Es' 20th Celebration Re-watch

[Granny Charmed]

I look forward dear to seeing your reviews Sasha. Like Es said anyway wish to do the same - Go for it!

[Assassin Witch]

Feb 26, 2018 22:17:07 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Why don't you go ahead and set up your own 20th Celebration Re-Watch thread in the Charmed General Discussion board and AW will move it to this board (that's what she did with mine)?

Yes, everyone. Feel free to start your own thread for your own reviews if you are doing a solo rewatch and want to share your opinions.

[Esmeralda]

Oh, man! I was so busy yesterday with both a show at work (from 7:00 AM until 3:00 PM) and a University of Minnesota Golden Gopher baseball game (6:00 PM to 9:00 PM) that I totally forgot about my marathon! And I crashed as soon as I got home from work today and am starting to fade out again, so I don't think I'd really enjoy watching one now. AND I have more games tomorrow and Wednesday (and Friday-Sunday).

*sigh* Looks like I started my own marathon too soon. Maybe I should wait until summer when I'm more free and only do 20 episodes.

But as I keep saying, if the board decides to do a board rewatch (can't wait to find out the results of the poll!) I'll participate as much as I can.

[Sasha]

Mar 6, 2018 0:39:18 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Oh, man! I was so busy yesterday with both a show at work (from 7:00 AM) until 3:00 PM and a University of Minnesota Golden Gopher baseball game (6:00 PM to 9:00 PM) that I totally forgot about my marathon! And I crashed as soon as I got home from work today and am starting to fade out again, so I don't think I'd really enjoy watching one now. AND I have more games tomorrow and Wednesday (and Friday-Sunday).

*sigh* Looks like I started my own marathon too soon. Maybe I should wait until summer when I'm more free and only do 20 episodes.

But as I keep saying, if the board decides to do a board rewatch (can't wait to find out the results of the poll!) I'll participate as much as I can.

I have to admit, I too forgot to continue mine and even start my own re-watch thread after watching Sense and Sense-Ability. I've been tired from my business trip, I forgot to watch my second episode. Not to mention Easter is about 4 weeks away, so I won't be watching anything that weekend it falls on. 

I think for many of us Summer will look much better to start any re-watches. It looks like Summer is looking much better for you Es, and I look forward to your next review in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your first. 

I can't wait for the results and see what we all decided too. 

[summerreading]

Feb 25, 2018 21:59:47 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

It's 30 weeks until the 20th anniversary of the first airing of 'Something Wicca This Way Comes'. As my own private celebration, I'm going to watch one of my favorite episodes each Sunday at the time that Charmed aired - 8:00 Central - and then review it here. I'm going to do these backwards so that on the anniversary I'll re-watch 'Something Wicca This Way Comes', and hopefully I'll get to watch the Charmed Ones go from demon-hunters I hated to sisters I love.

When I listed my favorite episodes in airing order, the 30th episode was 'Charmed Again, Part One' so that's the one I watched tonight, thanks to my DVD of my 21 favorite S4-8 episodes, and it indeed was the perfect one to start off this re-watch. Although Piper and Phoebe are definitely sisters in it, the whole show seemed more about meeting Paige and getting rid of Shax than mourning Prue. Well, Piper sure did, just like I'm sure Holly did, but Phoebe seems much more interested in Shax and Paige, like Alyssa happy to now be the star now that Shannen was gone. And Piper blaming Leo for healing the wrong sister is the start of him turning from guide and angel to little errand boy. And she says she's pissed, but she didn't look pissed too me, she just looked like she was feeling sorry for herself, the start of her turning into 'Poor, Poor Pitiful Piper'.

I didn't even like when they reconstituted the Charmed Ones because that's not how it happened the first time. The first time it didn't happen because they stood under the lights; it happened because Phoebe said the spell. I would've preferred the same, especially if it was Paige who found the Book and opened it and read the spell in the attic, while the light shone downstairs...

