Good Witch Recap: “The Chili”

Last night’s new episode of Good Witch was mainly centered on Middleton’s first Chili Cook-Off in about 10 years when Martha Tinsdale was crowned with the winning delicacy. But that wasn’t going to put Grace’s grandfather, George, off one bit; he was determined to win this time. But Sam was going to give George a run for his money; Martha was also in the race, of course; and then there were competitors Stephanie and Adam; oh and Martha’s husband Tom decided to compete too.

Speaking of Tom, he was also competing against his wife in the upcoming election for Mayor. You see Tom wanted the foot bridge in town to be widened – something that Martha promised him would happen years ago – but never came to fruition. As it turned out, Martha was able to come up with a compromise and Tom relinquished his lead in the literal bean-counting “race” at Stephanie’s cafe; and all was right in the world of the Tinsdales.

Part of the episode was also focused on Sam trying to find a key ingredient for his chili that ended up involving in a number of trades. First, Cassie suggested that perhaps Martha could help Sam find the paradise pepper (his secret ingredient) but in exchange Sam had to get Stephanie to rename one of her cafe specialties to Tinsdale Toast. Stephanie wasn’t willing to make that name change unless Sam could get Abigail to give up the concert tickets to Stevie Nicks that Donovan was able to pull some strings to acquire for himself and Abigail. Abigail was unwilling to part with the tickets unless Sam gave up a signed baseball bat, which he got from the player himself after helping the athlete with a recent injury. Once those trades were made, though, it turned out that Martha didn’t have paradise peppers after all, as it’s the one ingredient that has alluded her for years. In the end, it turned out that the paradise peppers were right in front of Sam eyes (so to speak) as there was a plant right in Cassie’s garden; and Cassie was able to get the baseball bat back from Abigail, returning it back to Sam after the cook-off.

Also featured in the episode was the return of Abigail’s father Arthur. It had been two years since they reconciled their long-estranged relationship and he was bringing his new girlfriend Josie to Middleton to meet Abigail. Everything about that meeting went well until Abigail inadvertently made a comment about Donovan’s mother not liking her because she was a Merriwick and that her father had been in prison. That revelation was all new to Josie, who was more displeased that Arthur hadn’t shared that truth with her more so than the fact he had been in prison (he served time for a white collar crime, by the way). But this being Good Witch, Josie came to forgave Arthur, and he proposed to her as Abigail looked on and gave her dad her blessing, which is what he wanted most from Abigail.

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The fact that Arthur hadn’t been truthful to Josie, of course, made Abigail concerned that Donovan was possibly keeping secrets from her. After all they already have the Davenport-Merriwick curse to be worried about; she didn’t want anything else complicating their relationship. While Abigail didn’t know everything about Donovan, he assured her that he wasn’t keeping secrets from her; in fact, he promised he would always be honest with her.

When it came time for the Chili Cook-Off to be judged (Cassie was one of the three judges, by the way), all the competitors were at the ready with their creations. And the winner was announced: George. He was surprised to learn, though, that his chili had been slightly changed – made a bit sweeter thanks to some honey. That change was made by Joy, the new guest at Grey House, who had been helping him with the preparations.

Joy was helping George out with the chili so that he could develop a roll of old film – in the dark room that he created many years ago at Grey House; a roll of film, in fact, that had fallen out of a handmade paper family tree created by then 7-year-old Grace that was inside of an old time capsule that Joy unearthed while she and Cassie were planting a tree that Joy wanted to plant in memory of her mother. A mother who Joy had watched in a video on her cell phone near the beginning of the episode, singing a song that her mother and a younger version of herself sang. A song that Cassie was also singing in the kitchen at that exact same time. Ironic, no?

Nope, not ironic at all because one of the pictures from that role of film – which was from the last trip Cassie, who was 7 years old at the time, had taken with with her parents before their untimely death; a picture that turned out to include Cassie and her second cousin Julia. And, guess what, Julia was none other than Joy’s mother. Joy Harper is a Merriwick, and Cassie welcomed her to the family; but it was also pretty clear by Cassie’s facial expression that she probably already knew all along that Joy was a Merriwick.

What did you think of the episode? Did you enjoy all the hoops Sam went through to not get the paradise pepper? Did you figure out that Joy was a Merriwick? Share your thoughts below.

The next new episode of Good Witch will air on the Hallmark Channel on Sunday, May 17 at 9/8c.