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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2016 10:17:20 GMT -5
Many fans feel like Paige was robbed of important screentime and development in her introductory season because of Phoebe and Cole. The Queen of the Underworld storyline had been in planning before Shannen was fired and was meant to be start at the beginning of the season, but the need to introduce Paige forced it to get pushed back.
However, Kern still didn't want to abandon this storyline, no matter what, so Paige's introduction was rushed, and she was quickly plopped right into Prue's old role in the Dark Phoebe story, her own character development taking a backseat to Phoebe and Cole. Many fans suspect that these late Season 4 episodes had originally been written before Shannen was fired and that the writers simply crossed out "Prue" and penciled in "Paige."
What do you think? Should Season 4 have been more about Paige, or do you think the season was handled well as it was?
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As for me, I vote "Yes." I think a lot of Paige's potential as a character was stifled when her introduction was forced to take a backseat to Phoebe and Cole midway through the season. We still didn't really have a good feel for her as a character, and she herself had hardly known Piper and Phoebe and her Charmed heritage, and yet she was already getting shoved right into a storyline like that.
And, I think this negatively impacted how Paige was handled later on in the series. Because the writers were never able to establish a strong identity and backstory for Paige in her first season, her character remained very inconsistently written throughout the rest of the series, going from being a smart social worker in Season 4 to an unemployed ditz in Seasons 5 and 6 and a full-time whitelighter in Seasons 7 and 8. She never got any storylines of her own, and her life seemed to entirely revolve around magic (right down to having more fairies and leprechauns as friends than people).
Season 4 really needed to be like a new Season 1, with the Charmed Ones put right back at Square One as Piper and Phoebe had to learn to move on without Prue and reconstitute the Power of Three with Paige. You can't make a change as drastic as introducing an entirely brand new sister and not dedicate an entire season to it, even if it wasn't the original plan for the season. Kern might've wanted Season 4 to be another Phoebe and Cole season, but that plan should've changed as soon as he fired Shannen.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2016 11:07:09 GMT -5
I 100% agree.
I don't care what story lines Kern had originally planned for Season Four. Once Shannen was fired, it was a whole new ball game. All the previous plans should have been dropped or at least pushed back to Season Five. You can't just substitute one character for another on a show like this and just treat it like business as usual. The three stars were the show here. I mean could you even imagine Supernatural carrying on, business as usual, had they lost either Jensen Ackles or Jared Padalecki? I can't.
Season Four should have been given over totally to Paige, introducing her, having her meet the sisters she never knew she had, having her discover who she really is, and having her gradually settling into to her new life as a Charmed One. You can't rush a story like that, it takes time. It took more than a season for the original Power Of Three to gel, and Prue's death, as Betty said, set things right back to Square One. Yes, Piper and Phoebe were a little more experienced, but they still needed Paige.
However, Kern's unwillingness to abandon his Phoebe/Cole storyline robbed Paige of some badly needed character development. It says something that half of an episode that was named after her, A Paige From The Past, was given over to more Phoebe/Cole hi-jinks. Now, I know that this was the result of Executive Meddling on the WB's part, but still, you would think that they could have used the extra time (the WB made them drop Christmas from the episode, don't ask me why) to spend with Paige and her adoptive parents in 1994. How much of Paige's background story in this episode was sacrificed for the rubbish Frankie and Lulu story?
Paige started out so strong, and it shows in her initial episodes. However, Kern really dropped the ball on her after that, and Paige never really recovered characters wise.
One of the good few good things about Season Eight is that Paige finally got a good storyline, once she met Henry. However, but then it was too little, too late.
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Post by adzpower on Mar 28, 2016 12:08:28 GMT -5
I mean all the characters ended up being inconsistent in the end, so I don't think it would have made much difference to Paige's actual characterization considering Piper and Phoebe ended the show being nothing like their season one selves at all as well, at least Paige managed to claw back to her season four personality by the end. But yes I agree, more time should have been devoted to Paige, even just another couple of focus episodes to maybe explore her drinking problem and how she survived without her parents would have been interesting. I mean, addiction storylines are TV gold, so I'm very surprised they didn't have her relapse at some point. Just more sloppy and forgetful writing at its finest I guess.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2016 16:25:16 GMT -5
Like that I idea I had where, after losing an Innocent she cared about, Paige falls off the wagon and starts drinking again. Piper and Phoebe watch as Paige battles a demon that cannot be gotten rid of by simply uttering a spell.
This would have been a good story, character wise, for Paige. Too bad it never happened when Paige just became a fill-in for Prue.
Talk about a missed opportunity.
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Post by Melinda Halliwell on Mar 28, 2016 17:59:36 GMT -5
Yes season 4 should've definitely focused more on Paige and her character development which should've occurred like this I think.
