P3Nathan's Season 7 Rewatch

[Deleted]

Aug 1, 2015 10:31:19 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

BettyNewbie, do you know when Charmed switched from Thursday nights to Sundays? I know it started on Wednesdays because I volunteer at a cat shelter on Wednesdays and I'd get home in time to see the last half of Charmed - which was pretty strange! Then the next season it switched to Thursdays so I was able to see the whole thing - plus they reran an episode from Season One the hour before, so I got to see what I was missing. But I don't remember for sure when it switched to Sundays - I just remember going over to my friend's (she loves to cook and loves to experiment and I get to be her "guinea pig" - every Sunday she tries something new and I get to tell her what I think while we watch a movie from her extensive DVD collection - and she has a wall TV while I just have a little 10-incher. We call it "doing dinner and a movie") and being disappointed that I'd miss Charmed, only to go over to her place and find her watching it! Neither of us knew that the other watched the show! But I can't remember when that happened.

I'm just curious what happened to Charmed's ratings when it switched.

Charmed switched to Sundays with Season 5, which did see a notable ratings increase from Season 4:

Season 4 (in millions):

• "Charmed Again, Part 1": 6.0
• "Charmed Again, Part 2": 6.0
• "Hell Hath No Fury": 4.9
• "Enter the Demon": 5.7
• "Size Matters": 5.1
• "A Knight to Remember": 4.7
• "Black as Cole": 4.7
• "Brain Drain": 5.1
• "A Muse to My Ears": 4.5
• "A Paige from the Past": 3.4
• "Trial by Magic": 4.2
• "Lost and Bound": 3.9
• "Charmed and Dangerous": 4.7
• "The Three Faces of Phoebe": 4.7
• "Marry Go Round": 4.4
• "The Fifth Halliwheel": 4.8
• "Saving Private Leo": 4.2
• "Bite Me": 3.6
• "We're Off to See the Wizard": 4.4
• "Long Live the Queen": 4.8
• "Womb Raider": 5.0
• "Witch Way Now": 5.4

vs

Season 5:

• "A Witch's Tail, Part 1": 6.3
• "A Witch's Tail, Part 2": 6.3
• "Happily Ever After": 5.1
• "Siren Song": 5.2
• "Witches in Tights": 5.0
• "The Eyes Have It": 5.2
• "Sympathy for the Demon": 4.8
• "A Witch in Time": 5.5
• "Sam I Am": 5.1
• "Y Tu Mummy Tambien": 5.4
• "The Importance of Being Phoebe": 5.4
• "Centennial Charmed": 5.5
• "House Call": 5.3
• "Sand Francisco Dreamin'": 5.1
• "The Day the Magic Died": 5.6
• "Baby's First Demon": 5.6
• "Lucky Charmed": 4.5
• "Cat House": 4.1
• "Nymphs Just Wanna' Have Fun": 4.3
• "Sense and Sense Ability: 4.1
• "Necromancing the Stone: 5.0
• "Oh, My Goddess, Part 1": 4.9
• "Oh, My Goddess, Part 2": 4.9

Although it's never been directly said, Season 4's ratings plunge may have been the reason why the WB moved Charmed to Sundays.

[Deleted]

Charmed aired on Thursday nights from Seasons Two through Four.  It was probably getting clobbered by NBC's then still strong Must See TV (NBC's collapse was still a few years away at that point).

The WB probably felt Sunday would be a safer night. 

[Esmeralda]

Aug 1, 2015 16:19:30 GMT -5 @bettynewbie said:

Aug 1, 2015 10:31:19 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

BettyNewbie, do you know when Charmed switched from Thursday nights to Sundays? I know it started on Wednesdays because I volunteer at a cat shelter on Wednesdays and I'd get home in time to see the last half of Charmed - which was pretty strange! Then the next season it switched to Thursdays so I was able to see the whole thing - plus they reran an episode from Season One the hour before, so I got to see what I was missing. But I don't remember for sure when it switched to Sundays - I just remember going over to my friend's (she loves to cook and loves to experiment and I get to be her "guinea pig" - every Sunday she tries something new and I get to tell her what I think while we watch a movie from her extensive DVD collection - and she has a wall TV while I just have a little 10-incher. We call it "doing dinner and a movie") and being disappointed that I'd miss Charmed, only to go over to her place and find her watching it! Neither of us knew that the other watched the show! But I can't remember when that happened.

