Charmed and Dangerous as Season 4 Finale

[jdpm1991]

I'm not sure if this is true and it can just be a rumor but I've heard online that "Charmed and Dangerous" was written to be the Season 4 finale and the 2nd half of Season 4 after that episode was gonna be used for the first half of Season 5. Is this true?

[Esmeralda]

What I've heard is that had Prue not died so there would be no need to introduce Paige, "Charmed and Dangerous" would've been the Season Four premiere - continuing the story with the now-fully-mortal Cole taking in the Source when they put the Hollow back in its box.. The entire season would've concentrated on that story with Prue playing most of Paige's parts.

I much would've preferred that, especially if "Witch Way Now?" was the series finale with the sisters having fulfilled their destiny giving up their powers and living the normal lives they've earned and a flashforward showing them five years later Piper still the heart of the family with her little girl and her own catering business, Prue winning her Pulitzer and Phoebe the one who's a social worker still helping innocents. Then because I believe in happy endings finding out that Leo is now a fully-human doctor and Cole is a fully-human lawyer (that would be part of them wanting to change their destiny to being "normal") meaning any child isn't a hybrid, just a witch. Then we go twenty years later and see a dark-haired young woman opening the attic door and finding the trunk...

[Astral Alex]

I did hear that that was correct, although I've never heard the version Es is talking about.

Season 4 would have probably made Paige's integration longer, with Charmed and Dangerous serving as either the finale, and the first half of Season 5 would've dealt with the Cole/Source/Baby storyline, I would've preferred this - especially if they panned it out so that Cole's vanquish from "Long Live The Queen" would've been the 100th episode, much better than the crap that was Centennial Charmed.

Also, Phoebe's pregnancy would have replaced Piper's pregnancy throughout Season 5, and in reality, I'd have liked Phoebe to carry the baby to full-term, keeping a darker feel than the happy-clappy, fairytale crap that came with Piper's pregnancy with Wyatt.

Cue Phoebe giving birth in the Season 5 finale, that would've made a brilliant season.

[ljones]

Then because I believe in happy endings finding out that Leo is now a fully-human doctor and Cole is a fully-human lawyer (that would be part of them wanting to change their destiny to being "normal") meaning any child isn't a hybrid, just a witch.

Why do you have this aversion to "hybrid" characters? And why do the sisters have to be involved with non-magical men?

[Deleted]

I've always said I wanted it to go this way, especially Cole-Source being vanquished in the 100th episode, then the second half of S5 would be the sisters battling the Seer as she tries to steal Phoebe's baby, then the whole series ending with Witch Way Now?

[Esmeralda]

Still prefer Charmed and Dangerous as the Season Four premiere (it fits so perfectly with what happens in "All Hell Breaks Loose" with Phoebe using her potion to turn Cole good - leading him up to being able to take in the powers of the Source) with more episodes regarding Phoebe and Cole as leaders of the Underworld while Prue and Piper try to save their little sister without getting killed themselves and "Witch Way Now?" the Season Four finale *and* the Series finale.

And I still do think it would've been the season premiere if Prue hadn't died. I mean how do you fill up all of those episodes if C&D is the season finale? That makes no sense. Especially if you want him to be vanquished (for the first and last time) in Centennial Charmed - look at all of the episodes you'd have to squeeze into such a sort time. That doesn't make a lot of sense, especially if, again, it's without Paige.

[Deleted]

Feb 2, 2015 7:11:26 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Still prefer Charmed and Dangerous as the Season Four premiere (it fits so perfectly with what happens in "All Hell Breaks Loose" with Phoebe using her potion to turn Cole good - leading him up to being able to take in the powers of the Source) with more episodes regarding Phoebe and Cole as leaders of the Underworld while Prue and Piper try to save their little sister without getting killed themselves and "Witch Way Now?" the Season Four finale *and* the Series finale.

And I still do think it would've been the season premiere if Prue hadn't died. I mean how do you fill up all of those episodes if C&D is the season finale? That makes no sense. Especially if you want him to be vanquished (for the first and last time) in Centennial Charmed - look at all of the episodes you'd have to squeeze into such a sort time. That doesn't make a lot of sense, especially if, again, it's without Paige.

