Reality Bites
Familiar
When witches don't fight we burn.
Posts: 452
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Post by Reality Bites on Nov 21, 2007 1:21:14 GMT -5
I don't think the magical world needed the Charmed Ones to continue existing after the fall season of 1998, but it obviously was beneficial to the forces of good to have them around.
In "Something Wicca This Way Comes" Phoebe claims that the Charmed Ones were mainly "the protectors of the innocent." What greater way to protect the innocent than to vanquish the major leaders of the Underworld, thus putting the demonic realm in disorder. This would allow even more innocents and good magical beings to continue their destines with greater ease. It may not be that the magical community desperately needed the help, but the fact that they got it lessened its own magical burdens — at least for the side of good. The Charmed Ones would be pretty powerful reinforcements.
Another theory, perhaps there are certain and specific individuals that exist — or have come into existence — during the Charmed Ones reign that needed unique protection so that they could continue their fight in the battle of good and evil uninterrupted.
The episode "The Truth Is Out There...And It Hurts" is a prime example of this. The young fetus in the womb of Tanya Parker certainly couldn't protect himself or his mother from a force attempting to change the past. In thanks to the efforts of the Charmed Ones, perhaps this young child will grow up to create that vaccine that will help exterminate warlocks and keep the world safe from that form of demonic harm. Other innocents saved such as Max Franklin, Maggie Murphy, and Tyler have the chance to continue the fight on the behalf of the side good. Therefore, perhaps the Charmed Ones do not exist to preserve good, but to give it a helping hand.
Maybe there are those, like Eva, other witches and magical beings who "prayed" for magical assistance to thwart the forces of evil. Clearly no other force had been powerful enough to vanquish these powerful upper level demons. The end result; Charmed reinforcements in the personification of three sister witches.
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Post by vandergraafk on Nov 21, 2007 16:37:13 GMT -5
I guess I'm so used to the Southern California locations used - Vasquez Rocks, for example, when Chris and Leo supposedly went back in time to encounter dinosaurs - that I absolutely discounted the trip to Egypt in Y Tu Mummy and the trip to the Middle East in I Dream of Phoebe - that I didn't wish to include these. At least in the two episodes I did mention, the idea was to focus most of the episode in a place other than San Francisco. We could add P3H20 since this takes places somewhere in the Bay Area where there is a lake (on the peninsula perhaps?).
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Post by whitelightertony on Nov 22, 2007 2:26:15 GMT -5
The reason Phoebe considered giving up her powers in "Witch Way Now?" was because it was a package deal. She and her sisters would collectively be off the demonic radar.
Had an Angel of Destiny approached Phoebe and asked her if she wanted to individually strip herself of her powers (all other things remained unchanged), do you seriously believe Phoebe would have said yes?
I can't see that happening. For that same reason, neither would Piper - - despite all her talk of wanting to have a "normal life."
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Post by foxfire on Nov 22, 2007 11:15:51 GMT -5
The Charmed Ones have been to places outside of San Francisco. As it was mentionned, they went to Egypt and the Middle East. Also, they've been to the arctic ("Oh My Goddess, Part 1") and they've been to Valhalla ("Valhalley of the Dolls"). Plus there was Paige's adventure into the world of film noir.
Really, it's an age-old question when it comes to why demons attack certain places. In Buffy, they attacked because that's where the Hellmouth is. In Sailor Moon, it's because of the Silver Crystal. And in Charmed, it's surely either the power of the Charmed Ones or the Nexus in which they live above.
Also, just to clear this up (as I think it was under this section), Phoebe went to San Francisco Community College as seen on her transcript that Cole has in the fairy episode of season 3.
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Post by whitelightertony on Nov 22, 2007 16:10:34 GMT -5
That has to be it. In the first three seasons, The Source sent a gaggle of warlocks and demons to San Francisco for the explicit purpose of assassinating the Charmed Ones. After The Source's death, the rest of the demonic community seemed to follow suit out of habit.
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ljones
Whitelighter
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Post by ljones on Nov 23, 2007 21:45:53 GMT -5
The reason Phoebe considered giving up her powers in "Witch Way Now?" was because it was a package deal. She and her sisters would collectively be off the demonic radar. Had an Angel of Destiny approached Phoebe and asked her if she wanted to individually strip herself of her powers (all other things remained unchanged), do you seriously believe Phoebe would have said yes? I can't see that happening. For that same reason, neither would Piper - - despite all her talk of wanting to have a "normal life." Why not? Why should the sisters limit themselves in that fashion? And why should they have to depend upon the Angel of Destiny or the whitelighters to decide if any or all of them want to give up their abiliites? They have the ability to strip their powers on their own, as Piper proved in "Brain Drain". And why do demons go through so much trouble to kill witches, anyway? That makes no sense to me.