I'm just curious what happened to Charmed's ratings when it switched.

Charmed switched to Sundays with Season 5, which did see a notable ratings increase from Season 4:

Season 4 (in millions):

• "Charmed Again, Part 1": 6.0
• "Charmed Again, Part 2": 6.0
• "Hell Hath No Fury": 4.9
• "Enter the Demon": 5.7
• "Size Matters": 5.1
• "A Knight to Remember": 4.7
• "Black as Cole": 4.7
• "Brain Drain": 5.1
• "A Muse to My Ears": 4.5
• "A Paige from the Past": 3.4
• "Trial by Magic": 4.2
• "Lost and Bound": 3.9
• "Charmed and Dangerous": 4.7
• "The Three Faces of Phoebe": 4.7
• "Marry Go Round": 4.4
• "The Fifth Halliwheel": 4.8
• "Saving Private Leo": 4.2
• "Bite Me": 3.6
• "We're Off to See the Wizard": 4.4
• "Long Live the Queen": 4.8
• "Womb Raider": 5.0
• "Witch Way Now": 5.4

vs

Season 5:

• "A Witch's Tail, Part 1": 6.3
• "A Witch's Tail, Part 2": 6.3
• "Happily Ever After": 5.1
• "Siren Song": 5.2
• "Witches in Tights": 5.0
• "The Eyes Have It": 5.2
• "Sympathy for the Demon": 4.8
• "A Witch in Time": 5.5
• "Sam I Am": 5.1
• "Y Tu Mummy Tambien": 5.4
• "The Importance of Being Phoebe": 5.4
• "Centennial Charmed": 5.5
• "House Call": 5.3
• "Sand Francisco Dreamin'": 5.1
• "The Day the Magic Died": 5.6
• "Baby's First Demon": 5.6
• "Lucky Charmed": 4.5
• "Cat House": 4.1
• "Nymphs Just Wanna' Have Fun": 4.3
• "Sense and Sense Ability: 4.1
• "Necromancing the Stone: 5.0
• "Oh, My Goddess, Part 1": 4.9
• "Oh, My Goddess, Part 2": 4.9

Although it's never been directly said, Season 4's ratings plunge may have been the reason why the WB moved Charmed to Sundays.

Thank you! Although now you've got me curious as to what it was for S3, just for comparison's sake.

I love the fact that the one that most tried to copy Buffy - "Bite Me" - had such a low rating. They should've learned from that and not tried to replace the Charmed Ones with Billie, and amazing that "Hell Hath No Fury" had such a drop after what "Charmed Again" brought in - and the fact that both two-part episodes got the same rating for both parts.

[Deleted]

Aug 1, 2015 18:52:19 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Thank you! Although now you've got me curious as to what it was for S3, just for comparison's sake.

Here's Season 3:

Season 3:

• "The Honeymoon's Over": 7.7
• "Magic Hour": 5.1
• "Once Upon a Time": 5.4
• "All Halliwell's Eve": 6.5
• "Sight Unseen": 5.7
• "Primrose Empath": 6.1
• "Power Outage": 5.7
• "Sleuthing with the Enemy": 5.5
• "Coyote Piper": 5.1
• "We All Scream for Ice Cream": 5.4
• "Blinded by the Whitelighter": 5.4
• "Wrestling with Demons": 5.9
• "Bride and Gloom": 5.4
• "The Good, the Bad and the Cursed": 5.1
• "Just Harried": 5.8
• "Death Takes a Halliwell": 5.4
• "Pre-Witched": 5.1
• "Sin Francisco": 4.0
• "The Demon Who Came in from the Cold": 3.6
• "Exit Strategy": 4.1
• "Look Who's Barking": 4.7
• "All Hell Breaks Loose": 5.3

No surprise that the ratings took a nosedive towards the end when the boring Demon Brotherhood nonsense started up, but otherwise, the ratings were way higher than Season 4's. Even the 6 million "Charmed Again" got was completely dwarfed by the whopping 7.7 million "The Honeymoon's Over" brought in. (And, "Primrose Empath" was the very last non-premiere episode to get 6 million or more, aside from Season 6's "Chris-Crossed.")