That's very interesting, Es. I think it could've definitely been an option if Prue had survived. Otherwise, you would just be having Prue take Paige's place in all those post-Charmed Again, pre-C&D episodes, although slightly altered of course. The only reason I would have not to have C&D as the finale is because I'd liked a few episodes of Prue getting some form of PSTD after her near death experience, and as such the sisters would have to regroup and strengthen themselves again for their battle with the Source. 

[Esmeralda]

Feb 2, 2015 18:53:12 GMT -5 @deano said:

Feb 2, 2015 7:11:26 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Still prefer Charmed and Dangerous as the Season Four premiere (it fits so perfectly with what happens in "All Hell Breaks Loose" with Phoebe using her potion to turn Cole good - leading him up to being able to take in the powers of the Source) with more episodes regarding Phoebe and Cole as leaders of the Underworld while Prue and Piper try to save their little sister without getting killed themselves and "Witch Way Now?" the Season Four finale *and* the Series finale.

And I still do think it would've been the season premiere if Prue hadn't died. I mean how do you fill up all of those episodes if C&D is the season finale? That makes no sense. Especially if you want him to be vanquished (for the first and last time) in Centennial Charmed - look at all of the episodes you'd have to squeeze into such a sort time. That doesn't make a lot of sense, especially if, again, it's without Paige.

That's very interesting, Es. I think it could've definitely been an option if Prue had survived. Otherwise, you would just be having Prue take Paige's place in all those post-Charmed Again, pre-C&D episodes, although slightly altered of course. The only reason I would have not to have C&D as the finale is because I'd liked a few episodes of Prue getting some form of PSTD after her near death experience, and as such the sisters would have to regroup and strengthen themselves again for their battle with the Source. 

But all of those episodes have to do with getting to know Paige and mourning Prue. It's the main reason I think it's supposed to be the premiere, not the finale.

The idea of Prue having PSTD makes sense (and remember, so should Piper and so should Phoebe...they came near death, too), but I don't think you need that many episode, especially because you'd probably have it pop up throughout the entire season, besides giving them the proper reasons for giving up their powers in the finale and ending the series. It would've made such a better Season Four.

[Darkhorse Christian]

As has been sorta noted, Es, your "C&D is the season premiere" plan makes far more sense with Prue than it does with Paige, so I'm glad it's a Prue idea. There are just two things that have me feeling a bit stuck about it, though, and both stem from the fact that it would be preceded directly by AHBL.

Which, let's recall, is the episode in which:

1. The Source only just appeared for the first time in the series.
2. The Charmed Ones lost dramatically against Shax.

Yet the plan would have them go from that to killing the Source himself the very next episode. Not saying that makes it completely undoable, but since this version of things intends to keep the Source as the ultimate evil, I can't help but feel like there would have to be some extra expense of effort made to get that to logistically work plot-wise.

[Esmeralda]

Oh, undoubtedly it would've had to have been changed somewhat. And I don't think Kern ever considered the Source as the Ultimate Evil - I think he considered that to be Cole *as* the Source with Phoebe as his queen, which would've been even more the case had the series actually ended with something like a combination of "Centennial Charmed" and "Witch Way Now?" with Prue again playing Paige's role, the way I believed that Paige played Prue's role which is why she's such a screwed-up version of both Baby and Oldest when she truly should've been neither.

And everything I've read is what would've happened had Shannen not been fired - when discussing this, I always kept Paige out of the discussion. If I didn't make that clear earlier, my bad.

[Deleted]

I agree that a 'Centennial Charmed'-esque episode would've been a good last ditch effort on Cole-Source's part to keep Phoebe as his Queen, except in this case he would be altering reality to allow Prue's death to become permanent, where he and Phoebe would perhaps be allowed to return to Earth to live in the Manor under the Source's watchful eye. Then the season could've ended with Womb Raider and Witch Way Now?

I do see DC's point however, it would be a bit clunky if the Source was only introduced in AHBL and died in the C&D premiere, but as Es just cleared up there would be allowances made for that. I would even go as far are having a two-part C&D episode round about episode 7/8 (a third of the way through the season) with the start of the season dealing with Prue's revival and the sisters' trauma and regrouping. This way it is compromise between C&D being the premiere or the half-season finale.

