This episode was reminiscent of fourth season’s A Paige from the Past in which the viewers are shown a very rebellious Paige and clearly suggestive to the fact of Phoebe’s wild side from the first two seasons as well. The fact that the viewers were able to see a teen Phoebe was not a surprise with her behavior or manner.

Other points of disappointment from this episode were the fact that Leo was completely vacant from the screen, Piper was obviously very pregnant, and the complete 180 for Chris’ behavior towards Piper. While mention these fact, one could also point to the fact that seeing Victor again and the interaction between Chris and Victor was a delightful bonus.

The fact that the writers fell back to “wild Phoebe” for this episode was disappointing only because that was a Phoebe that viewers were subject to at the beginning of the series. From that time forward, viewers have seen a youngest sibling mature and become a “middle” sibling growing with adult responsibilities and family obligations. The writers going back to the original portrayal of Phoebe wasn’t challenging for anyone, the audience to accept, the writers to write or the actress’ acting ability. In fact, one would have to wonder if this episodes’ premise wasn’t a directive from The WB to make a series premier have more “punch” with a lead-in series with some of the station’s highest ratings.

It is always a pleasure to see James Read return to Charmed. The continuing question one might have, why don’t the writer’s use the “father” dynamic more, especially with grandchildren involved. The stories that could be explored with Victor present seem abundant. The fact that Piper was able to call on her father quickly and have successful results just shows that he is more than just a character actor that doesn’t have enough charisma to appear more than once in a season.

The dynamic between Read and Fuller was great. It seemed that they both really enjoyed one another and were having fun in their scenes. In fact, Fuller seemed at his best in this episode. His acting wasn’t forced, he was funny, and very believable as Rick as Chris in the ending scene. It is always pleasant to see an actor grow more as an actor when they first start out, the cardboard stiffness just doesn’t seem to be present anymore.

Seeing Chris excited about something is a wonderful change from his mostly pessimist views. Having the writers be able to tell the viewers that Chris’ life wasn’t all doom and gloom is another way that they are able to tell viewers that the sister’s did have a nice, pleasant life for an extended period of time (14 years at the least) before something went wrong. The fact that Victor actually comes through as a positive and fun “parent” figure should also be encouraging to the sisters, who haven’t always had that role of a male figure in their family.

While it is evident that Piper is very concerned about both of her children, she still has worries about her sisters. The dynamic that the sisters have is the foundation of the series, this has never changed, but it has evolved. The constant worrying of someone mis-using or interpreting their powers wrong is no longer a theme. The responsibility that the girls have in being witches is consistent. While this episode did show Phoebe having the troubles with her powers, in the end it wasn’t anything that her sisters did to help, but her own conscious was what helped negate the spell and help her correct her spells on others. Paige wasn’t as “important” in this episode, but only because the writers really didn’t make her that way. The biggest question one might ask is why did Paige go with Phoebe to her reunion? That in itself was the odd quirk to the storyline.

Overall, this episode was fun and “happy” but it didn’t feel original or complimentary to the present storyline. It was just disappointing that the only reason this viewer felt that a new Charmed was given this week was to promote another show that, in my opinion, isn’t really worth Charmed prestige and reputation.