Latest / Deep Trope Fantasy & Romance Podcast / Practical Magic 2 / The Book of Magic Read-Along: Breaking the Owens Family Curse
Transcript
- Rachel: Welcome to Deep Trope, where we go deep into fantasy and romance books, one trope at a time. I'm Rachel, romantasy theorist. Kate: And I'm Kate, lover of all things dark and spicy. Rachel: And today is the fourth and final episode in our read-along coverage of the entire Practical Magic series as we prepare for the movie sequel, Practical Magic 2, which comes out in theaters on September 11th. Kate: We've covered each of the books in release order, and we're now finally at the Book of Magic, which has recently been re-released as Practical Magic 2. This is where the story of the Owens family all comes full circle. The new movie is based on this book, so if you've read along with us, you should be fully prepared to go see the movie in theaters now. Rachel: What's Next on Deep Trope following Practical Magic? Next week we welcome the creator of the book list, a new platform designed to rethink how we approach book reviews. Then on September 22nd, we'll pour another round of midnight margaritas and discuss the new Practical Magic movie. And on September 29th, we start our next big deep dive, The Incendiary by LJ Claren. This is book two in the Selvaren series, which comes out on September 8th. We have a completed four-episode deep dive of the Silversmith, as well as an interview with LJ Claren that you can listen to in the meantime. And finally, at the end of September, we'll be celebrating Threshing Day with a virtual release party hosted alongside our friends, Avorie and Xavier Harleston, hosts of the Romantasy Chaos HQ podcast, as well as Claire from RuningBooks. more to come on this free event, but be sure to keep an eye on our social media for more details. You can find us on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube at Deep Trope Podcast. Kate: And before we begin, if you've enjoyed our coverage of the Practical Magic books, we'd really appreciate it if you could go ahead and drop us a five-star review. We're still a new podcast, and your rave reviews go a long way in helping other readers find us. Rachel: So let's dive into practical magic two. Before we get into the spoiler-filled portion of the episode, why don't we give a brief initial reaction for anyone who just wants to know whether or not they should read it? So Kate, what did you think? Kate: So I will say of the four books, this one was not the top of the list for me. I did enjoy it and it was really satisfying to see some resolution for the Owens women, but it did feel pretty different tonally than the first practical magic. So it was, you know, a shift certainly from first to last. And I think this one seems less practical magic and more dark magic, right? Rachel: Hm. Kate: it's like The magic is darker, more powerful, than I think we see in in most of the other books, which was definitely interesting to see and to see kind of how that side of magic comes out, because we saw hints of it. Certainly there's been some darkness plaguing the Owens women Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: up to this point. but this is like very dark magic, very hexes and curses and all that kind of stuff that we see play out pretty pretty aggressively. Rachel: Uh-huh. Kate: but it, you know, just on the whole, it's a little bit less whimsical. I liked some of the whimsy that we saw in some of the other books. but more than anything, I think I'm just curious to see how they're going to adapt this one for the movie because it is there's a lot of action here. And so I do think that it could translate pretty well to the big screen. but as we know, the original practical magic was pretty different than the the original book. So, you Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: know, I'm really curious how it how it's gonna play out on the screen. What about you? Rachel: I agree that I think this is going to play out very well on screen. I mean, we're traveling from Massachusetts to France and to England, and we have some really beautiful scenery that I think we're gonna get. We have some really big magical moments, and we have some big highs or big highs and big lows, right? And I think there's some really happy scenes and some really sad scenes that are gonna play out very well on screen. And also call for some really nice Fashion moments. Kate: Yes. Yes. I I do think so. And to your point, the the emotions really are in full swing in this one. So yeah, I Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: I I think that it will make for for a good movie. really looking forward to seeing it and, you know, seeing how it it differs from this though. I mean, I have to I have to wonder if Alice Hoffman wrote this one kind of knowing that they were going to probably make a movie of it because it was written much later than Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: the the original. so I'm curious if any of her decisions in this book she was kind of imagining how it might play out on screen. Rachel: I wonder that too, or if she's just or if she wrote it hoping that it's going to become a movie. Kate: Yeah, maybe. Cause I mean, she wrote it after we've already seen Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman and the the Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: the wonderful cast of the the practical magic movie. We like already seen them kind of embody these characters. So I feel like it would be really hard to write a book after seeing that and not have it influence you at least in some way. Rachel: Yeah, true. True. Yeah, it'll be very interesting to see what they include in the movie and what they decide to kind of skip over. because there is a lot. Yeah. Kate: Yeah. 'Cause there is a lot. Yeah. Rachel: Yeah. All right. Well, should we get into it? Do you want to give us our mini recap? Kate: Yes, I do. So for anyone who hasn't read the book yet, this is your spoiler warning. Spoilers for The Book of Magic, also known as Practical Magic 2, from this point forward, as well as for all the books in the series. This is the fourth and final book in the series, and it begins a few years after the events of Practical Magic. So whether you're reading chronologically or in release order, the story ends with this book. So we begin with Jet seeing her fate in a mirror at the library and realizing she only has seven days left to live. Jet walks home from the library with Sally, who is now the library director. On their way, they are followed by a dog named Daisy who belongs to Reverend Willard, now 100 years old and living in a nursing home. Jet decides to take in the dog, though she knows she'll need to give her to someone else before she dies. On top of her vision in the mirror, there are other signs of Jet's death, including the familiar chirp of the Death Watch Beetle, bees swarming the house, and a dark aura around her that only Franny seems to see. So Franny pretty quickly realizes that Jet is dying, but the rest of the family are still unaware at this point. Sally notices that Franny is agitated, but she assumes it's because of the dog and still does not suspect that something bigger is going on. Jet goes to Manhattan to see Rafael one last time. She's been visiting him once a month for many years, though until this point she has refused to admit that she loves him, fearing the impact of the curse. She brings a stray dog with her to give to Rafael as a companion for him when she's gone. Jet and Rafael spend the day together visiting some of their favorite places in the city, and Jet finally admits that she loves him, knowing that the curse can no longer hurt her. They spend the night together and she leaves in the morning without waking him. Franny goes with Jet to visit the Reverend, which Jet does frequently, and Jet says someone else will have to start visiting him in her place. Franny does not want this responsibility, but says maybe Antonia or Kylie can take up the mantle. On the fourth day of her last week, Jet goes through the family grimoire with Franny. Jet, Franny, and Gillian have all contributed to the grimoire over the years, but Sally never has. Despite what a powerful witch she is, Sally still refuses to practice magic. and refuses to tell her daughters about their lineage, their powers, or the curse. Jet has been keeping the porch light on, helping their neighbors in the usual Owens' way. Franny helps her one last time, but when they turn the light off, Franny says she won't turn it back on. Jet writes a letter to her brother Vincent, who she has not seen since he faked his death many years ago, and asks him to come home. On her last day, Jet visits Levi's grave, where she plans to be buried alongside him. She then goes to the library to pick Sally up before meeting everyone at the Black Rabbit for dinner. At the library, she senses something is off and ends up finding a book hidden near Maria Owens' framed journal. The book is called The Book of the Raven. And it burns Jet's fingers when she touches it, indicating that it is a book of left-handed magic. The book was written by a woman named Amelia Bassano, who is rumored to have been the unnamed woman mentioned in Shakespeare's sonnets and to have written his plays. Jet hides the book in her purse before Sally can notice it. We get some background about the other Owenses, including Gillian, who is still with Ben Frye, though they are attempting to beat the curse by