She meets Piper and Phoebe the same way as originally through the call the lost witch spell and still goes to Prue's funeral intrigued.
Maybe she could be shown to be investigating her adoption then and have it implied being a reason why she became an assistant social worker in the first place.
Later on when she meets her sisters under the chandelier and that glows it activates her powers but not reconstitutes the P03 meaning they don't vanquish Shax just weaken him badly.
Piper has a hard time accepting Paige just as she has difficulty accepting her new found destiny which she tries ignoring but can't when evil attacks constantly.
The charmed ones learn of Shax's oh so not vanquish and the reason behind it being them not the P03 which won't happen until they bond as sisters so vanquishing people like Ludlow doesn't occur momentarily obviously.
Piper and Phoebe try doing that forcibly and then realise it should happen naturally and so don't make her move in A Knight To Remember end but repair her loft using the vanishing spell instead.
We learn afterwards about Paige's parents and what happened in her life from their deaths via flashbacks including her drinking and why she did that as a means of coping to her start working at South Bay Social Services and her attempts at finding out her real family then.
The sisterly bond occurs later on subsequent when Paige almost dies saving one of them solidifying the P03 finally allowing them to vanquish Shax instead of the Source ultimately which occurs season 4 end.
Paige decides to move inside Halliwell Manor after that then and meets Victor who resents her initially being the product of Sam and Patty's affair which changes end wise slightly when she saves him from a demon attack making him think it wasn't her fault what happened originally and so she's says he could like her future wise maybe after getting to know her obviously.
Paige's father Sam arrives not long afterward and their relstionships depicted the way way as in Sam And I which thaws out like it does with Victor having her acknowledge him but not accept totally which proceeds the big Source vanquish at the end and Cole getting possessed which happens season 5 along with his storyline with Phoebe then.
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Post by Assassin Witch on Mar 28, 2016 23:43:02 GMT -5
I loved Paige from the Past. AND YESSSSSSSS to that PC plot being so unnecessary. Paige's backstory was an amazing episode and great character backstory. But they never followed it up.
And I hate that she left her assistant social worker position. NO! She should have stayed and became a social worker. That is her calling. Her need in S5 to give it up and learn magic was so weird.
I do think S4 was WAY PC HEAVY. I'm not a fan of that couple. I would have loved more of the girls learning about each other and becoming sisters instead of a rushed intro so Piper/Paige vs Phoebe/Queen thing.
When you fire a main star, change your damn storylines. Make the transition more organic. The fans deserved better. And Paige deserved better!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2016 11:20:17 GMT -5
I couldn't have said it better myself, Jackie.
Once Shannen was fired, ALL the original Season Four stuff should have been tossed out. Basically, they were back at Square One, and they should have reflected that. They had a new sister to develop and flesh out. Season Four should have been devoted to that. All other storylines could wait.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2016 12:41:28 GMT -5
I loved Paige from the Past. AND YESSSSSSSS to that PC plot being so unnecessary. Paige's backstory was an amazing episode and great character backstory. But they never followed it up. I've read that "A Paige from the Past" was originally intended to be a Christmas episode, but the WB forced them to remove the Christmas elements after 9/11 happened. (This also happened to the Season 6 Sabrina episode, "A Birthday Witch," which was a Christmas episode that got rewritten into a birthday episode. Note that "A Birthday Witch" and "A Paige from the Past" were both the first episodes of their respective shows to air in January 2002, right after the holiday hiatus.) It's possible that the removal of the Christmas elements left the episode incomplete, so they shoehorned in the Frankie/Lulu plot as filler, hence the reason why it felt so disjointed and out of place in the episode. They were literally forcing a slapstick comedy plot into what was supposed to be a very serious, emotional episode. The Paige parts of the episode were incredible and did a good job of showing how Rose can be a good actor when she's invested in the material. Like you, I wish we had gotten more of the story. And I hate that she left her assistant social worker position. NO! She should have stayed and became a social worker. That is her calling. Her need in S5 to give it up and learn magic was so weird. And, notice that her IQ dropped 50 points, too. Season 5-6 Paige made Billie look like a rocket scientist.  I also hated how Paige's life started to revolve entirely around magic from Season 5-onwards. She never had any non-magical jobs, she was constantly using magic for personal gain, and she had more fairies and leprechauns as friends than people. She became SO much less realistic and grounded as a character, it's not even funny. Season 8 attempted to bring back the old Paige with the introduction of Henry, but it was too little, too late. I do think S4 was WAY PC HEAVY. I'm not a fan of that couple. I would have loved more of the girls learning about each other and becoming sisters instead of a rushed intro so Piper/Paige vs Phoebe/Queen thing. When you fire a main star, change your damn storylines. Make the transition more organic. The fans deserved better. And Paige deserved better! I honestly hate that Season 4 revolved so much around Phoebe and Cole. With the loss of Prue and introduction of Paige, no season should've revolved more around sisterhood and the Power of Three than Season 4. I think a lot of good character development and backstory for ALL of the leads was lost just because of the need to focus on Phoebe/Cole and their boring relationship for yet another season. |
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Post by lilchi7212 on Mar 29, 2016 13:46:13 GMT -5
Who cares we don't need to know everything about her they never explored the other sisters past before they were witches very much.
