TVSquad

(S01E07) "You say cursed like it's a bad thing." - Darryl to Roxie

Eastwick continues to gel a little bit more with each episode, and it's fun seeing the witches discover and hone their powers.

In last night's episode, I kept thinking that none of what happens should come as any big shock to the witches. For instance, Kat shouldn't be amazed that Joanna says she can move things with her mind, because she's made the weather change, for goodness sake.

But maybe they're trying to make the women more real by not jumping into things. If something weird happened in real life, you wouldn't automatically think, "oh, I'm a witch." You'd probably think it's just a strange coincidence, or at the most, there are forces in the world we know little about.

Still, if I was suddenly able to heal my kid's scrape with a touch of my hand, that would definitely be a big tip-off that perhaps I had some gifted abilities. But the witches are all coming into their own at a slow and steady pace.

I like Eastwick because it's not a complicated show. That might sound funny to say, but there are enough complicated shows that take some actual brain power to piece together (some might disagree, but I'm thinking Lost, Fringe, and Damages). You have to pay attention to what's happening, and then remember what happened last season in order to put the pieces together in the current season.

So far, that's not the case with Eastwick. Sure, there are plenty of mysteries, like who and what Darryl is and why Bun and Eleanor want to kill him (again), but it's more lighthearted, magical type fun. Not "keep a storyboard so I can remember who's connected" type fun.

And yet, we get scenes of grief, too, like Roxie sitting on the bed and weeping after piecing things together from Chad's early morning vision-visit.

I really like Cybill Shepherd as Eleanor Rougement. Here's a woman who's been around the block and isn't afraid to show it. She's not stick-thin, and she's not afraid to use her powers. I could be talking about Eleanor, but I'm also talking about Cybill Shepherd.

So the healing witches can't heal themselves? Because at the hospital, Eleanor told Kat, "Would you place your hands on my scrapes so I can go home?" Great scene later at the house, where Eleanor makes the ants come out of Bun's body (I guess they're memory-grabbing demon ants), and Kat runs off all freaked out. If I was Kat, I would have stayed and made Eleanor tell me what just happened.

Other Magic:

Jason George as Max Brody is great. He only has one other thing on his IMDB page -- a video titled Jigsaw in 1999. Where has this guy been all these years? (Feel free to answer if you know.)

Darryl is firewalking! And doing tantric yoga!

"I don't have any friends, especially not her. I haven't seen her for 20 years, and I'd be happy never to see her again." - Eleanor to Kat, about Bun

Interesting that not only do Eleanor and Kat share abilities, but they both have five kids.

"Red ants, huh? Harumph, he is one tricky bastard." Eleanor, upon hearing about Bun's incident with the ants

The Cone of Power.

Kat having to kill the spider. I think she didn't want to kill it, because it's part of nature and thus, part of her. But she killed it to protect her kids -- not from the spider per se, but just because you don't want a spider wandering around where your kids are playing.

Bun: "What are we going to do about Darryl Van Horn?"
Eleanor: "I think we're going to have to kill him ... again."

[Watch clips of Eastwick on SlashControl.]