[Astral Alex]

Eh. I'm not liking the whole Prue lives thing. I finished watching Forever Charmed last night, and on reflection of the series as a whole Prue and Paige are my two favourite characters. I know to many people on here Prue is held in high regard but the perfect end to Paige's first season would have been Charmed and Dangerous. I think the episode itself is brilliant and as a finale with a little more build-up it would have rounded off Paige's introduction, put some of the initial grief over Prue to bed and set up the Cole/Phoebe/Baby story for Season Five.

Maybe I just like it more the way it is - and I've never been a fan of the whole "Witch Way Now" being the finale, the girls should never give up their powers.

[Darkhorse Christian]

Feb 3, 2015 11:12:13 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

And everything I've read is what would've happened had Shannen not been fired - when discussing this, I always kept Paige out of the discussion. If I didn't make that clear earlier, my bad.

No, I understood well enough. I was just commenting how that's essentially what makes it work.

[Esmeralda]

Feb 3, 2015 13:10:56 GMT -5 @deano said:

I agree that a 'Centennial Charmed'-esque episode would've been a good last ditch effort on Cole-Source's part to keep Phoebe as his Queen, except in this case he would be altering reality to allow Prue's death to become permanent, where he and Phoebe would perhaps be allowed to return to Earth to live in the Manor under the Source's watchful eye. Then the season could've ended with Womb Raider and Witch Way Now?

I do see DC's point however, it would be a bit clunky if the Source was only introduced in AHBL and died in the C&D premiere, but as Es just cleared up there would be allowances made for that. I would even go as far are having a two-part C&D episode round about episode 7/8 (a third of the way through the season) with the start of the season dealing with Prue's revival and the sisters' trauma and regrouping. This way it is compromise between C&D being the premiere or the half-season finale.

*nods* I can agree with that. I think the one piece we're thinking of it differently is that I think that if Shannen had not been fired, Leo would've been able to heal *both* sisters at the same time - and both would have had trauma and regrouping. There also would've been problems between Phoebe and her sisters - the fact that had Phoebe been with them, they would not have come so close to dying, setting up a lessening of their bond and putting to use the problems between Shannen and Alyssa, the same way the last few episodes had so very few scenes with both sisters. You also could've still had the fun of the earlier episodes when Cole was human.

In fact, looking over the listing of episodes (remembering that this would be without Paige, rather with Prue playing Paige's role the way Paige played Prue's), I would prefer something like this:

4x01: Brain Drain (including the revival of both sisters and the PTSD and the vanquishing of Shax) With Shax's failure, the Source tries to get rid of the Charmed Ones' this way
4x02: Black as Cole
4x03: Muse to My Ears (using Prue's photography rather than Paige's art)
4x04: Trial by Magic
4x05: Lost and Bound
4x06: Charmed and Dangerous
4x07: The Three Faces of Phoebe
4x08: Marry-Go-Round
4x09: The Fifth Halliwheel
4x10: Saving Private Leo
4x11: We're Off to See the Wizard
4x12 to 4x18: New episodes showing Cole and Phoebe as the leaders of the Underworld and Phoebe becoming pregnant while Prue and Piper try to survive as a power of two
4x18: New Episode - Prue and Piper manage to bring Phoebe back and Prue talks her into turning her back on Cole
4x19: Centennial Charmed (with a different title, naturally) Cole tries to bring back a world where Prue didn't survive and there's still no such thing as Paige. Not sure how it would end, but Cole would not be vanquished at this point
4x20: Long Live the Queen
4x21: Womb Raider (No sign of Cole during this one)
4x22: Witch Way Now? (No sign of Cole during this one. After everything that has happened, the sisters decide to give up their powers. Fastforward to the attic door opening and a dark-haired young man walks in and seeing the trunk open..End of Season, end of Series.)

Yup, if you can start fresh with someone else playing Perry Christopher who isn't Twice-Blessed and isn't a witchlighter, I'd be fine with this


Whatcha think?

[Esmeralda]

Feb 3, 2015 13:20:15 GMT -5 Astral Alex said:

Eh. I'm not liking the whole Prue lives thing. I finished watching Forever Charmed last night, and on reflection of the series as a whole Prue and Paige are my two favourite characters. I know to many people on here Prue is held in high regard but the perfect end to Paige's first season would have been Charmed and Dangerous. I think the episode itself is brilliant and as a finale with a little more build-up it would have rounded off Paige's introduction, put some of the initial grief over Prue to bed and set up the Cole/Phoebe/Baby story for Season Five.

