S1 or S2?

[Aaeiyn]

Time to decide.  Do you like season one or two more?

My vote is S1, ofc.

[Prue's Feather]

Easily Season 1. I pretty much like every episode in this season. Maybe two I don't care for as much.

I think the writing was ultimately better with this season compared to Season 2. 

I like all the sisters in this season. (I mean, I still like them in Season 2, but this one has a bit more edge, I guess.) My favorite season for Piper (but that's me). Loved Phoebe. I also like Prue, even when she's a stick in the mud at the beginning. 

Piper/Mark? Loved them. Not trying to hate on Piper/Leo, I just felt Piper and Mark had so much in common and would have made a great couple.

Quake. Miss that place. Wish Piper would have stayed there and worked her way up to owning the restaurant.

Andy. I miss him so much. He was such a great character and I feel like we didn't get to learn enough about him. Also, Prue and Andy are my OTP, so there's that... Lol. It makes me so sad he was killed off at the end. Also loved Andy and Darryl's partnership. They were just becoming friends at the end there. I would have liked to see their friendship grow in Season 2.

I also like the connection to police cases this season. I know this is still touched upon in Season 2, but it's just so much less so. 

Rex and Hannah. On my first watch, I wasn't too into these two/their arch, but now? I love it. Also, Rex's astral projection power's pretty cool. 

Call me weird but... I actually like their clothing style this season more? 

Um... I could probably list more, but I'll leave it that for now.

I tried to challenge myself to rank the episodes for this season, from best to worst. I struggled... A LOT. And then I never finished it. I think I should give it a try again...

That being said, I do like Season 2, I think it has some stand out episodes, but... Season 1 will always be superior to Season 2 to me. And... Season 1 is just the superior season to me out all of the season.

[Esmeralda]

IMOHO, definitely S1. If you didn't have what I count as the stupid triangle, then it would definitely be S2 by a long, long shot for me. The same would be true if 'Love Hurts' was the last time we see Leo and we never hear the words whitelighter, Elder or witchlighter again. I will always wonder what Charmed would've been like if Leo stayed in S1 and Andy didn't die...

I think both seasons do standalones beautifully, but like most story arcs in Charmed, with the exception of Piper and Leo in S1 and the relationship between Prue and Phoebe, I don't think they did arcs well at all in either season.

For me, the one thing that really drags S1 down was in a show about girl power, they brought women down. Without Hannah and Claire (both horrible examples of working women), I think the season would be even better than it was.

S1 was also better as far as the music go. I *so* wish the music in the rest of Charmed had that wonderful gothic feel that the S1 music had.

[Too Much Coffee]

So easy, went with S1.

The only season to truly be about the stars with the sisters and their relationship. As S2, we got the love triangle and slowly Leo was getting used more to giving the sisters their answers.

In S1, The sisters had zero assistance where Leo was helping them, so they were using their own smarts and researching themselves.

The S1 music was just so much better in this season, I prefer it to the rest of S1, it had this feeling that made me cry, made the scenes dramatic, and this lovely jingle tune that felt so magical, so 90s and so Charmed.

I was okay with Leo when his role was minimal, and do wish he stayed gone after S1.

I loved Andy and Quake, and the only season we got both.

The mix between the non-magical world (Andy/Darryl), the sisters/witches, and the innocents and villains of the week were perfectly blended. Not how it would be later, when it was sisters/whitelighter/demons with the innocents and the non-magical world being so not important.

I also loved the Prue/Phoebe arc of S1 with them growing closer. I also would have loved Piper/Leo's love story, if it ended in Love Hurts for good.

What I didn't like and having re-watched S1 with the group, I share similar views with Esmeralda. The writing of working women like Hannah, Claire, and the boss who cheated on her husband. The season really doesn't have a strong girl power vibe, outside of the sisters. None of the supporting female characters were that well written, not counting the one/shot innocents in S1. That has always been Charmed's problem, the show revolved around the sisters with the men in the world more than them having any connections with other female characters. There are not too many relationships of just women supporting women on Charmed, all we got was Billie and Sheila, and both were not that well written. I'll add Elise into the same category as the working woman.

Oh, and I loved their fashion this season, especially Prue's clothes she wore to Bucklands, very professional, not how she dressed in S2.

I also love the Gothic feel and the lightning and the way they filmed the episodes.

I think S1 is the only season, I am actually satisfied with the season as a whole, well not really, still some episodes I don't like, but unlike other seasons, I can sit down and enjoy it all as a journey, where I loved the final episode of S1. So in a way, it might be the only one where I like the first & last episode. I can't say the same thing about any of the other seasons, where I don't like both the opener and closer, so they don't bookend where I liked both. S2 might be a close second, if it wasn't for the S2 finale, which I didn't enjoy this time around with the re-watch earlier last year, and the love triangle ruined the season for me. What they needed to do, was have the Piper/Dan arc happen right off the bat, with Leo still MIA until after Piper breaks up with Dan, if you did that and let Morality Bites be the S2 finale, I'd say this season would be in tough competition to get my vote.