living separately and keeping their marriage off official records. Antonia is a med student pursuing emergency medicine and currently heavily pregnant. Her high school boyfriend Scott is the father, though they are not together. It turns out that they are both gay, but are still very close friends and plan on raising the baby together. Scott is in a relationship with a man named Joel, and Antonia is currently single. Kylie is attending Harvard with Gideon, who is now her boyfriend. Sally doesn't know that Kylie is in love with Gideon and has not warned her about the curse. After dinner, Jet goes to bed early to review the Book of the Raven. She realizes she can't break the curse since she's already dying. She worries about the danger the book poses to anyone who tries to use it, so she glues together the pages detailing the curse-breaking spell with magical glue that requires a secret trick to unstick. She leaves a note in her favorite copy of the poems of Emily Dickinson so Franny would know she'd have to search for the book if she ever wanted to use it. Finally, Jet returns to the library to hide the book of the Raven on the shelves. When she gets back from the library, she sits with Franny outside one last time, staring at the stars and reminiscing about their lives together. Jet's funeral is well attended by family and friends. One of the Owens cousins reads a letter from Faith Owens, Maria's daughter, about the curse, which is shocking news to Kylie. Antonia tells her not to believe it though, thinking it's just superstition from the 1700s. Rafael, heartbroken over Jet's death, agrees to care for Daisy, though he's unsure how he'll live without her. Kylie finds the Dickinson book in Jet's room and takes it, planning to read a poem a day just like Jet did. A sparrow enters the house and lands on Franny's hand, which she recognizes as Jet's spirit before it flies away. Over in France, a grieving Vincent, who is coping with the death of his beloved William, receives Jet's letter from Agnes, who also informs him of Jet's passing. He has a gift for finding things and can sense that he's meant to find something, though he doesn't know what it is yet. He buys a black mirror and sees a vision of a book of left handed magic and a young woman. Kylie finds Jet's letter stating that Franny is destined to break the family curse using the Book of the Raven. Kylie ignores the signs of the curse until Gideon is struck by a car and left in a coma. Distraught, Kylie confronts Franny, who reveals their witch heritage and how Sally didn't want her daughters to ever practice magic. Franny asks to see the note from Jet, but Kylie refuses and runs away to find the book Jet mentions in her letter. She retrieves the Book of the Raven from the Owens Library. Where a note from Jet instructs her to begin her quest in London. Refusing help from her family, Kylie sets off on her own to break the curse and save Gideon. Recognizing the danger, Franny, Sally, and Gillian prepare to travel to Paris to find Vincent so he can use his tracking gift to locate Kylie. Antonia is too pregnant to fly, so she will stay behind and is charged with visiting the Reverend. Franny, Sally, and Gillian arrive in Paris, and Vincent agrees to use his skills to help locate Kylie. He purchases ingredients, ties Kylie's baby ribbon around a wax figure, and uses Jet's key over an atlas to reveal that Kylie is in London. The shop proprietor notes that London is part of the Black Triangle of Magic and warns that Falling Ash indicates Kylie is involved with left-handed magic and gives Vincent the contact card for an occult scholar named Ian Wright. Agnes gives the group magical supplies and provides Franny with a talisman intended for some future use. Meanwhile, Kylie buys a cheap hotel room in Bayswater and tests out some of the left-handed magic she finds in the book The Raven. She mainly just succeeds in staining the hotel room ceiling red, though. She visits a shop called Helene's House of Magic, trying to learn more about the book and left-handed magic, but she is turned away. Outside of the shop, a clerk named Edward secretly agrees to point her toward the invisible library. Using a spell from the Book of the Raven to open the library's doors, Kylie meets librarian David Ward. Discloses her family curse and asks for information on the Owens family and the book's author. After finding records showing that her ancestor Hannah Owens was killed by Thomas Lockland in Thornfield, Kylie decides to track down a living Lockland in that village. David gives Kylie train money, warns her against left handed magic, and lets her stay in the library's guest room. She reminds him of the daughter he lost, so he has a soft spot for her. Back in Massachusetts, Antonia visits Reverend Willard and begins to grow fond of him. She goes to the family lawyer to process Jet's will, where she meets lawyer Ariel Samantha Hardy and finds herself strongly attracted to her. Ariel tells Antonia everything she's heard through the town grapevine about the Owens family, including the curse, the witch ancestry, and the haunted house on Magnolia Street. When Antonia still claims to not believe in curses or witches, Ariel gives her the key to a box of Maria Owens's papers so she can learn more. In London, Franny, Vincent, Gillian, and Sally draw straws at a pub to decide who will meet Ian Wright, and Sally loses thanks to Franny's magical manipulation. Franny believes Ian and Sally are meant to meet. While at the pub, Gillian has an alarming vision, warning that Sally is in danger. Meanwhile, retired Oxford professor and former thief Ian Wright wakes up paralyzed, suffocating, and hexed after stepping in magical ashes left on his floor the previous night. Sally enters Ian's unlocked office, finds him trapped in bed near a doll and red powder, and uses a healing charm to restore his movement and in the process also restores her own ability to see the color red. Sally cuts both of their hands to bind Ian to a promise to help her save Kylie, leading Ian to recognize her as a bloodline witch. He also falls almost instantly in love with her. I'll also note here that during this entire ordeal, Ian is completely naked. Showcasing the many elaborate tattoos that cover much of his body, as well as highlighting his impressively large dick. Sally realizes that she will need help to fix the hex on Ian, but reinforcements are already on the way. Vincent, Franny, and Gillian arrive and help Sally to neutralize the Hex. As Ian recovers, Vincent explains that Kylie is involved with left-handed magic, leading Ian to realize that one of his books, called The Red Skin, was stolen. Gillian insists that Ian help them find Kylie and he agrees, canceling his appointments to join their effort. Back in Massachusetts, Antonia bakes a chocolate tipsy cake for Reverend Willard and visits Gideon, who is still in a coma. Antonia then meets Ariel for lunch and kisses her for the first time, kicking off their romance. Back in London, Kylie travels to Thornfield, where she finds Tom Lockland. Tom is obsessed with magic but is only really proficient with poisons. His obsession stems from a generational grudge he has against the town that attempted to drive his family out for their misdeeds. When Kylie reveals their shared ancestry, he realizes she is a bloodline witch and is excited to exploit her power for his own gain, though he hides his true intentions from Kylie and works to make her trust him. Despite a server's warning at a local pub that quote bad Tom practices dark magic, Kylie defends him and goes to stay at his house. Tom guides Kylie through the fens, which are like marshes, secretly slipping a binding amulet into her pocket and placing a spellbound doll under her guest bed before agreeing to help her open the Book of the Raven. In London, Vincent stakes out the invisible library and meets librarian David, who recognizes Vincent's photo of Kylie. David directs Ian, Sally, and Vincent towards Thornfield, prompting Ian to suspect that his childhood acquaintance, Bad Tom, stole his copy of the Redskin. David shares his private contact number with Vincent for updates, clearly showing his romantic interest in him. When the train gets close to Thornfield, Gillian starts seeing spirits, which are called shades, in the fens, including a young girl carrying a black book walking beneath a crow. Upon arriving, the family stays at the Three Hedges Inn, where server Jessie warns them about local shades and reveals she previously warned an American girl away from bad Tom. Ian stays with his mother Margaret, a practitioner of green magic, while Sally and Gillian investigate Tom and encounter a spirit cat that leaves behind Kylie's silver locket. At Tom's house, he burns the stolen redskin book after failing to get it open, then strips with Kylie to perform a dark ritual using Solomon's key to save Gideon. Kylie wakes up with black hair surrounded by dead ferns and rapidly growing vines. And successfully uses telepathy to stoke a fire as Tom guides her deeper into dark magic at his family's ruined manor. In Massachusetts, Antonia sleeps with Ariel, accepting the potential risk posed by the family curse, and confesses her love. Encouraged by Reverend Willard and Jet's spirit, Antonia bakes a lost daughter's pie to help bring Kylie home. In Thornfield, Tom discards Kylie's phone and sends her to a store where she borrows a hiker's phone to call Antonia, who tells her that Gideon moved his hand when Antonia visited