Maybe I just like it more the way it is - and I've never been a fan of the whole "Witch Way Now" being the finale, the girls should never give up their powers.

Early Phoebs and Paige are my two favorites. I really didn't like Prue in early Season One or late Season Three at all. I just like Piper and Phoebe better when Prue was alive. I also sincerely believe that the sisters (they're not girls; they're women!) should've given up their powers unless Season 5-8 were totally different.

But hopefully we can agree to disagree.

[Esmeralda]

Feb 3, 2015 13:29:26 GMT -5 Darkhorse Christian said:

Feb 3, 2015 11:12:13 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

And everything I've read is what would've happened had Shannen not been fired - when discussing this, I always kept Paige out of the discussion. If I didn't make that clear earlier, my bad.

No, I understood well enough. I was just commenting how that's essentially what makes it work.

I know you did. I just wasn't sure if others did.

[Astral Alex]

Feb 3, 2015 13:43:45 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Feb 3, 2015 13:20:15 GMT -5 Astral Alex said:

Eh. I'm not liking the whole Prue lives thing. I finished watching Forever Charmed last night, and on reflection of the series as a whole Prue and Paige are my two favourite characters. I know to many people on here Prue is held in high regard but the perfect end to Paige's first season would have been Charmed and Dangerous. I think the episode itself is brilliant and as a finale with a little more build-up it would have rounded off Paige's introduction, put some of the initial grief over Prue to bed and set up the Cole/Phoebe/Baby story for Season Five.

Maybe I just like it more the way it is - and I've never been a fan of the whole "Witch Way Now" being the finale, the girls should never give up their powers.

Early Phoebs and Paige are my two favorites. I really didn't like Prue in early Season One or late Season Three at all. I just like Piper and Phoebe better when Prue was alive. I also sincerely believe that the sisters (they're not girls; they're women!) should've given up their powers unless Season 5-8 were totally different.

But hopefully we can agree to disagree.

I like Phoebe up until Season Six, Phoebe in Season Eight is just unbearable. Same with Piper. Paige is the only one I still root for in the end, and hmm you see we do disagree because I didn't feel that Wyatt, Chris and the kids were detrimental to the series at all and I enjoyed their storylines. After the rewatch, the last plot arc of Season Six and Season Seven were actually enjoyable to watch again.

Different strokes for different folks!

[Esmeralda]

Feb 3, 2015 13:58:06 GMT -5 Astral Alex said:

Feb 3, 2015 13:43:45 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Early Phoebs and Paige are my two favorites. I really didn't like Prue in early Season One or late Season Three at all. I just like Piper and Phoebe better when Prue was alive. I also sincerely believe that the sisters (they're not girls; they're women!) should've given up their powers unless Season 5-8 were totally different.

But hopefully we can agree to disagree.

I like Phoebe up until Season Six, Phoebe in Season Eight is just unbearable. Same with Piper. Paige is the only one I still root for in the end, and hmm you see we do disagree because I didn't feel that Wyatt, Chris and the kids were detrimental to the series at all and I enjoyed their storylines. After the rewatch, the last plot arc of Season Six and Season Seven were actually enjoyable to watch again.

Different strokes for different folks!

LOL! You got it!!! And I'm glad your re-watch made the series more fun to watch. I wish I could say the same from my last re-watch - Piper and Leo in S5-8 made them in S2 unwatchable - and that used to be my favorite season...

[Deleted]

Feb 3, 2015 13:40:48 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

*nods* I can agree with that. I think the one piece we're thinking of it differently is that I think that if Shannen had not been fired, Leo would've been able to heal *both* sisters at the same time - and both would have had trauma and regrouping. There also would've been problems between Phoebe and her sisters - the fact that had Phoebe been with them, they would not have come so close to dying, setting up a lessening of their bond and putting to use the problems between Shannen and Alyssa, the same way the last few episodes had so very few scenes with both sisters. You also could've still had the fun of the earlier episodes when Cole was human.