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Post by charmedagain4 on Mar 29, 2016 14:03:03 GMT -5
Who cares we don't need to know everything about her they never explored the other sisters past before they were witches very much. We hardly know that much about Paige's previous life like we know the other sisters. We actually did find out a lot about the sisters past. Just like how in 2x22, we found out when Prue was a teenager, she had a boyfriend who might have been abusive to her and somehow he disappeared, making them think Grams had something to do with it. We found out in S3 how Piper was like in high school. Let's not forget the Pre-Witched episode in S3 that showed how the sisters were before they were witches. We never found out what Paige was like when she was a child like we found out about Prue and Piper in That 70's Episode. We knew what the sisters' relationships were with people close to her family like Aunt Gail. But we didn't get anything but Paige's adoptive parents . Most of S4 should've been dedicated to learning about Paige and having everyone adjust to the new PO3 |
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Post by lilchi7212 on Mar 29, 2016 14:21:38 GMT -5
Who cares we don't need to know everything about her they never explored the other sisters past before they were witches very much. We hardly know that much about Paige's previous life like we know the other sisters. We actually did find out a lot about the sisters past. Just like how in 2x22, we found out when Prue was a teenager, she had a boyfriend who might have been abusive to her and somehow he disappeared, making them think Grams had something to do with it. We found out in S3 how Piper was like in high school. Let's not forget the Pre-Witched episode in S3 that showed how the sisters were before they were witches. We never found out what Paige was like when she was a child like we found out about Prue and Piper in That 70's Episode. We knew what the sisters' relationships were with people close to her family like Aunt Gail. But we didn't get anything but Paige's adoptive parents . Most of S4 should've been dedicated to learning about Paige and having everyone adjust to the new PO3 Maybe Paige doesn't like to talk about her past. You know in the Walking Dead they really never went into detail about most of their characters lives before the Zombie Apocalypse broke out and the viewers are fine with that. |
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Post by charmedagain4 on Mar 29, 2016 14:38:08 GMT -5
We hardly know that much about Paige's previous life like we know the other sisters. We actually did find out a lot about the sisters past. Just like how in 2x22, we found out when Prue was a teenager, she had a boyfriend who might have been abusive to her and somehow he disappeared, making them think Grams had something to do with it. We found out in S3 how Piper was like in high school. Let's not forget the Pre-Witched episode in S3 that showed how the sisters were before they were witches. We never found out what Paige was like when she was a child like we found out about Prue and Piper in That 70's Episode. We knew what the sisters' relationships were with people close to her family like Aunt Gail. But we didn't get anything but Paige's adoptive parents . Most of S4 should've been dedicated to learning about Paige and having everyone adjust to the new PO3 Maybe Paige doesn't like to talk about her past. You know in the Walking Dead they really never went into detail about most of their characters lives before the Zombie Apocalypse broke out and the viewers are fine with that. I think only minor characters didn't have their lives explored. Main characters such as Rick, Carol, and Maggie were explored. But some other main characters lives weren't fully explored. I think Charmed should've explored Paige's backstory more. It's like we got so much of Prue, Piper, and Phoebe's backstory but we didn't get much on Paige. Remember the season 6 episode where Phoebe went to her high school reunion. They should've done something a little similar with Paige. |
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Post by lilchi7212 on Mar 29, 2016 17:36:50 GMT -5
Actually we seem to know alot about Paige's past such as Patty originally wanted to keep Paige and raise her with her sisters but since whitelighters and witches were not supposed to be together that wouldn't work. By that time Patty and Penny already knew about the charmed prophecy Penny feared the prophecy wouldn't be fulfilled so they decided to give Paige up for adoption. Paige grew up in a normal goodly family with adoptive parents. At some point in her life, she met a boy named Philip Lewicky who gave her a bracelet and became Paige's first love. Her worst day of her life came when she was supposed to sing the school song for her 8th grade graduation in front of eight hundred people but got stage fright when the time arrived for her to go and sing it and ran out causing her to miss her own graduation and all her friends laughed at her and a guy named Bobby Maynard dumped her. By the time she was a teen she started hanging out with the wrong people and began drinking, smoking, skipping classes, and disobeying her parents. Sometime in her teens she was driving drunk and got into a wreck. By the time she was Seventeen she lost her adoptive parents in a fiery car crash which makes her 25 when she met Piper and Phoebe at Prue's funeral since it was about 8 years since she lost her parents.
