If Season 2 ended differently?

[Granny Charmed]

I never thought about what if it were Dan and not Leo in the future dears. How would that have affected her new relationship in the present with him, knowing that knowledge? But in her past life, she was with Dan.

We did bring up before on the boards a while back, that Piper's character was never the same after Morality Bites. That that future influenced her so much moving forward, especially with her and Leo. I'll wonder how things would play out naturally without that future trip for Piper's character moving forward and her and Leo.

[pheebs]

Yeah, that's true, would Piper even want kids if it wasn't for that future.

[Esmeralda]

I truly don't think she would.

[gzv969]

Jan 26, 2019 9:06:42 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

I truly don't think she would.

So true. I keep remembering the piper in season 2 “Reckless Abandon” who didn’t want anything to do with kids. Huge contrast from season 4 onwards

[Elle Em]

I always think about "Reckless Abandon" too when Piper and kids come up. She had no maternal instincts and didn't want to take care of him. She said something very sensible about how she remembered when Phoebe was a baby and how hard it was on their mother, which is so true.

It seems like she started to want kids because she wanted the Melinda she met in the future, and also because she seemed to think it was just the normal thing to do. Not because she had some desire to be a mom.

And thinking about it, she didn't even particularly want to get married either. It was more of a solution to keep Leo in her life.

[Esmeralda]

Jan 27, 2019 7:50:46 GMT -5 Elle Em said:

I always think about "Reckless Abandon" too when Piper and kids come up. She had no maternal instincts and didn't want to take care of him. She said something very sensible about how she remembered when Phoebe was a baby and how hard it was on their mother, which is so true.

It seems like she started to want kids because she wanted the Melinda she met in the future, and also because she seemed to think it was just the normal thing to do. Not because she had some desire to be a mom.

And thinking about it, she didn't even particularly want to get married either. It was more of a solution to keep Leo in her life.

Exactly so. I keep saying it because it's true. I often wish that my favorite episode 'Morality Bites' never aired because it screwed up Piper the way Cole screwed up Phoebe. Piper's the one who should've been the doting aunt who was happy to see them go home. The witchlighters should've been Paige's - and, yes, despite Henry being mortal, they'd still be witchlighters, just like Paige with the same powers, just like the Charmed Ones were the most powerful witches ever even though their father and grandfather were all mortals.

[Elle Em]

I like the idea of Piper staying the sweet middle sister and just being an aunt. I also think it was interesting that Phoebe, who was more of the wild, carefree one, wanted kids in Reckless Abandon. Maybe she just liked the idea rather than the reality, but I liked how the roles were a bit reversed there. And also how Prue, who would have taken care of her sisters a lot when they were kids, was pretty clueless about a baby.

[Esmeralda]

I'd say Prue didn't start taking care of her sisters until after her mother was gone, which is when she "practically raised us."

Phoebe also hit me more as the "Oh, these kids were so much fun to play with, but there's problems, so, here, Mom, they're all yours!" type.

I think of the bunch, Paige probably would've been the best mother of a baby with the rest enjoying being aunties until the kids were old enough to actually be able to do something with them.

[Ruth Marie]

I think although Prue wasn't good with babies, she might be a good mother. Too bad, that if Andy wasn't written out, and Leo did leave. It seems pretty certain they were setting up Prue to be the one having a daughter in Morality Bites after Secrets and Guys set up Prue finally accepting and wanting to be a mother one day.

I really would have enjoyed Piper as an aunt. I think her character would be so much better, to just focus on her job and fulfilling her dream of owning her own restaurant. Even if that just became her own personal arc. Letting her be the one who never is married or has children.

I hated that Leo's solution to dealing with the Elders was marriage and them staying together. It wasn't very romantic for Piper/Leo's arc and killed the fun out of a romantic and fun proposal, and again they rushed through them getting married. I didn't like that it happened in Season 3, still too early for any of the sisters to marry.

[gzv969]

I always felt that Piper should have been the sister who was dedicated to her business, dates a lot but has a problem with committing to a steady relationship with one person, and has no interest in marriage. Always in the situation of needing to find a way to dump one relationship after starting another.

Prue would be the one that should have had a steady relationship and was planning to get married and have a wedding.

And phoebe be the one who wants to get married and go steady but has a problem with keeping her dates and holding on to them, more because of her premonitions and what it often reveals to her about her dates, causing her to often confront them leading to her either dumping them or them leaving. This problem becoming predominantly worse when she develops empathy and she now can’t help but confront them about their feelings and thoughts.

