Summary
Charmed Episode 8, “Bug A Boo”, is purposefully convoluted for no credible reason, attempting to squash as much as possible into a 40-minute story.
I seem to have riled a couple of Charmed fans with my recent recaps because I haven’t listed every single magic spell and celebrated each scene in my parent’s loft with a fake cauldron.
The problem is, like many of the episodes so far and the latest, “Bug A Boo”, there is so much nonsense that lies between the worthwhile scenes that I have to brush down the cobwebs and discuss what keeps this reboot alive.
Following on from the last episode, the magical artefact that was stolen by a witch named Jada seems to crack open hell and release a demon.
Of course, as usual, the witches are determined to live their normal lives amongst all the chaos and an impending end-of-world event. “Bug A Boo” continues with the lack of urgency, struggling to fit in as much of their personal lives while on the other hand implementing some demon ass-kicking scenes.
The demon that has been released in “Bug A Boo” is obsessed with humans that desire to mate and takes the form of desirable people from a dating app and rummages around the town kidnapping romantics for feeds.
While the witches track down this demon on an untrustworthy dating app, they have their own demons to deal with. Before Macy (Madeleine Mantock) gets trapped by the fake dating app by an interested male, she learns that Kelvin is single again, and her bad ordeal drives her to reconsider rekindling with her colleague.
“Bug A Boo” also delves into Maggie’s (Sarah Jeffery) new relationship with the half-demon, which was a reveal in the last episode, and is attempting to deceive the witch. His father happens to be the demon orchestrating the apocalypse, who stole the Harbinger at the start of the series. I believe Maggie’s boyfriend is torn, due to his half-human feelings for her, and he may be the key to stopping his father’s plans.
Meanwhile, Melanie (Melonie Diaz) crosses paths with Jada again, who is clearly a rogue witch. A complicated relationship is rising here, as the two women clearly have some form of chemistry between them. Melanie also has to worry about the Elders attempting to recruit her into a wider mission.
As the episode ends, you learn that Jada is possibly part of another sect of witches, who are berating her for trying to recruit Melanie, who has suddenly become a very popular witch. “Bug A Boo” ends in tragedy, as Macy tentatively waits for her date Kelvin who just happens to get run over as the episode ends.
All this happens in 40-minutes, in another ridiculously squashed episode of Charmed that feels under pressure to throw in as much information at the audience as possible. “Bug A Boo” didn’t know what to do with all the ingredients.
