GOOD WITCH: SECRETS OF GREY HOUSE Review

In what has become a tradition since The Good Witch made-for-TV movie franchise on the Hallmark Channel became a weekly TV series, each Halloween fans look forward to a new, themed movie filled with magic, humor and a little bit of mystery.

That was clearly on display in last night’s new two-hour special, which picked up right where the show’s season two finale ended this past July with Cassie (series lead Catherine Bell) worrying about next door neighbor (and potential new boyfriend – they haven’t really classified what they are to each other just yet) Sam (series lead James Denton), who didn’t show up for the festival.

As it turned out, Sam lost a patient on the operating table in his new capacity as Chief of Staff at the local hospital; a new position that – throughout the course of the two-hour movie – was clearly taking up much more of Sam’s time than expected; and he spent the whole night driving around coming to terms with the loss.

While Sam came to grips with losing a patient and dealing with the pressures of his new job, Cassie welcomed two new guests at Grey House: her long-running bed and breakfast. Those guests turned out to be well-known fantasy author Jessica Carrington and her editor Sean. Somehow – due to a malfunctioning cell phone – they ended up in Middleton, on their way to New York for the book reading of the final book in her very popular Tarynsville book series: a collection of books loved and adored by Cassie and Grace (series lead Bailee Madison) (convenient, huh?)

It was fun to see the opening scene of the movie reflect the first page of Jessica’s book with Cassie playing out the role of The Enchantress – an important character within the book series. It was just as fun to see the final scene of the movie play out like the ending of the book juxtaposed with Sean getting down on one knee to propose to Jessica, who – as displayed throughout the movie – he clearly had deep feelings toward. The magic of Middleton – or more to the point – the magic of Cassie certainly helped that love story along.

The mystery of learning that Jessica’s Nana – who she repeatedly referenced as being the source behind all of the stories in her book series – actually lived, loved and worked in Middleton at Grey House – was not that much of a surprise (at least not to me, how about you?), but it was an interesting ride to see where the story was going to lead.

Elsewhere in the story, Grace befriended a girl named Courtney, who she met at the hospital while delivering signed copies of Jessica’s books to sick kids. Courtney had a brain tumor as a child and revealed to Grace that she doesn’t take one day for granted. That inspired Grace to join her in some of Courtney’s adventures – especially after being nudged by Nick that she needed to do more than just read and study all the time.

Unfortunately, Grace sustained an injury while rock climbing that could have really been serious, but this is the world of Good Witch and thankfully while Grace was put on bedrest – having to miss out on the big book reading and transformation of Middleton into Tarynsville – she was going to make a recovery.

During the final scenes, we learned that Sam decided to cut back on his hours at the hospital, putting more of his time back into Middleton and his patients as well as having more time for his son Nick and…most of all Cassie, who for the first time in many years woke up thinking about Sam.

What did you think of the new Halloween-themed Good Witch movie? How excited are you for the season three premiere? Please share your thoughts about Good Witch in our comments section below.

Also, if you would like to read our recaps on the two-part season two finale of Good Witch, please check our recaps here and here.

An official airdate for the season three premiere of Good Witch has yet to be announced by the Hallmark Channel; however, it is expected back in Spring 2017.