Charmed Re-watch...

[Esmeralda]

*nods* Very good. Then others who want to watch those seasons can follow it along with you. It will be interesting to see how our reactions differ as we go along.

Although since you're doing it differently, maybe it will work out best to just start your own thread: "Rewatch - Season Reviews" perhaps? And you may want to copy over your review from the Comparing Season 1-8 Review so that people can see how much it changed after the rewatch. That's my plan for once I get done with each season.

But, of course, that's totally up to you. If you still want to put yours in this thread, feel free, or if you want to put them in the Comparing thread, feel free.

[Esmeralda]

The Wendigo
Written by: Edithe Swenson
Season 1, Episode 12
Episode Number: 12

Here we go again. Another episode that I didn’t particularly care the first time I saw it and not quite sure what I think of it now. Like the Dream Sorcerer, the Wendigo was much too scary for this girl – I’ll probably have nightmares tonight and I know I’ll be skipping past those parts whenever I re-watch it. BUT I’ll still be watching the parts about Prue and Phoebe and the bracelet and using it to reunite the missing girl with her mother. Oh, melt, melt, melt! Those are the sorts of stories that I love on Charmed!

Did anyone else think that Jocelyn “Agent Fallon” Seagrave should’ve played a Halliwell? Oh, man, she was like a combination Prue/Piper and Phoebe in looks and she could most definitely act. She looked older than the sisters, so maybe as a cousin or an ancestor or a grownup child, but wow!

I loved how well Prue and Phoebe worked together – it was great to see these two working together and getting along, but I’m with Phoebe – all the things she could’ve found out from touching the items (and it appears her power is getting more and more restricted to coming from just things she touches, as compared to before when she’d get struck with one whenever one was needed) would’ve taken quite an emotional toll, but if she’d been strong enough to take it, it would’ve been a much better job for our Phoebs than advice columnist…especially because it would’ve kept her using it to find and help innocents rather than using it to find the sperm source for her daughter.

Oh, speaking of sperm source, I was absolutely shocked by some of the language in this episode, language I didn’t think was allowed on television during the 90’s. Oh, was *I* wrong! It might have been because Charmed was on a cable channel, but… I still find it funny that this message boards won’t allow fans to use the language that was used on the show!

*sigh* And then there was also Phoebe with her handcuffs…oh, Phoebs, I was *so* wrong about you!! BUT you’re still my favorite sister right now, even as I’m beginning to love all three, even Prue.

I was also *very* wrong about Piper never taking a walk on the dark side. Oh, man, did she do so during this episode, and, oh, man did Holly do a fantastic job portraying it!

This is also the first episode when Andy starts talking about Piper and Phoebe being like his own little sisters, an allusion to the fact that they grew up together, so very different than “The Wedding From Hell” when during “Dead Man Dating”, Prue didn’t know that he didn’t have a sister named Susan. *sigh* And I always thought the inconsistencies didn’t get going until Brad Kern took over. Oh, was I wrong about that, too! But for some reason, I’m finding myself liking this Big Brother Andy a lot more than I did when he was just dopey cop/Prue’s ex-boyfriend. That, and the way Prue and Phoebe helped the innocent, and how in her own way, Piper helped her own innocent, Billy, and Holly's fantastic acting is what saves this episode from a far worse grade.

GRADE: C-

[Astral Alex]

Feb 5, 2013 21:45:23 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

*nods* Very good. Then others who want to watch those seasons can follow it along with you. It will be interesting to see how our reactions differ as we go along.

Although since you're doing it differently, maybe it will work out best to just start your own thread: "Rewatch - Season Reviews" perhaps? And you may want to copy over your review from the Comparing Season 1-8 Review so that people can see how much it changed after the rewatch. That's my plan for once I get done with each season.

But, of course, that's totally up to you. If you still want to put yours in this thread, feel free, or if you want to put them in the Comparing thread, feel free.

Yeah I'll probably start my own thread, it will be interesting to compare as well

I'm about to watch 1x16 as we speak, so will probably have finished the season in the next few days.

[Esmeralda]

Lucky you - you must have time to be able to watch a bunch at a time - I've only had time to watch one a day and sometimes not even that, especially with Valentine's Day around the corner which is one of our busiest times at work, so I often get home and CRASH! Of course if I waited until I'd watch an entire season before I do a review, it would go a lot faster (I might get two a day..), but I'm thoroughly enjoying doing it this way, while also enjoying the reactions from others (I'm getting a lot more comments at the other site where I've been posting this - already 89 posts in the thread!)

Enjoy the re-watch and I'm looking forward to your review.

