What did you think of Abbie the Bartender?

[Deleted]

As for me, I'm  picking 1.  Abbie, from Sight Unseen, was the first real human threat to the sisters, Prue mostly, because of her desire to be Prue.

What makes Abbie somewhat sympathetic in my view is that she's not the kind of evil the sisters usually fought.  Most of the time it was Warlocks or Demons who willingly chose to be evil and were after the sisters for their powers.

Abbie, on the other hand, was more the Norman Bates type of villain.  You could consider what Norman did evil, he killed people, after all.  However, what makes him sympathetic is that Norman didn't willingly do it, he only killed when "Mother" was in control.  Norman didn't kill for his own pleasure or personal gain.

Abbie was similar in that she was a young woman who had serious mental and emotional issues.  It was so bad that she wanted out of her own life and into Prue's perfect (in Abbie's view, anyway) life.  Abbie even refers to herself as a loser when she assumes Prue's identity.  Why?  What happened?

It's a shame that they never did a follow up on Abbie after Sight Unseen.  I mean can't you just see a Warlock or Demon coming along and saying to Abbie:  "You want to be Prue Halliwell?  I can make that happen, for a price."   This episode would then have the sisters race to save Abbie.  I mean the poor girl would have no idea what she was getting herself into, after all. 

Perhaps we could even have learned a bit about Abbie's background and why she ended up like this (Daryl would uncover this information).

I explored the idea in this 2001 Fan Fiction.

So, what did you all think of Abbie the Bartender?

[Deleted]

I really liked this storyline. It kind of reminds me of Something Wicca TW Comes when you don't know who the killer is.

Compare this to Season 6 and Gideon and the ridiculously long played out... when is he going to kill Wyatt and you can see why you don't need to have huge story arcs when it can be summed up into one episode.

[Melinda Halliwell]

What got me about this episode was that it just happened as Tim said there was no foresight beforehand who was stalking Prue and why although someone people may've fought what happened was enough then anyway I rectified this in my own fanfiction series a couple of stories prior with someone taking pictures of Prue and stealing bits of her stuff whom you didn't see until they wrote something in their diary at the end of All Halliwell's Eve which turned out to be Abbey.

I do think there was an opportunity somewhere where someone could've taken advantage of her then as Tim also said which might've been a good angle story wise actually.

[Deleted]

D'OH!  I spelt Abbey's name wrong

I do think there was an opportunity somewhere where someone could've taken advantage of her then as Tim also said which might've been a good angle story wise actually.

Taking advantage of Abbey's illness would have been the exact thing a Demon would do.  Her desire to be Prue would have made her the perfect pawn for said Demon. 

Of course, this would have the sisters working to save someone who'd tried to kill one of them.  However, I have no doubt that the sisters would do it (this was still the early seasons sisters, after all).   

Abbey is still an Innocent, despite what she did.  As I said, she was not really evil, but someone who had seriously mental and emotional problems.  The sisters would have no doubt taken that into account.

My Fan Fiction even gave Abbey a hopeful ending in that she willing goes back to the hospital after the sisters saved her.

[Deleted]

I think it was a very good idea. I like there being human villains every now and again.

I actually really like that whole episode. I didn't really take it in the first time I watched it, but upon rewatches, I think it's very well done.

Originally the way Piper and Phoebe reacted, mocking Prue, ground my gears... and it still does a little, but I understand what they were going for. It's not unrealistic for a victim of stalking to be made to feel paranoid and irrational, even by those closest to them. It's not unusual for someone going through that to be treated as if THEY'RE the crazy one by society.

Also, it's a small detail, but I like that Abbey was female. Stalkers don't always go after the opposite sex. Women can stalk women, men can stalk men. It could've been a more obvious choice to have the attractive female lead stalked by some male admirer, but I'm glad they went another way.

So yes, I liked what they did with Abbey and the episode. I think it was definitely some of the show's smarter writing.
But yes, I would have liked to know what happened to her.

[Deleted]

Stalkers don't always go after the opposite sex. Women can stalk women, men can stalk men.

Such as the way Mark Chapman stalked John Lennon, before fatally shooting him in 1980.   I'm one of the few active posters here who was alive when that tragic event took place.   I remember waking up that morning and my mother telling me what had happened.

But yes, I would have liked to know what happened to her.

Amazing how many opportunities they let slip through their fingers.

Thank God for Fan Fictions.

[Chrisaholic]

She was great and it'd have been nice if she had returned later on. Would have given the show a reminder of earlier seasons.

[Deleted]

I  wonder if they were ever planning to bring her back before Shannen got fired. 

Perhaps they figured that, with Prue gone, there was little point in bring Abbey back.

Of course, I'm guessing here.

[Melinda Halliwell]

Unless Abbey's sights became set on another sister say although not probable obviously.

[Deleted]

I wonder how Abbey reacted when she found out about Prue's death.  Surely, she would have eventually gotten the news somehow.

[Chrisaholic]

Maybe she could have tended to another sister. Phoebe was a (pseudo) celeb after all.

[Deleted]

Hopefully, Abbey was cured before that could happen.

I guess we'll never know what became of Abbey.

[BriannaWarren]

Abbie in my opinion was a useless threat, her character could have been something so much better. I don't believe that she was a human threat towards the sisters just a jealous stalker, perhaps she has gotten herself another obsession.

I have always wondered what happened to Abby though? Even though I didn't think much of her. And since she wanted to be like Prue when she found out the news of her death, would she have committed suicide to be like her idol. (I know that is a dark turn but hey if the shoe fits).

[ljones]

What makes Abbie somewhat sympathetic in my view is that she's not the kind of evil the sisters usually fought. Most of the time it was Warlocks or Demons who willingly chose to be evil and were after the sisters for their powers.

The dream "sorcerer" from Season One was human.