Charmed Re-watch...

[ljones]

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.

This whole thing about Phoebe and Wyatt being more susceptible to evil, due to being born in the manor is a load of crap and bad characterization. I know I've stated this before and I'll continue to repeat myself. It's crap. The show has revealed that the other Halliwell sisters, Leo and many others are equally capable of both good and evil without being born inside the manor. It's called HUMAN NATURE and I can't believe that Constance Burge allowed such infantile writing to appear on the show. Then again, she is responsible for other bad writing.

" . . . the way Phoebe’s true love, Drake . . ."

Phoebe's true love was Drake?

[thepowerofnicki]

I agree with a majority of your rankings. Except I liked How to make a Quilt out of Americans. I wish that there had been more background information with Grams and Aunt Gayle.

[Esmeralda]

I was just going to post my summaries, but decided to post the rest of my reviews anyway.

The Power of Two
Written by: Brad Kern
Season 1,Episode 20
Episode Number: 20

First, it was absolutely fantastic to be able to watch Charmed again after so many months away, and what a wonderful episode to come back to. Once more, my apologies go out to Brad Kern – I truly can’t believe that he knew the sisters so well that he could write such a wonderful episode. I truly thought all of the episodes he wrote were dreadfully inconsistent with the rest of Charmed. Oh, was I wrong! What the heck happened once he totally took over???

This episode makes me wish more and more that Prue had opened up to Andy earlier – I so loved watching her and Andy work together to solve the case, even if both now know that sorry Pandy-fans, had Andy lived, they would not have gotten together. That was made very clear in this conversation:

(Prue and Andy go into Prue's office.) I cannot believe you did that.
Andy: It's the least I can do. After all, you did help us bust somebody. Sure, he was already dead, but still...
Prue: Well, thank you.
Andy: You're welcome. Listen, Prue, I've done some thinking about the truth spell and, well, I'm still trying to sort my feelings out but I've kinda come to the conclusion that no matter whether I had a minute, a month, or a year to think about it, it wouldn't change the truth. It may sound boring but I know someday I want to have a normal life to come home to. With a white picket fence, a two car garage, a screaming kid, but no demons. Maybe it's because of all the evil I deal with everyday on the job. I don't know.
Prue: You don't have to explain, I understand. Believe me I wouldn't want to come home to it either if I could avoid it but I can't. You can.
(They hug.)

And that might be why so few Halliwells married magical men….and why Piper and Leo didn’t work until Leo lost his powers…

Funny, of all the scary things that happened during this episode, the thing that scared me the most was the Guest Credits – seeing Carlos Gomez, knowing who he plays and the consequences of him becoming part of the story….*shudder*.

It was fun getting to see Prue and Phoebe alone without Piper as their buffer, and for them to come to an understanding. It was fun to see Prue almost lose her job and Andy, of all people, helping save it.

The whole idea of the ghost going after all of the people who executed him and the idea of the Soul Collection (did anyone else wish we’d get to see her again) was scary, but very well done.

There was also the idea of one of the Charmed Ones having to die in order to vanquish a bad guy – the first time this has happened, but certainly not the last. Maybe because this one was the first, it was very, very effective, especially when I’d forgotten that it was Andy who ended up saving Prue, first before getting rid of the ghost and then after he was gone, or as Phoebe put it – “Is the ghost toast?”

Just like the last few episodes I watched, now that Charmed has found its footing, I’m truly in love with Season One, and I once more have to tip my cap to Brad Kern!

GRADE: A
 
Love Hurts
Written by: Chris Levinson, Zack Estrin, and Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Season 1, Episode 21
Episode Number: 21

*happy sigh as I cry happy tears*

This episode was one of my favorites when I first watched it, and having re-watched it, it most definitely still is. Piper & Leo’s love story is just so beautiful…if only they didn’t ruin it by bringing Leo back in Season Two…truly he just should’ve stayed gone, and Piper proves why in this episode. For all her love for Leo, she puts him in front of their innocent – she doesn’t care if anything happens to Daisy, only what she wants. In some ways she’s just as bad as Alec, the darklighter, or Phoebe and Cole in Season Five – not love; that’s pure obsession, the reason why I wish Phoebe and Cole’s love story had ended during Season Four, the way I wish Piper & Leo’s had in Season One.

But what *does* show that it is indeed truly love and makes it so beautiful is this conversation, one that makes me love Piper so much and makes me miss this Piper so much, because it’s someone who won’t be able to make this same decision again:

Leo: No. World War II. I left med school and enlisted as a medic. I wanted to help save people not shoot them. The last thing I remember, I was bandaging a soldier's head wound and I felt a sharp pain and the next thing I know I was floating surrounded by White Lighters. They offered me immortality and the chance to help special people like you. I never once ever doubted that I didn't make the right choice. Till I met you. Ever since all I can think is how I'd give it up and have a mortal life again to have a family, grow old... with you.
Piper: Is that possible?
Leo: Yeah, I can become human again, Piper, if you want me to.
Piper: Are you kidding? I want that more than anything. I don't want to lose you again.
Leo: But...
Piper: But then you wouldn't be able to help other witches or other future Whitelighters, would you? You couldn't help save the next Daisy.
(There's silence.)
Leo: I better go. (They kiss.) I love you.
(He disappears.)
Piper: I love you too.

If only she could’ve continued to love him that much rather than loving herself and her wants more.…

On a totally different theme is the idea of switching powers, Prue and Phoebe finding out why they had their own powers and not each other’s. That was such fun.

But then there was the bit with Rodriguez and Andy and Prue…oh, how I wish we could’ve had more of this storyline, but, oh, am I glad that we only have to put up with Rodriguez for one more episode…even if it means no more Andy!

Daisy is one of my favorite innocents for a bunch of reasons. Like a lot of other characters, I truly wish we could’ve seen her again.

GRADE: A+
 
Déjà vu All Over Again
Written by: : Brad Kern and Constance M. Burge
Season 1, Episode 22
Episode Number: 22

I’ve once more just finished watching a Charmed episode and am crying my eyes out. I can *so* see why this episode is the favorite of so many Charmed fans – and I must admit that now it’s one of mine, too, even more than “That Seventies Episode”, which I’ve always loved. This one puts together all of my favorite parts of Charmed even better than that one. In fact, I’m wondering when I watch my current favorite, “Morality Bites” if this one might end up beating out that one…

It’s strange that one of the reasons why I love it so much is because of the irony of it – in this one, the only Charmed One who doesn’t die is Prue, when of course, in 44 more episodes, she will be the one who does, and unlike Piper and Phoebe, she doesn’t come back. There’s also the irony that Tempus, who appears to be vanquished in this one, comes back in that one to reset time, a reset that saves both Piper and Prue, the way the second reset in this one saved both Piper and Phoebe, even though in this one it set up Andy’s death, while that one set up Prue’s.

*sigh* It just makes me wish more and more that “All Hell Breaks Loose” had been the last episode….

But, of course, this isn’t the only reason why I now love this episode so much. This time I noticed more the differences in Prue and Andy’s meetings during each loop – where it isn’t until Prue can truly tell Andy that she still loves him and he finally says that he still loves her, that he’s willing to give up his life for hers – not only that, but to tell her to go back because she does good things, when you know how very happy both of them could be if they could both be together on the other side. And that makes me happy to know that they did that just two years later…

I love how it’s Phoebe’s power of premonition (which has been *so* important and *so* powerful this season, unlike how useless it becomes later on) that lets her realize that they’re in the midst of the time loop. I love how meeting JoAnn helps Piper to realize that she’s not fulfilling her own dream of owning her own restaurant as compared to managing one. And I love how Prue realizes that they may not be murderers, but they aren’t angels either.

This episode also makes me think of “Forever Charmed” and all of the differences, and again I find myself wishing that “All Hell Breaks Loose” was indeed the end of Charmed….

Again I think all of the sisters look their prettiest during this episode, especially Piper and Prue (Phoebe’s eyebrows take away from her looks).

And, of course, I love “Calling All Angels”, the song played while Prue is mourning at Andy’s gravesite, even as Darryl and her sisters watch.

Oh, yes. I can definitely see why this episode is a lot of Charmed fans’ favorite…

GRADE: A++

[Esmeralda]

Witch Trial
Written by: Brad Kern
Season 2, Episode 01
Episode Number: 23

This episode really hit me, perhaps because I just watched “Déjà vu All Over Again” yesterday. My heart so goes out to Prue and Darryl as they try to cope with losing Andy, especially Prue, who feels guilty over his death. I love the fact that she is, rather than hopping into bed with the next cute guy who shows up, like her sisters usually do in future seasons. It just shows how very much she cared. And much like Piper after Prue’s own death, the idea of what use is magic if it keeps getting loved ones killed is haunting Prue. But being reminded by her sisters by how much good their magic does, rather than using Andy’s death to continue to feel sorry for herself for the next five years and pout and whine, Prue becomes a better and stronger person.

Brad Kern wrote this episode. He also wrote “Charmed Again”. Why couldn’t he let Piper come to the same conclusion and do the same thing?

Actually I think I know why. By the time Season Four had shown up, all that the Halliwell magic was used for was fighting demons. Back here, as Phoebe tells Prue in one of the most powerful scenes in the entire series:

Phoebe: And there was nothing that you could have done to stop him, Prue. He chose to walk through that door, not because of who you are, honey, but because of who he was.
Piper: Protector of the innocent, just like us.
Prue: I just don’t know if I believe in it anymore.
Phoebe: Honey, we’ve done a lot of good as witches too. You know that. But that doesn’t mean that bad things still aren’t gonna happen. But just because we can’t help that, doesn’t mean that is our fault.
Piper: Or yours.

No wonder why I loved the series so much more during the earlier seasons, before the series turned into “Buffy-Lite”, trying to replace the much-more popular series when it jumped ship from The WB to UPN by becoming it rather than staying true to itself…

*sigh*

Other thoughts: I’ve always loved it when Phoebe was the most interested in magic and this episode is a great showcase for that. But did anyone else feel dreadful for the horrible position Phoebe put Piper in the park – especially when they could hear Grams’ voice?? I half-wish that Prue had been along – can you just imagine the what-for she would’ve given Phoebe???
Although the astral-plane plot was extraordinarily fascinating, there was a lot of problems with it – the biggest one being how did Abraxas get to the front of the Book so fast and why didn’t all of the other demons that we saw in Season One show up?

Also, what did the title “Witch Trial” have to do with the episode?

But didn’t you just love when Prue and Phoebe get together to help get the loan to help Piper out? Such a great sisterly thing to do, although I didn’t quite accept the reason why she now wanted to run a nightclub rather than a restaurant…

And the sisters and us getting to see Grams as a ghost for the first time. Although it became pretty ho-hum by the end of the series, especially when she was corporeal more than she was a ghost, it was pretty special this first time, and I loved her message in the Book.