In fact, looking over the listing of episodes (remembering that this would be without Paige, rather with Prue playing Paige's role the way Paige played Prue's), I would prefer something like this:

4x01: Brain Drain (including the revival of both sisters and the PTSD and the vanquishing of Shax) With Shax's failure, the Source tries to get rid of the Charmed Ones' this way
4x02: Black as Cole
4x03: Muse to My Ears (using Prue's photography rather than Paige's art)
4x04: Trial by Magic
4x05: Lost and Bound
4x06: Charmed and Dangerous
4x07: The Three Faces of Phoebe
4x08: Marry-Go-Round
4x09: The Fifth Halliwheel
4x10: Saving Private Leo
4x11: We're Off to See the Wizard
4x12 to 4x18: New episodes showing Cole and Phoebe as the leaders of the Underworld and Phoebe becoming pregnant while Prue and Piper try to survive as a power of two
4x18: New Episode - Prue and Piper manage to bring Phoebe back and Prue talks her into turning her back on Cole
4x19: Centennial Charmed (with a different title, naturally) Cole tries to bring back a world where Prue didn't survive and there's still no such thing as Paige. Not sure how it would end, but Cole would not be vanquished at this point
4x20: Long Live the Queen
4x21: Womb Raider (No sign of Cole during this one)
4x22: Witch Way Now? (No sign of Cole during this one. After everything that has happened, the sisters decide to give up their powers. Fastforward to the attic door opening and a dark-haired young man walks in and seeing the trunk open..End of Season, end of Series.)

Yup, if you can start fresh with someone else playing Perry Christopher who isn't Twice-Blessed and isn't a witchlighter, I'd be fine with this


Whatcha think?

You know, oddly enough, I'd never really considered a S4 premiere which saw Prue being healed promptly - but rather some big plot which involved bringing her back somehow. It WOULD make more sense for Leo to just heal both sisters straight into S4, with the rest of the premiere revolving around their trying to save Phole from the Underworld.

I do love your episode listing of S4, that would would've been brilliant had Prue survived *sigh*. I think I'd still like to find a way to incorporate 'Hell Hath No Fury' and I'd still kind of want it to be Piper-centric, given how well Holly acted out the plot. I think it could perhaps go in your 4x12 - 4x18 space, during which Prue would get major stage fight about taking the lead in vanquishing Cole/saving Phoebe, and so avoids the issue in a very un-Prue way, leaving Piper to pick up the slack against Cole's mecanaries, which would account for her 'unexpressed rage'. The pivotal scene would be her attacking Queen Phoebe and breaking down at that point. I see this as the major turning point in Phoebe decision to stop Cole. It's basically the plot of Long Live the Queen, just stretched out, and without Piper being an alcoholic!

I've added in my suggestions on your list:

4x01: Brain Drain (including the revival of both sisters and the PTSD and the vanquishing of Shax) With Shax's failure, the Source tries to get rid of the Charmed Ones' this way
4x02: Black as Cole
4x03: Muse to My Ears (using Prue's photography rather than Paige's art)

4x04: Flashback: Prue runs into an old high school friend but is disturbed by violent night terrors. She decides it must be related to her old friend so goes back in time to uncover a secret about him - he was friends with the guy who attacked her as a teenager (mentioned in Be Careful What You Witch For) and gave him a false albi. The sisters had always just assumed Grams had taken care of him, but she had not wanted to tell them he got off.

4x05: Trial by Magic
4x06: Lost and Bound
4x07: Mother Dearest: An episode idea I had which focused on Elizabeth Turner and Cole's backstory. Prue would kill Elizabeth, which would set up Cole/Prue rivalry when he becomes the Source. Elizabeth would be disgusted by Cole marrying a Charmed One and having lost his powers.

4x08: Charmed and Dangerous
4x09: The Three Faces of Phoebe
4x10: Marry-Go-Round
4x11: The Fifth Halliwheel
4x12: Saving Private Leo
4x13: Bite Me: I'd keep this episode and make Prue the vampire victim to increase her suspicions of/tension towards Cole, pretty much like Paige.
4x14: We're Off to See the Wizard: The fire power comes in the episode, with Phoebe finding out she's pregnant at the very end of the episode.
4x15 to 4x16: New episodes showing Cole and Phoebe as the leaders of the Underworld and Phoebe becoming pregnant while Prue and Piper try to survive as a power of two
4x17: Hell Hath No Fury: Prue is resistant to fight Phoebe now that she is Queen, leaving Piper to deal with the emtional and practical reality of their situation. Fury-Piper and Queen Phoebe have an extended confrontation at the end of the episode, which is the catalyst for Phoebe's doubts.
4x18: New Episode - Prue and Piper manage to bring Phoebe back and Prue talks her into turning her back on Cole.
4x19: Long Live the Queen (Part 1): I had the idea of having this before the CC-type episode. As Phoebe agrees to vanquish Cole, she realises it will be harder than she thought. They have a bit of a magical confrontation, before Cole 'escapes' the Power of Three.