him and that Franny is actually the one meant to break the curse. After Kylie sends a selfie showing her transformation and hangs up to steal food using a spell, Antonia alerts Sally and Essex, prompting Gillian and Sally to bake their own lost daughter's pie overnight in the pub kitchen. Franny and Vincent perform a finder spell that confirms Kylie was at Tom's house, and Ian realizes Tom must have taken Kylie to his family's old manor. After taking a temporary break at Margaret's house, Sally encounters Maria's ghost in the marsh. Ian stops her from walking too far into the water and they kiss as the romantic bond deepens. At the ruined manor, Tom creates a lethal plague spell called the Red Death. He chains himself to Kylie and accidentally enables her to break Jet's magic seal on the Book of the Raven after the book falls into the water. After seeing a shade give her a signal, Kylie burns her wrist on the hot handcuffs to break free from Tom. She grabs the book and flees into the poisoned red rain. As Tom's plague spreads and causes villagers to collapse, Gillian treats victims with magic soap while Margaret, Ian, and Franny prepare countermeasures. Kylie makes it to the pub but collapses when she arrives. Sally, Gillian, and Franny treat her fever, and Franny counters the plague spell by sacrificing her own blood, effectively ending the red rain. Sally and Gillian go to the Lockland Manor, where Ian once again falls victim to one of Tom's hexes. Sally shaves her head, burns her hair, and performs a spell of renunciation that strips away her bloodline magic in order to cure Ian and banish Tom. In Massachusetts, Antonia gives birth to her baby and learns from Maria Owens's secret papers that breaking the curse requires sacrificing the family grimoire along with a human life. Antonia calls Franny with the discovery. Knowing what must be done, Franny copies the grimoire into a smaller journal to preserve the family history and slips away at sunrise. Franny walks into a nearby pond wearing heavy shoes and stones in her jacket. She forgives Maria and willingly drowns herself along with the original grimoire to permanently break the Owens family curse. Sally wakes up to find Kylie fully recovered, the curse broken, and news that Gideon has awoken from his coma while Antonia gave birth. Sally and Ian rush to the pond to retrieve Franny's body. Though devastated by the loss, Sally finds comfort in Ian's love and the knowledge that her family is finally free. Family holds a small funeral for Franny in the Owens Cemetery. One year later, on June 1st, Reverend Willard officiates Sally and Ian's wedding under Maria Owens' Magnolia Tree. Vincent attends the wedding with David Ward, with whom he now lives in France. Sally now lives with Ian in England, where she works at Cat's Library and learns the nameless art from Ian's mother Margaret. She has finally embraced magic even after losing her own and takes in a crow named Houdini as her familiar. Ian publishes his book about the history of magic and begins a new one about local witches. Kylie lives on Magnolia Street with Gideon, and she studies library science in college while working at the Owens Library, using the rewritten grimoire to practice practical magic for the neighbors. Gillian gives birth to a daughter, Francesca Bridget, called Birdie, who is already displaying signs of magical ability, while Antonia raises her telekinetic son Leo alongside Ariel. The night before the wedding, Sally returns the Book of the Raven to the rare bookroom at the library for future women who might need it. Before the Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: ceremony, Sally wears Franny's red boots and Maria's sapphire pendant, and Ian displays a new tattoo of Sally's name on his wrist. Following tradition, Sally and Gillian bring wedding cake to Jet and Franny's graves, inviting Rafael, who visits Jet every Sunday, to the reception. Sally and Gillian go skinny dipping at Leech Lake, embracing their unique identity over being normal, and hold hands as they walk back to the Magnolia Street house together, planning a summer trip to France to visit Vincent. Rachel: Hooray! The love curse is over. Thank you. Thank Kate: Finally. Rachel: you for the recap. it was amazing to see Jet, Franny, and then Kylie and Antonia break it. So Sally and Gillian have their roles here, but really this is sort of those two generations. And of course Kate: Mm-hmm. Rachel: it was in the most roundabout way possible since Sally was really the problem here. She was causing your favorite thing a miscommunication trope, right? Kate: my god a fucking miscommunication trope. Rachel: She forbid her family from teaching her daughters about magic, but eventually, a whole book later, we got there and we figured out how to break the curse. It was so unfair the way that she set them up for that, though. Like, I I I understand where she's coming from, but by not telling them about their magic and not telling them about the love curse, she doesn't give them the option to have a choice in their lives because at least in the rules of magic at 17, they all get to go to Isabelle's and choose for themselves. Like she, they're full adults and she's not doing that. And Kate: Right. Right. They at least learn Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely not fair. I mean, again, you know I h fucking hate a miscommunication trope because it's never fair to the person that is being like withheld Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: information and it just serves to waste time. Everybody's time. Rachel: Well and it's also like this is why you can't be a controlling mother. Kate: Yeah. Rachel: but she also put Gideon's life on the line because the day Kylie professes her love to Gideon, the curse finds him. Literally that day. Kate: Right. Literally immediately. And also, I mean, how dense is Sally that she was like, I had no idea that you were in love with Gideon? Like, girl, have we not all known this since they were thirteen? Like Rachel: Right. R right. Right. Nobody likes Gideon except for her. You can't tell. Kate: Yeah, and again, they like they're they've been best friends all this time. They're at school Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: together in college. Like clearly there's some real Rachel: Right. Kate: feelings there. How like Sally just must have her head stuck in the sand because that seems insane that she wouldn't have any idea that Kylie was in love. Rachel: Right. But fortunately, we did find the counter curse. And this was an interesting counter curse that Frenny had to destroy Maria's grimoire and sacrifice herself. And I found this a little bit perplexing because I don't remember seeing the curse in the grimoire or seeing it being written into the grimoire. I thought that Maria just said it at her hanging. As sort of it felt like like words of anger. Kate: right, yeah, it was definitely impulsive, right? And I think Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: Maria herself like admits that. She's like, Yeah, I kinda fucked up, guys. Sorry about that. Rachel: Right. Kate: But I mean, I think it did end up in the grimoire somehow because the the curse breaking spell specifically says, quote, to end the curse, the book in which it was originally written must be destroyed. The grimoire, which was mine, must be no more. So like I have to assume that it made its way in there at some point because Rachel: Right. Kate: That's that's what the the spell says that you have to do and I don't know. Rachel: That's very interesting. Like I wonder if she had just Kate: Right. Rachel: not written it into the book, if it would have not like solidified Kate: Right, that's a good point. Rachel: it in history, you know, like maybe it would have just ended with Samuel Dias's first death. Kate: Right. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it does seem like like 'cause I I also remember when was it F Franny or one of the one of the aunts had wished that the other one was like stuck in New York. Do you remember that in The Rules of Magic? And she like Rachel: Mm. Mm-hmm. Yes, in the Rules of Magic it was when when Jet Jet wished that Franny wasn't leaving for college. Kate: Right, right, right, right. So so when she and she she said it and she like immediately regretted it, but it was like it's too late. Like you can't take something like that back. So I wonder if it's a similar situation here where like she said it, even if she regretted it, like, you know, she said it impulsively, while thinking that she was dying. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: and but like it was too late, you can't really take it back. So maybe she just recorded it like for posterity of like, Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: well I know this is gonna come bite somebody in the ass, so I guess I'll I'll record it. I don't know. Rachel: Right, so they have a ch chance so they have a chance at breaking it maybe in the future. Kate: Yeah, maybe. I don't know. Rachel: you know, when you put it like that, I really want to be a bloodline witch, but when you put it like that, it sounds like maybe not the best situation. Cause I say things impulsively all the time. Kate: Yeah, yeah. I I don't know if I could be trusted with that kind of power. Rachel: One thing I really liked about this solution though, despite how devastating it was, was that it seems like Isabelle foresaw that Franny would break the curse. And she laid the groundwork to set things into motion. You know, in The Rules of Magic, when we saw Isabelle's last ten days on Earth and her calling Franny to the house on Magnolia Street and really prepping her for what her life was gonna be and what her fate was going to be. Kate: Right. I love Isabelle. I feel like Rachel: Yeah. Kate: everything that I learn about her, I'm just like, you're the best. Rachel: And Franny too though, like this book, it blows my mind that people might not read The Rules of Magic and Magic Lessons, that they might, because of the way that they've just re-released this book as Practical Magic 2, there Kate: I know. Rachel: is a very good chance that people are gonna read practical magic and then practical magic 2. And most of the emotional impact comes from having read those other two books. Kate: I know. I know. I I mean, I think The Rules of Magic was probably my favorite of the four. Rachel: Same. Kate: it I just I loved that backstory. I loved it like kind of lived in this middle ground of like, yes, it was more overtly magical than practical magic, but it was still kind of grounded in what I feel like they're kind of referencing as practical magic, right? Where it's just like Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: magic that is just part of your life. so we're not necessarily seeing the same kind of like red stains on the ceiling and all the like, Rachel: Right. Kate: you know, action-y hexes and things that we're seeing in this book. So I I liked kind of that balance of everyday magic, but still very witchy. and Rachel: Yeah. Kate: so yeah, I I hope that people still discover those books and don't skip them. Rachel: Yeah, I agree. I agree. All right, and then we have the revenge curse. So the return of Tom Lockland, or at least his great great, great grand how many greats grandson? Bad Tom. Kate: Yeah, I I love how that's his nickname. His name's just bad Tom. Like no nuance. Like not very, not very original, but you know what? It gets to the point. Rachel: I know, I hope they call him bad Tom in the movie. Kate: I know me too. Rachel: Also, I'm hoping that we get a little bit of the backstory with Rebecca. I don't know how they're gonna do it because it's so much to squeeze into a movie. But you know how, like at the beginning of Practical Magic, we see Maria hang and then she's not the the rope breaks. I hope we at least get something like that in this movie where we reference back to Rebecca, we reference back to Hannah, and we see Tom Lockland. And I would love if they had the same actor play Tom Lockland, the OG and Tom Lachlin, bad Tom. Kate: yeah yeah. Rachel: That would be fun. But yes, but again, I'm not Kate: Chip off the old block. Rachel: making the movie, I'm just fingers crossed. but we really didn't spend much time on Tom Lockland in our Magic Lessons coverage, mostly because from my perspective, there was nothing to him other than that he sucked a lot. And I didn't really feel like there was much to say other about this abusive asshole. We covered him in the recap. I didn't really have much more that I cared to talk about with him. that being said. Kate: I agree. I I was I was disappointed that Hannah's poison didn't kill him, honestly. Rachel: True. Yes, same. But Kate: Yeah. Rachel: she did I think that that was a line in Magic Lessons was that she was that this would impact them worse than an immediate death. A immediate death would be too good for them. Kate: It's true, yeah, 'cause it it it like it it cursed them for sure, but Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: it did you know, I still would have just liked him to have keeled over. But, you know, generational curse I guess is pretty good. Rachel: Yes. So, Kate: Plan B. Rachel: as it turns out, Rebecca did have a child with him. And when Hannah hexed Tom as he was murdering her, she hexed him and his entire lineage. And it meant she cursed a family line that was loosely related to the Owens women, because they both originated from Rebecca. So now enters bad Tom, the latest cursed, Tom Lockland. And I really, really chuckled that when Sally gets cool again at the end of the book, because she sucks for most of it, but she gets kind of cool at the end. She just taunts Tom and calls him cousin. Kate: I do. I loved that. Yeah. And he was like, stop it. Don't call me that. Rachel: That was a very good description. Like he that was him. Yeah. but this curse was interesting because all of the Lockland men are apparently assholes and their wives leave them and then they raise assholes. And it's interesting to think about whether that was the curse or just sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, sort of results of their own poor choices. Kate: I mean what's our favourite saying? Why not both? Rachel: Why not both? And that goes back to the type of magic that you like to see in this book, even though it was like the dark side of it. That really is sort of that implied magic rather than super overt. Kate: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's true. Rachel: Another thing we need to point out when it comes to revenge curses is that in the rules of magic, we saw another loosely related family member that was. Cursed by the Owens women, right? So Isabelle reveals to Jet that Levi Willard is technically her distant cousin because they both descended from John Hathorne. And in Magic Lessons, we see Faith attempt to place a curse on John Hathorne and his descendants. And then we never see this curse again. It's referenced in both of these books, but we don't see anything happen with it. Like we don't see the results of this curse, we don't see it break. so do you think that Faith actually cursed Hathorne, or is this one of those things that was sort of like misremembered through history? Kate: I mean, I think that that she did curse him. I think she just chose not to kill him. I Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: mean, that was at least what we saw in Magic Lessons was Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: her, you know, cursing him but leaving him alive to continue his lineage, whatever. But yeah, I mean again, we we definitely see the Lockland curse much more overtly than the Hathorne curse. But It seems like it's still there because Reverend Willard kind of references it, doesn't he? When he's like warning Levi not to be with Jet. You know, there's still that animosity, there's still that like tension between them. It seems like maybe that Rachel: Yes, but I'm wondering if it broke in I wonder if it broke in the rules of magic. I wonder if Jet and Levi like broke the curse then. Kate: I think I think it might, right? Because that was another thing that Isabelle said, right? Was that healing that tension between those families would help to break the curse. Maybe she was just talking about a different curse. Cause remember, Rachel: Mm. Kate: I was, I was like, maybe it weakened the love curse when their families, you know, made amends. But Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: It kind of didn't, right? Because clearly the love curse Rachel: Right. Kate: was still very much in full effect. But maybe Isabelle was just talking about the Hathorne curse. So Rachel: Yeah. Kate: maybe Yeah, maybe that's it. Rachel: Yeah, I think so because and then we did see in this book, you know, Sally had no time for Reverend Willard because of how he treated Jet and Antonia kind of feels the same way, but then she's forced to go see him because that's kind of what the agreement was when Jet passed away. and then they they develop this close friendship and he ends up Officiating Sally and Ian's wedding at the end. So I think that is sort of the proof that what was broken there has now been healed. Kate: Yeah. But yeah, I I didn't I mean again, Isabelle, she's just always got these little nuggets of wisdom. I Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: didn't even put that together until just now that like yeah, it did heal that curse. It just wasn't the curse that we thought that it was. Rachel: Right. So let's chat through the return of the Owens Cup in, right? So before we get into the romantic relationships, I think it's worth touching on each of the women and Vincent that Kate: Yeah. Rachel: we see in this book. And when the book opens, we catch up with the women from the original Practical Magic book. And it's exciting to see where they ended up, although for some of them maybe a little bit depressing. Sally. Kate: Yeah. Rachel: I also want to point out that there were a few inconsistencies with the original book. I don't really know the reasoning behind it. but I think it's worth calling out because I think it is a little bit confusing, you know, when you're reading it. And it will be interesting to see how that those play out on screen as well. So starting with Jet, I mean, how heartbreaking was this? The first section of the book is literally just her final week on Earth from her POV. that being said, it was beautiful to read, despite being heartbreaking. And here we have our first inconsistency. She is in her eighties and previously she believed that she and Franny would die in their 90s. Was this an inconsistency or did their fate change? And if so, why? We saw Franny choose her death, but Jet seemed pretty natural. Kate: So I do think that the original fate that they described where like they die in their beds in their nineties together went out the window once they decided to raise Sally and