And then there’s the *real* bad part of the episode…the introduction of the Gordons. Dan I like – always did and always will – but why in God’s name did they have to introduce Jenny and why make her such a brat???

Also, what happened to Phoebe? She looks half-tanned but more burnt. Not a good look at all.

Still, I enjoyed the episode and can’t wait for more, especially when I know what’s next…

GRADE: A-
 
Morality Bites
Written by: Chris Levinson and Zach Estrin
Season 2, Episode 02
Episode Number: 24

I will admit that when I started this re-watch, I wondered whether I would find that there were episodes that I didn’t like before that I’d love this time, but I also wondered whether I would find that there were episodes that I loved before that I’d hate this time around. Among the episodes on that list, this one was at the tip-top. It has always been my favorite episode for so many different reasons – would I change my mind?

Well, the tears rolling down my cheeks definitely tell the tale – I still absolutely love it. It takes all the things that I love most about Charmed and put it all into one episode. And best of all – no demons, just an evil mortal – and three Charmed Ones who are no longer good, and who learn that once you start breaking the small rules, it’s so much easier to break the bigger ones – to become morally ambiguous…the reason I hate when Charmed turns in that direction, to the point where it’s perfectly AOK to murder…*shudder*

The funny thing is that in a lot of ways, I wish that this episode had never been aired. If it hadn’t, I don’t think I’d be as judgmental about future seasons and probably would’ve enjoyed them a lot more.

Something bothered me this time around that didn’t bother me before. It must be watching one episode right after another that does it, but I can’t help wondering if like “The Wedding From Hell” in Season One, if this episode was shown out of order, or more, if there’s actually a missing episode. It just seems so strange for Piper to be kissing another man, but refusing to go farther because she’s missing Leo to suddenly have Leo as part of her life and acting as if both of them saying that they had “work” and that they’d have to “talk about it” is something that has happened a lot.

But despite both of those things, I still love this episode and still wish that the sister had never forgotten that “The wrong thing done for the right reason is still the wrong thing” and that they are “supposed to protect the innocent not punish the guilty.”

GRADE: A+++

 
The Painted World
Written by: Constance M. Burge
Season 2, Episode 03
Episode Number: 25

I am more convinced than ever that “Morality Bites” is not in the proper spot and that this one should’ve been Episode Two. There is absolutely no mention or sign of Leo and instead Piper is already flirting with Dan, who never showed up during “Morality Bites”. Much as I adore “Morality Bites”, I’m still finding myself wishing this had been Episode 2; it would’ve made everything, including the next episode make a heckova lot more sense!

Back to this episode. A very, very interesting concept, very well done. Above all, I love the idea that a warlock – Jane- can be a female –too many people seem to think that only males can be warlocks and that never made a lot of sense to me. Not quite sure how Jane knew that it would be the Charmed Ones who would free Malcolm – I somehow got the feeling that she already had stolen the power of premonition from a witch…But in an episode about being smart, I love how smart Jane was – what better way to get the Charmed Ones to save your warlock lover than trick the Charmed Ones into thinking that the warlock is an innocent??

Phoebe’s smart spell is another one of those ones like the truth spell that I wish the sisters could’ve cast without personal gain – just for knowledge. It would’ve made being a witch so much more fun!

During the episode, I was smiling over how consistent this episode was with Season One. Then I started writing this review and found out it was written by Connie Burge and that made it made all the sense. Prue talked about how smart the witch who trapped Malcolm was in inventing that entire world – the true smart one was Connie. I’m so glad she invented the Charmed Ones!

GRADE: B+

 
The Devil's Music
Written by: David Simkins
Season 2, Episode 04
Episode Number: 26

YIPPEE!! I have power again!!! And although I lost out on my chance to have a Charmed marathon like I wanted to last weekend, at least I can go back to my re-watch!

And what a great episode to restart my re-watch! I know a lot of fans don’t like this one, but I do. I especially like how many different plotlines all come together into one episode – it’s such great plotting and writing by David Simkins!

You take a very yucky demon who likes to eat innocent souls who makes a pact with Dishwalla’s manager and add Piper’s club (officially entitled P3) in financial trouble, and you suddenly have Prue taking out a loan to save P3 without wanting to pay the “interest”, Dishwalla coming to P3, Jenny wanting to go to the concert despite being underaged and Darryl suddenly wanting to know why fans are disappearing at Dishwalla concerts!

The best scene has to be when suddenly the icky loan shark is telling Piper they have to talk at the same time that Darryl tells her that they have to talk at the same time that the sisters see Carlton taking Jenny to see the monster, right after Leo has told Piper that they have to talk! I SO love it!

Speaking of Leo, this is the first time that he uses “magic dust” and also says that he used a spell on Carlton. A whitelighter’s a witch??? And don’t you wish he’d used that magic dust more often??

Masselin has to be one of the ickiest demons the sisters face (and was I mistaken or did the guy who plays the original Source (not the half-faced one) also play him?? The voice sure sounds the same…) and I love all of the ideas that the sisters come up with in how to vanquish him, although not as much as Piper’s and Phoebe’s conversation when poor Phoebe can’t tell if Piper is talking about Leo or the demon – or later, Carlton!

And Dan and Leo meeting for the first time with Leo recognizing him as an ex-ballplayer! Poor Piper! The two guys interested in her….friendly to each other???

Phoebe’s right…having a relationship with one of your co-workers is just not a good idea (wish she’d remember that when she runs into Jason and Leslie…) and the Elders letting Leo be the sisters’ whitelighter shows how stupid they are!

It’s a shame that all this happens when Piper looks her absolute prettiest! So does Prue. Phoebe is too tanned and something else about her looks..off…and Elish (or however it’s spelled) dressing Phoebe in that silver thing didn’t help one bit! But I still love all three sisters, especially Phoebs proving she didn’t really need that smart spell in the previous episode when she’s the one who figured out how to get the poison pill on her dress into the demon! Maybe she doesn’t have a lot of book-learning, but she has tons of street-smarts! Too bad she lost that when she became Ms. Media Star….

*sigh* This episode is also the start of the Triangle that so many fans couldn’t stand but that I thoroughly loved the first time around and still love watching, partially because knowing what’s going to happen, I can *so* wish she’d made the right decision no matter who she truly loves! OH, I wish that Leo didn’t linger but simply stayed away!! Then Piper could’ve fallen for Dan without being on the rebound and never again would she complain about a normal life…she’d have one at home! And her sons wouldn’t be half-whitelighters and Wyatt never would’ve turned evil and Chris would’ve stayed in the future where he belongs….if only!

GRADE: B+

 
She’s a Man, Baby, a Man
Written by: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Season 2, Episode 05
Episode Number: 27

I have a big huge smile on my face…

I’ve just finished watching one of my all-time favorite scenes of Charmed. It’s the Tag to this episode, the three sisters dancing with their guys to the Cranberries – laughing, dancing with three non-magical guys, just having fun being just sisters, not witches. It will always be how I’ll remember the original Power of Three….

I can watch that scene over and over and over again!

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’d want to watch the episode over and over again. There’s a lot of it that I like, but once a re-watch is enough..

But the part I love the most is watching Piper fall in love with Dan…it’s when I first fell in love with Dan, because he’s a bit of a Harry Stu – everything a girl would want a guy to be, so how can Piper *not* fall in love?

OH, HOW I WISH LEO HAD JUST STAYED AWAY!!!!!

For that matter, I wish Prue had stayed with Alan and Phoebe with Dr. Owen. They’re all so perfect for them, so much more than Andy was for Prue or Cole was for Phoebe.

Of course, none of these guys knew the girls’ big secret and we have no idea how they would’ve reacted, but if they had reacted the way Henry would…oh, if only!!!

But then we wouldn’t have any drama, so I guess that simply wouldn’t have worked out…oh, well!

On a different track, Shannen did such a fantastic job playing Manny, and both Holly and Alyssa did a great job playing off of her, even if excited Phoebs reminded me too much of Freebie/PhoeME who we’d meet later during the series…

I also really liked the agreement that Prue and Darryl are coming to – he doesn’t want to know their secret, he just wants help saving people. And although working with Darryl has to remind Prue of Andy, she wants the same thing.

Yes, I’m truly enjoying this re-watch…

GRADE: B-

 
That Old Black Magic
Written by: Vivian Mayhew and Valerie Mayhew
Season 2, Episode 06
Episode Number: 28

This is one of those episodes that I really didn’t like before I re-watched it and I still don’t really like it. I don’t hate it; I just don’t like it. Like a lot of episodes that I don’t like, one of the reasons is that it’s too scary for me – I’m sure I’ll have nightmares tonight. I did not like Blair Witch and I do *not* like this knockoff- it’s much too scary!!

And then who’s the innocent or the savior or the Chosen One or whatever – a teenager! I keep saying that Charmed did not do teenagers well and this is another good example of that. I didn’t like Kyle and I still don’t like Jenny. If I’m not mistaken, I *think* this is the last episode where she appears – I sure hope so!

And then we’re back to concentrating on Halliwells in love which is never a pleasant thing – Piper deciding between Dan and Leo is a terrible person, all about her. Prue with Jack is a terrible person, all about her. Every time either Leo or Jack showed up, I just wanted them to go away. I *so* wish that Piper had ended up with Dan, especially if he could’ve accepted her as a witch as Andy couldn’t accept Prue, but as Henry accepted Paige. And the only sister I truly like in this episode is the one who’s not in love – Phoebe. I love how she steps up and keeps her sisters in line. That’s my Phoebs!

About the only part of it I really liked is when Prue was talking to Kyle after Tuatha was vanquished – she truly would’ve made a wonderful mother and it’s back to making me wish that Phoebe would be the one who died at the end of Season Three, so she could remain my Phoebs always and so that maybe Prue would’ve been the one to get married and have kids. She would’ve made *such* a better mother than Piper who stunk in the role.

GRADE: D+

 
They’re Everywhere
Written by: Sheryl J Anderson
Season 2, Episode 07
Episode Number: 29

YAY! My weekend Charmed marathon has begun! And although it’s raining out there, it’s definitely not storming, nor is it supposed to, so hopefully I won’t lose power again and can actually do this thing! I’ve got some Real Life stuff to do this weekend, unlike last weekend, but I’m going to use every free minute I get for re-watching Charmed.

And what a fantastic show to start out with!! There is no doubt about it that Sheryl J. Anderson is one of my all-time favorite Charmed writers, maybe my favorite writer, period. I always finish each of her episodes in happy tears. She so knows how to write what I love best about Charmed – family and innocents, while also adding some fun humor to it.

In this one, the funny is the whole bit about are Jack and Dan warlocks after Jack has appeared to have blinked (I love how all of the sudden all warlocks blink where we learned in “The Witch is Back” that Matthew Tate stole that power from a witch, so it should be a witch’s power, not a warlock’s…) and Kit hisses at Dan. Of course, already knowing that Jack has a twin, Jeff, who runs a bunch of mortuaries and Kit is hissing at a beehive just makes it all the more fun, as does Phoebe using Jack’s apology-phone to call Japan!

