Charmed 5.16 'Baby's First Demon'

This was expected. After Wyatt’s birth, the series felt quite lost since both Piper’s pregnancy, and Cole’s descent into evil were both finished with. There wasn’t a sense of a major story for the series to hold onto at this point but I’m not one who was too disappointed with this attempt though, since a lot the typical post pregnancy stories, particularly with Piper, work.

In ‘Baby’s First Demon’ bounty hunters attempt to kidnap newborn baby Wyatt. To protect her nephew Paige goes undercover at a demonic marketplace in order to find out who was behind the attempt. After she becomes captured herself, Piper and Phoebe have to rescue her. Phoebe meets her new boss, Jason Dean.

I think this is the point when the series proclivity for all things light and fluffy became a problem, with a lot of the seriousness needed to keep these types of stories getting lost amongst the silly. ‘Baby’s First Demon’ wasn’t one that felt overly damaging in that respect, and there was a lot it had to deal with, given Wyatt’s entrance.

Piper, now a newborn mother, has to deal with bringing a child into a demon filled world, something she had been worrying about for so long. The episode’s resolution cops out of that obstacle a little bit, but you can’t really blame the writers for wanting such an easy out of something that could get overly tedious after a while.

I think viewer’s main reason for detesting this point in the series is the introduction of the first of Phoebe’s generic love interests, Jason Dean. Unlike future characters, Jason did feel like a proper match for Phoebe, and the perfect person for her to be with, especially after how her relationship with Cole ended. It actually felt like writers were going beyond the idea of simply including a bit of eye candy, and gave him some semblance of a personality. Sadly, the same can’t be said about the two planks we’ll meet in a couple of season’s time.

This is also the point in ‘Charmed’s history when Phoebe fully transitions into the role of series ditz. With her ridiculous need for Aunty leave, and transparent hostility towards Jason, she comes across as a complete idiot. Despite some annoy moments of still not feeling accepted into the Halliwell clan, Paige’s heroic efforts make her the standout sister here. Risking her life, she proves that her family have become so important to her, if only she didn’t need a piece of paper as proof that Piper and Phoebe felt the same.

With some fabulous over the top creepiness in the form the Crone, and a bit of demon action, the standard post birth episode is given a bit of colour, and the ‘Charmed’ universe still shows some signs of life.

7/10