Aug 1, 2015 18:52:19 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

I love the fact that the one that most tried to copy Buffy - "Bite Me" - had such a low rating. They should've learned from that and not tried to replace the Charmed Ones with Billie, and amazing that "Hell Hath No Fury" had such a drop after what "Charmed Again" brought in - and the fact that both two-part episodes got the same rating for both parts.

Sad to see that "A Paige From the Past" bombed so hard in the ratings, though. Believe it or not, it was the show's lowest rated episode ever until "Witch Wars" from Season 6. I wonder if that possibly made them scared to give Paige's character any more substantial spotlight?

Otherwise, you can tell that the ratings took a pretty big hit from Shannen's exit. In fact, Season 4 was the show's lowest rated season until Seasons 7 and 8.

[Deleted]

Sad to see that "A Paige From the Past" bombed so hard in the ratings, though. Believe it or not, it was the show's lowest rated episode ever until "Witch Wars" from Season 6. I wonder if that possibly made them scared to give Paige's character any more substantial spotlight?

I wonder if that reason it did so badly was because of the Frankie/Lulu rubbish?  Fans expected to see an episode about Paige, not more Phoebe hijinks.

[Deleted]

Aug 1, 2015 23:20:09 GMT -5 @tim66 said:

I wonder if that reason it did so badly was because of the Frankie/Lulu rubbish?  Fans expected to see an episode about Paige, not more Phoebe hijinks.

That is a possibly.  What was supposed to be the episode's A Plot was actually the B Plot to, yet, more Phoebe crap.

[Deleted]

What was supposed to be the episode's A Plot was actually the B Plot to, yet, more Phoebe crap.

They may as well have retitled the episode "More Zany Phoebe/Cole Antics"

[Astral Vision]

Aug 1, 2015 8:21:19 GMT -5 @p3nathan said:

The gnome, who Brian Krause apparently named “Mr. Monkeyshines” (hate to say it, but screw you Brian) gets sucked into a book called “Crossed, Double-Crossed”.

Brian named the gnome?

Halliwell has a vision, because she totally learned her lesson remember, of Paige and Kyle being sucked into the book.



Paige: They're dicks.

(Kyle chuckles.)

Kyle: Dicks.

Despite watching this episode last week, I had totally forgotten that little line between Paige and Kyle at the door to the brothers' office. Therefore I thought you were just adlibbing a response by Paige and Kyle to what you said about Halliwell above. xD

[Deleted]

Aug 2, 2015 7:16:30 GMT -5 Astral Vision said:

Brian named the gnome?

Yeah I think I've heard him mention it at a few convention panels.

Halliwell has a vision, because she totally learned her lesson remember, of Paige and Kyle being sucked into the book.



Paige: They're dicks.

(Kyle chuckles.)

Kyle: Dicks.