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Post by charmedagain4 on Mar 29, 2016 23:18:28 GMT -5
Actually we seem to know alot about Paige's past such as Patty originally wanted to keep Paige and raise her with her sisters but since whitelighters and witches were not supposed to be together that wouldn't work. By that time Patty and Penny already knew about the charmed prophecy Penny feared the prophecy wouldn't be fulfilled so they decided to give Paige up for adoption. Paige grew up in a normal goodly family with adoptive parents. At some point in her life, she met a boy named Philip Lewicky who gave her a bracelet and became Paige's first love. Her worst day of her life came when she was supposed to sing the school song for her 8th grade graduation in front of eight hundred people but got stage fright when the time arrived for her to go and sing it and ran out causing her to miss her own graduation and all her friends laughed at her and a guy named Bobby Maynard dumped her. By the time she was a teen she started hanging out with the wrong people and began drinking, smoking, skipping classes, and disobeying her parents. Sometime in her teens she was driving drunk and got into a wreck. By the time she was Seventeen she lost her adoptive parents in a fiery car crash which makes her 25 when she met Piper and Phoebe at Prue's funeral since it was about 8 years since she lost her parents. Lol why do I get the feeling you got that info off the Charmed Wiki. But now compare that info to how much we know about Prue, Piper, and Phoebe. And it's not just because they had three more years on her either. The writers seemed to focus on the lives of the sisters before they became witches to compare to them now being witches. Somehow, that concept was beginning to deteriorate and instead we started getting fairy tales, focus more on romance, and how their future lives will be. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2016 0:20:51 GMT -5
Seems the writers came to think of Paige just as someone filling a space. She needed more development, and she never got it, because Kern just wasn't willing to abandon Phoebe/Cole for reasons I can't figure out.
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Post by sol on Mar 30, 2016 0:58:22 GMT -5
They'ldn't dropo out a story arc by now written
Shannon Doherty talked of a great story in season 4 written around Prue before her firing,seasons and episodes are planned and written long before, not little by little the shooting advance
They had to hastily adapt and adjust the episodes, the season 4, which I like very much, is the result, I think a good result seeing that is one of the most loved season
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2016 7:16:03 GMT -5
I can't believed they removed the Christmas elements from 'A Paige from the Past' because of 9/11. If anything that would be even more of a reason to show it. If Shannen had left amicably, they could have had Prue visit Piper and Phoebe whilst Paige was in the past. Obviously Paige could meet her later, but for the very first time Prue comes to see them, it would be sweet if it was just her and the other two.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2016 9:00:17 GMT -5
Seems the writers came to think of Paige just as someone filling a space. She needed more development, and she never got it, because Kern just wasn't willing to abandon Phoebe/Cole for reasons I can't figure out. It's possible that Kern and the WB mistakenly thought that Phoebe/Cole was the biggest draw of the show, which of course was swiftly proven false by Season 4's ratings. The Power of Three was what truly carried the show in the early seasons, and that aspect was downplayed a lot after Prue died. Season 4 was the first season where it started to feel like the sisters were no longer the main focus of the show, and it only got worse after that. |
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Post by sol on Mar 30, 2016 9:21:11 GMT -5
We hardly know that much about Paige's previous life like we know the other sisters. We actually did find out a lot about the sisters past. Just like how in 2x22, we found out when Prue was a teenager, she had a boyfriend who might have been abusive to her and somehow he disappeared, making them think Grams had something to do with it. We found out in S3 how Piper was like in high school. Let's not forget the Pre-Witched episode in S3 that showed how the sisters were before they were witches. We never found out what Paige was like when she was a child like we found out about Prue and Piper in That 70's Episode. We knew what the sisters' relationships were with people close to her family like Aunt Gail. But we didn't get anything but Paige's adoptive parents . Most of S4 should've been dedicated to learning about Paige and having everyone adjust to the new PO3 Maybe Paige doesn't like to talk about her past. You know in the Walking Dead they really never went into detail about most of their characters lives before the Zombie Apocalypse broke out and the viewers are fine with that. I agree and I'ld bet that if Paige adoptive family appeared in a few episodes, fans'ld have protested about what they had to do with the story of Charmed That's what happens with the children: if Wyatt and Chris had appeared more often, there'ld be complaint s because the story had to deal only with the sisters, when they disappeared from story, criticism turned out on Piper as an absent mom |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2016 11:12:38 GMT -5
Now that would have made a nice episode.
As Betty said, that whole Frankie/Lulu rubbish didn't fit with the tone of the episode. A slap stick comedy just didn't feel right, being in an episode that dealt with a tragedy that shaped Paige's life.
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