Month: August 2020

In 2008, Hallmark aired The Good Witch, a movie starring Catherine Bell as Cassie Nightingale and Chris Potter as Middleton Chief of Police Jack Russell. 12 movies and 5 television seasons later, the magic finally came together in Good Witch (Season 6).

Probably due to Catherine Bell being one of the Executive Producers of the series, the show has consistently and expertly passed the Bechdel Test. Middleton seems to be pretty decently populated with independent and influential women (business owners, council members, etc.). I mean, try to get anything done in Middleton without Mayor Martha Tinsdale!

For Season 6, it feels as though there were some changes (both in front of the camera and behind the scenes) that led to a much more cohesive and satisfying season than we’ve had from Good Witch previously. No disrespect to Bailee Madison (who left after playing the role of Grace Russell since 2015) but, with the characters of Nick and Grace graduating high school and going away to college, there was an opening for new plot arcs and it definitely it looks like a lot of interesting ideas made it to production.

In addition to adding the character of Joy Harper (a mysterious stranger played by Katherine Barrell who comes to Middleton with a secret; a character intro that has been used M.A.N.Y. times on this series), the show also had more diverse casting for the one-off storylines, which was super refreshing. The main cast is still very white, but there does seem to be a desire to show Middleton residents who don’t all look alike. Very nicely done!

As well as opening up the casting decisions, the storylines this season felt fleshed out and natural. In previous seasons, while there was usually one overarching mystery that covered the whole season and acted as a bridge between the movies (more on that in a minute), the smaller story arcs both came out of nowhere and disappeared back into oblivion after 3 episodes. In Season 6, we got some really good story-telling and plot creation that had implications and ramifications for most of the characters. Again, very well done!

Every Good Witch season is book-ended by a movie, airing around mid-October. (And then never repeated again! What’s up with that Hallmark?!) The movies usually only tangentially tie into the stories of the season but every now and then, there is a character or scenario introduced in one of the inter-seasonal movies that becomes a part of the series. We missed the movie that aired between Season 5 & 6 (Grrr!), but even without it, Season 6 really shone above the prior seasons. Good Witch was renewed by Hallmark for a 7th Season, with a release date to be determined.

Lingering Frustration: What is the Bistro?! Stephanie’s Bistro Cafe (usually referred to as “The Bistro”) simply defies definition. It is a sandwich shop, a coffeehouse, a bakery, the kitchen for her catering business and food truck, Middleton’s (only?) restaurant, a cafe and a wine bar. It is also the community hub, serving as an open mic venue and a place to bring international dignitaries. It has outdoor seating, which we never see, and apparently no waitstaff or kitchen crew other than Stephanie.

Related

• My hands-down favorite character on Good Witch is Mayor Martha Tinsdale, played by the indomitable Catherine Disher. She has done behind-the-scenes clips and location tours for Hallmark, which should not be missed.
• Katherine Barrell (Season 6’s newest addition) had previously been on Wynona Earp, a show that we started but got lost in the shuffle, so it’s been fun to revisit Purgatory and catch up on that show.