Despite watching this episode last week, I had totally forgotten that little line between Paige and Kyle at the door to the brothers' office. Therefore I thought you were just adlibbing a response by Paige and Kyle to what you said about Halliwell above. xD

Ha, well that would certainly apply

[Chrisaholic]

To "Someone to Witch over me": Yeah, my minor happiness of Drew's re-appearance and yeah, thanks for pointing out the haircut! lol For around 7 minutes (I counted!!) he was not necessary, really. The Avatars hadn't needed this way of introduction to Leo. Family is everything, don't forget that! And Phoebe is a b!tch because she's working again. lol

To "Charmed Noir": With the Mullen brothers, it could have been a foresight of the Halliwell brothers but never mind, it's about Paige and Kyle mainly. Magic books, Magic School and all with magic - too much for a mortal like Kyle Brody. lol The other two sisters may have done something constructive here but barely. The main work is still on Paige. *sighs*

[Deleted]

Avatar: The Last Time-Bender
a.k.a. (There's Something About Leo)

We start with Piper sulking at Leo in the attic, because Leo is hiding something. I know he is hiding something, but I don’t know where she got this sulk from since the last episode. But as Piper said “can’t just shut up and be happy, right?”

Leo growls himself back in time a couple of minutes and Alpha and Beta show up.





Alpha: You need to be more careful about your new powers, Leo. Reversing time can be very dangerous.

DUN DUN!
Only not, because it’s two minutes. Chill out. Then again, maybe extra caution is wise considering how badly Cole f***d up.





Beta: They must come to the truth in their own time and in their own way, just as you did.

Just as he did? You tormented him with floaty heads and then hijacked his mind to make your sales pitch! How is that “his own way”?




Piper sulking some more while she’s with her sisters on a demon stake out.

Paige: Why? Why are you so upset with him? He's been an Angel lately.
Piper: Yeah, well, that's the problem. He's been too perfect...

*Eye roll*





Phoebe: Yeah, see, breakfast is not a date. Dinner's a date, lunch is definitely maybe a date. Breakfast? Always just breakfast.

So Phoebe has done dictating what Paige gets to call Kyle, but has moved on to dictating what she gets to call a date. Shut up Phoebe! Besides, I like going out for breakfast. Anyway...




So the invisi-demons want to set up a rival tribe for the innocent’s death or whatever. That’s pretty much all there is to it; otherwise these guys are just your standard forgettable demon boys.





Paige and Brody Boy Wonder’s really awkward date. Yes Phoebe, I called it a date! He turns off two phones, only to be called on his emergency line.

Kyle: Intel just detected another unusual power spike in the area.

That’s an emergency? Anyway, Paige ditches him.




They keep talking about beetle toes for a potion...pretty sure beetles don’t have toes guys.




Phoebe: Darryl actually thinks Brody had something to do with Sheridan's disappearance. Yeah. That's why I'm keeping it low-key. Darryl's on his way over. We're gonna talk about it while Paige is on her date.
Piper: Oh, he's talking to us again?
Phoebe: Kinda. Baby steps.
(Piper rolls her eyes)

Really Piper? I’ll say to you what I said to Phoebe and Paige last season; maybe Darryl would be more receptive if you actually spoke to him as a friend who cares; instead of only giving him the time of day when YOU need something. But yeah sure, roll your eyes, he only spent who knows how long in prison and nearly got executed...his life still isn’t nearly as tough as yours, right Piper?





So anyway, Darryl thinks Brody made Sheridan disappear.

Darryl: No. No magic. I told you. I've done some soul-searching. I wanna help again, but I don't wanna go there anymore.
Phoebe: Darryl, you gotta get over this. I mean, really, one bad experience with magic can't outweigh six years of good, can it?

Okay, I’m not totally with Darryl here, because going to the sisters with this and expecting them not to use magic is just stupid. But really, ONE BAD EXPERIENCE? You only count one Phoebe? I’m so sick of these b!tches completely minimizing his issue, do they seriously think that helps matters? But so long as it’s not them, it’s no big deal I guess.





Piper’s still being a sulky brat and Leo ends up freezing time out of frustration. Alpha and Beta show up again and Alpha seems to be losing patience.

Alpha: This can't keep happening, Leo. We've had this conversation.

Okay, let’s be fair here Alpha. You’ve given the guy a ridiculous amount of power in one sitting. You’ve yet to teach him or give him any real detailed guidance on how to use it... so what do you expect? I don’t think just popping in and saying “woah dude, control your emotions” is really gonna cut it!