Gillian. I think that that was like the act that changed their fate. Because we do know that fate can be changed. It's not completely Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: set in stone. I think that that their death that they originally foretold would have been their fate if they had decided to like stay in that rut that they were in before Sally and Gillian came into their lives. But embracing that challenge of taking care of the girls is what changed their fate. So I don't necessarily see this one as an inconsistency because it again, I it's been shown in other books that they are able to change their fate. It just takes something kind of big and and deliberate. And I think that choice of embracing the Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: the girls into their lives and deciding to raise them, put them on a new path. Rachel: Right. So you're saying that having children shaves a decade off of your life? Kate: At least, yes. Rachel: At least. Okay. Got it. Okay. Then we have Franny. So her character is pretty consistent with who she has been the entire series. Straightforward. And at the beginning of the book, bitter after all of her loss. But it seems like her desire to save Kylie and her reunion with Vincent brought her back to who she is by the end of the book. and sacrificing herself to save her family was literally exactly what I would expect from Franny. Kate: Agreed. Rachel: Yeah, like she was the strongest and she was the bravest the way they described her. And drowning was again a heartbreaking but poetic ending, both because the Owens women couldn't drown up until this point. And also because of her conflict with Haylin, over her inability to save him during his almost drowning. Kate: That's right. Yeah, it's kind of a full circle moment for for Franny of that that conflict, which I mean I guess did did get resolved, right? Like they once she Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: told Haylin what was going on and who she was and all of that, like it's not like it was a resentment that stuck with her, but it still was a pretty defining moment in their relationship. I also I think to your point about her kind of sacrificing herself, she did do that in The Rules of Magic when she decided not to go to Radcliffe and instead stay and take care of Vincent and Jet when their their parents passed. So that's very consistent with her character and yeah, just kind of seeing her. Come back to herself and realize her destiny. Rachel: Yeah. Then we have Vincent. So here William has passed away, and Vincent is depressed and lonely in France. And it's really like a callback to Vincent how he was after his parents died. Like very depressed. He's drinking, he's staying in bed until it's dark again. Like he's really not in a good place until he receives Jet's letter. And I'm glad we get to see him reunited with Franny and to meet his family. I found it a little bit unfair that Sally acted like he abandoned them because Sally and Gillian were safe with his sisters, whereas he and William would have been in danger if he came back from the dead. Kate: Right. I think we've established already that Sally was not our favorite character for most of this book. She she's Rachel: I know. Kate: just like a stick in the mud. I don't know. Rachel: Well, let's talk about her next. So poor Sally. Kate: Yeah. Rachel: She has now been widowed twice over. And as we've really said multiple times, she's just become sullen and bitter. And she's absolutely forbidden magic around her and her daughters. while Jet still practices up until her death, Franny doesn't seem to care about helping people. So she goes along with Sally because Franny's just as upset and bitter at this point. But Franny, it doesn't seem like she has any issues with magic itself. She just doesn't want to help other people. Kate: Yeah, no, it's it's not the magic that gets to her, it's it's people, which I can relate to. Rachel: Yeah. Sally also apparently looks up to Susanna Owens, Jet and Franny's mother, which is an odd choice. Kate: Yeah, I mean it is it it was disappointing to see Sally basically become Susanna because again, Susanna Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: was a character we were like, Ugh Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: No thank you. and yeah that's Rachel: Well and like why didn't she learn from what happened to Jet and Levi? Like did she not know? Because you know how in practical magic, they thought that the aunts were going to the graveyard to mourn those boys that got struck by lightning crossing the park to visit them? Kate: Yeah, the the strangers that they went on like half a date with. Rachel: Right. So like was Jet just not being honest with her? Because we know that Sally followed Jet into the city when she was going to visit Rafael, and Jet like lost it on her, was like, this is the only thing I have for myself. And, you know, she never found out about Rafael in detail at least. She just had her suspicions. But did she not tell her about Levi? Is that is this again more generational miscommunication? Kate: I I feel like it it must have been, but I don't understand like I understand why Jet would not tell anybody about Rafael because she's still Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: trying to, you hide him from the curse. So that makes sense because Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: Rafael is alive. But yeah, why would she not be more upfront about Levi? because I mean, do they do they know that she visits the Reverend? Like, you know, d They I assume that they know about her relationship with him, so they know that she has some connection to that family. But yeah, it doesn't seem like they really understand the backstory of how how Jet lost Levi and what kind of led Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: to that. Because to your point, I assume that if Sally did know about that, maybe she would be smart enough to not recreate that particular Rachel: Right. Kate: brand of of childhood trauma for her daughters, but I don't know. It was it was disappointing to see r history repeat itself with one of the least likable characters Rachel: Yeah. Kate: in this series. Rachel: And it very cl it came very close to having the same results. Like Gideon almost died. Yeah. Kate: It did. I know. Very, very closely. but Sally also had another one of the small inconsistencies that we saw in this book where Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: her first husband, Michael, who is Antonia and Kylie's father, in this book, it says that Michael was struck by lightning. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: Which is the same fate that we saw from Franny and Jet's kind of fake loves. but in practical magic, Michael was killed by a drunk driver. Rachel: Hmm. Kate: So that was an inconsistency that because it it really it was just like a single line. It's not like the lightning strike or anything like that really came into play. Like it didn't impact the story at all. So I was not sure why that detail was changed. Rachel: That is very interesting. That's ver yeah. I like I'm like racking my brain for I caught the Kate: Yeah. I don't know. Is it a mistake or was it? Rachel: no, no, it stood out to me too. It stood out to me too. And it was also different, like in the movie, he's hit by a a truck at least. Like, you know Kate: Yeah, it was like similar enough, you know, Rachel: similar enough, but the struck by lightning seemed very strange. And again, Kate: Yeah. Rachel: is this an inconsistency or we like passing things down differently through history for some reason? Like she's twisting the story because she doesn't want to tell her children that it was a drunk driver. Kate: interesting. See, I I don't know. I guess this was like this part of the book though was just kind of like narration though, right? Like it's not like Rachel: Right, right. Kate: we hear it from Sally like telling her daughters this. So I don't know. I think it was just one of the like Rachel: You think Mothers Against Drunk Driving didn't pay pay for the plug like they did in the original book? Kate: Yeah, no, you you lost your your marketing rights there. Sorry. Rachel: and finally in this book, Sally is just a classic example of be careful what you wish for. So her whole life she wants to be normal, she wishes she doesn't have magic, and then as soon as she sacrifices her magic to fight bad Tom, she wishes she had it. Kate: Yep. I know. and you don't know what you got till it's gone, you know, paved paradise and all that. but she did come back to magic and it was kind of ironic that she had to lose her magic to realize that she likes magic, but I guess she's a green witch now, right? following Margaret's lead. Rachel: Yes, she's like a cunning woman, just kind of a DIY witch, you know, one that any of us can become. She's just kind of learning the Kate: Yes. Rachel: skills rather than the actual spark. She can't Kate: Yeah. Rachel: light, she can't light a candle with her breath anymore. Kate: No. But the same thing kind of happened to Faith, right? I mean it was Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: different because Faith lost it because she went too like she flew too close to the sun with the left handed magic, I think, but she lost her magic and then she ended Rachel: Yes. Kate: up getting it back eventually. Like pr like I think when she was much older. But maybe maybe Sally, you know, in