And I think that's my biggest problem with this episode. I've seen so many fan-made versions of this episode, both fanfics and fan-videos who did the whole thing so much better, that I realized that *they're* one of my favorite episodes, not this.

Truly when Paige runs out the door, I yelled at her, "KEEP RUNNING, AND DON"T STOP! You're a wonderful person right now - you don't want to hang around these bitches and become a bitch yourself!

LOL, doesn't sound like a very good spot to start a re-watch, does it? But for me, it's perfect because I can look forward to it getting better, when if I went the other direction, it would get worse!

Thanks for sharing your reviews. I enjoyed it.

I didn't like how fast paced this episode was. We barely had time to get over Prue. Paige felt like she was thrown at us. Where's the buildup your audience needs. 

Where can I start my own reviews. 

[Esmeralda]

Start your own thread in the Charmed General Discussion thread with a similar heading and Assassin Witch will move it to this board.

I'm glad you liked my review and agree with your review, too.

[Assassin Witch]

Start a thread and send me a message with the link.

[summerreading]

Mar 27, 2018 8:08:55 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Start your own thread in the Charmed General Discussion thread with a similar heading and Assassin Witch will move it to this board.

I'm glad you liked my review and agree with your review, too.

Mar 27, 2018 8:27:09 GMT -5 Assassin Witch said:

Start a thread and send me a message with the link.

Thank you guys. I just did.

[Esmeralda]

While re-reading my scores from a recent re-watch, I realized that I'm going to start my own 20th Anniversary re-watch 20 weeks before the anniversary rather than 30, so I'll have to miss 10 episodes I planned on watching. I also realized that for the first three seasons - what I count as "Charmed" and not "The Perils of Poor, Poor Pitiful Piper" - I have exactly 20 that I ranked A+ or higher, so those are now the ones I'll watch, one a week, starting May 5th. Since I'm doing it backwards, here's my schedule:

05/27: 20. Sin Francisco
06/03: 19. Pre-Witched
06/10: 18. The Good, The Bad and the Cursed
06:17: 17. Coyote Piper
06/24: 16. All Halliwell’s Eve
07/01: 15. Once Upon A Time
07/08: 14. Magic Hour
07/15: 13. Murphy’s Luck
07/22: 12. Show Me a Sign
07/29: 11. Heartbreak City
08/05: 10. P3 H20
08/04: 09. They’re Everywhere
08/12: 08. Morality Bites
08/19: 07. Deja vu All Over Again
08/26: 06. Love Hurts
09/02: 05. That Seventies Episode
09/16: 04. Secrets and Guys
09/23: 03. Wicca Envy
09/30: 02. The Witch is Back
10/07: 01. Dead Man Dating

And, of course, no matter what the board decides to do, I'll also watch 'Something Wicca This Way Comes' on its anniversary.

I can't wait!! Just wish I wasn't so busy right now with Real Life and was able to do my 30-episode one.

If anyone else is planning their own re-watch, just PM Assassin Witch and she'll set you up your own thread. I'd love to see a whole bunch of these with all sorts of different episodes going either forward or backwards or favorite to least-favorite or least-favorite to favorite, along with the official board re-watch, of course.

[Esmeralda]

*sigh* I can't believe that it's already 16 weeks until the 20th anniversary of the first airing of 'Something Wicca This Way Comes' and I've only re-watched on episode. This is the first Sunday in a long time when I'm not busy and may also be the first one in another long time before I'm not busy again, so I've decided to use today to do a true marathon - one episode after another after another.

But first I want repeat some earlier posts from this thread, a review of where I got to where I'm at right now:

Feb 25, 2018 21:59:47 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

It's 30 weeks until the 20th anniversary of the first airing of 'Something Wicca This Way Comes'. As my own private celebration, I'm going to watch one of my favorite episodes each Sunday at the time that Charmed aired - 8:00 Central - and then review it here. I'm going to do these backwards so that on the anniversary I'll re-watch 'Something Wicca This Way Comes', and hopefully I'll get to watch the Charmed Ones go from demon-hunters I hated to sisters I love.