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ljones
Whitelighter
Posts: 4,123
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Post by ljones on Nov 23, 2007 22:13:07 GMT -5
That has to be it. In the first three seasons, The Source sent a gaggle of warlocks and demons to San Francisco for the explicit purpose of assassinating the Charmed Ones. After The Source's death, the rest of the demonic community seemed to follow suit out of habit. Again . . . why? What would be the point in going through so much trouble to kill the Charmed Ones? So that demons can rule the world? They had that opportunity before the fall of 1998. So, what's the point of demons being obssessed about the Halliwells. A thought had come to me recently. I thought that it was a mistake on Burge's part to make the Halliwells the "world's most powerful witches". Thinking about it now, I find the concept unecessary . . . and not very challenging. Why not simply make them witches and explore the world of the supernatural and spirituality, without making them some kind of Wiccan versions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
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Reality Bites
Familiar
When witches don't fight we burn.
Posts: 452
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Post by Reality Bites on Nov 24, 2007 4:27:58 GMT -5
Isn't that what The WB wanted? Another supernatural hit in the vein of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don't think Charmed was ever meant to be a true representation of the world of Wiccans, which is why so much of it is the watered down Hollywood version of witchcraft.
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Post by whitelightertony on Nov 24, 2007 6:54:37 GMT -5
Piper was only in that situation (in "Brain Drain") in the first place because The Source emotionally manipulated her. And the Charmed Ones only relinquished their powers in "Wiccan Envy" because Rex and Hannah blackmailed them.
Never have we actually seen any of the Charmed Ones suggest relinquishing their powers out of their own volition.
Even Piper got angry at Leo during Season 4 (in "Lost and Bound") when Leo suggested stripping their future baby (Wyatt hadn't actually been conceived, at that point) of his/her powers.
Prue, Phoebe, and Paige never seriously considered having their powers stripped to make life easier (aside from Phoebe in "Witch Way Now?" -- and that was only because of the offer from the Angels of Destiny). But even Piper, who yearned for a so-called "normal life," only seriously suggested giving up their powers when she was pushed to her limit by Evil.
Still, even if giving up her powers was really what she wanted to do, Piper was still smart enough to realize that it would be utterly dangerous for her to become powerless while remaining in the same house with a still-powerful Phoebe, a still-powerful Paige, and an ultra-powerful Wyatt -- all of whom would still be on the demonic radar, and would still be vulnerable to attack. And, by extension, so would (the hypothetically powerless) Piper.
No, deep down, Piper definitely knew the risks if she had actually gone through with relinquishing her powers.
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ljones
Whitelighter
Posts: 4,123
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Post by ljones on Nov 24, 2007 19:03:21 GMT -5
Isn't that what The WB wanted? Another supernatural hit in the vein of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don't think Charmed was ever meant to be a true representation of the world of Wiccans, which is why so much of it is the watered down Hollywood version of witchcraft. How pathetic of the WB! CHARMED could have been something a lot different . . . and possibly better. All we had ended up with was a second-rate version of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER . . . without the character developments.
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Post by whitelightertony on Nov 24, 2007 21:41:59 GMT -5
I definitely agree with this. The way the WB promoted it, Charmed would always be compared to Buffy, and critics, of course, would always take Buffy's side.
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Post by foxfire on Nov 25, 2007 0:02:16 GMT -5
Actually the WB was looking for another Spelling production because of the success of 7th Heaven. They weren't looking for anything supernatural per se... they just ended up with that when Constance Burge came up with the "three best friends are witches" concept (which evolved into the Charmed Ones).
I kind of resent the whole "Buffy is better than Charmed" notion coming out here. Charmed is a really good series which lasted a whole season longer than Buffy ever did. Charmed did have good character development. Charmed had a lot of what Buffy will never have. Sure, Buffy was more popular and critically acclaimed but that doesn't much jack to the fans of Charmed.
BACK ON TOPIC. I watched "Look Who's Barking" the other night and it spawned a thought in my head. For the most part of season three, they kept Prue pretty far from any major plot lines (that would require more than one episode) which unfortunately meant no long-term boyfriends. This seemed to be almost like they knew they were firing Shannen. Although, in that 2nd to last episode of the season... they introduced a new boyfriend for Prue. Had they not killed a sister in the finale, do you think that Prue would have had a boyfriend storyline starting in the next season?
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ljones
Whitelighter
Posts: 4,123
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Post by ljones on Nov 25, 2007 2:14:27 GMT -5
I don't see how that was possible. Are you referring to "Pardon My Past"? The story should have been set BEFORE 1924, if Leo and Piper were to have been lovers in a previous life. In both Seasons 1 and 3, Leo made it clear that he had been in medical school at the time the U.S. had entered WWII in December 1941. There is no way that Leo could have been born in 1924. Are we supposed to believe that Piper fell in love with a whitelighter who had not aged beyond 18?