[Olga Halliwell]

Jan 27, 2019 19:38:28 GMT -5 Ruth Marie said:

I think although Prue wasn't good with babies, she might be a good mother. Too bad, that if Andy wasn't written out, and Leo did leave. It seems pretty certain they were setting up Prue to be the one having a daughter in Morality Bites after Secrets and Guys set up Prue finally accepting and wanting to be a mother one day.

I really would have enjoyed Piper as an aunt. I think her character would be so much better, to just focus on her job and fulfilling her dream of owning her own restaurant. Even if that just became her own personal arc. Letting her be the one who never is married or has children.

I hated that Leo's solution to dealing with the Elders was marriage and them staying together. It wasn't very romantic for Piper/Leo's arc and killed the fun out of a romantic and fun proposal, and again they rushed through them getting married. I didn't like that it happened in Season 3, still too early for any of the sisters to marry.

Jan 28, 2019 2:27:03 GMT -5 gzv969 said:

I always felt that Piper should have been the sister who was dedicated to her business, dates a lot but has a problem with committing to a steady relationship with one person, and has no interest in marriage. Always in the situation of needing to find a way to dump one relationship after starting another.

Prue would be the one that should have had a steady relationship and was planning to get married and have a wedding.

And phoebe be the one who wants to get married and go steady but has a problem with keeping her dates and holding on to them, more because of her premonitions and what it often reveals to her about her dates, causing her to often confront them leading to her either dumping them or them leaving. This problem becoming predominantly worse when she develops empathy and she now can’t help but confront them about their feelings and thoughts.

I really think a set-up like this would be great.

With what was set-up in S1, it felt like Connie wanted Prue to be the mother and or married at some point. Maybe her own sister followed that path and what inspired the story in Secrets and Guys she co-wrote.

I liked Piper the best when she wasn't with Leo or had children. She was a role model to me growing up, but something just changed in S2, when she slowly became everything I never wanted to be. Piper in S1 worked so much better when her first love was her job, food and the cheerful middle sister.

When you think about it, Leo staying affected the series long-term. It was Leo staying that led to Piper being married with children and her character changed for the worst through this, whitelighters and elders being major parts of the series, and then to witchlighters like Paige, Chris and Wyatt.

Yeah, Leo should of stayed in S1 where he belonged.

[Melinda Halliwell]

Jan 28, 2019 2:27:03 GMT -5 gzv969 said:

And Phoebe be the one who wants to get married and go steady but has a problem with keeping her dates and holding on to them, more because of her premonitions and what it often reveals to her about her dates, causing her to often confront them leading to her either dumping them or them leaving. This problem becoming predominantly worse when she develops empathy and she now can’t help but confront them about their feelings and thoughts.

That's a really good idea about Phoebe actually which A: Explains why so many guest stars turn up as one-time or multi-episode boyfriends like Jason Dean for instance. B: Would see her single by the end meaning no baby quest or flash forward kids. And C: Show a type of consequence being a Charmed One brought up like when the sisters didn't have friends or lost touch with them because of the job they did except here Phoebe having to leave dates through constant family emergencies.

[Esmeralda]

Jan 28, 2019 2:27:03 GMT -5 gzv969 said:

I always felt that Piper should have been the sister who was dedicated to her business, dates a lot but has a problem with committing to a steady relationship with one person, and has no interest in marriage. Always in the situation of needing to find a way to dump one relationship after starting another.

Prue would be the one that should have had a steady relationship and was planning to get married and have a wedding.

And phoebe be the one who wants to get married and go steady but has a problem with keeping her dates and holding on to them, more because of her premonitions and what it often reveals to her about her dates, causing her to often confront them leading to her either dumping them or them leaving. This problem becoming predominantly worse when she develops empathy and she now can’t help but confront them about their feelings and thoughts.

Totally love this, GZV, and wish Charmed had been more like this.

When you think of Piper watching Dan at the end of 'Witch Trial' and then there she is with Leo in the next episode, you can't help wonder what Connie truly had in mind for that episode.

I also believe that had Ted King not left so Brian Krause would've that it would've been Andy and Prue who would've been divorced with a child (who wouldn't have powers - of if she did, only a single Warren one) in 'Morality Bites' and Piper the one who'd say, "If I died tonight, my tombstone would read 'Piper Halliwell - She worked' and the series would've been much, much better.