[Esmeralda]

First, as usual, I have to apologize for taking so long to post this - Real Life just keeps being crazy. And with Valentine's Day this week, don't be surprised if I can't do another one until next weekend. But for now:

From Fear to Eternity
Written by: Tony Blake and Paul Jackson
Season 1,Episode 13
Episode Number: 13

I just noticed that this is Episode 13 – someone was definitely thinking when they decided to make the thirteenth episode be all about Friday the 13th. Does anyone else wish that this was the first and only time that we saw the Demon of Fear (and this is the first time that we’ve ran into a demon that is The Demon of… I wish all demons had been those, while the other bad guys were warlocks, not demons…it would’ve made demons a lot scarier) – that indeed he’d only show up once every 1300 years? Because he is the scariest bad guy I’ve ran into so far this rewatch and he had me scared silly, when I know later on that he’ll simply become a joke.

The funny thing is even though I was indeed scared silly, unlike earlier episodes which scared me, I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and it’s because once more this on so depends upon the sisters being sisters who happen to be witches, and this time we add in Mom… The whole idea of Prue not being able to say “I love you” because it was the last thing she told her mom before her mother died (and just like up to this point we don’t know that the Demon of Fear’s name is Barbas, we don’t know that Mom’s name is Patty – she is simply Mom – and I think I like that) and because she’s afraid that if she tells her sisters that she loves them that she’ll lose them, too, shows a vulnerable side of Prue that I really like – I think this is the first episode where I really do like her as a character. There’s also a lot of irony in the fact that it’s Prue who will die, not on of her sisters. This is the part that touched me the most:

Phoebe: Oh my God, I was so scared.
Prue: I know. I'm just glad you're safe.
Phoebe: I don't know what would happen if I ever lost you. I love you.
Prue: I love you.

How much more touching would that be now if it had been Piper who had that conversation with Prue…

What I really love is Mom saving Prue and Phoebe – both through her writing in the Book of Shadows and later appearing to Prue and helping her release her fear through her love of her mother and her sisters, allowing her to say the words “I love you” to her sisters.

About the only thing I don’t like is the constant use of someone different to play Mom. Alyssa Milano did during the video in “Thank You for Not Morphing”, but someone totally different played her here. I’d read somewhere that Tyler Lawton who played Melinda Warren was going to (hence Prue’s comment about Melinda: “She looks like Mom,” but that wasn’t Tyler’s voice, nor was it Finola Hughes’, the one who would play Mom – now known as Patty - starting with “That Seventies Episode”. If anything, it sounded the most like Kali from “The Fourth Sister”, a creepy idea!

Piper’s whole thing with the superstitions was funny, but it was strange that she never was actually frightened by the Demon of Fear – maybe because she wasn’t with her sisters at the beginning. It was also strange how the demon only went after unmarried witches, while the show was also about unfaithful married people. I just wish all three sisters could keep not compromising their beliefs like Phoebe did in this episode.

GRADE: A

[Esmeralda]

Secrets and Guys
Teleplay by: Constance M. Burge and Sheryl J. Anderson
Story by: Brad Kern and Constance M. Burge

Season 1,Episode 14
Episode Number: 14

I ended up taking a nap when I got home from work and now I’m wide awake, so I decided to go ahead and continue my re-watch. And what an episode to re-watch! I know I loved this one before and now looking back, knowing what’s going to happen, I love it even more. Here we go with changing my mind about something again. I always thought that Prue wouldn’t want to have children until after the truce when she knew her kids would be safe. Now I no longer think so. I *so* wish that Prue had been allowed to live and that she would’ve been the one who became a mother and not Piper – seeing her with Max, she would’ve made such a great one! Or had she been around, maybe she could’ve been the mother to Wyatt and Chris that Piper wasn’t…

And above all else, I do wish that this whole experience with Max had taught Prue to tell Andy her secret and that Andy, and not Leo, had come back for Season Two, especially if it was Andy who was now the whitelighter. That may have helped him accept Prue as a witch, and accept the idea of children who are also witches – and they would’ve made great parents, so much more than Leo and Piper.

But, oh, man, do I love Leo and Piper in young love – the way I love Phoebe and Cole best before Phoebe knows that Cole is a demon, Leo and Piper’s love story is best when Piper doesn’t know that Leo’s an angel. They are just *so* sweet together, and Phoebe trying to help (foreshadowing “Ask Phoebe”…) is just so hilarious! Her trying to tell Leo what *not* to tell Piper and the conversation between her and Piper when she’s talking about Leo and Piper is talking about the chef have to be among my favorites of the entire series!

