Typing this as I watch. My first impression is the actresses playing the younger sisters resemble each other a little two much. the original cast did not look similar enough for some but they did have the brunette theme and the point was their birth order differences. I can see the point of all them looking alike but then why the third left out? The original had flaws as well, Phoebe seemed miscast as the youngest sister to me but whatever. Its obvious the older sister will be taking on the mother hen role (conflict, resistance and sisterly squabbles I don't doubt) Prue, was not as on the nose as that, first and foremost was a sister, which is a changed dynamic with Macy appearing to be significantly older and as a newcomer.
A weird fact, according to IMDB, Melonie Diaz the actress who plays Mel is six years older then Madeleine Mantock the actress who plays older sister Macy. Which by the way, the mature brilliant geneticist Macy, should have been able to better handle this rude bratty girl on their first meeting.
I'll tell you why I'm not caring for the interjection of current topics in the pilot, I feel its cynically employed buzzwords to signal it is of the zeitgeist. I assume its in keeping with its "Powerful women / witches " marketing but then why does it talk down to its most ostentatiously feminist character? making her a heavy handed cliche. And its occurs to me now, that this show will be taking place in a "school" setting, (remember I'm typing as I watch) typical of CW, this show neither knows nor cares what actual young people sound like so instead it traffics in stereotypes.
Youtube reviewer see's Giles/Wesley in the whitelighter, I see Harry Potter. (inspo or cynical copycat)
Diaz is the best actor and Mel is the better character, the two others need more development. "Strong women were called witches and we are!" Uh, maybe you are, I have seen zero evidence of it in the other two, you've got brains and spit hot fire (all despite them trying make u a cliche) Maggie not particularly and I am so sick of the pledging a sorority cliche.
They're gonna need more to add complexity to their mean girls arcs. Its done, its boring. I get it is in the vein of current popular shows (Scream Queens etc)
Mel is a college student so why is she dating a girl or women who dresses like a teacher or detective and their chemistry is boring. I don't believe the youngest sisters could manage living on their own. So bingo makes sense the older sister needs to be there.
All of a sudden Macy and the whitelighter are invited back? that was deep cut. seems to be a lot of those with little to no explaination to get plot exposition moving.
All and all not intended for fans of the original in mind, feels very ABC/CW, the demographic around ten to eightteen,