And then there’s the idea of Piper and Prue casting a thought-hearing spell to help them figure out if indeed the guys are warlocks and all the fun in that, especially hearing poor Dan wondering if he’s *ever* get over the threshold into the Manor! Personally I still wish Phoebe had gotten telepathy rather than empathy – it would’ve really come in handy!

The family in this case is the same as the innocent – Eric’s relationship with his father reminding the sisters of the relationship they don’t have with their father, I think they only time when Victor is actually a part of this season.

I love the whole idea of the Akashic records and the warlocks trying to get what’s in Eric’s brain so they can get it, and the sisters wondering if in order to save Eric, which means saving the world, they might have to sacrifice Eric’s father, which reminds me of “Apocolypse Not”. And I love how the thought spell helps them defeat the warlocks!

I also love how sweet and caring Phoebe is in this episode, she’s so very much my Phoebs! AND how her martial arts comes in handy – she doesn’t just stand around and do nothing while her sisters battle the demon as she will in the future. AND, of course, how very important her premonitions are.

Yes, Sheryl J. Anderson, another episode very well done!

GRADE:A+

 
P3 H2O
Written by: Chris Levinson and Zack Estrin
Season 2, Episode 08
Episode Number: 30

Oh, man! I’ve cried a lot during this marathon but never where it really truly hurts this much….

This is the first time I’ve watched this episode since I lost my own mom, and it brings it all back. My heart so goes out to the sisters, especially Prue, having to see her mom dead like I saw mine, and when she was only 8. At least I was 50. It will be ten years next March, just like it was 20 years for the sisters… I even used this episode to decide how I was going to tell Mom good-bye – I paraphrased Prue’s words: “When you see Grandma and Grandpa, say hi for us, hi for me.” I think those words made it easier on them – I know it made it easier for my dad to lose her and I’ll always be grateful to Charmed for that.

There’s so much about this episode – it’s so beautiful, so powerful. It’s such a shame that so many fans think it was just done in case something happened that they’d have to let one of the actresses go, that there would be an extra Patty’s daughter in the wings. I sincerely think that’s the last thing that Chris Levinson and Zack Estrin had in mind, because again, there’s just so much more to it.

But you guys know the story, so I’ll just say that there are three episodes that I wish was Brian Krause’s last one – “Love Hurts” “Oh, My Goddess” and “P3 H20”. I really wish this one had been it. Because they’re right – the only way they can be happy is for Leo to not do his job, to clip his wings, and the powers of Good loses one of its best weapon in the battle against Evil. I know Piper’s that selfish. It hurts to think that Leo is.

Leo’s right that Piper can’t tell Dan her secret no matter how many times she tells him that she can tell him anything (Liar! Your younger son must get that trait from you…), which is so dreadfully unfair to him. Much as I love Piper this season, I hate that about her, the way I’ll hate Phoebe for lying to Prue about Cole next season. I so wish she could, and I so wish that like Henry, Dan could accept her as a witch, so she could have a happy homelife, maybe never have the Twice Blessed Brat and his brother, but just two normal witches for kids.

Oh, one other thing. In one thread we discuss Leo not being able to heal the dead. In this episode he says he can only heal when he’s meant to heal. That, of course, changes later on.

I wish it didn’t….

GRADE: A

 
Ms. Hellfire
Written by: Constance M. Burge and Sheryl J. Anderson
Story by Constance M. Burge
Season 2, Episode 09
Episode Number: 31

After the over-emotionalism of the previous episode, it was nice to have one that was scary but fun. And one with the best eye candy in Charmed – Bane!!!! Oh, Antonio Sabato Jr! NUMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!

In my dream Charmed where it’s Phoebs who dies rather than Prue, I always dream that Bane gets out of jail early for good behavior and they make beautiful children together!!! Now there’s the Charmed children I would like to see! And, oh, I thought I remembered the strong chemistry between Prue and Cole??? Nope, Prue and Bane have them beat for the hottest chemistry in Charmed!!!

Of course, unfortunately, we also have to put up with the ugliest guy in Charmed in this episode – Barbas. Like Phoebe says, I never get tired of seeing them vanquish his butt, but why does he have to keep coming back???

And if he’s the ugliest, Marcy has to be one of the most annoying innocents we’ve run into – well, except for the doctor who Prue will give up her life for… Again, like Phoebe says (she has some of the best lines in this episode!), who knew perky could be so annoying?

Although, hallelujah, we now know that Jenny has moved back with her parents, so we got rid of one big annoyance!

And then you have Prue getting her new power, that of astral projection. As fun as it is and as much as it makes sense that if she can move other things with her mind, why not her astral self, I hate the fact that in true astral projection, others should not be able to see her, nor should she be able to do anything – she should just be able to watch. Now if it was just a Charmed power which makes it different (like Piper’s freezing not the same as usual molecular manipulation…this is the first episode when she can freeze a bunch of people and then just freeze one) that would be fine, but not when she can suddenly teach it to Leo who can teach it to her sisters and half-sister to save them from Zankou! GRRRRRR! And like Piper’s explosion, all of Paige’s many powers, and Phoebe’s levitation and empathy, I feel it’s totally unnecessary. Especially when you add in Phoebe’s martial arts (and this is the episode when Prue talks about taking kick-boxing lessons with her…), they really don’t need any more than the three original powers…

I’m pretty sure that Sheryl J. Anderson’s part in this episode is Dan and Piper (don’t you just love her sisters giving “Pepper” a bad time about spending too much time at Dan’s??) and also Piper and Phoebe trying to convince Prue that they’re really their sisters – it’s just so wonderfully Sheryl J Anderson.

Like I said, an episode that was simply fun!

GRADE: B+

 
Heartbreak City
Written by: David Simkins
Season 2, Episode 10
Episode Number: 32

[smile] I know a lot of fans don’t like this particular episode; I totally love it!! I absolutely love the relationship Prue and Phoebe have – it’s them as sisters and best friends at their very best, with Shannen and Holly putting their friendship to very good use.

And my Phoebs is so very much my Phoebs, the baby of the family who has lost her mom and her dad and who is afraid to open up to love – who has always just been using sex as a very bad substitute because she’s afraid that if she opens up her heart, the person she loves will leave her. And she looks her absolutely prettiest in this episode – I love her with the long curly hair! And the way she helps everyone, it does seem to foretell her as “Ask Phoebe”… Along with “Morality Bites”, this is my favorite Phoebe-episode.

It’s just sad to think that the one who will come into her heart will also make her slam it shut again – Cole. What a mean trick to play on her!

Of course all the things that Drazi tells Piper and Prue and Dan and Jack are totally true, but so is everything that Cupid and Phoebe tell them. Piper, by the way, looks absolutely beautiful – her bangs growing out really suit her well, much more than when it’s all straight –it’s stylish and truly suits her face.

Speaking of Cupid, I so wish that if Phoebe has to end up with a Cupid, it would’ve been this one. He’s not as hot as Coop, but, oh, he makes my Phoebs her absolute best while Coop made her her absolute worst!

GRADE: A+

PS. Unfortunately I’m beginning to fade, so I’m going to call quits on the marathon for tonight. I’ve got some Real Life stuff to get to tomorrow morning and early afternoon, but I’ll get back to it just as soon as I can. I’m already half way through S2 and it’s only been a few hours! I might actually get to S3 this weekend! We shall see…

 
Reckless Abandon
Written by: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Season 2, Episode 11
Episode Number: 33

Well, we’re back from the game (Twins won!) and ate there, so I’m back to my Charmed marathon, and what a great episode to watch! I sure do love S2 episodes! Yes, the story arcs are all about the sisters’ relationships with the bad guys as just standalones, but for me, that’s Charmed at its best. I’d much more concentrate on their relationship and innocents than the most-recent Big Bad, which got SOOOOO boring in the latter seasons, starting with the Source and ending with Billie and Christy.

And this was definitely an innocent I loved – little Matthew (oh, NO! Not ANOTHER Matthew in this series?? Truly, don’t they know any other male names??? They SO should’ve given Paige a different last name…)! As Prue puts it, the three sisters finally all fall for the same guy! I so totally love watching them with the little guy, and love watching Piper watch Dan with the little guy! He truly was too good to be true, just pure Harry Stu, even more than a certain angel who Piper ends up with even if she shouldn’t have. And, oh, does this episode show why she should *not* have been the one to have them – no maternal bones in this woman’s body! Again I’m definitely wishing that Prue had lived and been the one who ended up with kids – but most definitely not with Jack, who’s just a big baby himself – perfect as Prue’s inbetween guy, (someone she can take care of…) but definitely not daddy-material.

By the way, I also got a kick out of Phoebe going on and on about how many kids she’s going to have and Piper reminding her that she might want to look for a guy first….does *that* sound familiar, anyone?? Maybe Freebie/PhoeME is more like Phoebs than I remembered!

And then there’s the ghost and Mrs. V….. It’s also why I love this episode…that whole bit reminds me of my own teenaged guilty pleasure – the original Dark Shadows! Now that’s my type of creepy!! And I especially love the fact that Mrs. V is the one who actually killed Elias, the real reason why the ghost keeps going after her and why she can’t leave the manor, until she finally sacrifices herself for Matthew, the reason why one murderer goes to hell where he’ll never get a chance to be reincarnated while the other goes to heaven where she will.

And all of that sets up the *next* episode, another one of my all-time favorites!!

GRADE: A-

 
Awakened
Written by: Vivian Mayhew and Valerie Mayhew
Season 2, Episode 12
Episode Number: 34

I’m in a very, very strange state right now. I just finished watching an episode that usually has me bawling or at least feeling very good at the end, and I don’t. I feel, I don’t know, unsettled, I guess.

It’s this bit about not-so-recently during P3 H20 Leo told Piper that he couldn’t heal her poison ivy because it wasn’t magical and because “they” (they’re not called Elders until after Brad Kern takes over as sole executive producers) won’t let him. Now Piper is sick for a very-unmagical reason, “they” won’t let Leo heal her, and truly, she should die and we should get to meet Paige this soon. So how the hell was Leo able to heal her during the inbetween time and why the hell couldn’t “they” tell and stop him? And why do they just put him on suspension especially when he doesn’t want to put his powers to proper use – he just wants to win Piper? Either he should’ve had his wings clipped permanently (which is what I wish had happened – no more Piper whining about a normal life and no Twice Blessed Brat or his brother! HOW I WISH!!!) …and a bit like how I wish that Phoebs had been the one who died during “All Hell Breaks Loose” rather than Prue so that in my memory she’d remain my Phoebs, I’m finding myself wishing that Piper had died during this one. She deserved to die; she should’ve died, and I’d entgo away totally completely loving her for the sacrifice that she’s willing to make, the same sacrifice that she was willing to make during “Love Hurts” for the same reason, for the innocents, so very, very different than the cold, selfish, self-centered bitch she turns into during the last few seasons when the show turns into “The Perils of Poor, Poor Pitiful Piper” ending with Forever Crap, Mean Forever Piper, I mean Forever Charmed?

