“Other Woman” presents the most emotionally devastating scene Charmed has ever taken on. When it becomes clear that Niko has been targeted by a shapeshifter—a demonic super-assassin who will stop at nothing once it has a target—Mel makes a huge decision. She seeks out a spell to erase Niko from her life, altering…

Penniless and recently traumatized by a violent robbery, Claire, Jamie, and company arrive at Jamie’s aunt Jocasta’s plantation a bit weary but also strangely recovered from the incident. Jamie dwells on it for a bit, punishes himself for being too trusting. But then they’ve moved on to the next phase of their…

Set one month after the murder of Nate Lahey Sr., “I Got Played” threads the needle for the first half of How To Get Away With Murder’s fifth season, crucially bringing several storylines to a head ahead of next week’s midseason finale. And while, as usual, there’s a lot happening, this particular jam-packed episode…

Charmed has fun playing around with supernatural expectations. The sisters are new to the world of magic, and every week turns up new surprises for them, new rules for how all this stuff works. “Exorcise Your Demons” introduces one of the elders, the governing body that presides over all good magic happenings and…

Outlander has a tendency to overpack its season finales to overwhelming proportions. That was certainly true of season three’s ending, a swirling clash of big events that left little room for reflection or ripple effects or the characters to really feel the full weight of the action. That’s not to say that season…

In “Sweet Tooth,” the sisters spend much of the episode trying to figure out which human vessel holds the harbinger, a demon that foretells the arrival of the Source Of Evil—all a part of the apocalyptic arc sparked in the pilot by their mother’s death. The entire time, we as the viewers know that the demon is in…

“It Was the Worst Day of My Life” zeroes in on the two central storylines of How To Get Away With Murder’s first season. There’s the continuation of Nate Sr.’s trial, which is newly reinvigorated with emotional stakes thanks to a letter that Nate wrote at 14-years-old resurfacing. But what really anchors “It Was the…

In “Let This Mother Out,” Charmed makes its Monster Of The Week deeply personal. An imposter demon that looks like their mother emerges from the Book Of Shadows and nearly tricks the sisters into giving up their powers, using the lethal weapon that imposter demons possess: emotional manipulation.

Even at its messiest, How To Get Away With Murder handles trauma with care, depth, and nuance. That can’t be said of a lot of thrillers that dabble so frequently in murder and violent crimes. “You don’t have a right to mess with anyone else’s trauma,” Annalise spits at Nate, who is convinced that they need to tell…

The first words uttered in 2018’s Charmed reboot are “this isn’t a witch hunt.” Woody Allen called allegations against Harvey Weinstein—allegations that eventually became formal rape charges in May—a witch hunt. Liam Neeson has used that phrasing when talking about the #MeToo movement, too. But this new witchy CW…

Amid all the chaos and drama and murder, How To Get Away With Murder consistently embeds compelling messages about trauma, violence, and morality. One of its strongest messages is its complete challenging of what it means to be a murderer. The show posits, sometimes with disturbing pointedness, that anyone is capable…

How To Get Away With Murder is taking its time setting up its central mysteries this season. The show often barrels through story very quickly, sometimes to its own detriment. So a measured pace isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just...different. Like the premiere, “Whose Blood Is That?” feels like mostly setup.

How To Get Away With Murder returned for its fifth season opening, as is tradition, with a violent crime. In its season premiere, the Shondaland crime drama leans on its most fundamental strengths, namely the dynamic presence of its star, Viola Davis compelling at every turn even without much of the intense emotional…

A defining quality of Pose is its absence of suspense. There has never for a second been any doubt that Blanca would win the “Mother Of The Year” award that has been teased all season. There’s never any doubt that House Of Evangelista will win the ultimate house battle against House Of Ferocity in the season finale.…

In the penultimate episode of its first season, Pose pulls out all the stops, harnessing all of the strengths it has developed over the course of its first six episodes—fully realized character development, compelling visual storytelling, and narratives that feel deeply personal while still having larger cultural…

In her directorial debut, Janet Mock pulls together all of the strengths of Pose, delicately balancing the moments of lightness and darkness from a script co-written by her and Ryan Murphy with powerful visual storytelling. Her eye and style bring a sense of urgency but also a deeply intimate feeling to this episode.…

As with any great ensemble series, Pose has not only a deep roster of talent but a rich tapestry of characters with lives that overlap but also bring different things to the table, standing on their own. Sometimes ensemble series will still have a sneaky protagonist around whom everyone else orbits, but that really…

Pose’s “Giving and Receiving” has all the hallmarks of a Christmas special. It has its dramatic, tearful moments, but its overall warm and fuzzy and dressed up in holiday spirit. Like most special holiday episodes of television, it has a message of family and love. But because it’s Pose, that message is distinctly…