When did Charmed get its growing the beard moment?

[Katie Warren]

The Jump the Shark thread got me wondering of the opposite. So I did some digging and found it.

The opposite of Jumping the Shark would be Growing the Beard. 

Which is the definitive moment when a series begins to become noticeably better in quality and hit its stride.




A bit of history for where Growing the Beard came from. Like Jumping the Shark did on Happy Days.

The element can sometimes be attributed to a single, outstanding episode that defines the show. Other times it is just a general improvement, the famous Star Trek: The Next Generation moment. Fans of the series noticed a sharp increase in quality and consistent stories and it coincided with Commander Riker, Jonathan Frakes, growing a beardnote  and helping the show gain its own identity, even though it still took a little more time before it really took off. The term has spread into internet vernacular to the point that Frakes himself has even brought it up

. History repeated itself a few years later when fans noted a marked improvement in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine after lead actor Avery Brooks grew a beard (and shaved his head, to boot).

So when was Charmed's growing the beard moment. Where the series hit its stride and got better?

[Katie Warren]

Having re-watched Season 1 in our rewatches at the Cafe. I'll pick Prue saying I Love You to Piper in 'From Fear to Eternity' as my growing the beard moment.

The opposite of that with my jumping the shark moment I'll make that decision as I get through more of our board rewatch into the series.

[Esmeralda]

That's a good one, Katie. When I read your first post, I was thinking it was a different point, but the more I looked over our discussions the more I realized I think you're right.

I still think Piper exploding a watermelon was the jump the shark moment, but like you, I might end up changing my mind as we continue to re-watch the series.

[prudencehalliwell]

Great thread Katie. I love doing the opposite of Jumping the Shark.

Like Es and Katie. I'll make my decision on what the jump the shark moment will be for me, when we rewatch more of Charmed.

I think for me, my growing the beard moment might be similar to you guys from 'From Fear to Eternity'. I liked some earlier episodes,  but those are just too early in the series, and we don't have many big moments, I consider as a growing the beard moment when the show hit its stride. 

It would be a toss-up between two moments between Prue admitting to Phoebe that the last thing she said to Patty was 'I Love You' or saying 'I Love You to Piper'.

I think the later is much more fitting because it was a big moment for Prue and the series, and from our discussions in the rewatch, where the show finally found itself, I did enjoy some of the earlier episodes, but this is when it hits its stride during this wonderful episode. And I'll pick that for mine.

Curious, what others will pick as their moment and or their jump the shark moment too.

[Ruth Marie]

Great picks guys. Like others I'll wait to decide my jump the shark moment.

I went with Prue confessing to Phoebe the last thing she said to Patty is 'I Love You'.

[West]

The ending scene from 'The Witch is Back' I was tempted to pick, but I don't think we had reached the growing the beard moment and episode in terms of the series hit its stride and getting better yet.

I'm going with 'From Fear to Eternity' and Prue confessing to Phoebe the last thing she ever said to Patty. And the remainder of the episode with Prue finally being able to say 'I Love You' just brought it home for me.

[Pillow Halliwell]

I’d say the end of Morality Bites, when they learned the difference between saving the innocent vs. punishing the guilty. It showed huge character growth and the importance of making necessary sacrifices for the greater good.

This also showed the importance of not allowing themselves to get consumed with their magic, using it for personal gain, etc.

[Esmeralda]

I can't agree with that because they forgot that lesson so quickly.

[Pillow Halliwell]

Very true. I just meant that specific moment showed growth and had potential, and at least temporarily improved the series (character development-wise). Although, as you mentioned, that was all very short-lived lol

[ljones]

Late Season One, before the season finale. Unfortunately, I had to deal with Season Two, which I believe was the worst of the early seasons. Then Season Three happened. And I was enjoying the series again. Unfortunately, its decline had started again by late Season Four and never got better again.

I’d say the end of Morality Bites, when they learned the difference between saving the innocent vs. punishing the guilty. It showed huge character growth and the importance of making necessary sacrifices for the greater good.

A lesson that had failed to stick in the end.

[rebooted]

hmmm. Coool thread!

My Growing Beard moment(s) or "when the show series noticed a sharp increase in quality and consistent stories" would be:

1) I've Got Your Under My Skin - when Phoebe is comforting and reassuring Piper that they are good witches in such a sisterly way. More sisterly than the premier ever did.

2) Dead Man Dating - surrounding by some crappy episodes - Thank You for not Morphing, Dream Sorcerer and the Wedding from hell - but the sisters get their groove in learning how to help innocence. The romantic relationships of the sisters becomes a very interesting part and Leo also is introduced.