And a lot of this is due to the conversation that Prue has with Jack:

Jack: Hey, I just heard. Are you out of your mind?
Prue: I don’t know, maybe.
Jack: Come on, Prue. You can’t be serious. You can’t just quit.
Prue: I already did. I turned in my resignation and Cauldwell accepted it.
Jack: Why? Just because he doesn’t agree with you about selling the Monet?
Prue: It’s not authentic, Jack.
Jack: You know what? Buyer’s think it is and they’ve been thinking that way for over a hundred years.
Prue: So it’s worth whatever people is willing to pay for it, right?
Jack: Yeah, right.
Prue: No, it’s wrong. Or at least in my book it is and that’s
the way it used to be here before the take over. Before everyone cared more about the sell than what they're selling.
Jack: Including me, right?
Prue: Jack. It's not about the painting or Bucklands new philosophy. I've been thinking about this for a while. A lot has happened to me in the past year and a half. I've seen, I've seen things I never imagined existed and it's changed me. It's made me wanna make changes.

That’s the sort of morality that “they” should’ve had, too – Leo is behaving just like Jack, but this is the last we see of Jack and we’re gonna have to tolerate this Leo who is no longer an angel and never will be again for the rest of the series.

No, I’m not happy about it at all.

Funny, but when I first watched this series, I was thrilled silly that Leo healed Piper and now that Leo was going to fight for him. I thought it was so wonderful and so romantic! But knowing what’s going to happen, no, I’m not at all.

I think part of that is because I’ve fallen madly in love with Dan during this re-watch (and Piper was right – just like Leo, he fell for the wrong sister – Piper’s the one who should’ve never been married and never had kids – they should’ve been battling over Phoebe….everyone would’ve been *so* much happier! But, yes, yes, I know, I know – then there’s would be no drama….*huge sigh*) and he’s the one who I feel so sorry for. Yeah, this is the start of him turning into a creep, but what if Piper had been honest with him and shared her secret so he could understand Leo’s status in the household as their guide?

If only…if only….

On a much lighter note, Phoebe’s talk with Nathan about the Ninja wi…zard who can move things with his mind and freeze things and kick-box those germs right out of him is one of my all-time favorite parts of the entire series. She’s so the one who should’ve been first with Leo and then with Dan and gotten married and had kids.

But then again, if she had, I’ll bet they would’ve ruined her character the way they will when she falls for Cole and falls for Jason and falls for Leslie and falls for the guy she falls for at the beginning of S8 (can’t remember his name…) and falls for Coop and all of the other guys I’m forgetting (well, except Drake…). I keep saying it and it’s so true. A Halliwell in love is just not a very nice person.

GRADE: D+


Animal Pragmatism
Written by: Chris Levinson and Jack Estrin
Season 2, Episode 13
Episode Number: 35

Why after being so disappointed in “Awakened” couldn’t I have gotten a great episode to follow it, especially one where I started liking my characters again? No, that’s wrong, coz I love Prue and Phoebe in this episode. I just don’t love Piper or Leo or Dan, they’re all being very, very irritating. I’m supposed to be finding Leo and Piper all romantic and all wonderful and it would be – if Leo’s wings were permanently clipped and he could truly go back to being the handyman who Piper fell in love with. But I know better, so I can’t enjoy even that part of the episode. [sigh] And that was the part that made this crappy episode watchable.

Right now…it wasn’t. Suddenly my favorite season isn’t. Season One definitely has it beat. And that disappoints me….a lot.

Or for me, it would’ve been better if Piper had used Valentine’s Day to finally tell Dan the family secret. Just like Prue taking too long to tell Andy in Season One, Piper is taking much too long to tell Dan. At least next season, Phoebe won’t have to worry about telling Cole….How can Piper just continue to use Dan and not tell him the truth? And why couldn’t Leo have gone away at the end of P3 H20 and stayed away, or rather than be put on suspension, have his wings clipped permanently?

It’s too bad. I love the innocents and found everyone at P3 turning into animals funny. I love Prue getting bored with not doing anything. Even the animen were really scary, and Phoebs turned into Madame Spellwriter who can’t do it under pressure was also fun.

But….ick! For the first time I can say I am truly not enjoying my re-watch. And that really disappoints me.

All I can hope is that by doing my re-watch the way I'm doing it - skipping S5 and ESPECIALLY S6 and S8, that I'll feel differently about Piper and Leo as a couple than I do now. Then, when we do the board re-watch, maybe I can enjoy my favorite season again. Hehehehe. And who knows? Maybe I'll once again decide to skip S5, S6 and S8 so they won't ruin it for me again.

GRADE: F+

 
Pardon My Past
Written by Michael Gleason
Season 2, Episode 14
Episode Number: 35

Yay, now there was a pleasant switch – an episode that I didn’t really like before, I enjoyed this time around. The part of the episode that bugged me before – wondering why three evil witches could possibly become the Charmed Ones in one big jump (and, yes, I count Past Prue and Past Piper as evil for killing Past Phoebe rather than binding her powers, the same way I count S8 Piper, Phoebe and Paige as evil for murdering Billie and Christy rather than binding *their* powers – see? They truly didn’t evolve – they should’ve never been the Charmed Ones) – still bugs me, but compared with what happened in the previous two episodes, that seems small somehow.

Like “Morality Bites” (and Phoebe looked a lot like that Future Phoebe – maybe that’s what Phoebe is supposed to look like when she’s evil – I don’t remember if she looks that way in S4 at all…), this had to be one of Alyssa Milano’s best performances with the differences in her portrayal of Phoebe and Evil Phoebe. Piper and Prue were the same in both lifetimes – although Leo was wrong – Piper shouldn’t have learned a lesson from her past – she should’ve simply kept Leo as her lover and taken Dan as her husband…but Phoebe…wow!

And Anton!!! Anyone want to know why Phoebe will be attracted to Cole next season?? Because he reminds her so very much of her soul mate, Anton! Not as dreamy as Bane – but then who is? – but, oh, does our Phoebs love her guys tall, dark and dangerous, and, oh, does that describe her soul mate!

I’m not going to go into the whole family tree thing and how completely totally screwed up that and the one that we’ll see later on are, although I love the fact that we find out that Gram’s name is Penny Johnson Halliwell and she so totally lied when she told Piper that Halliwell women keep their maiden name, or the fact that Jack Halliwell will suddenly become Allen Halliwell during “Witchstock”, but, oh, if we ever find the person who was in control of consistency, they should be either fired or shot!

Again, the one I feel bad for is Dan. Doing so much to try to protect Piper from this man who must’ve lied about his past because as Leo Wyatt he has none, and still Piper won’t tell him a thing…He *so* doesn’t deserve this treatment!

But I’m happy to like the sisters again…maybe by not watching those 3 seasons I truly will feel that they have evolved and do deserve to be the Charmed Ones.

GRADE: B


Show Me a Sign
Written by Sheryl J. Anderson
Season 2, Episode 15
Episode Number: 36

I swear that when I do my next personal re-watch (not the board one…), it’s just going to be a Sheryl J. Anderson marathon. I’ve yet to watch one that I’m not totally, madly in love with! She so knows how to write the sisters, especially as sisters, and unlike so many other shows, she always ends them with me loving all of the sisters.

Well, all but Piper….if she truly always knew where her heart was, then why the hell did she string Dan along as she did? It at least explains why she never told him the family secret. That’s truly how you can tell if a Halliwell truly loves a mortal – if she tells him that secret…. But even if Leo is truly where Piper’s heart is at, and even if he is indeed her soul mate, I’ll still wish for Leo’s sake that they had never gotten married, especially not for the reasons why they get married in S3. Lovers? Oh, yes! Husband/wife, becoming father/mother, definitely not. Now had “they” clipped Leo’s wings permanently (and if he had stopped griping about wanting to help them and not being able to, which is getting as irritating as Piper whining about a normal life – see how very much these two are *not* meant to be together???) that would be a totally different story. But I hate watching the devolution of an angel into a useless errand boy, the only way where Piper will truly love him, because she certainly doesn’t love the angel. It’s why in my own Dream Charmed, I’ll always have Leo losing his wings, but to thank him for 80 years of whitelighterhood, “they” give him an identity – a doctor—so we don’t have to feel sorry for poor, poor Leo, which gets so, so irritating.

BUT, back to *this* story. I love how Phoebe’s spell to give a sign as to who her sister’s true love is doesn’t point to Piper and Leo, but instead points to Prue and Bane, with Bane as Prue’s true love. Oh, most definitely yes!!! Makes me wish more and more that Shannen had stuck around and that Bane had gotten out of jail for good behavior and that they’re the ones who got married and had kids! I’ve said before that Bane is the yummiest guy on Charmed and this episode does nothing to change my mind! And Prue in that pink top with her hair down around her shoulders is absolutely her prettiest, the reason I use a picture of her looking up at him as my avatar.  I love how I never feel sorry for eiter of them – if something bad happens, it makes them stronger. If only that had happened to Piper and Phoebe – it will to Paige.

And I love how Prue trusts Bane while her sisters don’t, absolutely necessary for Prue and Bane’s plan to work with Litvack as telepathic. Don’t you just *love* his power?? Don’t you just wish that Phoebe had gotten an angelic version of *that* power as an upgrade rather than empathy???

*And* this is the first time we heard mention of “the Source”. I thought it wasn’t until Season 3, but I was wrong on that one. Other fans think that he’s referred to in S1 and I always thought they meant Satan, but I could very well be wrong about that, too.

Just like I said, I’m just glad I’m back to loving at least 2 of the sisters – Prue and Phoebe. Piper, that's another story. I *so* wish she had died during “Awakened” and stayed dead! And, oh, during the first tinme I watched this series, I so felt totally opposite as Piper and Leo’s love story was my favorite story arc (WAY over Phoebe and Cole!) up to the wedding. It certainly isn’t this time around, and as always, I’m wondering how much that is being influenced by what I know is going to happen, and I’m so curious to see if skipping S5, 6 and 8 will change that…

As always, Sheryl J. Anderson, job very, very, VERY well done!

GRADE: A+

 
Murphy’s Luck
Written by David Simkins
Season 2, Episode 16
Episode Number: 37

This one was one of my all-time favorite episodes going into this season, and I’m very happy to say that it still is. It includes my favorite innocent, Maggie Murphy, played by one of my favorite actresses, a very young, but wonderful Amy Adams (LOVE her in Disney’s “Enchanted”!) and one of my favorite bad guys, a bad guy who I wish had been the Big Bad much more than just about any other bad guy just because the idea of what he can do to people like Maggie or Prue is so very, very scary! It includes one of Shannen Doherty’s best performance.

