Heading into the third week of Charmed’s freshman year, I decided to switch up the format of things a little. Shrug, you say (do?)? Well, I’m glad you asked! This latest episode was a fairly familiar blend of rehashed material from both the original series and the plots of the reboot’s own whopping two episode run, so rather than give a rundown that would invariably feel like déjà vu all over again, I’m just going to take you through the finer points. Cool? Wicked.

As I said, Sweet Tooth hinged on things we’ve already been through, either in the 90s or in the past two weeks. The Charmed Ones were all still on different pages of the Book of Shadows, and weren’t able to get their acts together (literally), until this week’s big bad invaded their space via an ill-advised Halloween party and put their barely there training to the test. Along the way, several elements that have been hammered home since the beginning were pounded in even further: Macy can and will science her way through the magic because she’s the smart one™; Melanie is angry, and driven; Maggie wants to be in a sorority and is without fail Phoebe 2.0, especially given her knack for breaking the boundaries of magic for personal gain before either of her siblings. Oh, and Harry has good advice, but he’s pretentious, and a man, so he must be mocked and ignored for the better part of the episode. Did I mention, Maggie wants to be in a sorority?

All in all, this kind of redundancy doesn’t bode well for the progress of the show or my continued viewership, and I’m beginning to wonder if there will be a turning point, or if I’m going to tune in and wonder if I’ve slipped into the real-life version of Groundhog Day (or, Happy Death Day, if you’re looking for something less outdated).

Bits and Bobs: 

-This week, there were some rather overt, and dare I say, misguided attempts at emphasizing issues these new charmed ones bring to the table, namely their non-white and non-straight issues. In better hands, this would have been an opportunity to address things the original cast couldn’t have organically, but having Macy (a minority), tell Maggie (another minority, no matter how you slice it) how hard it is to be a minority was…You know what, I’m just going to go with awful, like, really, really awful. And also confusing.

By the same token, Melanie comparing her secret witchy-ness to being in the closet, for the first time in her life no less, was a decent metaphor, but a little far-reaching given how the episode had already made it clear that the thing that most bothered her was lying to her girlfriend about it. Moving on…

-I’m still not sure where this Melanie vs Leo Harry thing is going. I mean, clearly it’s something, because none of the other girls have as strong a reaction to him, but they also keep emphasizing that Melanie is so very gay. Maybe they’ll just be good co-elder figures to the group? Yeah, I know, it sounds weak to me too.

-Was I the only one getting Phoebe/Cole vibes from Maggie and her new problematic crush, Parker? I could be way off, and honestly? I hope I am, because 1) Already? And 2) No one can ever do a better job with that dynamic than the originals. Speaking of, that brings me to…

Who wore aired it best?: The Nineties

The opener’s false start training sequence was temporarily harrowing, but nowhere near as fun as Charmed Sr’s season three boot-camp montage, possibly because by then the show had worked its way into some kind of groove and sisterly synchronicity.  

Also, I’m not sure this incarnation could ever outdo the ‘trouble at the party’ scenario that was perfected at the Halliwell Sisters’ über cool P3 club back in the day. Sorry, newbies but I have to give it to the first ladies of spellbound sisterhood.

Rating: Two Rapidly Fading Glamour Spells out of Five 

Charmed airs on Sundays at 9 PM EST on The CW