Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
“So… This is Buffy for tweens?” This was my husband’s assessment after lingering in the living room for a few minutes while I was watching the new season of Just Add Magic. If you’re not familiar with this show, that’s a decent introduction. Kelly, Darbie, and Hannah are three best friends who discover a magic cookbook. Sorcery ensues.
In the first season of this Amazon Original, the girls discover the limits of magic even while they test its potential. By the end of the season, they’ve baked a cake that undoes every curse cast in the seemingly bucolic town of Saffron Falls. This means that Kelly’s Grandma Becky is released from her catatonia, but, as the girls soon learn, this also means that the mysterious Chuck might be free from the spell that has bound him for more than fifty years.
After gathering the herb they need to locate Chuck (in the Halloween special that bridges the first and second seasons), Kelly, Darbie, and Hannah are convinced that they’re safe. As the first episode begins, they’re looking forward to a summer of fun. No mysteries, and no magic. But, “magic” right there in the name of the series, so… Magic there will be.
The trio of young BFFs at the heart of this series are doubled in Grandma Becky, Miss Gina Silvers, and Ida “Mama P.” Perez, three women who were once best friends themselves. Chuck is at the heart of the discord that divided them, and their still-evolving relationship—and their relationships with the youngsters around them—add depth to the main storyline.
Chuck arrives, and it turns out that the terror Grandma Becky has been fearing is an adorable greaser with amnesia and no idea that he has been in stasis since 1965. Grandma is still afraid that he’ll want revenge. Mama P. hasn’t forgiven him for what he did to her family. Miss Silvers wants to give him another chance. As for their young protégées, they see a lost boy—a lost boy in serious need of a makeover.
As the season progresses, the girls mature in their understanding of magic. A spell they cast to make Chuck trust them enough to help him makes Kelly paranoid. Darbie uses a charm that she thinks will let her see her divorced parents getting back together; instead, she watches as she negotiates that the fact that her father is in a new relationship. Abd Darbie and Hannah both have to intervene when Kelly becomes over-reliant on the cookbook. Again and again, magic proves to be complicated—kind of like life. Again and again, the girls learn that our actions may have consequences beyond what we intend, and that the exercise of power exacts a cost. This lesson takes on a terrifying significance when Hannah learns what the enigmatic guide known as The Traveler reveals what she has sacrificed in her effort to stop Chuck.
But this isn’t all life lessons delivered in a magical package. The drama that drives this season deepens and darkens with each episode. As Chuck starts to regain his memory—and as the girls get fresh glimpses of the past—it becomes increasingly clear that this guy is bad news. Grandma Becky, Miss Silver, and Mama P. realize that they’re going to have to overcome decades and work together again. At the same time, Kelly starts to wonder if Grandma Becky is keeping secrets from her, while Hannah’s connection with Miss Silver—her piano teacher and mentor—deepens. One of the charms of this show is that it depicts women over sixty as real, complex people, active in the world and capable of change. Mama P., the most morally dubious of the bunch, reveals glimmers of humanity in her relationship with Jake, her assistant and a good friend to Kelly, Darbie, and Hannah. Even Chuck, the ostensible villain, may not be a complete monster.
I’m pretty sure my husband’s knowledge of Buffy the Vampire Slayer goes no deeper than catching a few minutes of it here and there over the course of our years together. However, his comparison works. Like Buffy, Just Add Magic mixes an overarching storyline with standalone plots. Darkness and danger is leavened with humor. And the supernatural elements are amplifications of real-life situations and experiences. By the season finale, it’s not just magic that saves the day—it’s also humanity.
Jessica Jernigan is a writer, editor, and mom-about-town in a mid-sized Midwestern city. You can find her professional website here, but Instagram is where the cat photos are.