Right now I no longer have a favorite sister – I love all three! How I wish they could’ve stayed like this! And all three look *so* good! Piper has her bangs trimmed, and not sure what Prue and Phoebe did with their hair, but they all look *so* pretty!

This is also when we first found out that Leo is a whitelighter and what exactly a whitelighter is. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Although I love Leo’s healing and orbing power, but, oh, how I wish he kept all of those powers that he shows in this episode when he is so much more than just a magical doctor/taxi cab!

It’s also when we find out that there is indeed such a thing as a male witch with powers. I wonder if this told Prue that it wouldn’t just be her daughters who would have powers… And does anyone else wish we had gotten a chance to see Max again??

Best of all, there was no warlock, no demon, just humans who can also be awful evil. I wish we had seen more like that later in the episode.

For me, this is Charmed at its best!

GRADE: A++

[thepowerofnicki]

I agree, I always thought that Max should have been one of Paige's charges him and Aviva should have been seen more considering they developed connections with the sisters.

Way back in the thread you mentioned that Prue did not know Andy had a "sister named Susan" I think you meant his ex-wife Susan.

[Esmeralda]

Feb 17, 2013 1:42:05 GMT -5 thepowerofnicki said:

Way back in the thread you mentioned that Prue did not know Andy had a "sister named Susan" I think you meant his ex-wife Susan.

Here's my first paragraph regarding Susan (bolding added):

And then there’s Prue and Andy and their secrets…with Prue being upset that Andy kept from her the fact that he had an ex-wife (and why did she ask if she was his sister if they grew up together?? Wouldn’t he know?? When she said she was “Susan Trudeau”, I was expecting her to ask if it was a cousin…) until she remembers that she’s keeping a much bigger secret. And for Phoebe, of all people, to be the one who gives her advice…oh, man, I loved it!

And then this is the second one that talks about that (bolding and italics added):

This is also the first episode when Andy starts talking about Piper and Phoebe being like his own little sisters, an allusion to the fact that they grew up together, so very different than “The Wedding From Hell” when during “Dead Man Dating”, Prue didn’t know that he didn’t have a sister named Susan. *sigh* And I always thought the inconsistencies didn’t get going until Brad Kern took over. Oh, was I wrong about that, too! But for some reason, I’m finding myself liking this Big Brother Andy a lot more than I did when he was just dopey cop/Prue’s ex-boyfriend. That, and the way Prue and Phoebe helped the innocent, and how in her own way, Piper helped her own innocent, Billy, and Holly's fantastic acting is what saves this episode from a far worse grade.

I think in both I make it clear that *yes* Susan is Andy's ex-wife, but that if indeed they grew up together, it was strange that Prue wanted to know if Susan was his sister.

BUT for all of your very good posts today, you have been given your second blessing! And I haven't blessed anyone in a very long time...

[Esmeralda]

Is There a Woogy in the House?
Written by: Chris Levinson & Zack Estrin
Season 1,Episode 15
Episode Number: 15

Well, Valentine’s Day is finally over and after a busy weekend, I’m hoping that things will finally settle down enough so that I can be more consistent with my re-watch, especially now when it’s gotten so good!

This is another episode that I loved leading into the re-watch and that I still love now for all of the usual reasons. I love the sisterly interaction. I love the fact that it seems like the foe can truly kill them, and it’s suspenseful rather than horror.

What really amazed me is Alyssa Milano’s acting. I always thought she was a great comedian, but, oh, does she play evil and possessed well! I wish she’d been more like this during Season Four, because she does it so well.

And then there’s Josh. I found the guy I wish had ended up with Piper – a non-magical with whom she has TONS of chemistry – is played by a fantastic actor, and, oh, is he cute!! Either that or if he played Leo rather than Brian Krause…

Speaking of Piper, Holly Marie Combs’ acting when the kitchen was turning on her was absolutely fantastic, too. Her freaking out is one of my favorite scenes.

This is also the first time we see Jennifer Rhodes as Grams – first with her picture and then in Phoebe’s memory. I’m so glad she’s the actress they chose for this part, especially because she’s the only guest-star who appeared at least once in all eight seasons.

Of course, since this *is* a re-watch, I couldn’t help thinking ahead…the idea of the nexus being a location rather than a thing, and the way that the Shadow came out of the crack and controlled his victim while still being separate from it – all *so* much scarier than what the Shadow does to Zankou. The Shadow is easily the scariest foe without being creepy.

Then, of course, you also have the idea of Phoebe’s dark side because she’s the only one who was born in the Manor – as was Wyatt later on.

AND there’s the idea of their great-grandparents rebuilding the Manor around 1906, after the huge quake destroyed the earlier ones. How does Grams’ parents being together in 1906 work with Grams’ mother living in it as a young woman in the 20’s in “Pardon My Past”? Inconsistency, your name is Charmed!

