The Good Witch's Destiny is a 2013 American television film that aired on the Hallmark Channel on October 26, 2013, and is the sixth installment in the series of The Good Witch television movies.
Synopsis[]
All Cassie Nightingale wants for her birthday is for her family and friends to be together, but family drama brews with new family member, Gwen’s estranged son, making trouble for Cassie while her own stepson is determined to take a step that he isn’t ready for. Meanwhile, stepdaughter Lori discovers disturbing parallels between Cassie and Cassie’s great aunt, nicknamed the Grey Lady, who disappeared at her own birthday party years before. As Cassie’s special day is fast approaches and signs of a curse looming over her, it’s clear that Cassie needs to conjure up more than a little magic to make things right again. Is there birthday magic in the air, or is it a birthday curse?
Cast[]
- Catherine Bell as Cassandra Nightingale
- Chris Potter as Chief of Police Jake Russell
- Matthew Knight as Brandon Russell
- Hannah Endicott-Douglas as Lori Russell
- Peter MacNeill as George O'Hanrahan
- Catherine Disher as Martha Tinsdale
- Elizabeth Lennie as Gwen O'Hanrahan
- Noah Cappe as Deputy Derek Sanders
- Robin Dunne as Drew
Plot[]
Cassie Nightingale’s birthday is a week away. Her husband, Middleton Police Chief Jake Russell, has made reservations for dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town, but this year, Cassie wants a party with all her friends and family in attendance. After all, it might be the last time everyone is together for a while. Her grown stepchildren, Jake’s kids Lori and Brandon, will both be moving away soon as they graduate and start lives of their own.
In downtown Middleton, next to Cassie’s magical and eclectic store, Bell, Book & Candle, is Martha’s Sweet Beginnings, a cluttered candy shop owned by her friend Martha Tinsdale, who has recently decided to offer a wedding planning service. Martha’s first bridal clients are out-of towners Helen and Drew. They have decided to get married in Middleton, which is Drew’s hometown, while Drew, the creator of a new financial application, conducts business there.
On their way out, Drew sees a deck of magic playing cards in the display window of Cassie’s store. He wistfully recalls how he used to do magic tricks and starts chatting with Cassie. When his briefcase breaks suddenly, Cassie lets Drew borrow a vintage leather satchel. On his way out, Drew runs into his former girlfriend Mia at the store, who has recently moved back to Middleton after trying to find a job in the city. She frequently babysits Cassie and Jake’s young daughter, Grace.
Jake’s dad George and George’s new wife Gwen decide it will be a good idea to throw Cassie’s birthday party at their rental cottage. Gwen had hoped to have it at Cassie’s old bed and breakfast, a rumored to be haunted place called The Grey House, but an online reservation booked the property that night. While Gwen and George babysit Grace, they stop in at the Espresso Café, where Gwen is shocked to see Drew—her son—for the first time in five years. He’s happy to see her, but Gwen’s feelings are mixed. Though she loves him, she’s unhappy with Drew’s inability to take responsibility for his actions.
Martha complains to Cassie that the October heat wave is melting her chocolate truffles and making a recent sewage spill in her store smell even worse. Trying to help, Cassie gives her special incense to clear things up but Martha uses too much it makes the store smell worse than before. Then, Drew stops by and tells her to cancel the wedding plans because he can’t pay for it. He inadvertently signed the rights to his app away when a page of the contract went missing in the borrowed satchel. Both Martha and Drew are angry with Cassie’s “help.”
At Cassie and Jake’s house, Brandon comes home for a visit from college and, as a surprise, brings his girlfriend Tara. Brandon tells the family he’s planning to move to Portland so he can be close to Tara, who will be starting a master’s program. Although Jake likes Tara, he isn’t happy with this news and wishes Brandon wouldn’t rush the relationship. After a family dinner, Cassie asks Lori, who is hard at work on a journalism project, to return a book to the college library for her. At the library, Lori sees a book with Elizabeth Merriwick, the “Grey Lady” and Cassie’s great aunt, on the cover. It’s the same image that hangs in the living room of Cassie and Jake’s home. Intrigued, Lori checks the book out and discovers that The Grey House is full of secrets. The Grey Lady and Cassie share the same birthday, which is also the day the Grey Lady disappeared without a trace and is believed to have been abducted.
Lori visits The Grey House and asks George if she can go down to the basement. Using old architectural plans from the historical society, she discovers a small, hidden room. In it, she finds Elizabeth Merriwick’s diary. There are numerous parallels between the dated journal entries and what’s happening in Middleton, including the heat wave and now a mysterious fire that has broken out in the back of the Bell, Book & Candle, causing damage to the store and its surrounding buildings. Lori worries Cassie might be cursed.