Leo tells Piper and Piper blows herself on her arse. Ha! Satisfying.





Piper: Handle what, that you're what everybody is afraid of, even the Elders?

Well to be fair, the Elders know squat. They just don’t want anyone more powerful than them existing.





Elder Sandra orbs down for a chat with Leo.

Sandra: We've detected a power surge, a time shift. That could only mean one thing. The Avatars are making their move.
Leo: How do you know it's them?
Sandra: Because no demon has this kind of power, not since the Source.

Pfft, yeah like the Source was so great in the end.


Sandra: We know they're a threat.
Leo: Why, because they have power?
Sandra: Yes. The kind of power that in the wrong hands could be a danger to us all.

See, with thinking like that, you can see why you’d end up with crazies like Gideon convincing themselves that killing a child is cool because he’s too powerful and could go bad. Leo argues that surely that would that make them bad, since they have great power, but she kinda just dodges the question.




Piper: That sounds like a load of crap.

Hmm. Is this Piper talking to Leo, or Holly talking to the writers?





Piper: And those floating heads that tormented you, they made your life better?
Leo: That was just a way to get my attention, make me open to a new idea.

Pahaha! Urgh, good grief. Do they not hear themselves and how stupid this sounds? Yeah, freaky demon heads just scream “let’s give world peace a try!” to me too.




So having JUST found out about Leo, Phoebe and Paige immediately go to tell Kyle... because they’re idiots. Phoebe especially since she’s just been given reason to suspect Kyle did something seriously dodgy to Sheridan. As soon as Kyle is told, he turns into Brody Boy Nutjob and grabs his Avatar vanquishing potion and his gun.




Paige: Piper, everything, and I mean everything, points to them being bad. Even the Elders think so.

What is with this “even the Elders” line that they keep spouting this episode? Just a few episodes ago they couldn’t care less if they were being killed and now all of a sudden their word is gospel?




Phoebe: I think you need to orb that potion away from him before he does something stupid.

Oh what a novel idea Phoebe! Paige doesn’t... I guess she’s all “Uh, but duh, I can’t orb stuff... uh, that only works on Tuesdays, duh *drool*, I’m an idiot” Anyway, she ends up getting shot by Brody’s tranquilizer.





Piper returns to find Paige unconscious and Brody Boy Nutjob holding Phoebe at gun point. Freeze him Piper, freeze him right now!

Piper: “Uh, but duh Nathan, I can’t freeze people... uh, that only works on Mondays, duh *drool*, I’m an idiot too”





Everything goes slow mo as Leo shoots Kyle through the chest with a lightning bolt (ah, satisfying), but not before Kyle has thrown the potion.


Deus ex machina – ACTIVATE! And we’re back to the scene where Leo is about to tell Piper the truth.





Alpha: You must not try this ever again, Leo. You can never tell Piper about us, not until she's truly ready.

Which will be the very next episode apparently, so this was all pretty pointless huh?




Brody Boy Nutjob and Paige have dinner, Leo and Piper communicate a bit.





Okay next up: Phoebe finds true love and Oded Fehr promises a much better second half.

[Chrisaholic]

A big LOL. And I can't say who I pity more now. The actors, the storyline or the whole episode? At best, all three of them. That's the better truth. I had thought that Avatar crap was done with Cole, yet apparently the writers decided to bring the guys in black back. Nonsense when they even know it ends badly - the man is not made for Utopia! Get that in your head, people. *grgr*

[Deleted]

Ah, the infamous Reset Button comes to Charmed. 

Paige doesn’t... I guess she’s all “Uh, but duh, I can’t orb stuff... uh, that only works on Tuesdays, duh *drool*, I’m an idiot”

And this woman went to college.  Hard to believe, but watch Season Four.

