'Charmed' Season 2: Everything the reboot needs to change from better writing to CGI to attract fans of the OG
When The CW announced the 'Charmed' reboot, fans of the OG show were immediately upset, with some even requesting the network to cancel it before it aired. This anger only intensified when it was revealed the new show would be a retelling of the story and did not consult any of the actors from the original series.
The actors spoke out as well, with Holly Marie Combs who played Piper Halliwell most visibly upset. The only sort-of positive response was from Shannen Doherty who said she was looking forward to a new generation being introduced to the 'Charmed' universe.
When the reboot aired, many found it lacking in comparison to the original, but the updated, politically correct show did garner enough fans to be renewed for a second season that will premiere this October.
However, the reboot will need to do more in order to gain the same popularity as its original and will certainly need to convince OG fans to watch the show to successfully run for as long as the original. We look at a few things the show could do to get this done:
Whitelighter woes
The reboot's Whitelighter showed up much earlier than the one in the original series. Harry Greenwood is British opposed to the American Leo Wyatt and his introduction did not sit well with viewers.
In order to explain to the Vera sisters about magic, he kidnaps them and ties them up to make them listen. For a show that aims to be feminist, this does not seem the right way to bring in a central character.
While Harry did grow on viewers, we don't see him struggling as Leo did, granted, the show is only in its first season. With the Elders gone, perhaps we will see a new side to Harry, but we hope it is one that brings out a three-dimensional view of him.
Interactions between characters
One of the things the original did that was great was how the characters interacted with each other, especially the romantic interests. Cole did not just interact with Phoebe, Leo did not just interact with Piper even though their romance started in season one. This is one thing the reboot needs to work on.
While all the Vera sisters have their romantic interests, none of them interacted with any other sister much except for the one they were involved with. Bringing in more character interactions would lead to viewers seeing a different side of them as well as fuel for more plotlines.
Build a connection to the OG Witches
The biggest sin of the reboot is certainly having nothing to do with the original, except lift the idea and the name for the show. They did include references to Melinda Warren on the reboot.
If you recall, Melinda Warren is the first witch of the Halliwell line. Should the writers build on this, they could somehow bring in the Halliwell sisters to the show, maybe not all of them, but one or two to act as guides to the new Charmed ones. This would certainly sit well with fans of the OG series as well.
Better CGI
For a show made nearly two decades into the 21st Century, the 'Charmed' reboot features some laughable CGI moments. This has not gone unnoticed. At least the OG could claim that the show was made in the 90s, but even then, its special effects did not seem out of place.
At an age when CGI is so good, what excuse does the reboot have besides not enough budget? And if that was the case, the reboot needs to work in bad guys that would require lesser CGI.
Better writing
For most of the season, the writers seemed to rush into and out of everything. Villains came and went, relationships built up and ended, and the sisters fought and reconciled much too quickly.
Maggie and Parker from the reboot are the same as Phoebe and Cole in the OG. But Phoebe and Cole's relationship was paced almost perfectly and the writers did a terrible job of executing it.
Similarly, the Vera sisters go from being supposedly mortal to new witches to very powerful ones very quickly, without any explanation other than they were the chosen ones. This is something the original series did well, slowly building up to how the Halliwell sisters became the powerful witches they were.