Meanwhile, a distressed Drew seeks out his mom at The Grey House. He’s lost the job and his fiancée, who walked out on him after he couldn’t pay for their wedding. Gwen isn’t home but George tries to encourage him. Although George tells him Cassie is a good person, Drew still blames her for his misfortune and goes to her store to make threatening remarks. Back at the Russell’s, the Grey Lady painting mysteriously falls down and rips. Cassie wraps it in a towel, which Mia then discovers while babysitting Grace. She takes it home and begins restoring it, using skills she learned as an art major in college.
Much to Jake’s dismay, Brandon and Tara decide to elope. But when Cassie suddenly faints from dehydration because of the heat wave, the family rushes back together to see her before Brandon and Tara have the chance to say their vows. Meanwhile, because of his threatening remarks to Cassie, Drew is arrested on suspicion of setting the fire at her store. Despite his flaws, Gwen doesn’t believe her son set the fire. She bails him out, coming up with the money by renting the cottage they were planning to use for Cassie’s now cancelled party.
The morning of Cassie’s birthday arrives and Mia returns the restored painting to Cassie. Lori visits her journalism instructor, who mentions using a pseudonym for books she has written in the past, which sparks an idea in Lori’s mind. Cassie goes out for a walk and is surprised when Drew approaches her in a menacing manner. But she simply gives him some sage advice about relationships and personal responsibility. Two hours later, however, Cassie has still not returned home. Jake is worried, especially when he finds her cell phone on the fireplace mantel and discovers the restored Grey Lady painting is suddenly missing.
Everyone starts searching town for Cassie and George calls Jake to tell him it looks like someone has broken into The Grey House and might still be there. The house is dark and ominous. Jake, Brandon, Lori, George and Gwen carefully enter the house, where they suddenly see Cassie, standing at the top of the stairs, dressed as the Grey Lady. She leads the group to the backyard, which she has decorated for her birthday in a Halloween/harvest theme. She even has costumes for everyone. Cassie planned her own party but her family did the most important work of all coming together.
The party is soon in full swing and others have arrived, including Mia and Martha. Lori hands Cassie an old book written by Edward Whymark, a pseudonym for Elizabeth Merriwick. Lori explains Elizabeth wasn’t abducted—she ran away with her sweetheart, Andrew Whymark and reinvented herself as a writer in a small Texas town, living a long and fruitful life. Cassie is happy with Lori’s detective skills and knows she will do great on her journalism project.
A masked man arrives and returns the stolen Grey Lady portrait. It’s Drew, just back from the local museum where he had the painting appraised. The museum liked Mia’s restoration work so much they want to hire her. Mia is grateful. Drew also makes peace with his mom and gives credit to Cassie for helping him realize that only he is responsible for his poor decisions. Meanwhile, it’s revealed that it was a painter’s rag, dropped in a cardboard box filled with paper, that caused the fire at the Bell, Book & Candle, not Drew.
Brandon and Tara announce they still plan on getting married—but in two years time. Jake is thrilled with the news and takes Cassie out for a spin on the dance floor. Cassie looks around at her family and friends and is content. She kisses her husband and all is right with the world.
Premiere and Ratings[]
Kicking off the holiday season, "The Good Witch’s Destiny" premiered on Saturday, October 26 to great fanfare with nearly 3.9 million total unduplicated viewers tuning in to catch Catherine Bell reprise her role as Cassandra Nightingale. "The Good Witch’s Destiny", the sixth installment in the popular Good Witch franchise, delivered a 2.4 HH rating – and has become Hallmark Channel’s most watched original movie for 2013-to-date among the network’s core demographic, women 25-54. Among the W25-54 rating, the original movie was the #1 ad-supported cable program of the day and the #2 movie of the week.
The #2 household-rated cable program of Saturday, the premiere of "The Good Witch’s Destiny" also ranked as the #1 cable movie of the day as well as the #2 movie of the week. In the Saturday, 9-11 pm time period, the original film placed #1 among households (2.4 rtg) and W25-54 (1.3 rtg), and #2 in P2+ (1.3 rtg). In addition, "The Good Witch’s Destiny" was #1 in W25-54 delivery, and #3 in HH (2,117,000) and P2+ (2,817,000) impressions. The Saturday night premiere boosted Hallmark Channel to be the #1 cable network in prime time among W25-54 (1.2 rtg).
Source: The Nielsen Company, October 21 – October 27, 2013
Notes and Trivia[]
- A large continuity error occurs during this movie when Lori and other characters in the movie refer to Elizabeth Merriwick as Cassie's Aunt. As previously established in The Good Witch, Elizabeth is Cassie's great-great-grandmother, according to Cassie.
- Brandon is still at college, implying that this movie occurs in the summer of 2014, a year after the previous one.
Gallery[]
Posters[]
Movie Stills[]