3) The Fourth Sister, Truth is out there, Witch is Back are three back to back episodes that show interesting sisterly dynamics, Halliwell history and innocent storylines

4) From Fear to Eternity is surrounded by Feats Wendigo and Secrets which are average episodes but this brings Charmed's beach to fully get groomed by Mid Season 1.

5) The Woogy, 70s and Witch Prue era is it anyway is where Charmed becomes fully established as an iconic TV show showcasing sisterly growth to the beard as well as family history.

6) Out of Sight, Power of Two, Love Hurts and DeJa Vu reinforce and consolidate Charmed even through an underutilized storyline in Bad Warlocks Go Good comes before it.

For a Season 3 and 4 fan - it actually hurts me to say that these are the last Grow their beard moments.

So if I had to chose one moment specifically, it would be in That 70's episode when Patty is teaching Little Prue and Piper how to chant the return to the present spell with Phoebe taking the photo and Prue and Piper kicking ass downstairs, eventually being returned to present day after saying goodbye to Patty and Penny.

That was such a great activity and hugely positive Katie. Thank you

[gzv969]

The only person that had a real growing a beard moment that stuck was prue after she lost Andy. She grieved the first part of season 2 then after that she realized how serious being a charmed one was and threw herself fully into it. Partly out of anger and realizing the need to protect her family.

Phoebe and piper never had the same conviction and passion prue got. Phoebe did for a time after morality bites but what she learned was a different lesson. She grew a greater fear of the elders than she did demons. Probably after realizing what powers they had and what they were capable of, and that fear never really left her. Notice phoebe never really stood up to the elders like piper or prue would at times. And piper still kept being on the fence on everything, on whether to keep being charmed or try and get out when things got tough.

[Katie Warren]

Bump, interested to see what newer and older (who haven't had a chance to read this thread and reply) would pick as their growing the beard moment.

[Elle Em]

I'm not sure about a specific moment, but probably mid season 1 or a little earlier after the first few episodes where they were still finding their footing. Somewhere around The Fourth Sister, The Truth is Out There, or The Witch is Back. They had plenty of great moments before then, and I love their sometimes awkward stumbling through the first episodes. But episodes like Thank You For Not Morphing, Dream Sorcerer, and The Wedding From Hell made it seem like they weren't quite sure what the show was or was going to be. I still like them, though. 

Then episodes like The Wendigo with a sister transforming into something else was done with a lot of confidence and direction. That's an episode that could have been awkward very easily. From Fear to Eternity is one of the best episodes of season 1 in how well it's put together and the strength of the story itself.

The episodes after that continue to be high quality until That '70s Episode, which is a major peak of the first season. They really knew what they wanted out of that episode, and they made it happen. The show wasn't even a year old at this point, and they successfully built a backstory and a family that lasted the rest of the show. And the chemistry between the five women in this episode is unreal.

Killing off Andy and the show still retaining its quality was a good sign for it as well. As much as I would have liked him to stick around, the idea that they could so easily do away with a major supporting character and still have the show be strong was a testament to the lead actresses' abilities and potential, as well as the direction the show was headed.

[rebooted]

I wanna say when they burned the Power Relinquishing Spell in the BOS in Wicca Envy.

1-10 13 Jan 99 Wicca Envy

But I could also go with From Fear to Eternity when Prue tells Phoebe she loves her.

1-13 10 Feb 99 From Fear to Eternity

There is something about the scene where Prue, Piper and Phoebe are saying goodbye to Mom and Grams (both the first and second time) with Little Prue and Little Piper

17. 1-17 07 Apr 99 That '70s Episode

[Esmeralda]

Like my signature says, my favorite "season" of Charmed is the last half of S1 through the first half of S2. That begins with 'From Fear to Eternity' when Prue is able to say 'I love you' to her sisters (so my growing the beard moment) and ends with 'Reckless Abandon', since I don't like Prue before it and I don't like Piper after it, so this is the only time I love all three sisters.

[rebooted]

Jun 1, 2020 6:13:28 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Like my signature says, my favorite "season" of Charmed is the last half of S1 through the first half of S2. That begins with 'From Fear to Eternity' when Prue is able to say 'I love you' to her sisters (so my growing the beard moment) and ends with 'Reckless Abandon', since I don't like Prue before it and I don't like Piper after it, so this is the only time I love all three sisters.

Reckless Abandon is one of my fave episodes I feel is highly underated.

But yes - the best of Charmed is the Last Half of Season 1 (when the beard starts to grow) BUT why do you think it ends with Reckless and not all the way to Apocalypse, Not!

