp jobs were probably her own attempt at asserting that independence by giving herself something to do outside of the power of three. Unfortunately, this attempt always comes at the price of making Paige into a bit of a selfish idiot, no more so than Soul Sister, where her secret plans come at a high risk to her sister witches.

The sibling rivalry presented here echoes something presented only two weeks previously in Love’s a Witch, and though it’s great to see that sibling rivalry played up again, I think there’s call for something else to be done with it to keep things moving, and this episode just wasn’t it. I get that there’s a certain amount of overbearing coercion by Piper and Phoebe, and she shouldn’t need to discuss each and every plan for herself, but this witch gig in contingent on her sister’s inclusion in their weekly vanquishes. Any quest for solo missions is a breach of that witchy contract.

Richard’s re-appearance here was obviously the show groping about for some love interest to fill up the rest of Paige’s screen-quota for the season/ I like Richard, and his role as the family mediator in Love’s a Witch worked in that context, but his laid back, quiet individuality doesn’t really serve him as a recurring character, at all. He does enter into some interesting plots later on in his arc, but he doesn’t get much to do this week, other than mumble a few incoherent instructions here and there.

The contract and sub-contract stuff is particularly grating, even if it’s a surprisingly innovative way of re-hashing an old idea. Keith Szarabjaka is fun to watch as Zahn, and adds an extra punch to a particularly drab demon hunt, and an anti-climactic vanquish. The resolution is similar to last week’s, in that it requires a little flexibility of certain rules. The outcome of the situation was much too precarious for Paige to make a bet like that.

I did enjoy Wyatt’s secret manipulation of Piper’s random dates. It’s a nice use of Wyatt’s separation anxiety, now that his father has been pulled from his home life, even if he’s still there 99% of the time. Although, two dates every hour isn’t normal protocol for moving on past a separation, is it?

We’re entering season 6’s drab stage, when things start to get jumbled and wishy-washy with Chris’s inconsistent plot and Piper and Leo’s separation being highlighted at every possible second; I think I’ll pass on this one, even if it’s not entirely weak.

5/10