GRADE: A

[Esmeralda]

Which Prue Is It Anyway?
Written by: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Season 1,Episode 16
Episode Number: 16

Holy mackerel! I’ve been frightened by many things during this re-watch, much more than I remembered from previous re-watches, but I don’t think anything has frightened me quite as much as this:

Piper: Poor Andy, do you think he'll ever figure it out?

Prue: I don't know but uh, I wouldn't underestimate him. After what happened this morning we're gonna have to be extra careful.

[Scene: Andy's office. He has a folder of Prue's confidential files. He's looking through newspaper clippings and finds one on witchcraft. He then picks up the Bay Area Music Awards tickets and her fingerprints chart. He puts it all back in his draw and sits back in his chair.]

Even knowing what’s going to happen, thinking what could’ve happened – Andy thinking that they’re evil witches and being willing to turn them in – is terrifying, much more terrifying than any foe the sisters have faced. Of course, I’m thinking of another time when the sisters will have to fear exposure, but to think it could’ve been Andy…funny, I *almost* wish it was…

But more, I still wish that somehow Prue could’ve told Andy the truth earlier. Again, knowing what’s going to happen and remembering how well they did together once he did and what a very short time they’ll get to do it…if only…if only. When I think of what he must’ve felt when he saw the pink clone…and then to find out from the blue clone that something was definitely wrong, and finally for the real Prue to treat him as she did…yes, I can see why he was starting to contemplate what he did – and he truly could’ve been the sisters’ worse foe – for how could they ever vanquish Andy?? Like I said…if only…

This episode showed off Shannen Doherty’s acting and showed why she’s the most versatile of the four actresses who played Halliwells. To do all three sides of Prue and to do it so well – I was very, very impressed. Although Prue’s still not my favorite at this point (Phoebs most definitely is – I loved being reminded how she came into her martial arts, especially knowing that it wasn’t something given to her by the Elders), there’s no doubt that Shannen is my favorite actress.

There is so much about this episode that I want to talk about – there was so much to it! – that I really don’t know where to start. As always, I loved the “sisterliness” of it – I think they seemed more like real sisters during this episode than any of the previous ones – and the foe who truly seemed to be able to destroy the Power of Three by destroying one of them (and I loved the reminder that the oldest is the most powerful…sorry, Phoebs. Sorry, Paige. Sorry, Chris. And even in some ways, sorry, Piper), and I loved the little bits of humor here and there, especially coming from Piper. I loved the bit with Prue and Claire (and did anyone else feel sorry for Prue’s assistant??), even though Claire is feeling more and more like Prue’s boss and less and less like the bank’s representative, so I can see why I got mixed up earlier.

I’m very simply madly in love with early Charmed and am so glad that Valentine’s Day is over so I can go back to enjoying an episode a night!

GRADE: A

[SEERofCHAOS]

I have a question Es. Will you be doing all 8 seasons, or just the first three or four?

[Esmeralda]

Feb 19, 2013 17:12:37 GMT -5 SEERofCHAOS said:

I have a question Es. Will you be doing all 8 seasons, or just the first three or four?

No, Seer, I'm not. As I've said in a number of other threads (so anyone who's already read this, just skip this post..) I'm doing it a different way in hoping that I'll be able to enjoy more of Charmed than just the first three seasons as I have during previous re-watches.

Dstarr was the one who suggested it, but rather than linking to her thread I'll just tell you that she suggested watching S1-4 and skipping S5 & 6 - just pretending that there's a sign that says "Two Years Later".

She also suggested SKIPPING the following S7 episodes:

A Call to Arms
Bare Witch Project
Cheaper by the Coven
Charrrmed
Someone to Witch Over Me
Once in a Blue Moon
Ordinary Witches
Imaginary Friends

And, of course, she totally skips the travesty that is S8.

She pointed out that doing it this way, the Avatar plot that dragged on for 13 episodes is now limited to 6 and by skipping S5 and S6 and those S7 episodes, their attitudes make more sense - Piper seems to be like she was in S4; Phoebe's experience as Queen of the Underworld seems to have matured her, and the experience has made Paige more comfortable with her sisters. She also said that without the background of the changes in the sisters as shown in S5 and S6, the parts of the Avatar plot that bugged her so much when she watched Seasons Five and Six first didn't bug her as much this way.