some future that we'll never see gets her magic back. Rachel: Maybe. I don't think that that's happening here. Cause I think she kind of sacrificed it intentionally, whereas I think Kate: I see. So it was it wasn't Rachel: I think Faith lost it as like a result of her actions. Like it was Yes. Mm-hmm. Kate: Like a consequence, not a sacrifice. Okay. No, I think you're probably right. That makes sense. Rachel: And Gillian. So happy-ish with Ben Frye, but as you've said, still desperately wants a baby. One thing that stood out to me is that she's a lab tech at MIT. Like, okay, brainiac. That came out of nowhere. Kate: I know, yeah, that did not seem like where Gillian would end up as like for a career. Rachel: Well I maybe I think it's interesting to show that once she stopped like flailing and stopped being with these awful men and she was in like a safe, secure relationship and she could focus on what's actually important, she's clearly a very smart, capable woman, and she was able to find a very interesting Kate: True. Rachel: career. Kate: I mean, it does make sense because when she first fell in love with Ben, she read all of the biology books and everything because he's a a science teacher. Rachel: Yes. Mm-hmm. Kate: So at the time it seemed like she was just like obsessed with Ben and so was gonna be obsessed with what he's obsessed with. You know, like Rachel: Yeah. Kate: she was like, I like what you like. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: but I guess it was a a true passion that she found, which is great. We Rachel: Yeah. Kate: love women in STEM. Rachel: That's right. And there's a lot of them in the Owens family. Kate: There are. I I would say all of them, right? Because Rachel: Yeah. Kate: we said science and witchcraft are on a s the same spectrum in in the Rachel: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Kate: this universe. Rachel: Mm-hmm. We also learn that Gillian was always jealous of Sally's magical abilities. She never really had her own until she starts seeing auras and shades in this book. And they referenced a few times that she believes in amulets. And this totally made me chuckle, because it really like. made me think of one of those people that's like desperate to have magic. So they're just like trying to find any totsk any tchotchkis. They can't I can't say that word today. They're looking for like Kate: Mm-hmm. Rachel: any tchotchkis, like little like rabbit legs and things, you know, like that they can Kate: Mm-hmm. Rachel: to give them power. Kate: Or like the crystal girls charging their crystals. Rachel: Yes, yeah. No offense if that's what you're into, no offense. Kate: I would never yuck your yum. I think crystals are gorgeous. I love Mother Nature and the the beautiful things that she can create. Rachel: I have some. I have some. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kate: I have not personally ever charged a crystal in the moonlight, but my sister does enjoy doing like creating moon water, I think. She uses Rachel: Hm, yes. Kate: she like charges water with a full moon and uses that for like her plants and stuff. And you know, if it makes you happy, then that's awesome. And again, I I do think that all of us have a little witch in us. So however that manifests for you, go it. Rachel: I agree. I agree. See I charge my water by leaving it out next to my bed for about two to three weeks and then I water my plants with it. Kate: So you charge it with insomnia, I assume? Rachel: I'm like that girl from Science, that movie you haven't seen. Kate: No, but I know that reference. Rachel: But we do see Jillian's magic awaken in this book. So why do you think we see that? Kate: I mean, the only reference that we really get to why that happens in the book is just that she's kind of like on her ancestral homeland and something about just being in Essex and being where kind of the Owens tradition and the Owens family originated just awakens something in her. So I think there's just power in being where their story began. Rachel: Yeah, yeah, the original Essex. Kate: Yes. Rachel: Right. And then Kylie and Antonia. So Kylie, in her sophomore year of college, and unsurprisingly, as we've said, in love with Gideon, she wears this silver locket that she received from her mother for her last birthday. And here we have another inconsistency because we saw her receive it for her 13th birthday in Practical Magic. So obviously she's no longer 13. I don't understand this change unless. Sally's just buying her silver lockets every year, which might be the case. Kate: I mean, maybe she's buying really cheap silver lockets and she has to keep replacing them. Either that or Kylie. Ooh. Rachel: Or because she keeps tarnishing them. Kate: Fair point. Fair point. Or maybe Kylie just has an entire jewelry box full of silver lockets because Rachel: Ha ha ha. Kate: remember, well have you ever had like one of those relatives that's like, you like frogs? I'm gonna get you a frog for every special occasion, you know, and you end up with this Rachel: Yes. Kate: collection that's like, okay, I think like I mentioned that a frog was kind of cute one time. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: but when Sally gave Kylie that locket for her 13th birthday, Kylie, after looking at Gillian for approval, was like, yeah, I like it. It's really nice. And Sally was like, Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: Cool, now I don't have to think about your gift for the next seven years because I'm gonna get you a locket. Rachel: Yeah. I hope that's not the case, but it does feel that way. I liked that while we see Kylie sort of tiptoe and then leapfrog her way into left-handed magic, she never really did anything that compromised her soul. Like, yes, her hair turns black, but she doesn't lose her access to magic. And I don't think she even went as far onto the dark path as Vincent did, let alone Faith. Kate: Agreed. Yeah, I mean her her dalliance with dark magic was also much more short lived than them. I mean, Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: Vincent spent what seemed like years practicing some amount of dark magic when he was living in New York, and it definitely corrupted his soul. Like you said, he was just so depressed and miserable all the time. And then Faith just went really far with it. She Rachel: Right. Kate: you know, so I think it was just, you know, Kylie like dipped her toe in. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: and it didn't it didn't suit her, so she retreated. Rachel: Right, right. And then I loved that by the end of the book, Kylie sort of became the new Maria. So I did not like that she dropped out of Harvard to attend college to be a librarian. You wanna be a librarian, follow your dreams. Why did she have to drop out of Harvard to do that? You don't think that there's librarians at Harvard? Kate: Maybe it was really expensive. Rachel: I don't know. Kate: I mean, this is modern day Owens women and modern day Harvard I think is hella expensive. Rachel: And I guess she knew that she was never gonna pay back those student loans on a librarian's salary. Okay. Kate: Ha ha ha Rachel: All right, fine. I'll give you that one. But I loved watching her take over the role of Resident Witch on Magnolia Street. And, you know, we saw the parallels between Kylie and Maria in Practical Magic. That's why they sent her the the painting of Maria. And it was noted that she even looks like her. So I think it's really sort of poetic how it ended with her in Maria's home as like the resident witch. Kate: Yes. And again, keeping the tradition going, she does turn the light on, she does help Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: her neighbors, and I'm glad that we are seeing that continue. Rachel: Yeah. And then Antonia. So this was shocking, exciting, but shocking. I would say her character changed the most from book to book, in my opinion. So in the Practical Magic book, she was just so much like Gillian. And we talked about that a lot in our practical magic coverage of how she was this carefree center stage queen bee that just everyone fell in love with. And then she got like real grumpy when Gillian came in and kind of stole her thunder. But in this book, she was described as almost exactly like Franny. Very sh very sort of pragmatic, scientific, straightforward, standoffish. She believes in science and not magic. You know, she's in medical school. It did Kate: Yeah. Rachel: not sound like the same person at all to me. Kate: No, it didn't. I was very surprised to hear some of that stuff. Like, there was like just so many ways that she surprised me because, like you said, it was just not how she was kind of built up to be. And she was still technically a child in practical magic. So I know, you know, things can can change, but it's not like there's a huge time leap. Here, right? Like it's a few years. It's not Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: like it's been fifteen years or something like that. So I yeah, I wouldn't have expected her Rachel: Right. It's been six or seven years. Kate: Yeah. I I wouldn't have expected her personality to have shifted quite that dramatically. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean, she did love her science teacher, Ben Frye. So I guess that was our Kate: Ha ha Rachel: first clue that she was a science nerd like Franny. But in practical magic, she and Kylie didn't get along until Kylie's attack. And then they were very close. But before then, they didn't get along. And in this book, it's described how Antonia was a bookworm and she helped Kylie with her homework. And like that just didn't happen. So I'm choosing to believe that rather than be an inconsistency, that this is describing the person that Antonia became after practical magic and her her fixing her relationship with Kylie and also her relationship, which we'll get into relationship with Scott or Kate: Mm. Rachel: friendship with Scott, also kind of helped her discover the person that she truly is, maybe. Kate: yeah, 'cause like it there was a lot of animosity between Kylie and Antonia Rachel: Mm. Kate: that we saw in Practical Magic that yeah, just painted Antonia in a very different light. It didn't paint her as this pragmatic person, but cer also just not as a particularly kind person that would help her younger sister with her homework. But again, Kylie was thirteen. in practical magic. She still had many years of homework ahead of her. So I I like your stance of this is in the years that we missed, this is what Antonia has become. So we're just kind of leaving behind her bratty Rachel: Yes. Kate: narcissistic ways. Rachel: Yes. And then finally, shockingly, she's gay and having a baby that she's going to raise with her ex-boyfriend Scott, who is also gay. I loved this plot twist. Didn't see it coming. Didn't see it coming at all. Kylie, that wouldn't have surprised me because we didn't know, like she was only 13. Sh we didn't know really her preferences yet. but Antonia, it just felt like we knew exactly who she was. So That was a fun plot twist. Kate: Yeah. I mean, you know, we didn't see a whole lot of Antonia's relationship with Scott, but it did seem like they were in love and that she was like Rachel: Yes. Kate: attracted to him and, you know, so we didn't we didn't get any hints at this development when they first got together. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: I do like to see that they are still very close friends, and that they are gonna be raising this baby together. I feel like this baby is going to be so lucky to have such an amazing like Rachel: Yeah. Kate: to have four to have basically four parents Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: that all are like working together and loving and supportive. Like that just seems like a lovely environment to grow up in, not to mention the larger family and village that that baby is going to have. So I think Leo was the baby's Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: name. So little Leo is going to I think have a very happy childhood. Rachel: Well it sounds like he needs four parents 'cause it sounds like he's quite the handful. Kate: Yeah. Rachel: Alright, so let's get into our romantic relationships. So I want to start with Jet and Rafael, and we see their last day together, which is again heartbreaking. But it's also happy to see that they seem to have had a somewhat happy life together and they managed to avoid the curse. Kate: So it was heartbreaking to see how devastated Rafael was after Jet's passing. You know, he's not really sure how he's going to continue without her. But I think that he's gonna be, you know, embraced by the Owens clan. And now that they know who he is and Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: what he meant to Jet, you know, he's gonna have a new family to to have companionship. Obviously he's got his dog Daisy. And, Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: you know, so I I think that there is a a light at the end of that that heartbreak for him, which is is nice to see. and I I still find it interesting every time that they are able to kind of avoid the curse in these unique ways. Everybody has their own way of doing it, right? Like Jet and Rafael See each other just once a month. They stay separate. They live in separate cities. They don't say that they love each other. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: you know, Gillian and and Ben live in the same building but different apartments. And, you Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: know, like it's just they all are trying to trick it and it kind of works for all of them and kind of doesn't. I don't know. Rachel: Yeah, they yeah, they all have a different approach to try and get around it. Kate: Mm. Rachel: Then we have Kylie and Gideon, who didn't have that opportunity since they didn't know about the curves. So they are just fully like in college, basically living together in the dorms. and their relationship really echoes what Franny and Haylin's could have been if Franny would have gone to school in Cambridge like she was supposed to. It's friends to lovers, again, just like Franny and Haylin. And we see how love can pull you to the dark side. So I would call this a trope. We see it famously in Star Wars and also in Fourth Wing. And I, you know, I think it's I think it's a pretty popular trope. Kate: Yeah, and again it's so devastating that immediately once Kylie confesses her love, Gideon gets hit by a fucking car. Like the curse wastes no time. Rachel: I know. Same day. Mm-hmm. I know. Then we have Antonia and Ariel. So again, InstaLove. And I would also call this grumpy and sunshine, with Antonia being grumpy and Ariel being sunshine. Not that Antonia is quite as grumpy as Franny was, but she's pretty grumpy. I also love that the two of them are both super smart, independent women. I mean, what a household. A lawyer and a doctor. Kate: Mm. And my god, I know. Again, Leo is a lucky kid. He will want for nothing. but Rachel: Mm-hmm. And then Scott's a doctor too. Kate: right. Yeah. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: I that honestly like that sounds like such a cool environment to be brought up in. Rachel: I know. Kate: I liked that Ariel was just not she was not about the miscommunication. she Rachel: yeah. Kate: was very much like, here's everything that I have heard about you. and I don't think that it's made up. I think that these rumors are true. I think you need to figure out the like what's going on here. Read Maria's papers, like figure it out because you Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: are being kind of dense right now. Rachel: Right. Kate: You know, I mean she says that nicer than that, but you know, she's like in her sunshiny kind of way is Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: the one to really wake Antonia up to be like, figure it out, girl. Rachel: Yeah, that's what she needed. Then we have Gillian and Ben Frye. Again, they're generally happy together. Ben hasn't met an untimely end, but he's not very happy with their living situation. They live in separate floors of the same house, like two separate apartments. And Gillian is 43 and desperately wants a baby. and believes that she hasn't had one because of the curse. Until Ian's mother Margaret, the cunning woman, provides her with a fertility spell, which seems to do the trick because they have birdie. Or do you think it was because the curse was broken? Kate: mean I like to think that it was Margaret's magic, because we don't really have any confirmation to like either either way. but I like the idea that Margaret had had a hand in that, you know, because Rachel: I agree. Kate: she Rachel: I agree. It doesn't seem like the curse like impacted fertility through the years. It seems like the curse wants Kate: No. Rachel: the wants the Owens to continue to have it seems like the curse wants the Owens family to continue so that the curse can continue, right? So I don't think that Kate: Right. Rachel: I don't think that that was it. I and I really like that Margaret's spells helped. Kate: Mm-hmm. She seems lovely. Rachel: Yes, Sally really got lucky on the mother in law side of things. Kate: For sure. Rachel: Vincent and David Ward. So two men who have lost so much finding happiness together. That was really a beautiful ending for the two of them. Kate: Yes. Yeah. And, you know, Vincent did kind of struggle a little bit. I don't think he was sure about finding love again, but it was what William wanted for him. And so Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: I'm glad that he he embraced that. And I mean, I feel the same way. Like if I if if I died, I would want my husband to be happy again. I wouldn't want the people that I love to just be miserable and Be like alone forever. Rachel: I don't feel the same way. Kate: Y you would curse him. Rachel: That's fine. You can you can find happiness after me, but then I do want my ashes to be up on the mantle forever. Kate: Just the ominous. W ex wife or yeah. Rachel: A shrine to Rachel. A shrine to Rachel. Or turn me into a diamond, and that's what you can propose to her with. Kate: Girl, that's nuts. Rachel: Yeah, yeah, yeah. All Kate: That's cuckoo. Rachel: right, Sally and Ian Wright. Kate: We're we're just kinda we're just moving past that. Okay. That's fine. Rachel: So then we have Sally and Ian Wright. And as annoying as Sally is in this book, boy does Ian make up for it because we love Ian. They're total opposites, Kate: Mm-hmm. Rachel: and he definitely seems to lighten her up a bit. And just like Samuel Dias. Ian is a morally gray man. He's somewhat surly. He's a loner professor with long hair, tattoos, and a leather jacket. He has a history of crime and left Kate: He sounds he sounds so hot. Rachel: I know. Yes. He has a history of crime and left-handed magic. So he's tiptoed on the dark side, but he's since turned his life around. So we love, we love a morally gray man. And we love a man with a leather jacket and tattoos. Kate: Mm-hmm. And the long hair. I mean, again, I have a very specific type. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: it is not bound by gender, but it is bound by very specific physical characteristics of which Ian checks pretty much every box. So I am very much looking forward to seeing the living embodiment of him in the movie. although I imagine Rachel: Would like to see the living embodiment of him as well. Especially the part that Franny Kate: Wink, wink, wink. Rachel: couldn't help but notice. Kate: I I think this movie is probably gonna be PG-13 as well. So unfortunately we might get a censored version of that scene, but Rachel: You don't think it'll just have a towel on top? Kate: Well, I think that there might be a towel on top, but I don't think we're going to get an idea of the size, the way that we did in this, because I don't think that they're able to show even hidden under a towel, I don't know if in P G thirteen you can show an erect penis. Rachel: Okay, but I bet you. I bet you Sandra Bullock will definitely make a face. Like I could see her making that face. Kate: I can picture the face, yes. yes. I love Sandra Bullock. Okay. Rachel: All right, let's spend some time on the magic. So there's kind of the overall magic, and then within that, a subcategory is the Owens family lore and tradition. So some of the magic that we see. Cunning people. We return to the original Essex County, where Maria Owens was originally from. And again we meet Ian and his mother Margaret, who were cunning people originally from that town. So I have to think, okay, were they way back in time connected to Hannah somehow? These are people who learn magic but haven't inherited it. And it's not a part of who they are physically, but it's a skill that they have acquired. And the story comes full circle at the end with Sally losing her powers but finding interest in learning magic from Margaret. We have left-handed slash dark magic, and we spend a lot of time focusing on this, right? So some examples of that dark magic. The hex Kylie used to curse the store boy with hives, which I thought was very funny. There was one called Catadesmos, It was the amulet with the unbreakable knot that Tom slipped into Kylie's jacket to bind her to him and keep her close to him. He also placed a need you spell on her, which was made of wax and pins and a small straw poppet, and he hid it under her pillow like a total creep. And then the red death. And this is the curse that Tom calls down on the whole town. We see the Death Watch Beetle. and of course, whatever hex he's been placing on Ian, and he does it twice, that paralyzes him. Kate: Right. Poor poor Ian. Okay. Like, you know, fool me once. See my penis. Fool me twice. He Rachel: Ha ha ha Kate: he does the same thing twice. He steps in the ash like I know Rachel: Mm-hmm. I know. Kate: he was distracted, but like the second time that he falls for the same hex by the same guy. Rachel: Freaking bad Tom. We see the Death Watch Beetle and the Swarming Bees again. And the Death Watch Beetle plays a major role in both Jet and Franny's deaths. We see familiars. So Vincent gets a second familiar. He has a stray dog that he takes in. And even Sally gets her crow at the end of the book. So we sort of have versions of Maria in both Es Essex counties, right? Because Sally's sort of become a little bit Maria esque as well, or at least Hannah-esque, but she has the crow. So we have Sally in the original Essex County and we have Kylie holding down the fort in the new Essex County. And again, full circle. Kate: I love it. Rachel: And then shades. So this is the first time we saw ghosts, and it was fun to see Maria Owens again. And Kate: Mm-hmm. Rachel: Caden. Kate: It is it is interesting that Maria's ghost appears in Essex when she died in Massachusetts. but I guess we see like a younger version of him. Or younger version of her, yeah. Rachel: Well, don't think it's a ghost in the same sense of her. I don't think it's the same thing as like a traditional ghost that people think of where it's like this is my soul that's just stuck in this place. I think it's like a glimp glimpse of them at a certain moment in time. Kate: Yeah. Yeah, 'cause it it is it's it's the version of her that existed in England. Rachel: It was when she was a child, yeah. Kate: Right. Rachel: And then why don't we touch on some of the Owens family lore and traditions? Again, sort of a subcategory of magic. So they confirmed that the family descended from Faith, not Hannah. Kate: I knew it. The Owens are too dark to not come from our morally grey FMC faith. Rachel: Jet finds the Book of the Raven that Maria hid in the Owens Family Library. The Durants. So we met Agnes Durant in The Rules of Magic and Catherine Durant in Magic Lessons, and we wondered if every generation of Owens women would have their friendly Durant. And we also wondered if they were the same person, since their family lives longer than normal people. But here we learn that they are not the same, but Agnes is Catherine's great great granddaughter. We see the return of witches marks and Kylie's mark is revealed to be moon-shaped. Chocolate tipsy cake, of course, makes an appearance. and I very much enjoyed Reverend Willard's obsession with chocolate tipsy cake. Kate: I mean, you get to that age, you just you want what you want, you know, and that man wanted chocolate. Rachel: absolutely. If you live past 100, you can add chocolate tipsy cake every day for breakfast if you want. Kate: Although Antonia did take the the tipsy out of the tipsy cake for him, and I think for her, I assume. But Rachel: probably more for her. So she could have it with him. Kate: Probably. Yeah. Rachel: The toad skim grimoire is destroyed and the toad comes back to life. Kate: It's it's insane. Like this was such a I mean, I guess this was kind of like I know I mentioned that there's less whimsy in this book, but there's not no whimsy because this was like kind of whimsy. It was kind of crazy, but it was also Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: whimsy where when the book when Franny, you know, drowns the book in the water with her to break the curse, the book like kind of comes apart. She says that Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: it's like the the words were floating in the water and the skin. The toadskin that the book was bound with becomes a living toad again. Like wild. Rachel: Love that. Lilacs, where there are lilacs, there will be good luck. And Franny finds them in the original Essex County. So I loved that. Kate: Yeah. And Sally also smelled lilacs when she was performing that counter curse to save Ian the second time. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: and that's like what indicated to her that it was going to work because she smelled lilacs as she was performing the the counter measure. Rachel: Apple pie. So we loved the apple pie that Maria used to call Faith home in magic lessons. And here Antonia does the same with Kylie. And apparently it even works across the Atlantic because Kylie calls Antonia almost immediately. Kate: And then Jillie Gillian and then Gillian and Sally also made pie at the pub to bring Kylie to them. So Antonia Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: was like, Hey, this kinda worked for me. You should try this. Rachel: Mm-hmm. And then the return of Maria Sapphire. Question mark. Kate: Yeah, so this one was another one that maybe was a bit of an inconsistency because when Sally got married at the end of the book, we see that there's a tradition for Owen's women to wear Maria's sapphire pendant at their weddings. But where did this sapphire come from? Because I thought that Jet and Franny sold Maria's sapphire to pay for Vincent's escape in The Rules of Magic. Were there multiple sapphires or Rachel: No. Kate: did the sapphire somehow come back to them? I mean I did I theorized when we talked about the rules of magic that like I would like to see the sapphire come back Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: to them some way, but they don't explain that of like how it came back to them. They just are like acting like it never left. So I don't know what Rachel: Right. Kate: that's Rachel: Yeah, we definitely had our fingers crossed that we would see it again. And I don't know. I'm assuming since it's magical in some way that maybe it made its way back because I mean they're making their livelihoods from selling potions and solutions to women, but they're not accepting money. They're only accepting like whatever they can give them. And it's typically gems. Like they have like a coffee jar full of diamond rings, don't they? So maybe, maybe that's how. Kate: yeah, that's true. Yeah. I mean, if if everything that you sell to a pawn shop finds its way back to you, that sounds like an endless stream of money. Rachel: Mm-hmm. That sounds like my kind of practical magic. Kate: yeah. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Well this has been such a fun series to cover and I am feeling fully prepared to see practical magic two in theaters and I really can't wait to see Ian come to life. Kate: Same. Rachel: Ha ha ha Kate: Join us next week for a conversation with Em from the Book List and we'll see you for our final practical magic episode on September twenty-second when we discuss the movie. Rachel: See you next week. Kate: Bye.