4x20: Sympathy for the Demon (Part 2): I liked the title from the S5 episode. After LLTQ ends on a cliffhanger, Cole retreats to the UW and begs the Seer for help. Recognising that Cole will never be able to be the Source without Phoebe's love and support, she gives him the idea to use the Source's powers to alter reality so that Prue really did die at the hands of Shax. Of course Cole would blame Prue for being the major obstacle in his relationship with Phoebe, so would agree. The rest of the episode would be similar to the S5 CC, except Cole did not realise that he would assume Belthazor's identity again. He gets angry at the Seer for tricking him into weakening himself but she feigns ignorance, claiming she has no idea what he's talking about. All she knows is that Cole/Belthazor is the Source's representative on Earth and has tasked him and Phoebe with keeping the Nexus under the control of Evil by living in the Manor. The Seer in *our* reality is happy, because she devised this plan to get rid of Cole once and for all so she could claim his title, as time in *this* reality would continue. Cole would be killed by all three sisters. When reality fixes itself, Phoebe *remembers* what happened and is obviously devastated.   

4x21: Womb Raider (No sign of Cole during this one) Thank god, let him RIP.   
4x22: Witch Way Now? (No sign of Cole during this one. After everything that has happened, the sisters decide to give up their powers. Fastforward to the attic door opening and a dark-haired young man walks in and seeing the trunk open..End of Season, end of Series.)

[Esmeralda]

Feb 5, 2015 6:14:21 GMT -5 @deano said:

Feb 3, 2015 13:40:48 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

*nods* I can agree with that. I think the one piece we're thinking of it differently is that I think that if Shannen had not been fired, Leo would've been able to heal *both* sisters at the same time - and both would have had trauma and regrouping. There also would've been problems between Phoebe and her sisters - the fact that had Phoebe been with them, they would not have come so close to dying, setting up a lessening of their bond and putting to use the problems between Shannen and Alyssa, the same way the last few episodes had so very few scenes with both sisters. You also could've still had the fun of the earlier episodes when Cole was human.

In fact, looking over the listing of episodes (remembering that this would be without Paige, rather with Prue playing Paige's role the way Paige played Prue's), I would prefer something like this:

4x01: Brain Drain (including the revival of both sisters and the PTSD and the vanquishing of Shax) With Shax's failure, the Source tries to get rid of the Charmed Ones' this way
4x02: Black as Cole
4x03: Muse to My Ears (using Prue's photography rather than Paige's art)
4x04: Trial by Magic
4x05: Lost and Bound
4x06: Charmed and Dangerous
4x07: The Three Faces of Phoebe
4x08: Marry-Go-Round
4x09: The Fifth Halliwheel
4x10: Saving Private Leo
4x11: We're Off to See the Wizard
4x12 to 4x18: New episodes showing Cole and Phoebe as the leaders of the Underworld and Phoebe becoming pregnant while Prue and Piper try to survive as a power of two
4x18: New Episode - Prue and Piper manage to bring Phoebe back and Prue talks her into turning her back on Cole
4x19: Centennial Charmed (with a different title, naturally) Cole tries to bring back a world where Prue didn't survive and there's still no such thing as Paige. Not sure how it would end, but Cole would not be vanquished at this point
4x20: Long Live the Queen
4x21: Womb Raider (No sign of Cole during this one)
4x22: Witch Way Now? (No sign of Cole during this one. After everything that has happened, the sisters decide to give up their powers. Fastforward to the attic door opening and a dark-haired young man walks in and seeing the trunk open..End of Season, end of Series.)

Yup, if you can start fresh with someone else playing Perry Christopher who isn't Twice-Blessed and isn't a witchlighter, I'd be fine with this


Whatcha think?