When I listed my favorite episodes in airing order, the 30th episode was 'Charmed Again, Part One' so that's the one I watched tonight, thanks to my DVD of my 21 favorite S4-8 episodes, and it indeed was the perfect one to start off this re-watch. Although Piper and Phoebe are definitely sisters in it, the whole show seemed more about meeting Paige and getting rid of Shax than mourning Prue. Well, Piper sure did, just like I'm sure Holly did, but Phoebe seems much more interested in Shax and Paige, like Alyssa happy to now be the star now that Shannen was gone. And Piper blaming Leo for healing the wrong sister is the start of him turning from guide and angel to little errand boy. And she says she's pissed, but she didn't look pissed too me, she just looked like she was feeling sorry for herself, the start of her turning into 'Poor, Poor Pitiful Piper'.

I didn't even like when they reconstituted the Charmed Ones because that's not how it happened the first time. The first time it didn't happen because they stood under the lights; it happened because Phoebe said the spell. I would've preferred the same, especially if it was Paige who found the Book and opened it and read the spell in the attic, while the light shone downstairs...

And I think that's my biggest problem with this episode. I've seen so many fan-made versions of this episode, both fanfics and fan-videos who did the whole thing so much better, that I realized that *they're* one of my favorite episodes, not this.

Truly when Paige runs out the door, I yelled at her, "KEEP RUNNING, AND DON"T STOP! You're a wonderful person right now - you don't want to hang around these bitches and become a bitch yourself!

LOL, doesn't sound like a very good spot to start a re-watch, does it? But for me, it's perfect because I can look forward to it getting better, when if I went the other direction, it would get worse!

Mar 6, 2018 0:39:18 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Oh, man! I was so busy yesterday with both a show at work (from 7:00 AM until 3:00 PM) and a University of Minnesota Golden Gopher baseball game (6:00 PM to 9:00 PM) that I totally forgot about my marathon! And I crashed as soon as I got home from work today and am starting to fade out again, so I don't think I'd really enjoy watching one now. AND I have more games tomorrow and Wednesday (and Friday-Sunday).

*sigh* Looks like I started my own marathon too soon. Maybe I should wait until summer when I'm more free and only do 20 episodes.

But as I keep saying, if the board decides to do a board rewatch (can't wait to find out the results of the poll!) I'll participate as much as I can.

And, of course, I have.

Apr 7, 2018 9:29:43 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

While re-reading my scores from a recent re-watch, I realized that I'm going to start my own 20th Anniversary re-watch 20 weeks before the anniversary rather than 30, so I'll have to miss 10 episodes I planned on watching. I also realized that for the first three seasons - what I count as "Charmed" and not "The Perils of Poor, Poor Pitiful Piper" - I have exactly 20 that I ranked A+ or higher, so those are now the ones I'll watch, one a week, starting May 5th. Since I'm doing it backwards, here's my schedule:

05/27: 20. Sin Francisco
06/03: 19. Pre-Witched
06/10: 18. The Good, The Bad and the Cursed
06:17: 17. Coyote Piper
06/24: 16. All Halliwell’s Eve
07/01: 15. Once Upon A Time
07/08: 14. Magic Hour
07/15: 13. Murphy’s Luck
07/22: 12. Show Me a Sign
07/29: 11. Heartbreak City
08/05: 10. P3 H20
08/04: 09. They’re Everywhere
08/12: 08. Morality Bites
08/19: 07. Deja vu All Over Again
08/26: 06. Love Hurts
09/02: 05. That Seventies Episode
09/16: 04. Secrets and Guys
09/23: 03. Wicca Envy
09/30: 02. The Witch is Back
10/07: 01. Dead Man Dating

And, of course, no matter what the board decides to do, I'll also watch 'Something Wicca This Way Comes' on its anniversary.