And it includes one of my scenes – Leo begging for and getting his wings back – he doesn’t want to lose Piper, but not at the expense of losing one of her sisters. If I hadn’t fallen in love with the angel before, I definitely did at this point. And knowing what Piper does to him, all I can say is *shudder*.

I’m wishing more and more that Charmed had ended after Season Three, or at least I had stopped watching after Season Three, or maybe Season Four if it had included Prue and ended Cole and Phoebe’s relationship the way Connie Burge originally envisioned it. I don’t know if I want to watch Season Seven, since that’s when Leo’s devolution from angel to useless errand boy truly happens. But since that doesn’t really happen until Season Eight and since I *do* have the S7 DVD, and since I do want to find out if it fits better after S4 like that one fan said, I will.

GRADE: A+
 

How to Make a Quilt Out of Americans
Written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Robert Masello
Story by Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Season 2, Episode 17
Episode Number: 39

This was one of my least-favorite S2 episodes going into my re-watch, and it still is, for all the usual reasons – much too creepy for this girl. I feel like it’s the first time they took a title (there was a very popular movie out around this time called “How to Make An American out of a Quilt”) and wrote an episode to fit it rather than writing an episode and then finding the title. Most of the episodes that they did that I haven’t particularly cared for and this is one of them.

This one definitely included a hunky piece of eye candy for the demon, but unlike Bane, he was a stupid one and there’s few things I hate more in Charmed than stupid demons. Even if I got a kick out of the sisters using “Good witches don’t freeze!” to fool him.

*sigh* And then you have Piper. Oh, I wish she had died during “Awakened” and stayed dead! She just keeps being more and more and more annoying! Wanting to give up her powers just so she can have a normal life and be able to break up with Dan, which, of course, means she’d want Leo to give up his, becausel if he didn’t, she wouldn’t have her normal life. And to have the nerve to tell Dan that she still loves him and always will when she still hasn’t told him the truth.

About the only part of it I liked was Phoebs getting over her vanity and wearing her glasses. Too bad she won’t get over her vanity in latter seasons when she becomes Ms. Sex Symbol….

No more to say about this one. Just ick.

GRADE: F

 
Chick Flick
Written by Chris Levinson and Zack Estrin
Season 2, Episode 18
Episode Number: 40

This one was one of my least-favorite episodes the first time I watched it, and you can probably guess why – it scared the bejesus out of me! I hate horror movies and will always hate horror movies and this one shows all the reasons why – all the violence for no reason whatsoever.

But going into my re-watch, it was one of my favorites and it still is. A lot of it is that I can now laugh at the campiness of it all, and especially some of the fantastically wonderful lines in this episode, and just as much of it is the story of illusion and idols. Prue meets her idol and finds him lacking; Phoebe finds the first of all of her many, many, many fantasy guys and finds him “swell”. Just like Phoebe, I love Billy and always wish that she could’ve ended up with someone like him, when none of her other fantasy guys come anywhere near as good, which, since he is true fantasy makes sense. But I can still wish. It’s funny, but when Billie first showed up in Season Eight, I truly thought that she was Phoebe’s Ladybug, come back from the future and either named after Billy or actually Billy’s daughter. Don’t I wish! After all, she was pretty much a fantasy character….

And then there’s Piper and Leo and Dan and although I can say plenty about it, I’m probably getting as boring and as irritating as them, so I won’t. I’ll just say that part that I hated the most was Piper being upset that Dan had already found a rebound girl – if she can’t have him, no one can??? Oh, Piper! I’ll be happy when this season is over and Dan is gone. I just wish Piper would be, too.

GRADE: A

 
Ex Libris
Written by Brad Kern
Story by Peter Chomsky
Season 2, Episode 19
Episode Number: 41

I always love Charmed episodes about innocents, and when it’s also about justice without punishing the guilty, it’s even better, and this is one of the best ones. I love how both the story of Charlene the murdered student who had problems with her father and the father looking for justice for his own murdered daughter are blended into one, and along with it, the sisters’ feelings about their own missing father. I also like that one of those murderers isn’t a demon. Most of all I love that Phoebs is still remembering about protecting the innocent and not punishing the guilty – she hasn’t forgotten that important lesson yet….

I also love the idea of Charlene helping them out. I wish she hadn’t had to move on – she would’ve made a good helper for the sisters.

And I love how Darryl is blending into the stories. He doesn’t feel used as he will be in latter seasons to the point where I didn’t blame him at all when he moved away from the Halliwells.

Have to say it – very good job, Brad Kern and Peter Chomsky!

GRADE: A

 
Astral Monkey
Written by Constance M. Burge and David Simkims
Story by Constance M. Burge
Season 2, Episode 20
Episode Number: 42

For the first time in a long time, I’ve finished watching a Charmed episode and I’m in tears. Also for the first time in a long time, I’m glad that Piper didn’t stay dead during “Awakened” even if it meant that this episode would not have happened. But, oh, this was one of Holly Marie Combs’ best performances; she so rocks doing mourning. And Leo comforting her is simply one of the most beautiful scenes in Charmed. I so wish I could just forget what will happen to their relationship…because right now their story is beautiful.

I totally love the monkeys, especially with what they do with their powers and am totally horrified by what Dr. Williamson does, even though I could sometimes wish that things like that could happen to bad people so that good people can live – but who gets to decide who’s good and who’s bad? And as Darryl said, no one deserves to die like that…

The other parts, I’ll just skip. Let’s just say it was a very good episode.

GRADE: B+

 
Apocolypse Not
Written by Sheryl J. Anderson
Story by Sanford Golden
Season 2, Episode 21
Episode Number: 43

A lot of fans think that this episode should’ve been the season finale and I tend to agree with them. The sisters have almost died a lot in this season, and it’s usually to save others. What bigger sacrifice than give up your sister in order to save the world? That “If there was a burning building” question is one that gets asked a lot, one that you know the second set of sisters would answer differently because they *will* have to sacrifice a sister….

Leo in this one reminds me a lot of the Leo in Morality Bites, and just like that one, there’s a lot of reasons why I wish this episode had never been done, because in just a couple more episodes, great powers will not mean great responsibility as was shown in both of those episodes as everyone becomes morally grey. How I hate seeing that happen to this show that I love so much.

GRADE: A

 
Be Careful What You Witch For
Written by: Brad Kern, Zack Estrin and Chris Levinson
Story by: Brad Kern
Directed by: Shannen Doherty
Season 2, Episode 22
Episode Number: 44

My family goes out for Sunday dinner so I have to make this quick. I’ll do my Season Two Summary when I get back. All I’ll say about this one is I don’t like most of the Season Finales and this is definitely one that fits that definition. Don’t hate it; just don’t like it.

But now we know why we saw so little of Prue in the previous episode – Shannen Doherty was getting ready to direct this one…The same thing will happen at the end of next season, when in her next-to-last episode, Prue is a dog…

GRADE: C

[Esmeralda]

The Honeymoon is Over
Written by Brad Kern
Season 3, Episode 01
Episode Number: 45

I usually don’t like season premieres and this one is no exception. If I had my way, I would’ve given it a title that had something to do with the truth or with lying to cover. Prue and Phoebe lie in order to hide their secret, but let a murderer go free. Cole lies about being a demon (don’t you really wish that we wouldn’t have found that out about him until the sisters found out?) so that he can infiltrate their lives. Piper and Leo want to lie to his bosses so they can stay together.

But there’s a reason why witches and whitelighters aren’t supposed to fall in love and why Leo and Piper should never get married. They learned it in P3 H2O – they’re too wrapped up in each other to do their jobs. When it’s more important for Leo to figure out how to stay with Piper than finding out about the demons who are stealing the souls of criminals who might be evil but who are humans and who can be saved, well, he really should still be mortal, or he should truly be taken away and kept away from Piper forever.

It’s a shame when Phoebe really looks pretty with her lighter hair, Cole, of course, is gorgeous (not as gorgeous as Bane, of course, but pretty darn close!) and the others look pretty good too.

It’s also all about battling demons and scaring the crap out of me. Really, the only character I truly loved in this episode is Darryl.

About the only part of this episode that I did like was Piper telling Leo that she wanted to marry him because she thought she was going to die and she didn’t want to die without having the chance to be married to him. That was beautiful. The rest of the episode wasn’t.

As for Phoebe’s levitation…why?? It has absolutely nothing to do with premonitions. Why give her an active power when up to this point her main power was so very important?

No, already I don’t really like this season, as I again wish that “Morality Bites” and “Apocalypse Not” were never aired. But they were and as I watch them continually forgetting the lessons they learned during those episodes – when the only thing they remember is that Piper and Leo got married while totally forgetting that they also got divorced, so very obviously getting married was not a good idea, it hurts.

GRADE: C

 
Magic Hour
Written by Chris Levinson and Zack Estrin
Season 3, Episode 02
Episode Number: 46

This was one of my favorite episodes going into this re-watch and it still is. I know a lot of fans find Brooke and Christopher’s story (they sure do like reusing the same names, don’t they? But can there be any two characters more different than the two Christophers???) extremely sappy (yes, guys, I mean you..), but I find it extremely beautiful, to me the only story about true love on Charmed – to go that long under those circumstances and still be in love, and to be willing to put yourself in a horrible situation in order to save the one you love, and then that beautiful reunion…oh, yes, fairy tale though it may be, I love it so much more than any of the Charmed Ones’ love story – well, except for Piper and Mark the Ghost, Prue and Bane, and Phoebe and Drake – but this one is much more beautiful than any of theirs. And it just makes Piper’s and Leo’s look as selfish as it truly is. The only beautiful part of the whole thing was how they looked during the wedding and Piper being willing to put her “rutabaga” on hold in order to give Brooke and Christopher their happy ending, because Christopher *wouldn’t* have been able to save Brooke without Piper’s help.

Of course, the problem with “them” (and they *are* still “them” – no one has called them The Elders yet) taking Leo away is that we know that they’ll let him come back.

Somehow I can’t believe that it was truly Grams giving Phoebe that whole talk about true love when she’s never had it. It felt so much more like a Patty-line. It also sounds like a Brad Kern line, since the sisters putting their life ahead of their magical lives is what the rest of the show will be about to the point that the only way where Piper and Leo will truly be happy is when an angel becomes a little errand boy…and “the wrong thing done for the right reason is still wrong” goes totally out the window when it has something to do with love. Thanks, Grams. No wonder your granddaughters are so screwed up!

Truly, for me the sappy part was Phoebe around Cole. Alyssa, make her act like a woman in love, not a thirteen-year-old!

But, oh, didn’t you just love finding out that it was Cole who had let his bosses know about the “rutabaga” so they could let Leo’s bosses know??? But how did they suddenly become the Triad this season when we heard all about the Demonic Council last season? Or is it because three is such a magical number in this show?