I did something like this for one of the writing contest, but only a single scene when Future Andy runs into Prue and Piper. Now I'm finding myself wanting to rewrite the entire episode this way...my own version of Charmed: ReImagined.

[Elle Em]

A part of me really likes the idea that the shy middle sister is the one to get married and have kids, and that Prue, the oldest and most traditional, ends up being more independent and focused on magic. It's fun in that way to see things happen to the sisters that we don't expect based on their personalities.

But a bigger part of me likes the ideas that are being discussed here, of Prue staying the traditional one and being the married mother, while Piper stays more focused on things just involving her, like her career, as someone a bit shy would be more inclined to do.

So I guess while I can appreciate that the show tried to turn expectations based on birth order and personality upside down, going a more traditional and expected route for each sister might have been preferable in the long run.

[Elle Em]

Jan 28, 2019 8:00:12 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

I also believe that had Ted King not left so Brian Krause would've that it would've been Andy and Prue who would've been divorced with a child (who wouldn't have powers - of if she did, only a single Warren one) in 'Morality Bites' and Piper the one who'd say, "If I died tonight, my tombstone would read 'Piper Halliwell - She worked' and the series would've been much, much better.

It would be great if we saw Piper in that position, especially if she hadn't quit at Quake yet. I can see her staying there and the problems she had with it spilling over into season 2, with her being overworked and not liking her job. And instead of quitting at the end of season 1, it's their trip to the future at the beginning of season 2 that makes her decide to take her life in a new direction.

I'd personally love if she had decided to own her own restaurant at some point, but started with a small catering business that she ran out of the Manor. It would give us a lot more time in the house, plus make for some fun stories with her trying to work around her sisters and the conflicts and annoyances that would cause. 

[summerreading]

Jan 28, 2019 8:12:22 GMT -5 Elle Em said:

Jan 28, 2019 8:00:12 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

I also believe that had Ted King not left so Brian Krause would've that it would've been Andy and Prue who would've been divorced with a child (who wouldn't have powers - of if she did, only a single Warren one) in 'Morality Bites' and Piper the one who'd say, "If I died tonight, my tombstone would read 'Piper Halliwell - She worked' and the series would've been much, much better.

It would be great if we saw Piper in that position, especially if she hadn't quit at Quake yet. I can see her staying there and the problems she had with it spilling over into season 2, with her being overworked and not liking her job. And instead of quitting at the end of season 1, it's their trip to the future at the beginning of season 2 that makes her decide to take her life in a new direction.

I'd personally love if she had decided to own her own restaurant at some point, but started with a small catering business that she ran out of the Manor. It would give us a lot more time in the house, plus make for some fun stories with her trying to work around her sisters and the conflicts and annoyances that would cause. 

You totally are inspiring me. These ideas are perfect for Charmed: ReImagined.

I absolutely love this direction for Piper. 

I really wished this was the Piper we got on the show. 

[Granny Charmed]

Jan 28, 2019 8:00:12 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Jan 28, 2019 2:27:03 GMT -5 gzv969 said:

I always felt that Piper should have been the sister who was dedicated to her business, dates a lot but has a problem with committing to a steady relationship with one person, and has no interest in marriage. Always in the situation of needing to find a way to dump one relationship after starting another.

Prue would be the one that should have had a steady relationship and was planning to get married and have a wedding.

And phoebe be the one who wants to get married and go steady but has a problem with keeping her dates and holding on to them, more because of her premonitions and what it often reveals to her about her dates, causing her to often confront them leading to her either dumping them or them leaving. This problem becoming predominantly worse when she develops empathy and she now can’t help but confront them about their feelings and thoughts.

Totally love this, GZV, and wish Charmed had been more like this.

When you think of Piper watching Dan at the end of 'Witch Trial' and then there she is with Leo in the next episode, you can't help wonder what Connie truly had in mind for that episode.

I also believe that had Ted King not left so Brian Krause would've that it would've been Andy and Prue who would've been divorced with a child (who wouldn't have powers - of if she did, only a single Warren one) in 'Morality Bites' and Piper the one who'd say, "If I died tonight, my tombstone would read 'Piper Halliwell - She worked' and the series would've been much, much better.

I did something like this for one of the writing contest, but only a single scene when Future Andy runs into Prue and Piper. Now I'm finding myself wanting to rewrite the entire episode this way...my own version of Charmed: ReImagined.

I so *wished* our show was like this, GZV.

That reminds me of the one I did for the writing contest too dear, It wasn't a full story, and I never did finish it and make it full. But I played around with 'Morality Bites' having Prue & Andy having Melinda, and Piper the businesswoman.

