WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Charmed Season 3, Episode 13, “Chaos Theory,” which aired Friday on The CW.
Charmed‘s latest episode revealed the true chaos of the Perfecti. In Season 3, Episode 10, The Charmed Ones first meet the Perfecti — Mo and Aladria — who reveal themselves to be the makers behind the Tomb of Chaos and seem to be ancient allies of The Charmed Ones; however, “Chaos Theory” unveiled a harsh truth. The Perfecti only support the magical sisters if they 100 percent agree with their methods of logically keeping the magical world in balance. Faced with an epic dissent during Abby’s trial that shows The Charmed Ones criticizing the Tomb of Chaos, the Perfecti lash out against the magical sisters for believing in redemption.
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At the end of Abby’s trial, the scales of justice ultimately decide Abby and Jordan are innocent and that the Tomb of Chaos is a flawed system of justice. After an impassioned speech by Maggie, the scales rule that the prison realm can’t be a way to punish people justly as it never allows for them to atone through actions. Maggie, Macy and Mel argue that the Perfecti disregard context in favor of ruling with an iron fist and choosing to believe in their knowledge more than searching for the whole truth or giving people second chances.
“Chaos Theory” is an episode that is an ode to abolitionists and functions as a way to fictionally depict the evils of a prison system. From its start, the episode is centered around Jordan’s unjust imprisonment as a Black man who didn’t get a trial before being sentenced, as he’s “guilty by association.” Through watching Jordan struggle in the prison realm, the episode shows how prisons dehumanize people until they’re unable to believe in themselves. Further, it shows that even if someone — like Abby — is guilty, locking someone away doesn’t add any positive change to the world as that person cannot atone behind bars.
At its heart, “Chaos Theory” is a magical way to show that The Charmed Ones are anti-prison system. Although they too, initially, saw the benefit in locking away the monsters of the world, they change their tune after experiencing its torture firsthand and seeing how the finality of it can lead to many being locked away without seeing the possibility that someone could be falsely imprisoned. The Perfecti can get things wrong.
Of course, the ancient and intensely logical Perfecti don’t like to be questioned and attack The Charmed Ones for calling their prison realm the real chaos of the magical world. Although the magical sisters invoke the Power of Three to protect themselves and scare the Perfecti away from them, the end of the episode reveals that Mo and Aladria are now set on “destroying” The Charmed Ones, as they’ve “done in the past.”
Charmed stars Sarah Jeffery, Madeleine Mantock, Melonie Diaz, Rupert Evans, Jordan Donica, Poppy Drayton, Mareya Salazar and JJ Hawkins. The CW show will return on Friday, June 11 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.
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