Previously, on Charmed...

     I have to say, before I start on this review, that this has got to be the best comeback from a show that I've ever seen. I have to be honest and say that Seasons 5-7 had many, many fans drifting away from the show, saying Charmed had lost its old feelings, its old atmosphere, which was what got them to tune in every single week to watch the three witchy sisters, and their lives in witchcraft. Although, I might have been disappointed in the past 2 years, this season has definitely won me over. This episode wasn't different.

 So here we go, from a booming finale from the previous episode, where the Charmed Ones finally got tired of hiding and decided to come back to their own selves, to what always comes after each one of us makes a decision: The consequences. And in this case, huge consequences. The whole press on the sisters' backs. Didn't we see that before? Yes, we did. This whole media reaction was what got Prue killed in the first place. 

So, at first, watching this episode, it reminded me of "All Hell Breaks Loose" (which, by the way, was the best Charmed episode ever, in my opinion). But it's all back to consequences, and this is actually the main focus of this episode. It's like back in high school, when we learned in Physics that every force resulted in a force in the opposite direction, with the same intensity. How many of us remember that? Yet, how many of us face that same thing in our everyday lives. Every action we take, every move we make will bring us something back, either good or bad.

Now after this introduction, I can go on and speak more about the episode. Oh, right, consequences. The interesting thing about this episode is that it wasn't focused on one particular character. We saw a lot of those in the past few seasons, and we're yet to see one episode which focus only on one character this season. Which has got to be one of the best things so far this season. But, to make things easier, I'm gonna talk about each one of the characters separately.

   So let's start with Piper and Leo. What a nice job Holly Marie and Brian are doing in these episodes. It's a pity that Brian only got signed up for 6 episodes, cause it is his best season yet. I loved the fact that the writers decided to show us that even such a perfect couple can have issues. Leo's frustrated about being nothing but a handyman again, which is a consequence of his choice to give up his powers. Piper seems to be unconsciously acting like Prue acted towards Phoebe in the first season. Since she has to work and Leo stays home, she just assumes he'll do everything around the house, and forgets that maybe it might hurt his pride.

 Leo's clearly frustrated that he can no longer help the sisters with their magical issues, since now, he's nothing but a powerless mortal, as he mentioned in the episode. I would like to see more of these particular issues, too bad that Brian's not staying for long. I thought it was very clever of the writers to actually make Leo react this way. It's only logical, after 8 years being an active part on the sisters' magical lives (not to mention the more than 60 years as a whitelighter), such a drastic change would at least frustrate him. The arguing scene was very well played by both Brian and Holly Marie.

   Phoebe and Dex... now I have to say, finally, we're back to a very likeable Phoebe. Alyssa's always been one of my favorite actresses since she was on "Who's the Boss", and I have to say that she (along with Shannen) was the main reason I got tuned on Charmed. This episode, she's just awesome.

 After having her premonition about Dex come true (not exactly as she thought it would), now she has to deal with the consequences of her own actions. She decides to be honest to him and tell him about being a witch, and now she has to deal with his reactions. Which are quite interesting, if you ask me. We've been through this before, with Prue and Andy in the first season, but Jason Lewis is definitely captivating me with his down-to-earth Dex. I was a Cole fan, and thought that Phoebe would never find anyone like Cole, but I have to say, Dex is the best love interest Phoebe has got since Cole. Anyway, I digress... back to the episode. The best scene in this episode for Phoebe was, in my opinion, the one that has her talking to Paige about what she really felt for Dex. So, Phoebe finally faces the consequences of rushing things due to a premonition, and wonders how she really feels about Dex. There it is, this great guy, sweet and down-to-earth, and she doesn't know if her feelings for him are her true feelings, or are feelings she forced herself to have. Very nice. The false pregnancy scared her, but also made her re-think about her whole approach in this relationship for her. I'm glad she finally realized that meeting a guy, getting married and having his baby takes a lot more than a couple of weeks.