The Piper and Leo thing? Plus then you miss Chick Flick which is a CLASSIC! Murphys Luck and Ex Libris HAVE to be includes in the whats considered best too! 

[Esmeralda]

Jun 3, 2020 0:03:06 GMT -5 rebooted said:

Jun 1, 2020 6:13:28 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Like my signature says, my favorite "season" of Charmed is the last half of S1 through the first half of S2. That begins with 'From Fear to Eternity' when Prue is able to say 'I love you' to her sisters (so my growing the beard moment) and ends with 'Reckless Abandon', since I don't like Prue before it and I don't like Piper after it, so this is the only time I love all three sisters.

Reckless Abandon is one of my fave episodes I feel is highly underated.

But yes - the best of Charmed is the Last Half of Season 1 (when the beard starts to grow) BUT why do you think it ends with Reckless and not all the way to Apocalypse, Not!

The Piper and Leo thing? Plus then you miss Chick Flick which is a CLASSIC! Murphys Luck and Ex Libris HAVE to be includes in the whats considered best too! 

Oh, there's definitely some very good episodes after this, but I don't feel the show gets better with the way that Piper treats BOTH Leo and Dan, and she never gets better. So as I said, that time period is the only time I love all three sisters, so FOR ME the end of the growing the beard moment is the end of that "season".

We've proven this with our Classic Charmed, Done Our Way, where both groups leave out Leo. It's amazing the difference in Piper - by the end of S2 (which is where we're at), we still have the Piper we love in S1.

I'm sure other fans feel differently, and that's fine. But for me, because Piper goes downhill starting with 'Awakened', the show never gets better after that. It's why I wish she'd died in 'Awakened' and we'd met Paige at that point. Of course in order to do that, 'Awakened' would have to be the S2 finale with 'Charmed Again' as the S3 premiere (getting rid of Cole and ruining Phoebe!!!! YES!!!), which would be just fine with me since she could've just kept lying to (oh, I can tell you anything!) and using Dan so she could have her normal life for the entire season and he wouldn't have turned into a horrible character until the end of the season.

[Olga Halliwell]

Jun 3, 2020 7:45:07 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Jun 3, 2020 0:03:06 GMT -5 rebooted said:

Reckless Abandon is one of my fave episodes I feel is highly underated.

But yes - the best of Charmed is the Last Half of Season 1 (when the beard starts to grow) BUT why do you think it ends with Reckless and not all the way to Apocalypse, Not!

The Piper and Leo thing? Plus then you miss Chick Flick which is a CLASSIC! Murphys Luck and Ex Libris HAVE to be includes in the whats considered best too! 

Oh, there's definitely some very good episodes after this, but I don't feel the show gets better with the way that Piper treats BOTH Leo and Dan, and she never gets better. So as I said, that time period is the only time I love all three sisters, so FOR ME the end of the growing the beard moment is the end of that "season".

We've proven this with our Classic Charmed, Done Our Way, where both groups leave out Leo. It's amazing the difference in Piper - by the end of S2 (which is where we're at), we still have the Piper we love in S1.

I'm sure other fans feel differently, and that's fine. But for me, because Piper goes downhill starting with 'Awakened', the show never gets better after that. It's why I wish she'd died in 'Awakened' and we'd met Paige at that point. Of course in order to do that, 'Awakened' would have to be the S2 finale with 'Charmed Again' as the S3 premiere (getting rid of Cole and ruining Phoebe!!!! YES!!!), which would be just fine with me since she could've just kept lying to (oh, I can tell you anything!) and using Dan so she could have her normal life for the entire season and he wouldn't have turned into a horrible character until the end of the season.

We sure did Es. So much better our second season. And amazing how much better Piper is, when Leo is left out. 

Having re-watched S2 in full in our re-watch now, I can say I really do agree, especially with Piper after Awakened, and so many times.

Although, I do still enjoy some episodes in the later half of S2, Piper and everything to do with Dan and Leo just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So I can't say the show got better. 

I think my growing the beard moment begins 'From Fear to Eternity' or my favorite episode ' Secrets and Guys'. 
(could be a little bit earlier but nothing before 'The Truth is Out There' I can count' that I feel like Prue saying I Love You is the best episode where it starts). 

Prue's personal growing the beard moment has to be 'From Fear to Eternity'. I could be bias and say it happened in my favorite episode 'Secrets and Guys', but I feel like her overcoming saying I Love You and the scene in the water with Patty is a bit more significant. 

[prudencehalliwell]

Prue saying I Love You to Piper is the growing the beard moment of Charmed for me.