Charmed

I like the TV series, Charmed, and I've seen all the episodes at least once. I watch the reruns anyway. I hadn't realized the significance of the storyline when watching them before, but now, I absolutely get it. To anyone unfamiliar with the series, the storyline went like this...

Three sister witches are known as the Charmed Ones, and they battle evil demons in order to save the lives of and keep people safe from evil. The eldest and most powerful sister married a very powerful magical man, and they had a child, Wyatt, who had an enormous, unprecedented, unlimited amount of power. Wyatt is born "good" and begins life in a loving family atmosphere. Chris, Wyatt's younger less powerful brother, returns from the future in order to stop Wyatt from turning evil. According to Chris, Wyatt gets turned evil as a toddler, and as he grows up, he becomes more and more evil, angry, filled with rage. As the most powerful being, Wyatt is successful in destroying almost all that is good in the world, including the sisters. It is believed that an evil demon is behind Wyatt's demise. Several episodes are devoted to identifying which demon is responsible, vanquishing him/her, and removing the threat to their sweet rambunctious untainted little boy. As the storyline unfolds, however, the root of Wyatt's turn to evil is not caused by a demon; a trusted, loved family friend kidnaps and repeatedly tries to kill Wyatt because he fears the child's power. Wyatt's family doesn't even consider this person to be a threat, and thus, they leave Wyatt in his care. Ultimately, it is revealed that what really turns Wyatt evil is the trauma inflicted upon him by the trusted adult who was supposed to take care of him compounded by the family's failure to protect him.

In the series, Wyatt's father rescues him just in time to prevent the trauma from causing irreparable harm. Wyatt doesn't turn evil. For Wyatt, it wasn't too late. Everyone's future was saved. But, in the real world, how many Wyatt's don't get saved or rescued? All children are born innocent and completely dependent on adults to care for them? How many kids are suffering at the hands of those who are supposed to protect them? If they do get saved, is it in time? Can the damage be truly healed? reversed? Does the harm caused by traumatic experiences ever really go away? How deep do the scars go?