I'd love to see what you would do with your version dear.

[Esmeralda]

Jan 29, 2019 6:35:53 GMT -5 Granny Charmed said:

Jan 28, 2019 8:00:12 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Totally love this, GZV, and wish Charmed had been more like this.

When you think of Piper watching Dan at the end of 'Witch Trial' and then there she is with Leo in the next episode, you can't help wonder what Connie truly had in mind for that episode.

I also believe that had Ted King not left so Brian Krause would've that it would've been Andy and Prue who would've been divorced with a child (who wouldn't have powers - of if she did, only a single Warren one) in 'Morality Bites' and Piper the one who'd say, "If I died tonight, my tombstone would read 'Piper Halliwell - She worked' and the series would've been much, much better.

I did something like this for one of the writing contest, but only a single scene when Future Andy runs into Prue and Piper. Now I'm finding myself wanting to rewrite the entire episode this way...my own version of Charmed: ReImagined.

I so *wished* our show was like this, GZV.

That reminds me of the one I did for the writing contest too dear, It wasn't a full story, and I never did finish it and make it full. But I played around with 'Morality Bites' having Prue & Andy having Melinda, and Piper the businesswoman.

I'd love to see what you would do with your version dear.

Yeah, I'll be interested to see what I do with it, too. It was fairly easy for the part of the episode that I decided to use, the rest - well, we'll see, if Summer doesn't decide to use it. I'm not sure if she will since she'd only be able to use it as a series finale since I don't think she'd be able to turn alive Andy into dead Leo with his whitelighter powers and how she'd get around no Leo. But if anyone can, I'm sure Summer can.


In the meantime, Granny, do you still have your copy of your contest entry? I think we should re-post them here so that our newer members and those who weren't around when we held the contest and have come back.

Here's mine, including adding my name, since all of our entries were done anonymously so no one would just vote for their friend's entry (You can do the same, Granny!)

A Different Look at 'Morality Bites'

by Esmeralda

Andrew Trudeau frowned as he glanced at his watch. In only five hours, his ex-sister-in-law would be burnt to death – unless he decided to do something he knew he very simply couldn’t do.

When Prue had called to ask him to take custody of Melinda, she also told him how she and Piper planned to break Phoebe out of the prison and then get as far away from San Francisco as they could, but they could only do that if Andy helped.

As a San Francisco inspector he would be one of many officers who would be at the prison making sure there was law and order during the execution. Andy could go to the main control room and turn off the electricity just long enough for Prue and Piper to break in, have Piper freeze the execution chamber, Prue use her power to free Phoebe so they could grab Phoebe and get out of there. When the lights came back on, no one would know how she had escaped and they’d still have the Power of Three.

They’d been so careful the last few years, ever since Phoebe used her own power of empathy to kill the man who killed her best friend and got away with it, making sure no one knew that they were still very close sisters who were still planning on freeing their baby sister. Part of keeping that secret meant that Prue never went to any of Piper’s restaurants and Piper never went to the Manor or Buckland’s.

They just needed Andy to help them, just this once. Then they’d be out of his and Melinda’s lives forever, Prue swore it. But Andy had to tell her that just like he had to arrest Phoebe, as a cop, he had to enforce the law, and that did not include helping a convicted murderer escape.

Prue refused to believe that he’d actually let Phoebe burn. Andy had grown up with the girls, was practically the big brother they’d never had. How could he possibly do this?

But how could he not?

Andy gave a heavy sigh. How could all of this have gone so wrong? He was so proud of his “sisters” when he found out that they were the Charmed Ones, hereditary witches who were charged with protecting the innocent. It so fit in with what Andy believed, what his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather believed, the reason he had become a cop, and then an inspector.

But then the sisters started to change.

It all started when Piper lost Leo. Andy had never met him, but he was some sort of guardian angel for witches and Piper and Leo broke the rules. They fell in love the same way Prue and Piper’s mother had fallen in love with her own whitelighter.

But the first time Leo and Piper made love he was taken away by a group called the Elders. What exactly they were Andy had never been able to figure out since once they took Leo away they had had nothing more to do with the Charmed Ones. But after they took him away and never let him come back, Piper decided to hell with them and started using her powers for herself rather than others, starting by realizing her own dream - setting up her own restaurant, “Piper’s”, featuring the Leo-burger.