I can't wait!! Just wish I wasn't so busy right now with Real Life and was able to do my 30-episode one.

If anyone else is planning their own re-watch, just PM Assassin Witch and she'll set you up your own thread. I'd love to see a whole bunch of these with all sorts of different episodes going either forward or backwards or favorite to least-favorite or least-favorite to favorite, along with the official board re-watch, of course.

*sigh* And that's the last post I made...

Not now!

Unlike our board re-watch,I'm going to do these like I did 'Charmed Again' and watch an entire episode and then review it. These are all the S1-3 episodes that I rated as A+ or higher. I'm curious to see how I'll rate them now.

But first I want to repeat how I started my previous re-watch since what I said then will still be true now:

This is the start of my first Charmed re-watch in many years. Unlike others, I’m not going to post any analysis, just comments, and rather than waiting until the end of each season, I’m going to watch an episode a day and then post my reaction towards it. Please keep in mind that everything in this is just my own opinion. Feel free to post either your own comments or analysis or your reaction towards any of the comments made here, keeping in mind that they *are* just opinions.

To anyone watching Charmed for the first time, please be aware that this thread will contain a lot of spoilers!

And I'm off!

[Esmeralda]

Sin Francisco
Written by: Neil Scovell
Season 3, Episode 18
Episode Number: 62

When this one first started, I was very excited, very happy. Here were Prue and Phoebe acting like sisters despite the problems that I knew that Shannen and Alyssa were said to be having (something I knew nothing about the first time I watched). That changed as soon as they were infected with their sins. Before this episode has always made me laugh; this time I just felt nothing more than disgust. Here was PhoeME/Freebie in all of her "glory" and the Great Prue in all of hers. PhoeME/Freebie reminded me too much of the Phoebe we'd get stuck with in S4-8 and Great Prue reminded me of the Prue we probably would've gotten stuck with had Shannen not been fired.

Piper didn't remind me at all of the Piper we'd see in S4-8 since she wasn't feeling sorry for herself and she still actually seemed to care about Leo. Not really sure which sin she should've been affected with, but this wasn't it. What shocked me was when she actually used a spell from the Book to bring all of her stuff to her. Should there really have been such a spell in the Book?

I'll admit I laughed hard at Leo and his sloth, just coz it was so not Leo-like, and what I probably liked the best was the reminder that even with Piper married and Phoebe with Cole (who wasn't even in the opening credits) that they still needed Prue, the same way Prue still needed them. I also liked Lucas as a villain. I could wish we'd seen more of him. I even liked the fact that despite the fact that he's a demon, according to Leo, here's what we know about infectors, which is what Lucas is: "Only that they were humans consumed by sundering life and in death." So that means that demons *aren't* like Christian devils but are dead evil mortals. Hmmmm....that makes me totally rethink the difference between warlocks and demons on Charmed.... But then how can Cole be half-demon if his mother is a dead human? A bit like half-whitelighters, I guess. OH, how I hate how Charmed used halves!

What I also didn't like was Phoebe's curly hairstyle - didn't fit her at all - and Piper's hairstyle when we first saw her was horrible, too, the worse I've seen on her with those few strands hanging in her face and down to her shoulder. I like it when she went back to her all long better. Prue's still where I liked her best.

I also really liked how Darryl was used in this episode - he was almost the true hero more than the sisters.

I now count this episode as a B. Still good, but not great.

[Esmeralda]

Pre-Witched
Written by: Chris Levinson and Zack Estrin
Season 3, Episode 17
Episode Number: 61

I'm in tears - happy tears. I'd forgotten how beautiful so much of this episode is! Of all the times when a sister almost moves out (or actually does), Piper's (to my knowledge, the only time that she does except for that short time she and Prue shared the apartment than now she and Leo were going to move into), this is by far the best, because unlike Past PhoeME in this episode and unlike Phoebe and Paige in the future, Piper's thinking of someone beside herself. And her sisters are willing to compromise to let the newlyweds have some privacy.