But don’t you wish that *that* was when we found out what Cole truly was, after we had to get sick to our stomach watching Phoebe crushing?

GRADE: A-

 
Once Upon a Time
Written by Krista Vernoff
Season 3, Episode 03
Episode Number: 47

First off, I keep forgetting to add. Of all of the opening credits, I love this one the most. I love the way they show off each of the sisters’ powers and I especially love the picture they use for each actress when their name is shown. The guys, that’s another story, since Darryl and Leo’s are the same as the ones used before, and Cole is just, well, Cole, but the girls are fantastic.

Next, once more I am tears after watching an episode. I know a lot of fans find this one sappy, but once again, I love it, even if pieces scare the bejesus out of me. But I totally love Shannen and Alyssa acting as kids; I totally love Rachel David playing Kate, and I especially love Piper finally willing to make the sacrifice that she was willing to make back in “Love Hurts” – the first sign of true love since that episode.

Of course I know that she and Leo won’t keep doing their job and will still get to stay together, but just for this episode, that’s nice.

Then there’s our first glimpse of Belthazor, one very scary character, and Cole excited about getting closer to remained evil the whole entire time—that Belthazor was the true person and Cole just the mask, not the other way around!! The series would be so much scarier and I’d love it so much more!

GRADE: A

 
All Halliwell’s Eve
Written by Sheryl J. Anderson
Season 3, Episode 04
Episode Number: 48

This has always been one of my favorite episodes and it still is. All I have to do is look at the writer and I know why. I so wish that Sheryl J. Anderson had stayed with the show during its entire run and Season Three wasn’t her last season. Had she, I think Charmed would’ve remained the show I love – a show about three sisters who happen to be witches - rather than turning into one I don’t – a show about three demon-hunters who happen to live in the same house.

This is the sisters as I love them most – Prue leading but gentle and loving; Piper the snarky realist (doesn’t she just have the best lines in this one – I laughed more during this episode than I have since “Show Ghouls” with all of her crazy lines during that one) and Phoebs, oh, Phoebs, the one who loves magic so much! I was wrong – we did get to see her again, in this episode. And her “embracing the cliché” is one of my all-time favorite scenes in this series.

I even actually loved her with Cole. She’s not all thirteenish like she was before, and in this one the connection is truly there – can’t help wondering if this is when Cole actually fell for her. Anyone else truly wish that that “C” meant Cole and not Coop? I won’t in Season Five, but I sure do right now. SOOO glad I’m not going to watch Season Five! So wish I could watch these episodes and be able to totally forget Seasons 5, 6 and 8!

Ava in her own way reminded me of Melinda Warren from another Sheryl J. Anderson episode, someone from the past who could’ve taught the sisters so much. I somehow get the feeling that if this was a Sheryl J. Anderson show that one of them would’ve stayed with them and kept them on the track of being strong women and strong witches, unlike the pathetic girls who are dependent on their men that we’ll see in S4-8.

Speaking of their men, I loved Micah and wish that we could’ve seen more of Mitch. He’s definitely no Bane, but until Bane gets out of jail…

And then there’s Leo and Darryl. I loved watching them work together, the way I’ll later love watching Leo and Cole working together. I just wish that unlike the sisters and unlike with Dan, that Leo had told Darryl who and what he really is – the sisters’ guardian angel. Darryl would’ve understood something like that, especially after Leo healed him.

And of all of the creeps to be able to pass through that thin veil on Halloween, the ones who steal the sight of children! *shudder*

Speaking of Halloween, I love the sisters’ costumes, both the Halloween ones and the 1700 costumes – they all looked their absolute best in the 1700 ones, while the costumes are very simply fun.

It’s just makes me wish that we could’ve seen a Halloween episode every season and Sheryl J. Anderson had written every one!

GRADE: A+

 
Sight Unseen
Written by William Schmidt
Season 3, Episode 05
Episode Number: 49

After a couple of busy weeks celebrating my birthday (I’m now officially an old broad – I’m SIXTY!), I finally have an afternoon to myself and get to have another Charmed marathon.

Unfortunately it got off to a bad start….

I’ve never liked stories about obsession, part of why I can’t stand the first part of Season Five when Cole and Phoebe’s love regresses into obsession. And I’m so glad I’m watching this episode about obsession at the beginning of my marathon so I can replace the images I have just watched with other ones or I *know* I would’ve had nightmares tonight!

That had to be one of the scariest episodes I’ve ever watched by now, and as you probably know by now I truly don’t like being scared. I love the idea of the Triad sending another demon to help out Belthazor, and Troxa is one of my favorites – I love the idea of him being invisible, but seen in the cold – I truly wish he was the demon after Phoebe and that he never fell in love with her.

But Abbey obsessed on Prue while Prue is obsessed on demons – no, that’s just not Prue. I just don’t like her this way at all – she seems more like the Prue of early Season One who I didn’t like at all, especially when we’re back to guys wanting her to be honest and of course she’s anything but.

I like her being suspicious of Cole (for very good reasons) while rolling my eyes at Phoebe for being too trusting (as always, I hate Halliwells in love with someone who isn’t their true love…). I can’t help wondering if there was already problems between Shannen and Alyssa offstage to bring this sort of conflict back, especially with how wonderfully sisterly everyone was during “All Halliwell’s Eve”. The whole feeling of the show is different and I don’t particularly like it.

I think this is William Schmidt’s first “Charmed” script and I don’t like the way he writes the characters at all. They just don’t seem like them, except maybe Cole and Darryl.

Speaking of, Darryl is easily my favorite character in this episode, after Troxa. I love how he hates the idea of demons, but still want to protect the girls. In the same way, Leo seems totally unnecessary – as usual more interested in getting in Piper’s pants than protecting the Charmed Ones, and although I got a kick out of Piper worried about “them” watching until she decides to just let them “watch the show”, they’re as barfy as Phoebe and Cole. As always, Alyssa’s kissing looks like she’s trying to eat the guy alive and is trying much too hard. Just makes me roll my eyes and I hate Piper and Leo acting like horny teenagers!

About the only thing I really did like (outside of Troxa and Darryl) is Prue using her astral projection to fool Abbey and Piper freezing that bullet JUST IN TIME!

I just wish I knew how close P3 is supposed to be to the Manor. Sometimes it seems to be across town and other times it seems to be right next door.

Onto the next….please!

GRADE: D+

 
Primrose Empath
Written by David Cerone
Season 3, Episode 06
Episode Number: 50

Oh, man I wish that either Cole was pure demon or Phoebe wasn’t the one who fell for him or the one he fell for…that baby voice of Alyssa Milano’s is *so* irritating as is her overacting when making love. And Piper and Leo aren’t too far behind, thinking that sex heals everything….I so hate Halliwells in love!

This is easily one of Shannen Doherty’s best acting job and like she says at the end, it makes you wonder what Prue may have developed into had Shannen not been saved. It almost makes me glad she didn’t stick around. I hated Piper Halliwell Superwitch in S4-8 and I have a hunch Prudence Halliwell Super-Duper Witch would’ve been even more annoying.

But this episode is making me do what I don’t want to be doing but am…thinking of future episodes. Prue having to train her astral self how to do magic makes me think about how quickly and easily her sisters and half-sister will be able to use their astral selves to do magic and save themselves in “Something Wicca This Way Goes”. The power surge Prue gets from being an empath reminds me of how much a joke being an empath will make Phoebe when she gets the gift.

Once again I’m wishing that Vinceres had been the main demon after the sisters. He’s just so much scarier and especially if he had kept fooling the sisters the way Cole does….wow!

Above all, I keep wishing that Belthazor was the real thing and that Cole was the mask…I hate the idea of a demon being able to love, unless it’s obsessive love like in S5. And Cole being human just isn’t a good enough reason for me.

There is one thing I definitely liked about this episode. I think I was wrong about the last thing or if I wasn’t, Shannen and Alyssa are better actors than I remembered, because the sisterliness between them in this one is absolutely amazingly wonderful, which I loved to see.

I also love the idea of the innocent being the demon, and the actual innocent feeling sorry for himself until Piper tells him off (irony, irony – wish someone would tell *her* off in S4-8!) and then he’s the one who helps. As an innocent story, this was one of the best.

Just wish the rest of the episode was.

GRADE: B

 
Power Outage
Written by Monica Breen & Alison Shapker
Season 3, Episode 07
Episode Number: 51

Oh, that so could’ve been a perfect episode if only Belthazor was truly the demon and Cole just the mask! Can anyone please tell me if Cole could destroy the Triad like that, why the Source didn’t destroy him??? No, Belthazor pretending to be Cole in love with Phoebe would’ve just been so much better! And, naturally, the bigger question – if COLE, injured and not even Belthazor, could destroy the mighty Triad that hard, why the hell did it take the mighty Charmed Ones so long to vanquish them in Season 8???

Didn’t all three actresses just do a fantastic job? Absolutely one of their best. Between both their anger and then the way they made up – oh, yes, fantastic! Even Leo was tolerable.

And I actually think I got to see my Phoebs again – it was Alyssa playing her when she was with Cole rather than madame mooney teenager.

Oh, yes, after “All Halliwell’s Eve”, this has to my favorite S3 episode so far.

If only….

GRADE: B+


Sleuthing with the Enemy
Written by Peter Hume
Season 3, Episode 08
Episode Number: 52

My family’s going out for Sunday supper shortly so this will be my last episode of this marathon. I’m glad.

The previous episode was one of my favorites of this season; this one is one of my least-favorites. I so hate having to say good-bye to my favorite sister, but this is the episode when it happens, when my Phoebs turns into PhoeME, when her boyfriend is more important than the lives of her sisters, and when “the wrong thing done for the right reason is still wrong”, the lesson Phoebe herself learned the previous season goes right out the window and instead “Ends Justify the Means” becomes the moral. Brad Kern has totally taken over.

Honestly, I’m not sure if I want to continue my marathon.

I can’t even begin to tell you how very much this hurts!

How can Cole say that Cole is truly his face when, injured, he couldn’t remain looking like Cole? Doesn’t that mean that it’s truly Belthazor who is the true form? How I wish it was.

Can someone help me and show me how I’m wrong? If she was truly in love, my Phoebs would be a better person. Instead she’s such a worse one, my least-favorite character on the show, as she will be for the rest of the series. It’s not love. It’s demon-love – obsession.

I so wish that Phoebe had done what she should've done, the way I wish that Leo had just stayed away after "P3 H20"

I also feel like simply pretending that Phoebe did do what she should’ve done – used the vanquishing potion on Belthazor as Belthazor, and then have him turn to Cole as he dies and that’s the end of Charmed, because as far as I’m concerned, it is. Looking forward, especially with the way I feel about Piper and Leo now, and knowing how Prue changes between now and her death, I can’t think of a single storyline I’m looking forward to watching.

