Woman of the Month: Maggie Vera

Maggie Vera from Charmed (2018)

I always try to have a spooky-themed Woman of the Month for October, and since I went with Prue Halliwell from Charmed last year, it only seemed appropriate to finally catch up with the 2018 reboot and select someone from the new trio of sisters. And ironically, I’m going with the youngest instead of the eldest.

As the baby of the family, Maggie Vera obviously has a lot in common with her Halliwell counterpart Phoebe. She has a passive power, struggles with her education, and is possessed with an irresponsible streak. But in stark contrast to Phoebe, she’s the most hesitant of her sisters when it comes to embracing her identity as a witch, being more concerned with parties, socializing and boys. As a freshman at Hilltowne University, most of her storyline (at least in season one) is about how she prioritizes pledging to a sorority over her duties as a Charmed One.

Naturally, her arc is about becoming less vapid and more responsible – though honestly, she’s so open and warm that the writers clearly struggle to turn her enthusiasm for the more frivolous things in life into a flaw. As such, one of my favourite sisterly moments is when Mel apologizes for making fun of her desire to be initiated into Kappa, admitting that she didn’t realize how much it meant to her. Why shouldn’t Maggie want nice/fun/silly things?

Admittedly, her storyline (so far) isn’t that interesting – she basically just has a mutual crush on the boyfriend of her sorority sister, which leads to an inevitable love triangle. But as a character she inches out in front of the other sisters as my favourite for one reason: the difference between her power and Phoebe’s, which ends up being the key to her personality. Unlike her predecessor, she doesn’t have premonitions, but rather the ability to read people’s minds while touching them, essentially making her an empath.

And this ends up being her most important contribution to the trifecta of witches: not the analytical mind of Macy or the righteous sense of justice in Mel, but her emotional intelligence and generosity of spirit.

Plus she’s the epitome of a Cute Witch. Just look at how cute she is!