And I can tell why you get this difference just by looking at the "Written by". Like my favorite Charmed writer, Sheryl J. Anderson, I love the way Chris Levinson and Zack Estrin write the sisters. How I wish they and Sheryl could've stayed with the series all eight seasons!

Before I get too far into this one, I've gotta say that I really do enjoy seeing these credits, the ones that show the sisters using their powers but also showing off their beauty. Along with the ones for 'Morality Bites', it's my favorite.

Speaking of, except for when Phoebe adds that dodad to the top of her hair, I also love the way they all look, both in present and past. I love how they were able to make the current actresses look like the ones in the iconic picture.

I think part of the reason for the tears that are still dripping down is, of course, knowing that soon one of them *will* be leaving the Manor, but not because she wants to... Can't help wondering if the writers knew it at the time, even if the actors didn't.

Of course, any episode that includes both Grams and Patty, I usually love and this is no exception - the exceptions are 'Charmed Again, Part Two', 'Cheaper by the Coven' and 'Forever Charmed', but those had more to do with the sisters than with Grams and Patty.

For some reason I didn't like the catty warlock as the villain that much - and I think it's mainly them saying that a familiar who turns against his witch becomes a warlock, when I thought that was a witch who doesn't live up to the wiccan rede. Of course, this is the time of Kern taking over so I should be used to mythology being changed to fit the episode, but it still always bothers me. I *do* hope the reboot has someone whose only job is to keep things consistent.

Just thanks to that, I can't quite give this one an A+ again, but it definitely gets an A. Great job!

[Esmeralda]

The Good, The Bad, and the Cursed
Written by: Monica Breen and Alison Schapker
Season 3, Episode 14
Episode Number: 58

First off, I was surprised to find out that Shannen directed this one. As usual, she did a great job.

This - along with 'All Halliwell's Eve' - is my favorite episode that includes Cole. He is most definitely Cole and he is definitely not good. Everything he's doing is just for him and Phoebe, pretty much too heck with everyone else, and when he kills he enjoys it, the difference between when he kills and when others do. That's the Cole I love, not the wimp who he turns into. And, of course, I hate that Phoebe is still with him. Yes, without him, she might have died, but I like to think the sisters would've found another way to get to another plane - after all Leo and Piper did when they conceived Chris in an alley - but I just enjoy his demonic side so much more than his wimpy human side - and I think he did, too.

What amazed me most in this episode is I'd forgotten what a fantastic job that Alyssa did in this episode, very reminiscent of her fantastic acting in 'Morality Bites'. I love her best as a comedic actress, but when she's playing someone who knows she's going to die, wow, she simply rocks it!

The one I felt for the most in this one was Victor. First finding out that Piper is marrying a Whitelighter (and I really felt for Leo having to listen to him talk about whitelighters that way) and then that a demon loved Phoebe as much as Phoebe loved the demon (and I don't count him as half-human or half-demon since there was so little humanity in him and so much demon in him, since his so-called "love" was nothing but obsession just like hers for him) had to be so hard.

And of course that wonderful chemistry between Shannen and Julian shining through as Prue and Cole. *sigh* If only...

I also loved the crow. Up to this point, I always thought it was a raven, the sign of death. For the first time I realized that it was a crow, the symbol of Beau's grandfather.

This one is definitely still an A+.