GRADE: F---

[Chrisaholic]

Wow, Es, you've been busy here. We are going to see S5 again soon but therefore some episodes of S4 are left off. Don't ask me why but that's the way it is.

[CharmedBOSthanh]

Charmed is still running in Australia Melbourne on channel 11 I love it! I watch it when I am home they were up to Phoebe's wedding to Cole. I am so lazy I can just turn the TV on instead of walking a few feet to grab the dvd's. Everyone says "You are so lazy don't you own like own 3 copies of the show haha.

[CharmedBOSthanh]

Hey everyone who owns an ipad get Charmed and watch the show on it when I brought some of the shows and watched it, it literally blew my head off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It made me love Charmed even more they had edited differently and it makes the show so cool. I love it what they have done. It shows on the ipad how amazing and beautiful this show really is. I will get the whole series on Ipad I hope it will all fit on my Ipad! The show is sick man! I love Charmed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pixiesunbelle]

Es, what did you think of We All Scream for Ice Cream? That one is one of my favorites from S3.

[Esmeralda]

Nope, not one of my favorites, I'm afraid. As nice as it was to have Victor and Prue to reconcile, especially before Prue's death, I didn't think the whole backstory made sense within the Charmed story - Victor didn't leave because of not being able to protect Prue - he left because Patty was having an affair with Sam. Granted that wasn't shown until the following season, but the way Victor talks to Leo during the wedding tells you it is. So I'd just as soon that episode not be part of the Charmedverse.

[pixiesunbelle]

Nov 2, 2013 19:21:22 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Nope, not one of my favorites, I'm afraid. As nice as it was to have Victor and Prue to reconcile, especially before Prue's death, I didn't think the whole backstory made sense within the Charmed story - Victor didn't leave because of not being able to protect Prue - he left because Patty was having an affair with Sam. Granted that wasn't shown until the following season, but the way Victor talks to Leo during the wedding tells you it is. So I'd just as soon that episode not be part of the Charmedverse.

Awww

[ljones]

"We All Scream For Ice Cream" isn't a big favorite of mine, either. However, I do like the Prue-Victor reconciliation, due to the fact that she is the one sister whom Victor had great difficulty reconciling with. Even though Victor was aware of Patty's infidelity, I don't think Prue was. As far as she was concerned, Victor dropped the ball and left the family.

[pixiesunbelle]

Nov 4, 2013 1:12:29 GMT -5 ljones said:

"We All Scream For Ice Cream" isn't a big favorite of mine, either. However, I do like the Prue-Victor reconciliation, due to the fact that she is the one sister whom Victor had great difficulty reconciling with. Even though Victor was aware of Patty's infidelity, I don't think Prue was. As far as she was concerned, Victor dropped the ball and left the family.

I don't think she new that at all. What I liked about the episode was the bad guy story of the episode. It was fun to see little kids as the bad guy and really surprising. I definitely love Prue-Victor reconciliation as well.

[Esmeralda]

That was part of my problem with it - I didn't find it fun at all - I found the kids creepy and I really don't like creepy, which is why I don't like Charmed when it's too dark, like S3 & S4. Yeah, I know I'm an exception to the rule,but it's why I really hope that the reboot isn't any darker than S3 & S4.

[CharmedBOSthanh]

I have to talk to apple about my current Ipad it is only 16G cause that is all I could afford at the time and if I do not have the space to fit the entire show season 1 to 8 on ipad I am considering buying a second Ipad so then I will have all the shows on the Ipad. I am probably looking at a 32G or 64G depending on the advice I get from Apple. People will say to me you own 2 Ipad's I will say Yep had to fit Charmed on one I am not leaving the house without Charmed I want the show in a portable form. Simple. Yep I do love this show! I will still use my original ipad for music and apps. Friends will say that I am Crazy! As I have said before if I had the money I would be owning 50 copies of Charmed and on all different devices known to man this show is the best!

[iamthesun]

^ Perhaps go for wireless storage..like an external hard drive. Might be cheaper

[forbuss]

Darkness seems to be big these days, so I think that it would be nice if we lightened it up.

[ljones]

Nov 24, 2013 19:59:27 GMT -5 forbuss said:

Darkness seems to be big these days, so I think that it would be nice if we lightened it up.

Why? Dark means better drama for me.

[Esmeralda]

Recently my post about Dstarr's method of re-watching Charmed has popped up in a thread called "Should Charmed Have Ended After Season Four?" It's developed into a convo about re-watching, and since my own current way of re-watching has nothing to do with S4, I decided I should copy that convo over here. starting with the post where I copied Dstarr's idea over:

Jun 25, 2016 7:54:47 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Jun 25, 2016 6:29:47 GMT -5 West said:

Some great ideas. So much better. Es has some great ideas. I do like it this way.

Es doesn't have great ideas - she just recognizes good ideas when they pop up and always want to share them with others. Most of my opinions are based on other things that I've read and that ring a bell within me as "Yeah! That makes sense!" So many of them have come from IMDb - I'm glad I know how to ignore trolls and just have fun concentrating on the wonderful ideas their members come up with, as you well know, West, since that's where I first saw you.

That idea was from a member named Dstarr who unfortunately didn't stick around very long, but I'm *SO* glad she offered that idea before she left.

I was going to use her ideas during one of my re-watches and ended up posting this regarding that:

Feb 19, 2013 19:44:00 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

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. Dstarr 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 after watching Seasons Five and Six first didn't bug her as much this way.

Dstarr 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 of 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 re-watch), 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 re-watched '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 Tail' 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'. 'Imaginary Fiends' and 'Cheaper by the Coven'. 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 a 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, powers Baby Chris *might* have but are just never shown.

I'm very eager to see if this change changes my reaction towards Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Leo and Cole, all characters I slowly learned to hate during S4 - in some cases like Piper and Phoebe, even more than I did before - 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 re-watch, but done this way.

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, Chrisaholic, 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.

Unfortunately, my own re-watch ended after 'Sleuthing with the Enemy' - after seeing how horribly my favorite character, Phoebs, changed and already not liking Piper and now beginning to not like Prue (the Kern Effect, of course), I never did buy the other DVDs or give this a try. But I'm so glad that Deano did and that he enjoyed it. I'd love to see others give it a try and see what they think.

But I'll always give credit for this idea to Dstarr.

Jun 25, 2016 9:36:53 GMT -5 West said:

Jun 25, 2016 7:54:47 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Es doesn't have great ideas - she just recognizes good ideas when they pop up and always want to share them with others. Most of my opinions are based on other things that I've read and that ring a bell within me as "Yeah! That makes sense!" So many of them have come from IMDb - I'm glad I know how to ignore trolls and just have fun concentrating on the wonderful ideas their members come up with, as you well know, West, since that's where I first saw you.

That idea was from a member named DStarr who unfortunately didn't stick around very long, but I'm *SO* glad she offered that idea before she did.

I was going to use her ideas during one of my re-watches and ended up posting this regarding that:

Unfortunately, my own re-watch ended after 'Sleuthing with the Enemy' - after seeing how horribly my favorite character, Phoebs, changed and already not liking Piper and now beginning to not like Prue (the Kern Effect, of course), I never did buy the other DVDs or give this a try. But I'm so glad that Deano did and that he enjoyed it. I'd love to see others give it a try and see what they think.

But I'll always give credit for this idea to DStarr.

Thanks sharing that. And its true about IMDB ignoring trolls and enjoying the discussions.

Thats completely fine. I did a rewatch last year and i never got past Wrestling with Demons. Although i stopped because of other shows i watched. But what happened to Prue/Phoebe's relationship was never the same and Phoebe. Was nice watching it with new eyes and being older. Because the Prue/Phoebe relationship interested me more on a rewatch and i loved them getting closer. It made me sad where it ended up between them.

But people can watch what they like. I know season 6 has so many issues for me when i rewatched that. But i still found quite a few episodes that i did enjoy.

Jun 25, 2016 13:45:16 GMT -5 @deano said:

Jun 25, 2016 7:54:47 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Es doesn't have great ideas - she just recognizes good ideas when they pop up and always want to share them with others. Most of my opinions are based on other things that I've read and that ring a bell within me as "Yeah! That makes sense!" So many of them have come from IMDb - I'm glad I know how to ignore trolls and just have fun concentrating on the wonderful ideas their members come up with, as you well know, West, since that's where I first saw you.

That idea was from a member named Dstarr who unfortunately didn't stick around very long, but I'm *SO* glad she offered that idea before she left.

I was going to use her ideas during one of my re-watches and ended up posting this regarding that:

Unfortunately, my own re-watch ended after 'Sleuthing with the Enemy' - after seeing how horribly my favorite character, Phoebs, changed and already not liking Piper and now beginning to not like Prue (the Kern Effect, of course), I never did buy the other DVDs or give this a try. But I'm so glad that Deano did and that he enjoyed it. I'd love to see others give it a try and see what they think.

But I'll always give credit for this idea to Dstarr.

Dstarr, of course! That's for re-posting this, Es, as she did raise some excellent points. I know this wouldn't necessarily suit you as you don't even enjoy Season 4, but for those of us who do like Season 4 (but not S5 & S6) this viewing order has been something of a revelation - I can actually re-watch the show without feeling like I have to trudge my way through S5/S6 (something I only did because I liked S7).

Dstarr makes some excellent points - Cole and Phoebe do indeed get much better closure this way and her explanation for Cole's disappearance after 'Witch Way Now?' after saving Phoebe (being trapped in Limbo) must've been where I got the idea for my alternative S5 in which Cole and Prue meeting in Limbo (which West and I just discussed above).

I also completely agree with her on Phoebe, she is SO much more likeable in S7 than S5, S6 and arguably S4 (she returns to form in S8 though). I thin kthe combination over her getting her premonition power back, her concern for Paige over Brody and her reduced scenes as the Bay Mirror is the reason for this. Plus if you miss out the episodes I mentioned earlier (similar to Dstarr) you only have to suffer Leslie in 'Styx Feet Under'. Perfect!

The only place where Dstarr and I differ is that I kept in 'Someone to Witch Over Me' and 'Ordinary Witches' as I liked the Avatar storyline. But I totally agree on the other episodes, they are poor at best and I even forgot that Wyatt's Twice-Blessedness isn't even referred to this way, all the better.

Jun 25, 2016 9:36:53 GMT -5 West said:

Thanks sharing that. And its true about IMDB ignoring trolls and enjoying the discussions.

Thats completely fine. I did a rewatch last year and i never got past Wrestling with Demons. Although i stopped because of other shows i watched. But what happened to Prue/Phoebe's relationship was never the same and Phoebe. Was nice watching it with new eyes and being older. Because the Prue/Phoebe relationship interested me more on a rewatch and i loved them getting closer. It made me sad where it ended up between them.

But people can watch what they like. I know season 6 has so many issues for me when i rewatched that. But i still found quite a few episodes that i did enjoy.

