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Post by openspacesp3 on Jul 15, 2020 3:22:26 GMT -5
I don't see a lot of people talk about this episode. What do you guys think of it since I'm binge watching Season 3 right now.
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codebox
Familiar
Hey I'm a Charmed Veteran have been for a long time. Hope to share some insight and opinions.
Posts: 287
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Post by codebox on Jul 15, 2020 4:19:04 GMT -5
Funny enough my friend and I were also watching it together privately on a Discord chat some of our favorite episodes and since this was an episode we didn't remember too much of aside from that scene with Prue's trap and honestly I wasn't too fond of this one, it was one of my least favorites and as I was watching it made me realize a few things. Before I did state that Power Outage over Sleuthing with the Enemy was the moment Phoebe became PhoeME, however after seeing this episode in full detail I've come to Reevaluate my stance, particularly with Phoebe this episode as the official birth of PhoeMe. And sure, lots of people here will disagree with me and likewise Sleuthing is totally an agreeable canidate, but personally Phoebe was already PhoeMeing before she let Cole go if that scene with her and Prue is anything to go by. However watching Sight Unseen and All Halliwell's Eve there's a difference not only Phoebe's portryal, but Alyssa's acting as Phoebe. What really made me come to the conclusion of making this was this scene here youtu.be/RRnl7rfbLWo?t=162A demon who turns invisible tries to smother Prue with a pillow and Phoebe's first response is to make a joke about it. And I'm sorry, I just can't get over the fact Phoebe would act so insensitive to someone attempting to almost smother her sister. Especially since the whole time Phoebe stands there with a ditzy look on her face as if it didn't phase her at all. If this were Season 1-Halliwell's Eve Phoebe she would've been the first one to find out who this demon was. In the Season 1 episode Which Prue is it anyway, Upon having that premonition of Prue dying by Gabriel her first response was saying "I'm sorry, but whoever attempts to kill my sister has to go through me". This is where I noticed the difference in the character/Alyssa. Phoebe throughout the episode seems to display ditzy mannerisms and even about demons attacking, which feels oddly out of character. Part of me wonders if this was the actresses (Shannen/Alyssa) displaying their feud, onscreen, then I realized Phoebe did this every time when Cole was around, and a much worse degree to Paige in the second half of Season 4 (namely Marry-Go-Round and Fifth Halliwheel) Another comes from the attic sense, where Prue talks about locking the doors and Phoebe responds with "mostly" in a ditzy tone. youtu.be/V9Ok2H-Wpr4?t=85 Yes this was the episode/scene that began Prue's pride that persisted throughout the season, and while I wasn't fond of how it was used I found Phoebe and Piper worse in that scene, for how they seem to brush off the danger and Piper caring way more about being gooley eyed at Leo. And Phoebe's "we have to get her laid" comment. There's also the infamous demon trap scene with how hostile Phoebe is toward Prue. Sure before they clashed, but their tension didn't feel like siblings fighting. Its played like Phoebe has a serious problem with Prue, even to the way she turns her head toward Prue in disgust and says "Prue's crazy she wasn't thinking straight". There's also PhoeMe's PhoeMenisms (when she goes my district attorney and her eyes pop up in the condescending way they do, a common gesture of later season Phoebe) I just can't gloss over her callous and hostile behavior in this episode or Power Outage (like the fact she made no apology for using Piper whatsoever) Alyssa tends to do that a lot with Phoebe in later seasons, particularly in Seasons 7-8. There were some things in this episode I liked. The constant darker tone, the scenes between Piper and Leo and how the villain was a mortal rather than demons/warlocks. (Even if the setup was not the finest) but ultimately I think I'm safe to say this was PhoeMe's first episode, or at least the seed of her PhoeMenisms. Combined with starting Prue's pride and yeah I wasn't too fond. As a side note I do want to deeply apologize for anyone who reads this if I sounded maybe too heated, it was purely a analysis stance and I have been watching more enjoyable episodes as of late. It was just nice to get a reminder of things I didn't notice before.
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Post by Elle Em on Jul 15, 2020 8:52:23 GMT -5
I absolutely love this episode. It's in my top 10 for sure. Like most of season 3, I don't like the direction they started to take things in, and a lot of things start to seem out of character, but there's something about it that draws me in. The darker tone, both emotionally and how it visibly seemed less light, the tension between Prue and Phoebe that could absolutely be felt, and the insidious undertone that the audience feels watching Cole worm his way into their lives while the sisters are either clueless to it or notice it but can't prove something's wrong.
I really liked the turn they took at the end with making the bad guy be a mortal, and someone they knew and trusted as well. I read somewhere that this was the most evil the sisters ever faced all at once: Abby, Troxa, and unknowingly, Cole.
I agree with Codebox that Phoebe is remarkably different in this episode than in previous ones. Her defense of Cole is ridiculous. Prue all but outed him as a demon, and she still rushes to defend him. It's out of character even for Phoebe at her most lovestruck and dumbest, but it also comes across, as you said, Codebox, of Alyssa playing the part differently. If she had kept playing Phoebe as Phoebs rather than this uninteresting, air-headed version of her, I think it would have been all the more devastating that Cole turned out to be a demon, because we'd feel some sympathy for her at that point. I don't feel particularly bad for season 3's version of Phoebe when she realizes the truth.
Despite its faults and downturns, I love this episode so much. I would have done some of the characterizations differently, but the tone is so appealing.
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codebox
Familiar
Hey I'm a Charmed Veteran have been for a long time. Hope to share some insight and opinions.
Posts: 287
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Post by codebox on Jul 15, 2020 13:16:03 GMT -5
Nice to see you have a different perspective on it Elle Em, there are things to enjoy for sure.
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Aaeiyn
Whitelighter
✨The Amazing Phoebe✨
Posts: 4,743
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Post by Aaeiyn on Aug 22, 2021 12:34:15 GMT -5
I love this episode. One of my favorite S3 episodes to watch. Kind of underrated, IMO.
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