Andy didn’t think it was all that good of a burger, but Piper must’ve used her magic to make people think otherwise, because it became an almost-instant hit and soon there were “Piper’s” all over the country.

And when Prue and Phoebe saw what all she could do with her magic, well, they followed along, Prue becoming the owner of the company she had worked for and Phoebe getting her own TV talk show, the most popular show on TV, which again, Andy was certain was thanks to her magic, since he didn’t think Phoebe was that good of an interviewer, since she always made it all about her and not her guest.

Unfortunately, by that point, Andy and Prue were already married and had Melinda. When Melinda started showing signs of using her own magic for her own needs, Andy tried so hard to convince Prue to either bind Melinda’s powers or teach her how to use them properly, but Prue refused. She was having too much fun using her power for herself and wanted her daughter to enjoy her magic, too.

Finally the cop in Andy couldn’t stand it anymore and that’s when he divorced her. He wanted to try for custody, but how could he raise a magical daughter when he had no powers himself and Prue refused to bind them? So as much as it hurt, he had let Prue have her.

At least now he’d refused to take custody of her if Prue didn’t bind her powers first. Melinda wouldn’t like it but it was for both of their good.

Suddenly he felt something strange in the air. Looking around, he saw that everything for a full block had frozen. He sighed. Only one real witch could’ve done that and he was so sure that witch knew better, especially on a day like this. And, sure enough, she and her sister, his ex-wife, were the only ones moving.

He marched up to them, glaring. “What the hell do you two think you are doing?”

“Andy!” Prue cried, the joy in her voice something he hadn’t heard since he arrested Phoebe. “It’s so good to see you!” She reached up to hug him, but he quickly backed away, the sight of the two of them making him sick. “Uh, what’s wrong?"

“You know,” he growled. “I just knew one of you would do something stupid like this. Prue, how could you let her use her magic in public? What's the matter with you? Are you insane?”

“Uh, Andy…”

To Andy’s shock, he heard Piper whisper to Prue, “Remember he thinks we know what's going on.”

“Of course you know what’s going on!” Andy exclaimed. “What? You want to end up like your sister? I thought we had an agreement. No using magic for Melinda's sake.”

“Melinda?” Prue asked, shocked.

Andy rolled his eyes, not believing this charade one bit. “Our daughter. What's wrong with you?”

Prue’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head while Piper asked, “Wait a second. You're Prue's ex?”

But the air was changing again. Before anyone could unfreeze, Andy grabbed both Halliwell sisters’ arms and ran, pulling them along. “Alright, hurry, we have to get out of here before they see you.”

“They?” Prue asked.

Again Andy rolled his eyes. “The witch hunters.” He quickly ducked inside a building, running up the stairs and running into the first open door he spot. Fortunately no one was inside and there was a lock on the door.

They were safe. At least for now.

Now if he could only figure out what was wrong with his ex-wife and her sister.

So? What do you guys think? And I'll bet like me you hope for a chance to read (or re-read) Granny's - the entry that actually won the contest.

[summerreading]

Good job Es, I especially like the backstory and what you did with Piper. Very interesting setup, I'll be interested to see you one time finish this fully.

I'm excited to find out myself and see how I'd turn Morality Bites into a story for my own Charmed: Reimagined, series finale. Although, I'm hoping to work on another episode right now, so it might not be on the cards right now. I think, when we get around to re-watching MB in October or November when we begin our S2 re-watch, I might get more ideas, seeing this episode come to life. I'm up for the challenge.

Granny, I'm curious now to see your story. Whenever you are free or have time, do share.

Your entry too, Granny, could spark some inspiration for me. We'll see.

[Esmeralda]

Oh, yes, Summer, I really think you should wait until we re-watch the episodes before you do your combining thing. Although you did such a great job with combining an S3 episode ('Pre-Witched') with 'Something Wicca This Way Comes', I think you could do the same if you wanted to combine 'Morality Bites' with an episode like 'Apocalypse Not' or even 'All Hell Breaks Loose' or 'Witch Way Now?' or even 'Something Wicca This Way Goes' as your SERIES finale. If you wanted to do something similar to what I did, you could even try combining it with either 'Love Hurts' or 'Deja vu All Over Again', which we'd be re-re-watching just a couple weeks before 'Morality Bites'.

I'm very curious to see what you end up doing with it.

With my own, well, I stopped here on purpose - I wasn't really sure how to continue from there. But I'll definitely be thinking about it when we re-watch 'Morality Bites'...

And if anyone has any ideas of how I could continue, I'd love to hear them!