#Good Witch Season 7 Episode 4 Review: The Exchange

Middleton is full of surprises!

Good Witch Season 7 Episode 4 is full of unexpected secrets, alarming accidents, and the lure of romance.

Tying everything together was the revival of the Middleton Exchange, a magical white elephant type of regifting process that, when you put thought into what you give, you get just what you need in exchange.

First, we have to address the elephant in the room. Cassie isn’t perfect!!

Sam’s right when he suggests that Middleton would be aghast to learn Cassie leaves her wet towels on the floor.

Note that we didn’t actually see the wet towels on the floor, so I’m still skeptical.

Their early morning conversation brought to light a significant surgery that Sam was set to perform on a pro basketball player.

You could tell something was eating away at him about it, but he couldn’t put a finger on it.

When he took to the court himself to play some hoops, that activity endangered the surgery, Sam’s near future as a surgeon, and put a questionable spin on the hospital’s PR machine, not to mention what it did to his friendship with Adam.

It’s funny that I’m watching St. Elsewhere on Hulu because the season I’m watching now found their greatest surgeon ruining his career due to his inability to control his anger.

It made me realize how delicate surgery is and how catastrophic even the simplest injury to you and me would be to a surgeon.

It wasn’t Sam’s anger that got the best of him, but Adam’s need to defend his ill-advised friendship with Stephanie that sent Sam tumbling to the floor, injuring a nerve in his shoulder.

No, it wasn’t Adam’s fault, but the game was getting the best of them, and Sam paid the price.

Grant’s reaction was pretty awful, caring more about the hospital’s rep than his surgeon’s health. As it turns out, he’s still annoying even with his attachment to Monica.

The basketball’s surgery was exploratory, though, and Sam didn’t have a fix on why it was necessary. But time away from the pressure to perform on another man with a career dedicated to high mobility allowed Sam to see the connections of various other symptoms so that Monica could step in and work magic on the player.

If Sam hadn’t had that time, and if Cassie hadn’t discovered root rot in her Bonsai, the surgery could have proved futile. So, while the injury is surely an inconvenience, it worked out for the best.

The same can’t be said for Adam’s journey to accepting that he messed things up with the woman he loves.

Yep, Adam is still in love with Stephanie.

They’re trying to be friends, but it’s a lot easier to be friendly when you have something else going on than when you’re in love and watching the other person move on.

When Adam returned from his mission, that’s where he was. He wanted Stephanie in his life, but he just had to discover what it might mean to have Eileen instead. Everything that happened on Good Witch Season 7 Episode 1 felt sour in that respect, but Adam’s paying a stiff price now.

He feels left out of Stephanie’s life. He knows how it feels to be Stephanie. It’s hard to feel for him when he messed things up so badly.

Still, I don’t think it’s as easy as Stephanie made it sound that they are and will continue to be friends. It’s easy for her to say since it’s her time to enjoy freedom with her French teacher, Sean, at the root of that enjoyment.

I do not think that Sean will be Stephanie’s next great love, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t enjoy herself.

Stephanie isn’t actively looking for romance, but it’s finding her anyway. Hosting a speed dating night at the bistro found her a person short and taking up the empty space herself.

Since she had already corralled Sean into participating, it was a given that they’d share the same table at some point. What wasn’t a given was that they’d have something so random in common.

Sometimes, it’s those random commonalities that make it seem like destiny. It’s off the beaten path to share the same knowledge of archery given their differences that they can’t help but recognize.

Stephanie seems like an entirely different person when she’s around Sean. I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not, but he’s reading their interactions as something that should be explored.

Of course, she wanted to ward off dating a younger man who is also her teacher, but Sean won out in the end with his comment about their sparks seeming more like a blaze to him. Wowza!

It will be fun seeing how Stephanie handles the French-teaching hottie, so hopefully, their first date will come soon!

Speaking of setting things ablaze, Joy and Zoey continue to stoke each other’s fires!

They’re getting to know each other bit by bit, and some of the reveals are painful.

We learned what brought Zoey to Middleton — a desire to start over after the devastating loss of her girlfriend. Joy stumbled into that conversation by accident, and at first, Zoey closed the door on further discussion.

But that didn’t stop her from participating in the Middleton Exchange, which allowed Zoey to apologize for her chilly behavior and explain about Avery.

Joy knows all about loss, even if it’s with a different kind of love. She also knows that when you open your heart to new experiences, you begin to heal. She wouldn’t have found Cassie and Abigail otherwise.