You know, oddly enough, I'd never really considered a S4 premiere which saw Prue being healed promptly - but rather some big plot which involved bringing her back somehow. It WOULD make more sense for Leo to just heal both sisters straight into S4, with the rest of the premiere revolving around their trying to save Phole from the Underworld.

I do love your episode listing of S4, that would would've been brilliant had Prue survived *sigh*. I think I'd still like to find a way to incorporate 'Hell Hath No Fury' and I'd still kind of want it to be Piper-centric, given how well Holly acted out the plot. I think it could perhaps go in your 4x12 - 4x18 space, during which Prue would get major stage fight about taking the lead in vanquishing Cole/saving Phoebe, and so avoids the issue in a very un-Prue way, leaving Piper to pick up the slack against Cole's mecanaries, which would account for her 'unexpressed rage'. The pivotal scene would be her attacking Queen Phoebe and breaking down at that point. I see this as the major turning point in Phoebe decision to stop Cole. It's basically the plot of Long Live the Queen, just stretched out, and without Piper being an alcoholic!

I've added in my suggestions on your list:

4x01: Brain Drain (including the revival of both sisters and the PTSD and the vanquishing of Shax) With Shax's failure, the Source tries to get rid of the Charmed Ones' this way
4x02: Black as Cole
4x03: Muse to My Ears (using Prue's photography rather than Paige's art)

4x04: Flashback: Prue runs into an old high school friend but is disturbed by violent night terrors. She decides it must be related to her old friend so goes back in time to uncover a secret about him - he was friends with the guy who attacked her as a teenager (mentioned in Be Careful What You Witch For) and gave him a false albi. The sisters had always just assumed Grams had taken care of him, but she had not wanted to tell them he got off.

4x05: Trial by Magic
4x06: Lost and Bound
4x07: Mother Dearest: An episode idea I had which focused on Elizabeth Turner and Cole's backstory. Prue would kill Elizabeth, which would set up Cole/Prue rivalry when he becomes the Source. Elizabeth would be disgusted by Cole marrying a Charmed One and having lost his powers.

4x08: Charmed and Dangerous
4x09: The Three Faces of Phoebe
4x10: Marry-Go-Round
4x11: The Fifth Halliwheel
4x12: Saving Private Leo
4x13: Bite Me: I'd keep this episode and make Prue the vampire victim to increase her suspicions of/tension towards Cole, pretty much like Paige.
4x14: We're Off to See the Wizard: The fire power comes in the episode, with Phoebe finding out she's pregnant at the very end of the episode.
4x15 to 4x16: New episodes showing Cole and Phoebe as the leaders of the Underworld and Phoebe becoming pregnant while Prue and Piper try to survive as a power of two
4x17: Hell Hath No Fury: Prue is resistant to fight Phoebe now that she is Queen, leaving Piper to deal with the emtional and practical reality of their situation. Fury-Piper and Queen Phoebe have an extended confrontation at the end of the episode, which is the catalyst for Phoebe's doubts.
4x18: New Episode - Prue and Piper manage to bring Phoebe back and Prue talks her into turning her back on Cole.
4x19: Long Live the Queen (Part 1): I had the idea of having this before the CC-type episode. As Phoebe agrees to vanquish Cole, she realises it will be harder than she thought. They have a bit of a magical confrontation, before Cole 'escapes' the Power of Three.

4x20: Sympathy for the Demon (Part 2): I liked the title from the S5 episode. After LLTQ ends on a cliffhanger, Cole retreats to the UW and begs the Seer for help. Recognising that Cole will never be able to be the Source without Phoebe's love and support, she gives him the idea to use the Source's powers to alter reality so that Prue really did die at the hands of Shax. Of course Cole would blame Prue for being the major obstacle in his relationship with Phoebe, so would agree. The rest of the episode would be similar to the S5 CC, except Cole did not realise that he would assume Belthazor's identity again. He gets angry at the Seer for tricking him into weakening himself but she feigns ignorance, claiming she has no idea what he's talking about. All she knows is that Cole/Belthazor is the Source's representative on Earth and has tasked him and Phoebe with keeping the Nexus under the control of Evil by living in the Manor. The Seer in *our* reality is happy, because she devised this plan to get rid of Cole once and for all so she could claim his title, as time in *this* reality would continue. Cole would be killed by all three sisters. When reality fixes itself, Phoebe *remembers* what happened and is obviously devastated.   

