Charmed (2018) / YMMV

Anvilicious:
- The reboot was heavily promoted as "fierce, funny and feminist," and ended up being one of those. The script leans heavily on the Me Too movement, and it has received criticism for a lack of subtlety that bordered on parodistic. The second episode does tone this down quite a lot, though it still has a couple of Take Thats. This is a recurring theme throughout all seasons, with social issues frequently jammed with little subtlety into the plot. It's not uncommon for a character to deliver a lecture on social justice that has little relation to the storyline.
- The season 3 plot with the trans cousin Josefina is meant to be trans positive and say that trans women are women, but the fact that the plot hinges on the fact that (apparently) in this show, being a witch is regulated by your sex (which has its own unfortunate implications itself) leaves a problematic outcome either way.
Ass Pull:
- The girls develop new powers to replace their old ones after coming in contact with black amber in Season 2. Fans of the original series may appreciate that Maggie and Mel's new powers nod to Phoebe and Piper's abilities, but they completely diverge from prior advancement of their powers for reasons unexplained.
- In a season 3 episode, we learn that Mel used her former powers to hide her Source fragment in the future — an extraordinary capability she'd never shown or referenced before. Her casual mention of this ability makes this moment even more jarring.
- After Macy's death, Kaela becomes a new Charmed One, able to reconstitute the Power of Three with Mel and Maggie, due to undergoing an experimental leukemia treatment with Macy's donated stem cells.
- Francesa is suddenly evil suddenly just to make Abigael sympathetic, which causes Waverly to go on Abby's side, even though Abby did nothing on her part to earn the trust. It was done last minute simply for the sake of never making Abby look bad.
Awesome Music: In Season 2 there is a flashback to a young Macy doing Karaoke and her performance is phenomenal.
Badass Decay: Mel gets hit hard with this in the second and third seasons. While her new molecular powers are arguably more suited for combat, she loses all of her time-based powers that had already reached reality-warping levels by the end of the first season. She also uses these powers much less frequently, especially in contrast with her sisters, who both have even stronger active powers than before.
Continuity Lockout:
- The reboot spends little time establishing the mythos of the Charmed Ones. If you've never seen the original series, you might be left scratching your head about what the hell the "Power of Three" means or what's so special about being Charmed. This is later corrected in the second season.
- While the original explains that good witches are immune to Piper's power, the reboot never acknowledges that Macy and Maggie don't freeze.
Creator's Pet: Abigael is frequently accused of this due to the fact that she would be center focus in whatever plot she was thrown into, especially notable in Season 3 where, despite being unrelated to the main story arc takes time away to focus on her demon side trying to kill herself (which is seemingly forgotten) and her family drama thrown into the same event as a parasite big bad. She was considered a Macy expy due to being both Wich/Demon hybrids with primary power of Telekinesis and abandonment issues. Abigael would get ship tease scenes with Mel despite being in a relationship with Ruby, she was always made to be knowledgable about everything the sisters faced and was seemingly undefeatable, especially when the Charmed Ones had to be written to look worse by comparison.
Fandom Rivalry: With the original, of all series, fuelled also by the online feud between the old and new casts and crews. Fans of the original are outraged that the network would piggyback off the recognisable name after all the Executive Meddling and budget cuts the series had to endure, resent that none of the old personnel were involved at any point, were alienated by the radical changes in lore / lack of continuity, and found the initial press release describing the reboot as a "fierce, funny, feminist" take on the original as disrespecting and missing its entire point and legacy. Fans of the reboot retort that the original was not Fair for Its Day in regards of inclusivity or minority representation, and often accuse the old fans of disliking the reboot out of sheer racism / not wanting to let PoC audiences have their own Charmed. The reboot ending with the Vera/Denso Charmed Ones travelling to a parallel universe only to find themselves at the doorstep of Halliwell Manor, thus establishing that the two shows take part in the same multiverse (without consulting any of the original producers), escalated the feud and wrecked any hopes of reconciliation for the majority of both fandoms.