Zoey was already open to moving on from her painful past, or she wouldn’t have moved to Middleton for a fresh start. With a little help from the magical Middleton Exchange, Zoey is embracing the future and the possibility of Joy having a significant role in it.

Catherine Disher gives her all to Martha, but it sure was fun getting to meet Martha’s identical twin cousin, Maxine.

Was it me, or were Abigail, Cassie, and Joy a little over the top rude when digging into the outfit that “Martha” had on when Maxine first appeared? That’s especially so since Cassie seemed to know that Maxine wasn’t Martha.

It was hard to tell which of the cousins should have been more offended, Martha for her flamboyance or Maxine for her dowdy duds. Thankfully, Maxine took it as a compliment not to be compared directly to Martha, and all was well.

Maxine came to town to celebrate the birth of Martha’s granddaughter, which is surprising when you realize what caused a decades-long rift between them. Well, one of the reasons, anyway.

Martha eagerly awaited Maxine because, in her mind, Maxine stole a cherished family blanket when it was Martha’s turn to be gifted the heirloom that apparently moved back and forth in the Middleton Exchange forever.

It was obvious to us that Maxine would have had nothing to do with the blanket’s disappearance, but Martha can be steadfast in her opinions.

Maxine didn’t seem the same, especially since she believed Martha stole Tom’s heart out from under her, but the real damage to their relationship wasn’t done until the blanket disappeared.

You’d think losing a great love would be more detrimental, but then, we’re talking about Martha. Oh, and that it was after one failed double date that Martha and Tom made their connection.

Reviving the Middleton Exchange had Tom digging into the attic for things he hadn’t touched in ages, and that included a box of toys.

The blanket was inside, having been hidden by their oldest son before Dylan was born. I have to assume that Michael hid the blanket, but I wonder why they didn’t use those items for Dylan when he was born. Seemingly, Michael hid the blanket when he was a toddler.

Wouldn’t they have pulled out that box of cherished items for Dylan to enjoy?

It doesn’t really matter, but it seemed an unlikely scenario and worth noting. Regardless of the story, it was fun getting to see Disher playing two extremes, so definitely a win!

We’ve discussed Abigail and Donovan’s adventures in fighting the Merriwick-Davenport curse many times, and it didn’t escape us that they spent more time doing that than getting to know each other.

Although it had crossed Abigail’s mind before, she was so blissfully happy at the conclusion and the engagement that she let it go. Donovan’s check to help her start her own ad agency, though, proved that the elation was over.

It seems fairly important to discuss your marriage beliefs, but the tide swept them into an engagement so quickly that they failed to cover some significant details that are only now coming to light.

Donovan believes in a traditional marriage in which what’s yours is mine and mine is yours. That’s a prospect that worries Abigail, who has taken care of herself for as long as she can remember. When she offered the same relationship advice to Adam that Sam did, he suggested some of his own — counseling.

The give and take of Abigail and Donovan’s relationship is starting now. If they can overcome the curse, they can survive anything, but they need to communicate.

Adam’s tennis analogy was great. Partners play to each other’s strengths, and that’s what they’ve done so far. Abigail needs to allow herself the luxury of being cared for. It’s new in her romantic world, but she’s done a good job letting Cassie into her world, so they’ll find their footing.

The Middleton Exchange was another, uh, interesting situation. Some of the gifts made sense, while others were head-scratchers.

First, even though Cassie thought that revisiting his childhood would ease Sam’s stress, it was odd that that game came out of nowhere. Cassie usually has more pertinent advice, and the game was cooked up to satisfy a need within the Exchange. Similarly, for the bow tie.

Sure, Joy had a story about a squirrel named bow tie and how it brought her comfort after her mother’s death, but just how an actual bow tie was to comfort Zoey had Joy not been there questionable.

Zoey’s gift of 45 records, including Rocketman, worked great for Martha, and Tom’s record player sealed the deal. Adam’s beaded friendship bracelet winding up with Stephanie was cute.

Abigail got Stephanie’s champagne glasses for her wedding. Maxine had something she thought useless until it reconnected her with the other party from their double date.

Joy’s gift of runes wasn’t immediately telling, but I guess they’ll cast light on her future.

I don’t recall what Cassie got, nor Sam, and the latter has still not talked with his bestie, the only outlying story from this episode.

What did you think?

If you missed anything this season, you can watch Good Witch online to get your fill of life in Middleton!

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on Twitter and email her here at TV Fanatic.