4x21: Womb Raider (No sign of Cole during this one) Thank god, let him RIP.   
4x22: Witch Way Now? (No sign of Cole during this one. After everything that has happened, the sisters decide to give up their powers. Fastforward to the attic door opening and a dark-haired young man walks in and seeing the trunk open..End of Season, end of Series.)

OH, yes! Definitely like your additions! But because I still think the most important part that was left out of Season Four is Cole and Phoebe as leaders of the underworld, I'd reorganize it just a bit. For the same reason, I got rid of one of your episode which I didn’t think quite fit into this season (I like it, just not in this episodic season - it feels like a Season One or Season Two one.):

4x01: Mother Dearest: Leo and Phoebe return soon enough to revive both sisters, but now both sisters are infuriated with Phoebe for letting them come close to dying. When Shax returns, it’s even harder for the sisters to vanquish him since both Piper and Prue go through PTSD. Although Phoebe feels guilty, she’s more interested in Cole, her now-human-boyfriend. Cole is also very happy to just be a lawyer. This brings back Elizabeth Turner, disgusted with her son for preferring his father’s side rather than his mothers. Prue kills Elizabeth, turning Cole against her – after all, this was his mother.)
4x02: Brain Drain: (With Shax's failure, the Source tries to get rid of the Charmed Ones' this way and Piper's PTSD makes the whole thing even more terrifying. It's Phoebe who talks both Prue and Piper into keeping their powers)
4x03: Black as Cole
4x04: Muse to My Ears (using Prue's photography rather than Paige's art)
4x05: Trial by Magic
4x06: Lost and Bound
4x07: Charmed and Dangerous
4x08: The Three Faces of Phoebe
4x09: Marry-Go-Round (It’s Prue who Phoebe thinks is trying to ruin her wedding…)
4x10: The Fifth Halliwheel (Prue the fifth wheel…and the chocolate only makes Piper horny…)
4x11: Saving Private Leo
4x12: Bite Me: (Featuring Prue as the vampire victim to increase her suspicions of/tension towards Cole)
4x13: We're Off to See the Wizard:
4x14: Long Live the Queen (Phoebe becomes queen of the underworld, turning her back on her sisters)
4x15 to 4x18: New episodes showing Cole and Phoebe as the leaders of the Underworld and Phoebe becoming pregnant while Prue and Piper try to survive as a power of two
4x19: Hell Hath No Fury: (Prue is resistant to fight Phoebe now that she is Queen, leaving Piper to deal with the emotional and practical reality of their situation. Fury-Piper and Queen Phoebe have an extended confrontation at the end of the episode, which is the catalyst for Phoebe's doubts.)
4x20: Sympathy for the Demon (As Phoebe agrees to vanquish Cole, she realises it will be harder than she thought. They have a bit of a magical confrontation, before Cole 'escapes' the Power of Three. He retreats to the underworld UW and begs the Seer for help. Recognizing that Cole will never be able to be the Source without Phoebe's love and support, she gives him the idea to use the Source's powers to alter reality so that Prue really did die at the hands of Shax. Of course Cole would blame Prue for being the major obstacle in his relationship with Phoebe, so would agree. The rest of the episode would be similar to the S5 CC, except Cole did not realize that he would assume Belthazor's identity again. He gets angry at the Seer for tricking him into weakening himself but she feigns ignorance, claiming she has no idea what he's talking about. All she knows is that Cole/Belthazor is the Source's representative on Earth and has tasked him and Phoebe with keeping the Nexus under the control of Evil by living in the Manor. The Seer in *our* reality is happy, because she devised this plan to get rid of Cole once and for all so she could claim his title, as time in *this* reality would continue. Cole would be killed by all three sisters. When reality fixes itself, Phoebe *remembers* what happened and is obviously devastated.) Love this, but think it should just be one episode rather than a two-parter.
4x21: Womb Raider (No sign of Cole during this one)
4x22: Witch Way Now? (No sign of Cole during this one. After everything that has happened, even Phoebe agrees that the sisters should give up their powers. Fastforward to the attic door opening and a dark-haired young man walks in and seeing the trunk open..End of Season, end of Series.)

Whatcha think?