[Esmeralda]

Coyote Piper
Written by Krista Vernoff
Season 3, Episode 09
Episode Number: 53

I've gotta admit that I was very surprised to see this one on my list - I didn't think I gave it an A+ before and when I rechecked my list, I found out I did list it as an A. But as along as it was on my list, I rewatched it anyway. And I remembered that it's one of the ones where I skip past a lot of it - anything that has to do with Cole, since this one is right after 'Sleuthing with the Enemy" and Phoebe still hasn't told the truth about not vanquishing Cole and continuing to put herself and her sisters in danger (truly when she lied, the Power of Three should've gone bye-bye, but what else do I expect from an episode where Kern is in charge and when they list all the assitants to in the credits, there's "Assistant to Brad Kern" but no "Assistance to Constance Burge"...

I really do like the rest of the episode because I love the love shown between the sisters and between Piper and Leo and absolutely ADORE the bad guys because they are great bad guys. And I love the connection between Justin and Prue. I love them comparing Jan Brady to Piper and Leo having no idea what Prue is talking about. I love the Piper telling off Terra and fooling her, and, oh, yes, I love the difference between Piper when she shows up at the bar and Terra possessing Piper when she does! Holly must've had so much fun playing both roles!

And I loved Prue willing to kill Piper in order for Terra to possess Leo so he could bring her back. The two actors (Leo and the other guy) did a great job playing Terra.

I did like finding out that Cole's father's middle name is indeed Coleridge, which I'm sure is also Cole's full name, if he's not Benjamin Coleridge Turner II.

Speaking of, the whole episode seemed to be a lot about souls and what they are and I found it very fascinating.

Not particularly nuts with any of the Charmed Ones curling their hair - just doesn't fit them somehow - and didn't really like the black outfit Prue finally talked Piper into wearing (was that just supposed to be a huge contrast to her Coyote outfit?), but those don't take away from the episode that much, not as much as Phoebe continuing to lie.

So this one stays an A.

[Ruth Marie]

Jun 24, 2018 14:18:24 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Coyote Piper
Written by Krista Vernoff
Season 3, Episode 09
Episode Number: 53

I've gotta admit that I was very surprised to see this one on my list - I didn't think I gave it an A+ before and when I rechecked my list, I found out I did list it as an A. But as along as it was on my list, I rewatched it anyway. And I remembered that it's one of the ones where I skip past a lot of it - anything that has to do with Cole, since this one is right after 'Sleuthing with the Enemy" and Phoebe still hasn't told the truth about not vanquishing Cole and continuing to put herself and her sisters in danger (truly when she lied, the Power of Three should've gone bye-bye, but what else do I expect from an episode where Kern is in charge and when they list all the assitants to in the credits, there's "Assistant to Brad Kern" but no "Assistance to Constance Burge"...

I really do like the rest of the episode because I love the love shown between the sisters and between Piper and Leo and absolutely ADORE the bad guys because they are great bad guys. And I love the connection between Justin and Prue. I love them comparing Jan Brady to Piper and Leo having no idea what Prue is talking about. I love the Piper telling off Terra and fooling her, and, oh, yes, I love the difference between Piper when she shows up at the bar and Terra possessing Piper when she does! Holly must've had so much fun playing both roles!

And I loved Prue willing to kill Piper in order for Terra to possess Leo so he could bring her back. The two actors (Leo and the other guy) did a great job playing Terra.

I did like finding out that Cole's father's middle name is indeed Coleridge, which I'm sure is also Cole's full name, if he's not Benjamin Coleridge Turner II.

Speaking of, the whole episode seemed to be a lot about souls and what they are and I found it very fascinating.

Not particularly nuts with any of the Charmed Ones curling their hair - just doesn't fit them somehow - and didn't really like the black outfit Prue finally talked Piper into wearing (was that just supposed to be a huge contrast to her Coyote outfit?), but those don't take away from the episode that much, not as much as Phoebe continuing to lie.

So this one stays an A.

I remember really thinking this was underrated. Particularly finding the scene with Prue willing to kill Piper being a very underrated scene that rarely gets talked about. Enjoying most of the plot.

But coming after 'Sleuthing' and Phoebe still lying doesn't help. That part ruins the episode. 

Piper was great in this one. Leo was too. 