Fanon Discontinuity: Fans consider Seasons 2 & 3 this due to their incohesive and disconnected plots, bleak tone, bad continuity and horrible writing for the characters.
Hilarious in Hindsight: The announcement that Madeleine Mantock was leaving the show and Macy's subsequent death follows the exact trajectory of Shannen Doherty and her character Prue, even down to the timing. Both characters died in the third season finale.
Moment of Awesome: Macy becoming the source is considered by some to be the best moment of the show so far.
Narm:
- The 80's flashback has all the subtlety of a bulldozer, with characters in neon clothing peppering every other word with "like" and Princess Di references.
- Any instance of "woke" dialogue is often Narm-y. The writers often attempt to make political or social commentary, usually through Mel, that comes across as forced and unnatural.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap:
- Both Galvin and Parker to some extent. While they haven't reach out of scrappy territory, the recent episodes have done something to give fans to warm up to them a bit.
- With Galvin being more involved with plots since the reveal has deemed him some fans. It also helps that he's been getting more connection with Macy, a huge part of his criticisms.
- Parker has received this in "Manic Pixie Nightmare" since the episode seems to be an attempt to give him more character and showcase a more likable character outside of being Strangled by the Red String with Maggie. They still have their fair share of detractors though, so it could also be a Author's Saving Throw as shown above. As of "Memento Mori" people have started giving Parker more of a chance due to giving more to his character.
- Mel in seasons 2 and 3, as her Straw Feminist traits from season 1 were toned down massively, and more focus was put on her relationships with friends and family. She still has her moments of giving political or social commentary, but as they're few and far between, they sound much more in character and less forced.
The Scrappy:
- Parker is seen as a Scrappy because he's considered an inferior Expy of Cole Turner from the original Charmed, who was considered a fan favorite character. There's also the fact that he barely has any personality and doesn't have an interesting dynamic with Maggie.
- Galvin is unpopular with viewers because he's considered to be a shallow love interest with hardly any impact to the plot and no chemistry with Macy. It also doesn't help that most fans are much more interesting in shipping Macy and Harry instead, with Galvin getting in the way of this. Though he did really help himself by finding out about everything and being totally cool with it.
- As of Season 2 Jordan has fallen under this due to being considered a shallow love interest for Maggie while falling into the same trap as Parker and Galvin were, only to a less developed degree. It also doesn't help that Parker is barely mentioned as a result, leading to fans wanting Parker back as an Alas, Poor Scrappy. It has been made worse as the season goes along with Jordan constantly having romantic tensions with Maggie despite already being an a relationship with someone else and generally acting hostile toward everyone upon first glance, as well as frequently making stupid decisions.
- Harry received this reaction in Season 2 where his Strangled by the Red String moments with Macy has caused fans to become frustrated with him, as well as him generally being jerk to everyone. Harry constantly trusting Abigael despite her obviously untrustworthy nature doesn't help either. He also goes through a pointless subplot in Season 3 on trying to become mortal to be with Macy, irritating fans at the stupid decision, especially when he becomes a Whitelighter again anyway in the season finale.
- Mel in Season 1, especially the early episodes, since she was used as the vehicle for the show's feminist idea and came off as more of a parodistic clichè of 'manhating angry lesbian of color' than an actual character. The show manages to tone her down in the following seasons though.
- Abigael gets this treatment, starting in Season 2. Fans were getting fed up with Abigael constantly being shoehorned in the plot whenever possible, taking focus away from the sisters, and being seen as a Macy expy due to their similar powers and backgrounds. Her worst scene is when she steals Macy's demon powers, and forces Macy to kneel before her for no real reason other than that she can. Season 3 got worse when much of the plot revolved around Abigael's quest for redemption and her abusive childhood, taking even more screentime away from the sisters.
Shallow Parody:
- An episode where the characters from a '90s supernatural series are brought into the real world paints all such programs as being messes of endless Narm dialogue and Values Dissonance with blatant misogyny from the heroes being played as charming. It was actually shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the original Charmed itself that started a real push for more respect toward female characters and better dialogue on TV.