She also pointed out that this version of Charmed gives Cole and Phoebe better closure. She is very obsessive about Cole, and hates how Kern misused him and turned him into the obsessed stalker in Season 5, making a mockery of his and Phoebe's love. Like me, she said she tends to think that if he really loved Phoebe, instead of stalking and tormenting her, he would leave her alone and let her move on. Besides, his vanquish is a lot more memorable in Season Four than in "Centennial Charmed", besides it truly being Phoebe who helped vanquish him, not an alternate version with Paige’s help.

Instead, “Witch Way Now” shows that he had enough strength to return to save her life, but Dstarr interprets on her own that he lost his strength and faded into the limbo that we see in “Seven Year Witch”. And she thinks that him helping her move on by introducing her to Drake makes the perfect closure.

That’s why for fans who love Phoebe and Cole (which I don't right now but I might after this rewatch), she thinks that watching these episodes directly after Season Four is so much better. Like me, she also sees very little similarities in what the Avatars in S5 did and the ones in S7 did, so this takes away that consistency problem.

I'm also hoping that doing it this way will change my reaction towards Leo and Piper, once my own favorite couple but anything but once Leo became an Elder. I know I liked them as a couple when I rewatched "Scry Hard" and "Little Box of Horrors" on TNT during a vacation, so I hope this will help put them back in that spot.

Dstarr said that she likes watching “Styx Feet Under” as the S7 premiere because it has them trying to protect an innocent. She said she thinks it's more suitable than "A Witch's Tale" or "A Call to Arms" since they decided at the end of S4 to keep their powers in order to continue their destiny to help innocents - not protect the Twice Blessed Brat as is shown to be their new destiny in S5 and S6, the reason she skips “Someone to Witch Over Me” and “Imaginary Fiends”. Like me, she can't stand Wyatt having a million powers and being more powerful than his mother and aunts - this way he is never referred to as the Twice Blessed Child and the only powers he shows are orbing and his shield, both which make sense for a baby who has a whitelighter for a father.

I'm very eager to see if this change changes my reaction towards Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Leo and Cole, characters I loved before S4 but slowly learned to hate, mainly because of what happens in S5 and S6, but because I've discovered my memory for the earlier episodes has gotten so bad, that's why I'm doing my full rewatch, but done this way.

If you want to join me, Seer, I'd love it! Just do it at your own pace and feel free to put your own reactions to the various episodes in my thread. Reality Bites is doing his own re-watch, but is only going to review each season, probably in his own thread. Feel free to do it however you want.

Ditto to anyone else, including anyone who wants to do it either Dstarr's way, the entire thing or however else you want to do it. I know there's a fan at a different site who can't stand Prue, so he's starting with Charmed Again and going from there. More power to him! Different strokes for different folks.

Oh, doing it this way is *not* something I would recommend to people who are watching Charmed for the first time - some fans do like those missing seasons and I've never felt it's my place to tell people what they should or shouldn't like.

And, of course, if they like those seasons (yes, Chrisacholic, I'm especially thinking of you...), then they should watch them and enjoy them. But for anyone who doesn't like the changes in the main characters, I highly recommend giving this a try.

[Esmeralda]

That Seventies Episode
Written by: Written by: Sheryl J. Anderson
Season 1,Episode 17
Episode Number: 17

Sheryl J. Anderson is quickly becoming my favorite Charmed writer. She wrote “The Witch is Back” and helped with “Wicca Envy” and “Secrets and Guys” and now she wrote this one, too. She never fails to bring me to tears and she did it again.

This was always one of my favorite episodes – it’s what made Patty my favorite Charmed character until I found out that during that wonderful Christmas video in “Thank You for Not Morphing”, while she was still with Victor, she was already pregnant with Paige. But despite that, I still love her and the sisters (both sets!) and Grams during this one! I was almost afraid to watch this episode again, afraid I wouldn’t love it as much as I did before. I was wrong. I love it more!

Funny with all the bits in future episodes about Prue looking like Patty or Piper or even Paige, I think Finola Hughes looks the most like Alyssa Milano. When she and Patty run into each other and Phoebe just stares at her – it was amazing the resemblance. And this episode, along with my all-time favorite episode, “Morality Bites” is absolutely when I love Phoebe the most. But I also love Prue (yes, now I do – I absolutely adored the way she took care of all of her sisters – even herself! – in this one) and Piper and Patty and Grams, too. I simply love this family as they are now and it hurts so very much to think how horribly they’ll change… But like my favorite “Morality Bites”, there is absolutely nothing I would change about this episode, unlike so many others.

Funny, I truly can’t say too much more about this one – very simply that it remains one of my all-time favorites.