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Post by whitelightertony on Nov 25, 2007 4:50:53 GMT -5
The Elders knew that Piper and Leo were lovers in their past lives because Leo once said how it was the Elders who allowed people to view all of their past lives once they became whitelighters.
As for "Pardon My Past"...it's possible that Leo's past life who was in love with Piper's past life died sometime before 1924. After all, we never saw Leo's past life in person...only Anton glamoured as him.
Let's say that Leo's most immediate past life (the one whom Piper's great-grandmother fell in love with) had died in 1920. That would mean Leo himself was born in 1920 and would have been 21 when he died at Guadalcanal and became a whitelighter. You could also fudge those numbers to put Leo's date of birth (coinciding with Past Leo's death) at 1918 or 1919, making Leo age 22 or 23 when he was killed in 1941.
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Post by whitelightertony on Nov 25, 2007 4:53:21 GMT -5
I didn't know that...that's interesting.
I disagree with those critics. Even though I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I love Charmed even more.
Now that you mention it, they could indeed have been weighing their options if they hadn't decided yet whether to get rid of Shannen. That would also explain all the Prue-centric episodes in Season 3.
Remind me again: who was Prue's new boyfriend in "Look Who's Barking"?
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Reality Bites
Familiar
When witches don't fight we burn.
Posts: 452
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Post by Reality Bites on Nov 25, 2007 12:19:56 GMT -5
Now that you mention it, they could indeed have been weighing their options if they hadn't decided yet whether to get rid of Shannen. That would also explain all the Prue-centric episodes in Season 3. Remind me again: who was Prue's new boyfriend in "Look Who's Barking"? He never was given a name, but he was played by Matt Battaglia. I do believe the writers were setting up a potential love interest for Prue for the upcoming season four, in case they did not get rid of Shannen. Or maybe it was a red herring. Who knows. All I know is, I remember thinking about it once I found out Shannen was no longer apart of the show some six years ago. I was thinking about how the writers were leading up to her development as a character for the next season, and then suddenly she's gone!
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Post by foxfire on Nov 25, 2007 12:25:28 GMT -5
It's always said that Paige was written in because of neccessity. It's probable that the season finale was written as a way for the producers to go: "Okay, anything is possible right now. Someone from the show may be going or not."
Looking back, there's a lot of foreshadowing to Prue's death and it's very eerie to see all the signs of her eventual death (going back as far as season one). They did have a lot of Prue-centric episodes in season three so maybe it's possible they were giving Shannen enough episodes to be in before she left. Who knows! I, for one, would love Shannen to write a tell-all book to finally let us know.
However, I still really wish Shannen had stayed on the show. It's a shame the only good romance we got to see for her was Andy.
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Reality Bites
Familiar
When witches don't fight we burn.
Posts: 452
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Post by Reality Bites on Nov 25, 2007 12:48:49 GMT -5
It's always said that Paige was written in because of neccessity. It's probable that the season finale was written as a way for the producers to go: "Okay, anything is possible right now. Someone from the show may be going or not." I agree with that, it fits in with all that was going on, or purported to be going on at the time. Looking back, there's a lot of foreshadowing to Prue's death and it's very eerie to see all the signs of her eventual death (going back as far as season one). They did have a lot of Prue-centric episodes in season three so maybe it's possible they were giving Shannen enough episodes to be in before she left. Who knows! I, for one, would love Shannen to write a tell-all book to finally let us know. However, I still really wish Shannen had stayed on the show. It's a shame the only good romance we got to see for her was Andy. Intentional or not, Prue's permanent death was foreshadowed throughout the seasons. Luckily, the plot development of Patty and Sam was around so that the idea of fourth sister was not entirely improbable. If the episode P3H20 never took place, we could have never gotten Paige. Then we would have definitely gotten a replacement Prue, and possibly the end of the show if the "new Prue" didn't take.
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Post by whitelightertony on Nov 25, 2007 17:21:48 GMT -5
I also think the writers consciously and intentionally created the Patty/Sam love affair as a way to explain the presence of a fourth sister down the road (which, as it turned out, they needed to do), in case any of the three original actresses ever left the show.
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Post by foxfire on Nov 25, 2007 22:54:44 GMT -5
I'm not so sure that's why they did that storyline. I think that story merely came to be as a way to make Victor seem more and more like a good guy. After all, originally we thought he just LEFT. Then the whole affair makes us sympathize.
Mind you, they also probably wanted to do something with Patty and they also used that storyline to parallel Piper and Leo's relationship. I think that storyline was just a "thank God we already had it" type thing. I doubt they ever thought they'd use them to create a fourth sister because as Kern said it was strictly out of neccessity and they hadn't been planning a fourth sister.
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