- Also, as brothers who fight supernatural threats and are involved in a Love Triangle with a human woman, the characters are a rather obvious Composite Character of the Winchesters of Supernatural and the Salvatores of The Vampire Diaries, both of which premiered well after The '90s.^note
So Okay, It's Average: This was the basic response to the show once its inaugural season ended. While it has ups and downs and the plot can be a bit of a mess, many admitted that while not entirely good it also was not as bad as it could have been either.
Squick: The demon possessing Angela Wu beats an attempt to reveal her using sugar in a cookie by holding it in her throat and then pulling it out, with some quite disgusting sound effects.
Strangled by the Red String:
- Maggie and Parker flirt a few times, kiss once, and immediately enter the most emotionally charged relationship on the show. While it's fair that they're both impulsive college students with little romantic experience, it's a bit hard to believe their dynamic.
- It should be worth noting that people aren't opposed to the idea of Maggie and Parker, but rather the fact their dynamic hasn't had any time to fully develop beyond Parker's conflict on being a hybrid. Them not having any chemistry or emotional drive doesn't help either, leading to Parker's scrappy territory. This means Parker comes off as a They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character.
- Many fans feel Mel and Ruby's relationship is forced, especially since it occurs largely off-screen. Ruby's infrequent appearances between episodes had some fans forgetting the relationship was even still ongoing. Ruby even lampshades this herself in season 4, pointing out that she wouldn’t agree to marry Mel as she felt their relationship focused primarily on Mel, leaving barely any room for Ruby and making her doubt if Mel actually knows anything about her life.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
- Charity, Alastor and Fiona's deaths have not been received so well to say this least. Many fans felt so much more could've been done with them and were just wasted. With Fiona we never understood her complete motivation or history behind her, only to have her die in a very unsatisfying manner. she's killed by a random terrible effects lightning bolt while summoning the source. Which made her look weak and stupid As for Charity she never got the chance to redeem herself for killing Marisol and just dies as more of an afterthought. As for Alastor, being the season's BigBad has a complete 180 change in character where he all of a sudden becomes of a worshipper (despite never having those traits) and being killed in an instant by Macy as the Source.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- A common complaint is the lack of emphasis on the girls' relationship as sisters, which was a central focus of the original. Most fans agree that this aspect is not developed enough in the reboot, and are worried by the announcement that Season 2 will focus even more on the supernatural elements of the show.
- The season 2 retool promised a different direction with an emphasis on magic over relationships and offered an exciting new setting.
Unintentionally Sympathetic:
- Some fans feel this way about Knansie the necromancer. While her motives and actions were indeed shady and you can't say she's particularly good, many fans found it hard to go against her and sympathize with Syd when Syd was willing to go to extremes (once of which includes killing Maggie twice!) simply to take revenge on her. It also doesn't help that it paints a form of prejudice as it spends the episode stating how unfairly Necromancers get viewed, only to paint a stereotype that all witches have to stick together and can't betray one another
- As of Season 2 some fans feel the same with Parker. While some fault could be said for his overridden jealousy, the fact Abigael and Godric influenced him into eating those apples is never taken into account and seems to be treated as irredeemable, despite Abigael being easily forgiven despite all the bad things she has done. Maggie constantly blaming up comes off as the same treat the Phoebe/Cole romantic got in Charmed (1998) leading some fans to think the blame was overdoing it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oifPgtF3ihk
Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
- Syd comes off as this, given how willing she is to kill Maggie in her pursuit of revenge.
- Parker's actions after the death of his mom don't cast him in the best light. It's clear the audience is supposed to have sympathy for him after his recent trauma conga line, but his about-face to his father's side feels too easy and very selfish.
- Abigael gets this in Season 2. Despite her murdering bunches of people and manipulating her way into being Demon Overlord (which included framing Parker) everyone constantly forgives her or just looks over her flaws just to constantly need her for everything. It gets worse in Season 3, where most of the episodes focus more on Abigael and her abusive background and quest for redemption than on the actual sisters, despite clearly not being bothered about it before in Season 2.

YMMV / Charmed (2018)

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