GRADE: A++

[Esmeralda]

When Bad Warlocks Turn Good
Written by: Written by: Edithe Swensen
Season 1, Episode 18
Episode Number: 18

After the wonder that is “That Seventies Episode”, I was really afraid that I would be disappointed in the next one, but I wasn’t. Although I like Sheryl J. Anderson’s family-oriented episodes better than Edithe Swensen’s good-vs.-evil ones (Edithe also wrote “The Fourth Sister”, “The Wendigo” and “Secrets and Guys”), I still thoroughly enjoy hers and truly wish she had written most of the Phoebe/Cole ones – I think I would’ve enjoyed it more.

Brenden Rowe reminds me a lot of Cole in the fact that he has an evil warlock parent and a good mortal parent and that through most of the episode, Brenden is fighting the evil within him. But unlike Cole, rather than doing it for love of Phoebe (or in Brenden’s case, Prue), he’s doing it because he has always wanted to be good, and my respect for Brenden is much stronger than it ever was for Cole. I truly wish that Phoebe and Cole’s story had only lasted an episode while Brenden and Prue’s could’ve lasted for a couple of seasons – I think it would’ve been much more interesting, particularly if Andy had been connected to one of the other sisters. I’m willing to bet that I’m in the minority of Charmed fans who feels that way, but there’s nothing unusual about that…

Of course, the fact that Brenden is played by Michael Weatherly, whom I love as Tony on NCIS doesn’t hurt any… Although not as good of an actor as Julian McMahon, he definitely gives Julian a run for his money…

I love the idea of the Rowe Coven – the Evil Charmed One, who are the culmination of generations of warlocks, the way the Charmed One are the culmination of generations of witches. I truly wish that they had been the Big Bad for the entire series rather than the way demons developed into the main Big Bads, which might also be the reason why I prefer Brenden over Cole.

What irritates me, though, is here’s Prue who’s calling Brenden an innocent despite being a warlock (much as she’ll later trust Bane Jessup…), why does it take her so long to feel that way about Cole and why does she change her mind about him so quickly? I wonder how much the so-called feud between Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano had to do with that…. Or because Edithe Swensen was no longer part of the writing staff… Such a pity…

And, oh, did I feel bad for Andy, for his priest to be the one who’s attacked. For him to think that Prue is part of that…*shudder*

Then there’s the “sisterly” part of the episode with Phoebe helping Piper trust in her heart again. It’s something we’ll see all the sisters go through…I still wish that Josh had been the one that Piper had ended up with.

Funny, for me the spookiest part of this episode was seeing that church…it’s the same church where they’ll hold Prue’s funeral…and since Prue is *really* looking pretty now (so are her sisters…) and I *really* like her much more than I did at the beginning of the season, that really makes me sad.

GRADE: A-

[Esmeralda]

Out of Sight (The WB Title: Blind Sided)
Written by: Tony Blake & Paul Jackson
Season 1,Episode 19
Episode Number: 19

This was another one of those episodes that I have a hunch the other two reviewers won’t like while I love – ones that are much more “Touched by an Angel” combined with “Seventh Heaven” as compared to “Buffy” or “Angel” or “Supernatural” which is what latter Charmed seemed more like (or at least what I’ve heard about those shows, since I’ve only watched a couple episodes of each and didn’t particularly care for any of them). Yes, there’s monsters, scary monsters at that, but there’s just so much more to the stories – that “Touched by an Angel”/”Seventh Heaven” part to it.

Nothing seems scarier than monsters who take innocent children, and not only take them, but take their sight. Perhaps that’s why despite the fact that like Barbas who’s not supposed to come back for 1300 years, the Grimlocks, which aren’t supposed to come back for 20 years, will show in Season Three during the Halloween episode. Strange, but it’s during that episode that Darryl finds out about Leo, the way in this episode, Andy finally finds out about Prue and her sisters.

And Andy finds out because Prue can now use her power to move things with her mind to levitate things by using her hands. Very cool power, much more than TK. Wish she’d kept that one *rather* than TK. Actually Paige’s future summoning power reminds me of this one much more than Prue’s TK.

And then there’s Eric Lohman, who may be the reason why the sisters freak out so much during “All Hell Breaks Loose” when they’re exposed, or why Piper turns a future reporter into a turkey. Definitely the sleazy type of reporter who I didn’t mind being a victim of the Grimlocks one single bit!!

There was also Brett, the guy who was blinded 20 years ago – oh, how I loved the scenes between him and Phoebe, probably my favorite scenes of the episode – this is *SO* the Phoebs who is my favorite character! To think what she will turn into simply makes me shudder.