[Deleted]

Aug 8, 2015 9:14:05 GMT -5 Chrisaholic said:

A big LOL. And I can't say who I pity more now. The actors, the storyline or the whole episode? At best, all three of them. That's the better truth. I had thought that Avatar crap was done with Cole, yet apparently the writers decided to bring the guys in black back. Nonsense when they even know it ends badly - the man is not made for Utopia! Get that in your head, people. *grgr*

They only brought the Avatars back because they didn't have anything else to do. Killing Chris off at the end of Season 6 left them without a story for Season 7.

This storyline was originally supposed to happen with Cole in late Season 5, but it was cancelled when Julian decided not to renew his contract. When they dusted this storyline off again in Season 7, they just changed a few names around and gave it to Leo.

Aug 8, 2015 11:43:18 GMT -5 @tim66 said:

Ah, the infamous Reset Button comes to Charmed. 

Paige doesn’t... I guess she’s all “Uh, but duh, I can’t orb stuff... uh, that only works on Tuesdays, duh *drool*, I’m an idiot”

And this woman went to college.  Hard to believe, but watch Season Four.

Alas, while Paige's hair was (thankfully) dark again, her IQ sadly never recovered.

[Deleted]

This storyline was originally supposed to happen with Cole in late Season 5, but it was cancelled when Julian decided not to renew his contract. When they dusted this storyline off again in Season 7, they just changed a few names around and gave it to Leo.

And it was just as bad.  You can't save a rubbish idea, no matter how many changes you make to it.

[Sadrick]

Aug 8, 2015 8:28:43 GMT -5 @p3nathan said:

Avatar: The Last Time-Bender
a.k.a. (There's Something About Leo)

Sandra: We know they're a threat.
Leo: Why, because they have power?
Sandra: Yes. The kind of power that in the wrong hands could be a danger to us all.

See, with thinking like that, you can see why you’d end up with crazies like Gideon convincing themselves that killing a child is cool because he’s too powerful and could go bad. Leo argues that surely that would that make them bad, since they have great power, but she kinda just dodges the question.

I mentioned this in another topic, but in spite of his extremism, I do believe that there was some legitimacy to Gideon's misgivings about Wyatt. People like Leo and the sisters are expecting this little hydrogen bomb to turn out correctly because of prejudice and the belief that he can do no wrong. They're not trying to look at the situation from an impartial viewpoint. The sisters are constantly being turned against each other and the "good guys" on a regular basis. Fortunately, there's usually the other two to bring them back to reality. However, for Wyatt, there's no one except his weaker little brother who was pretty much on the run in his own timeline when this scenario played out. The sisters and Leo want to believe that Wyatt will stand on the side of Angels, but if their absolutistic viewpoint fails to pan out in execution, they need to have some way to stop him. It's the same principle as Superman and the Justice League having contingency plans made against them should they ever turn. 

[Deleted]

Oh I've criticized Piper and Leo's lack of response to Wyatt's misuses of magic plenty, I don't disagree there. They should get off their lazy arses and do more about it, especially once it's made crystal clear that him being good isn't set in stone at all. Gideon was totally right to be concerned... but that's all.

[Deleted]

Gideon being concerned is one thing.  His throwing away everything he believe in, partnering up with demons, murdering Sigmund, no, that's way over the line.   He didn't even TRY to approach the Halliwells and express his concerns.

[Astral Vision]

Aug 8, 2015 8:28:43 GMT -5 @p3nathan said:

Avatar: The Last Time-Bender
a.k.a. (There's Something About Leo)

I wrote something in response, but the site deleted it all and posted just the quote, and I don't have time to repost it.

[Astral Vision]

Okay, I might just have time to at least summarise my response (without quotes):

In regards to the Avatars telling Leo to control his emotions. Isn't that a whitelighter's role? I remember when Piper gained her combustion power, that was Leo's most loved piece of advice to give her. The Avatars are just giving him a taste of his own medicine.

To the part about the tranq-scene/gun scene/Piper not freezing scene: Laughed a lot at your comments on it.

And finally, it's a reset episode. Almost a filler, if it weren't for the revelation that Kyle's crazy. Though, yeah, it's so stupid having a whole thing about "don't tell them until they're ready which happens to be next week!" plot.