Be good to see how the rest of the Cafe thinks of this one when we get to it in July.

[Esmeralda]

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

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

This is the sisters as I love them most – Prue leading but gentle and loving; Piper the snarky realist (doesn’t she just have the best lines in this one – with all of her crazy lines, I laughed the way I thought I would during ‘Sin Francisco’ but didn’t) and Phoebs, oh, Phoebs, the one who loves magic so much! So very happy to see her after not seeing her since I started this re-watch. And her “embracing the cliché” will always be one of my all-time favorite scenes in this series.

I even actually loved her with Cole. In this one the connection is truly there – can’t help wondering if this is when Cole actually fell for her. Anyone else truly wish that that “C” meant Cole and not Coop? I didn’t in Season Four and Five, but I sure do right now. SOOO glad I’m not going to watch any episodes in Season Four and Five that aren’t part of the board re-watch

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

Speaking of their men, just like Justin Harper, I loved Micah and wish that we could’ve seen more of Mitch. Although I think Shannen was right when she said she thought that with how heavy Piper was into Leo and Phoebe was into Cole that they needed one of the sisters to be free. It meant Kern didn’t have the time to ruin her guy the way he ruined Cole and Leo.

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

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

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

It’s just makes me wish that we could’ve seen a Halloween episode every season and Sheryl J. Anderson had written every one! Because, oh, yes, this one is definitely still an A+, maybe even an A++.

[Esmeralda]

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

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

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

I’m discovering that this is the only problem with watching the series backwards – so much of it depends upon what happened before. Of course, I know what happened before, but it’s not letting me forget what happened before or what’s going to happen like I was hoping it would.

But no doubt about it, they’re slowly but surely turning back into the sisters I love rather than the ones they were at the beginning of this re-watch and that’s very nice.

Then this was our very first glimpse of Belthazor, one very scary character, and making me wish again that Belthazor was the true person and Cole just the mask, not the other way around!! The series would be so much scarier and I’d love it so much more!

Funny, the part that I found sappy was Cole and Phoebe – just plain barfy! And that brings this one down to an A-.

[Esmeralda]

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

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

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

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

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

But, oh, didn’t you just love finding out that it was Cole who had let his bosses know about the “rutabaga” so they could let Leo’s bosses know???

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

And that’s why – despite Brooke and Christopher’s wonderful story - I’ll rate this an A-.

[Esmeralda]

OH! Almost forgot to add, especially because this will be my last Season Three episode - I noticed during the credits a bunch of "Assistant to". They always included the director and the writer(s). They also always included Brad Kern. They never included Constance Burge.

I'm truly beginning to believe that Connie had nothing to do with Season Three at all...

[Esmeralda]

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

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

And it includes one of my scenes – Leo begging for and getting his wings back – he doesn’t want to lose Piper, but not at the expense of losing one of her sisters. If I hadn’t fallen in love with the angel before, I definitely did at this point. And knowing what Piper does to him so that my angel becomes nothing but a magical doctor/taxicab and finally nothing more than a little errand boy, all I can say is *shudder*.

But, oh, counteracting that, it’s so wonderful to see Phoebs again, loving magic and wanting to help others rather than just being gaga over Cole.

I’m wishing more and more that Charmed had ended after Season Three, or at least I had stopped watching after Season Three, or maybe Season Four if it had included Prue and ended Cole and Phoebe’s relationship the way Connie Burge originally envisioned it – in Season Three.

About the only thing I don’t like is the Leo-Piper-Dan thing, mainly because I'll never believe that Piper loved the angel and not the handyman. And that might be why - more than ever - I can see why some fans think that if Leo had to leave, this would’ve been a great time, right when I was starting to really love the angel. And due to that, I’ll rank this an A.


But seeing Amy Adams again really makes me want to watch “Enchanted” before I do the board re-watch. So I’m going to call quits on this re-watch for now. Eight down, twelve to go!