This is also true of Piper and Josh, who makes his final appearance in this episode with Piper not wanting Josh because she’s thinking about Leo and again I’m finding myself wishing that Leo had only been part of this first season… To think what Leo & Piper will turn into as a couple makes me shudder. How I wish it had been Josh, a mortal, who they had matched Piper with rather than an angel who she couldn’t really love until he was a useless mortal…

But for now, I very simply love these three sisters as they are…right now! Maybe the stories became boring for the actresses, especially Shannen, but I love them! And because I do, I can't help wondering if doing this re-watch this way will actually make me like Seasons Three and Four better than I do now...right now, I somehow doubt it. We shall see...


GRADE: A-

[ljones]

Brenden Rowe reminds me a lot of Cole in the fact that he has an evil warlock parent and a good mortal parent and that through most of the episode, Brenden is fighting the evil within him. But unlike Cole, rather than doing it for love of Phoebe (or in Brenden’s case, Prue), he’s doing it because he has always wanted to be good, and my respect for Brenden is much stronger than it ever was for Cole.

My respect for Brenden went down the drain when he failed to acknowledge that one of his half-brothers, Paul, saved him from being killed by the oldest brother Greg . . . out of love for him. Instead of acknowledging this, Brenden merely dismissed the deaths of both brothers.

[SEERofCHAOS]

Feb 25, 2013 22:11:48 GMT -5 ljones said:

Brenden Rowe reminds me a lot of Cole in the fact that he has an evil warlock parent and a good mortal parent and that through most of the episode, Brenden is fighting the evil within him. But unlike Cole, rather than doing it for love of Phoebe (or in Brenden�s case, Prue), he�s doing it because he has always wanted to be good, and my respect for Brenden is much stronger than it ever was for Cole.

My respect for Brenden went down the drain when he failed to acknowledge that one of his half-brothers, Paul, saved him from being killed by the oldest brother Greg . . . out of love for him. Instead of acknowledging this, Brenden merely dismissed the deaths of both brothers.

I was bothered by this too. Considering he was becoming a priest, it seemed he was only doing it for the superficial reason of not becoming a monster.

[thepowerofnicki]

I agree with both of you, it was kind of weird but honestly I NEVER take anything literally with Charmed

[Esmeralda]

I've been doing my re-watch, but rather than doing a review of each episodes, I've just been doing summaries, like most of the other viewers do.

I'm done with Season One, so here's my Season One Summary:

SEASON ONE - Summary

Like I've been saying all along, I've been thoroughly enjoying my first Charmed re-watch in several years, getting to see what the sisters started like, and wishing they could've remained more like them. Yeah, it took them a while to get their footing, but once they did, oh, it was such fun!

As always, I loved it best when they were acting like sisters, with the supernatural part of it a distant second, especially when that part would scare the bejesus out of me, the reason why I don't watch most supernatural shows which are usually all about special effects trying to (and usually succeeding) in giving me nightmares, or teenagers with a lot of teenaged angst, neither of which appeal to me, but since it appears that both do appeal to others, I can see why they like those shows. It's why I've never watched Buffy or Supernatural, but I can see why others have enjoyed those shows.

I loved Prue and Andy's love story, but I wish that Andy had found out Prue's secret much earlier and that she hadn't lied to him, the way I will always wish that Phoebe didn't lie to Prue about vanquishing Cole - turnabout is fair play, Prue! I wish Prue and Andy had been the couple we got to follow throughout the entire series (with them always being lovers but never married and never having kids, at least not until the truce in Season 8) rather than Piper and Leo, whose love story I ADORED during this season, but makes me shudder as I remember what happens to it in latter years.

What I didn't like was the glimpses of what they're going to turn into - Prue's pride; Piper's self-centeredness; Phoebe thinking that sex=love. People who love moral ambiguity probably loved those glimpses. I who don't no matter how unrealistic that is don't. When I watch a pure fantasy show, which I'm partially watching so I can get lost in a fantasy world and totally forget about the real world and all of its problems, I want my good characters to be good and my evil characters to be evil and never the twain shall meet.

In most cases this happened during this season, part of why I like it so much and can't wait to watch Season Two, while not looking forward to Season Three when Brad Kern takes over and introduces a morally-grey Cole who messes the whole thing up.

EPISODE GRADES

1. Something Wicca This Way Comes - A
2. I've Got You Under My Skin - B
3. Thank You For Not Morphing - A-
4. Dead Man Dating - A+
5. Dream Sorcerer - C-
6. Wedding From Hell - C-
7. The Fourth Sister - A
8. The Truth is Out There and It Hurts - A
9. The Witch is Back - A+
10. Wicca Envy - A+
11. Feats of Clay - B-
12. The Wendigo - C-
13. From Fear to Eternity - A
14. Secrets and Guys - A+
15. Is There a Woogy in the House? - A
16. Which Prue Is It Anyway? - A
17. That Seventies Episode - A++
18. When Bad Warlocks Turn Good - A
19. Out of Sight - A-
20. The Power of Two - A
21. Love Hurts - A+
22. Deja vu All Over Again - A++

Season Overall Grade: A

What about you? What are your reactions to Season One and your Episode Grades?