I also came up with a different viewing order in which I essentially condensed S5 & S6 into one season, taking the best (in my view) from both. It went like this:

- The Eyes Have It
- San Francisco Dreamin'
- The Day the Magic Died
- Baby's First Demon
- Sense and Sense Ability
- Necromancing the Stone 
- Cat House 

This is a very short section of S5 but it completely avoids Cole's return, which most fans hated. Also, by watching 'Cat House' last it makes it seem like a mid-season finale as the ending foreshadows Piper and Leo's forthcoming marital problems. Picking up with 'Forget Me... Not' and it is established that it is sometime later and that they are no longer together (why suffer Gods in Dress-Up or Valley of the Pornstars?). 

- Forget Me... Not
- The Power of Three Blondes (don't like this ep, but most fans do)
- Love's a Witch
- Soul Survivor
- Little Monsters
- Chris-Crossed
- The Legend of Sleepy Halliwell
- I Dream of Phoebe
- The Courtship of Wyatt's Father
- Spin City
- Crimes and Witch Demeanors
- It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World (Part 1)
- It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World (Part 2)


I would stop at 'Courtship...' personally as I'm not a fans of the remaining four episodes but the Gideon story would end a little abruptly that way so you might want to include them. If not, the end of 'Courtship...' kind of establishes that Gideon is the Big Bad, so if you want to dive straight to 'Styx Feet Under' from there, it is made clear that Big Chris was killed. 

Jun 25, 2016 19:04:09 GMT -5 Courtney said:

Wow thanks for some amazing and detailed responses, it's always a question I've thought over myself. I can't believe it took me this long to join the forum, I've been a huge fan of the show for so long

Jun 25, 2016 19:05:07 GMT -5 Courtney said:

Jun 25, 2016 13:45:16 GMT -5 @deano said:

Dstarr, of course! That's for re-posting this, Es, as she did raise some excellent points. I know this wouldn't necessarily suit you as you don't even enjoy Season 4, but for those of us who do like Season 4 (but not S5 & S6) this viewing order has been something of a revelation - I can actually re-watch the show without feeling like I have to trudge my way through S5/S6 (something I only did because I liked S7).

Dstarr makes some excellent points - Cole and Phoebe do indeed get much better closure this way and her explanation for Cole's disappearance after 'Witch Way Now?' after saving Phoebe (being trapped in Limbo) must've been where I got the idea for my alternative S5 in which Cole and Prue meeting in Limbo (which West and I just discussed above).

I also completely agree with her on Phoebe, she is SO much more likeable in S7 than S5, S6 and arguably S4 (she returns to form in S8 though). I thin kthe combination over her getting her premonition power back, her concern for Paige over Brody and her reduced scenes as the Bay Mirror is the reason for this. Plus if you miss out the episodes I mentioned earlier (similar to Dstarr) you only have to suffer Leslie in 'Styx Feet Under'. Perfect!

The only place where Dstarr and I differ is that I kept in 'Someone to Witch Over Me' and 'Ordinary Witches' as I liked the Avatar storyline. But I totally agree on the other episodes, they are poor at best and I even forgot that Wyatt's Twice-Blessedness isn't even referred to this way, all the better.

I also came up with a different viewing order in which I essentially condensed S5 & S6 into one season, taking the best (in my view) from both. It went like this:

- The Eyes Have It
- San Francisco Dreamin'
- The Day the Magic Died
- Baby's First Demon
- Sense and Sense Ability
- Necromancing the Stone 
- Cat House 

This is a very short section of S5 but it completely avoids Cole's return, which most fans hated. Also, by watching 'Cat House' last it makes it seem like a mid-season finale as the ending foreshadows Piper and Leo's forthcoming marital problems. Picking up with 'Forget Me... Not' and it is established that it is sometime later and that they are no longer together (why suffer Gods in Dress-Up or Valley of the Pornstars?). 

- Forget Me... Not
- The Power of Three Blondes (don't like this ep, but most fans do)
- Love's a Witch
- Soul Survivor
- Little Monsters
- Chris-Crossed
- The Legend of Sleepy Halliwell
- I Dream of Phoebe
- The Courtship of Wyatt's Father
- Spin City
- Crimes and Witch Demeanors
- It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World (Part 1)
- It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World (Part 2)


I would stop at 'Courtship...' personally as I'm not a fans of the remaining four episodes but the Gideon story would end a little abruptly that way so you might want to include them. If not, the end of 'Courtship...' kind of establishes that Gideon is the Big Bad, so if you want to dive straight to 'Styx Feet Under' from there, it is made clear that Big Chris was killed. 

I'm re-watching the show right now and am almost finished the second season. Do these alterations of Season's 5 and 6 work well enough, or does it feel too choppy? I'm going away in September so I need to cut it down. If the condensed fifth and sixth season works, I'll probably end it on Season Seven starting with Styx Feet Under too. I'm just hesitant to make these changes because I've only ever watched the series right through without changing anything in my re runs

Jun 25, 2016 20:46:01 GMT -5 @deano said:

Jun 25, 2016 19:05:07 GMT -5 Courtney said:

I'm re-watching the show right now and am almost finished the second season. Do these alterations of Season's 5 and 6 work well enough, or does it feel too choppy? I'm going away in September so I need to cut it down. If the condensed fifth and sixth season works, I'll probably end it on Season Seven starting with Styx Feet Under too. I'm just hesitant to make these changes because I've only ever watched the series right through without changing anything in my re runs

To be honest, it might be a little too choppy for you, it's certainly not the smoothest of ways to re-watch, a fair few "fill in the blank" moments between episodes so if you don't want that I would maybe suggest just skipping from S4 to S7 as first discussed. 

Jun 26, 2016 12:30:10 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Jun 25, 2016 19:04:09 GMT -5 Courtney said:

Wow thanks for some amazing and detailed responses, it's always a question I've thought over myself. I can't believe it took me this long to join the forum, I've been a huge fan of the show for so long

You're welcome! I'm so very glad you finally decided to join us.

Jun 26, 2016 12:54:55 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Jun 25, 2016 20:46:01 GMT -5 @deano said:

To be honest, it might be a little too choppy for you, it's certainly not the smoothest of ways to re-watch, a fair few "fill in the blank" moments between episodes so if you don't want that I would maybe suggest just skipping from S4 to S7 as first discussed. 

Yeah, if this is one of your first re-watches, you might want to first re-watch the whole thing and decide what does or doesn't bother you, and then start over with S4 and continue whatever will make the rest of Charmed enjoyable for you. Some fans like the entire series, so then they should just re-watch the others. Some like DStarr don't like the way Cole was handled in S5 or having Wyatt be so powerful or the differences in the Avatars between S5 and S7, so she came up with her method. Deano likes the Avatars, so he keeps more.

It's totally up to you how you want to do it so you can enjoy Charmed YOUR way!

Jun 26, 2016 19:49:35 GMT -5 Courtney said:

Jun 26, 2016 12:54:55 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Yeah, if this is one of your first re-watches, you might want to first re-watch the whole thing and decide what does or doesn't bother you, and then start over with S4 and continue whatever will make the rest of Charmed enjoyable for you. Some fans like the entire series, so then they should just re-watch the others. Some like DStarr don't like the way Cole was handled in S5 or having Wyatt be so powerful or the differences in the Avatars between S5 and S7, so she came up with her method. Deano likes the Avatars, so he keeps more.

It's totally up to you how you want to do it so you can enjoy Charmed YOUR way!

This is my third or fourth watch. I've decided to just watch it all the way through again because I do have a soft spot for Paige and I've started the re-run that way. S4 can be really alienating for me though, because Prue is my favourite sister and S3 for me is the best, so if I didn't have the later seasons with Paige I actually agree I probably wouldn't like her just because I'd feel like she is a replacement rather than an actual sister.

Next time I watch the series, I'll skip the filler episodes of S1 and S2 to make about 16 episode seasons and watch pretty much all of S3 and S4. I might consider ending it at Witch Way Now, or if I don't I'll alter S5 and S6 to not include any Cole whose character was completely ruined and also take out the bad parts like the S5 avatars and most of Wyatt's superpowers. I'll definitely end it on S7 with the Zankou storyline; this way I can have more freedom to interpret what happens to the sisters after the finale

Perfect!

As others have said, I don't care for S4 myself, but I'd never stop others from watching it if they enjoy it. I love S4 Paige; I just don’t like how the other characters change. Me, I'll stick to my own marathon which just includes the episodes that my favorite writers had a part in, since they wrote the Charmed Ones the way I love them best. There’s just a few episodes that they had a part in that I skip because for me, they’re too scary.  This is my "Best of Charmed":

1x03: Thank You for Not Morphing (Zack Estrin & Chris Levinson)

1x07: The Fourth Sister (Edithe Swensen)

1x08: The Truth Is Out There... and It Hurts (Zack Estrin & Chris Levinson)

1x09: The Witch Is Back (Sheryl J. Anderson)

1x10: Wicca Envy (1999) ... (by Sheryl J. Anderson)

1x14: Secrets and Guys (Edithe Swensen)

1x15: Is There a Woogy in the House? (Zack Estrin & Chris Levinson)

1x17: That '70s Episode (Sheryl J. Anderson)

1x18: When Bad Warlocks Turn Good (Edithe Swensen)

1x21: Love Hurts (Zack Estrin & Chris Levinson)

1x22: Déjà Vu All Over Again (Edithe Swensen)

2x02: Morality Bites (Zack Estrin & Chris Levinson)

2x07: They're Everywhere (Sheryl J. Anderson)

2x08: P3 H2O (Zack Estrin & Chris Levinson)

2x09: Ms. Hellfire (Sheryl J. Anderson)

2x15: Give Me a Sign (Sheryl J. Anderson)

2x18: Chick Flick (Zack Estrin & Chris Levinson)

2x21: Apocalypse, Not (Sheryl J. Anderson)

3x02: Magic Hour (Zack Estrin & Chris Levinson)

3x04: All Halliwell's Eve (Sheryl J. Anderson)

3x12: Wrestling with Demons (Sheryl J. Anderson)

3x17: Pre-Witched (Zack Estrin & Chris Levinson)

3x19: The Demon Who Came in from the Cold (Sheryl J. Anderson)

It’s choppy but since I see each episode as a separate entity (never been one for story arcs when it’s all about which Big Bad are they fighting this time…), it works for me as my Best of Charmed Season. Naturally I don’t suggest this marathon for any other fan – but the way I customed this for me, I suggest other fans doing the same.

Without trying to, I ended up with 23 episodes - my Best of Charmed "season".  If other fans were going to do a marathon that included their 23 favorite episodes, what would they be?

[West]

Thanks for bumping this thread.

I am tempted to marathon Charmed but a smaller version and this thread has so many good picks. I already did a full marathon a few years back and i didn't finish my last one last year.