   On to Paige... And Rose's doing a wonderful job this season. I see Paige as the glue that keeps everything together. While Piper has P3, her marriage and the boys to take care of, Phoebe has her work at the newspaper and the confused relationship with Dex, Paige seems to be the one that takes the matters into her own hands. She's been the only one that hadn't given up on her Charmed life completely, so it makes sense that she would be the one trying to fix things up. And she has Billie to take care of. 

So, Paige finds out that by scaring that reporter in order to keep him away from their lives, she only made him angrier. Which makes her resort to their "big guns", the Elders. By the way... I wonder why they still trust those Elders... after all they made them go through, I would never resort to them for help. But, that's not the point. The good point is that at least they made the Elders (at least the one that showed up to Paige) a bit more likeable again. And the advice was great. Show the media how ordinary you are and get them to give up on you. 

The scene with Paige showing them the house was hilarious. And by the time they got to the attic, I was short of breath to see Paige standing right beside the Book of Shadows. Anyone would rush to close the book, since that was the only thing that could blow up Paige's plan and expose them as witches, but by acting naturally, Paige didn't catch the reporters' attention to the book. Great move, writers! On a side note, the special effects on that ghost she impersonated were really scared (after all, this is the halloween episode of this year). I was scared. Great job on the special effects!

   Now, last, but not least, Billie. Isn't she becoming such a nice little character? I think Kaley Cuoco's doing a great job, and I love the fact she's a free-spirited, but smart witch. And poor girl, had to face her old issues, and a big one too... Her sister's kidnapping. 

Kaley did such a great job in playing this girl trying to hide her own fears from herself, casting a forgetting spell over and over again, but only to be confronted by the same thoughts she tried to avoid. It made her see that she, other than being a powerful young witch, was also human. And humans have fears they need to face and deal with. I think that Billie's interaction with the sisters is one of the greatest things in this season. I see Billie as their younger sister, and that's how the Charmed Ones are starting to see her as well. I loved how Billie had to prove herself worthy so she wouldn't lose the girls. Very nice. It was great to know more about Billie's life as well. Though, I wonder, if her parents didn't know about demons, how did they say "a scary man" took her sister away? And I also wonder if the writers are going to use that storyline again, cause I think it's promising. Why would a demon kidnap Billie's sister, who was logically a witch as well? Where would she be? Is she dead? Alive? Maybe somehow working for the underworld? Or is it just my imagination running wild? 

Either way, there's potential in this particular part of the story and I hope the writers see into it. But I can't get enough of how much like Prue, Billie seems to be. It gets us wondering... are they doing this on purpose, or is it just a coincidence? Billie has the same powers as Prue and the same confidence when fighting demons. This particular scene, where Dogan asks her if she's cocky or just foolish, and she answers she prefers the former, it just reminded me of Prue's dialogue with the Demon recruiter from "Wrestling With Demons": "We like to think of it as confidence". Maybe I'm the only one to notice this, but I think it's an interesting twist. Of course, we also see in this episode that Billie has a lot of potential, although she's very raw. I'm looking forward to see what comes next for this character.

Now, to end this review, some tidbits:

- Brian's looking great and acting great! And when they finally give him a little more to do in the show, he's only there for 6 episodes. Such a pity.

- Holly Marie Combs... wow, does she get any better? She has got to be one of the most underrated actresses on television nowadays. I wish she would receive more credit for the amazing job she does.

- Poor Billie... Finding out her sister was kidnapped by a demon was bad enough for the girl. I wonder what change that's going to bring to the character. I hope they explore that. It was nice that the sisters trusted her for once. And great vanquishing scene! Nice effects (an atomic bomb demon? Ha!), and nice humor too.

- Good to finally have Homeland Security teaming up with the sisters. I thought it was kinda farfetched to have all those cops after them, with so many other important things going on for them to investigate. Besides, if they deal with the supernatural, what best than to team up with the 'Charmed Ones'? Good move.

- Best dialogue from the episode. One of the last scenes, when Phoebe goes to Dex's apartment: "Trick or Treat? / Let me guess, you're a witch. / Always". Very nice, writers!

Well, in the end, I'm looking forward to the next episode. And well, Charmed, you got this fan back. Good job!