[Esmeralda]

I did a Charmed marathon and can now post my review for Season Two:

SEASON TWO – Summary

Unlike Season One, I didn’t enjoy my Season Two re-watch as much as I thought I would. And the reason was easy – what is usually my favorite story arc in this one – the Leo-Piper-Dan triangle – was my least-favorite mainly because I thought that Dan was so perfect for Piper while Leo was so imperfect, especially knowing how she will emasculate him and turn an angel into her own little errand boy. Leo was also extraordinarily annoying – talking about doing his job but wanting nothing but Piper. The Elders were stupid for putting him on suspension; they should’ve simply let him keep his wings but stay away from Piper forever. And Piper was even more annoying, especially with the way she treated Dan in saying that she loved him and could tell him everything – except the family secret, which proved that she didn’t and was only using him to try to have her normal life. When she died in “Awakened”, I found myself wishing that she’d stayed dead, that like earlier, because the Elders wouldn’t let Leo heal Piper’s poison ivy in “P3 H2O” because it wasn’t meant because it didn’t happen for magical reasons, the same thing should’ve happened in “Awakened” – that’s when we should’ve met Paige. Either that or when Piper asked Leo if he was really leaving for good at the end of P3 H20, he really was. Only Leo comforting Piper at the end of “Astral Monkey” made me glad that that couple was still around.

This will probably also ruin the rest of my re-watch, but I’m hoping that by skipping S5, S6 and especially S8 that I won’t feel this way.

Prue and Phoebe are totally different stories. I loved Prue a lot more during this season, and especially loved her and Bane. I love the fact that in “Give Me as Sign” rather than the spell pointing Piper to her true love (which makes sense – neither Leo or Dan are…) it instead sent Prue to Bane. I’ll always wish that had Shannen not been fired that Bane would’ve gotten out for good behavior and that they would’ve been the two who married and had kids. “Reckless Abandoned” shows what a crappy mother Piper would and did make, but what a wonderful mother Prue or Phoebe would make.

Speaking of Phoebe, I also totally loved my Phoebs, still my favorite sister, mainly because she was never in love (Halliwells in love are usually not good people, especially when they’re not with their own true love – like Prue with Bane, the way Phoebe’s true love, Drake, made her a better person and Piper’s true love, Mark the ghost, made her a better person), even if I wish that one of the guys she did meet – Cupid and Billy—ended up being her true love, especially Cupid over Coop. Billy was the perfect fantasy guy; too bad that’s all Phoebe would run into from now on – just fantasy guys. Good-bye, Phoebs. It’s been so good knowing you…I will miss you so very, very much!

Dying, and when dying is a good thing and when it’s not, seems to be a very big piece of this season. I wish it hadn’t been. Like I'm sure that knowing what’s going to happen in the future affects the way I look at Leo and Piper, the idea of “the wrong thing done for the right reason is still the wrong thing” and “we’re supposed to protect the innocent, not punish the guilty” and “if there was a burning building and if you had a choice between saving one sibling or five strangers, who would you save – five strangers” will affect and ruin future seasons for me the way knowing how Piper will emasculate Leo has ruined this season for me.

I still loved all the innocents in this show and loved all of the bad guys – I still prefer when the bad guys are one-shots while the girls’ lives as sisters is the episodic part, even if I didn’t like the main story arc in this season. The show is still best when it’s about three sisters who happen to be witches rather than three witches who happen to live in the same house or about one witch who doesn’t want to be a witch and who marries an angel but isn’t happy until she turns him into her own little errand boy, and, oh, yes, didn’t she have two sisters, and didn’t they have powers, too?


EPISODE GRADES:

Witch Trial – A-
Morality Bites – A+++
The Painted Word – B+
The Devil’s Music – B+
She’s a Man, Baby, a Man – B-
That Old Black Magic – D+
They’re Everywhere – A+
P3 H20 – A+
Ms. Hellfire – B+
Heartbreak City – A+
Reckless Abandon – A-
Awakened – D
Animal Pragmatism – D+
Pardon My Past – B-
Show Me a Sign – A+
Murphy’s Luck – A+
How to Make a Quilt Out of Americans – F
Chick Flick – A
Ex Libris – A
Astral Monkey – B+
Apocalypse Not – A
Be Careful What You Witch For – C

SEASON GRADE: B