I'll still wonder how the series would be like if Leo stayed in S1 and never came back and Andy didn't die. We'd continue the wonderful balance between the non-magical world with Andy and Darryl and the sisters. The sisters would again be working to solve problems on their own, with no easy out with Leo's powers. The more I think about it, the more I really do think Leo and whitelighters were the worst introductions on the show, and the show might be so much better and even Piper's character in the long-run without them.

[rebooted]

Oct 28, 2021 15:21:09 GMT -5 Aaeiyn said:

Time to decide.  Do you like season one or two more?

My vote is S1, ofc.

Very hard to choose

I picked Season 2 because I do like the individual episodes. Murphys Luck to Ex Libris. Chick Flick to Pardon My Past. 

I never really minded to Love Triangle thing too much but it does ruin Season 2.

I like Prue, Piper (still have compassion for her) and Phoebe in Season 2.

[goldeneye049]

I choose the 2 because it's my favorite season. I find it fresh. I love the relationship of the three sisters without any conflict. The sacrifices in "morality bites" "Awakened" and "Apocalypse, not". I also like to "pardon my past" and "P3 H2O". I just regret the birth of the horrible Piper in "How to Make a Quilt Out of Americans" who also rejects her fate.
I don't like love stories in Charmed in general. Although Leo doesn't bother me in season 1 and neither does Andy.
But after : Leo, Dan, Cole, Jason are very boring for me.

[shandofan]

Also voted season 1, pretty much because of points that had been mentioned by you guys already:

• Writing was better
• Quake - so much better place than P3. Piper's reasoning to open a club, namely, that it's less risk than a restaurant, was specious. Apparently it was important to have a club so they could put in the musical guests, but at least they could have tried for Piper to open a restaurant? And then maybe she'd realize a club is easier. I think that could have been elaborated on for one or two episodes.
• Clothing: I also liked it more in season 1. I think it's one of the main reasons season 1 feels so completely different to me. Some outfits later, they were just trying too hard to make them look sexy. No need to do so, the actresses were looking stunning and sexy in season 1 already. Also, same for the hairstyles: from season 2 on they were trying too hard: feels like every sister has a different hairstyle every week: braids, curls, beads - and often the hairstyle changed too quickly for my liking (esp. within single episodes).
  
• Piper's love triangle: while I have to admit that I found this interesting as teenager, I feel it's pretty annoying. And I think that it makes Piper super annoying. So for me also season 1 is Piper's best season, because that's before she gets involved in all that love triangle and later marriage / kids stuff. What I really can't stand is that Piper doesn't want Leo to become a mortal, but then gets mad at him for not being one. I'm like "what is wrong with you Lady?". BTW, that also bugged me in season 3: they had to get married so that they could be together - how about he just becomes a mortal? The option was never even discussed later on. I tend to agree with the voices here that killing Leo off in Love Hurts would have been the best option. Especially considering the fact that this introduced this terrible inconsistency on how whitelighter healing works.
• Music: much better in season 1, although season 2 features Melissa Etherdige's "Angels Would Fall", which is my all-time favourite song featured on a Charmed episode
• It was more about the sisters and their relationships in season 1. My favourite sister relationship is Prue & Phoebe, and in season 1 this was really interesting. I loved The Power of Two episode.
• The sisters figured out everything out on their own (this is actually also my biggest point of criticism towards the reboot, they didn't!)

Attachments:

[Aaeiyn]

I suppose I can go into more details in why I like S1 over S2.  I really enjoyed learning about all of the monsters and Wiccan ways.  There's some of this in S2, but a lot of the focus was on the love triangle between Piper, Leo and Dan.  I don't mind the relationships, it's practically how this series starts is Prue's complicated relationship with Andy.  I just already knew/called out that Piper was going to be with Leo, and this whole Dan relationship was just for Piper to have a sense of normalcy and not really about Dan.

Plus, I think Dan should've ended up with Phoebe over Piper.  I felt way more chemistry between Phoebe & Dan vs Piper & Dan.  And, IK some (not all) people think that Phoebe has chemistry with Leo, but I don't see it.  Out of all of Piper's men, Dan is the only one I truly felt had chemistry with Phoebe, but I digress.  Anyhoot, S1 has Andy in it, and I really like his character, as well, and I wish we got to see him, in later seasons, even as a whitelighter.

Plus, S1 is the only season where all three of them only have one power each.  In S2, Prue obtains the ability to astral project, meanwhile both Phoebe and Piper don't really advance, in this season, and it kind of annoys me, so I much prefer, when all three of them are on the same level with having only one power, in S1.  I guess that's why I kind of like S3, a little bit better because Phoebe and Piper begin advancing their powers.  Though, Piper's isn't until much later, but I digress.  S1 is just simple times, whereas a lot of things don't really make any sense, in S2, like Prue's sudden personality change in being OK, in being a witch (though, this change happened in late S1, but I digress), and she's not as invested into her job, anymore.

S2 began being less about Wicca and more about just magic, in general, and there weren't as many monsters.  I enjoy having Phoebe TV, to set the pace, for the episode, but that no longer was a thing.  Some of it was still there (in S2) but not as often as S1.  I appreciate S2 providing Phoebe's best season, but I still think she's as strong, in S1, and on par with Prue's character.  The only issue I have with S1, is Piper not really being in the forefront and acts more like a side character.

I think even Andy outshines her, in this season, so at least by S2 she was having more of a presence, but it wasn't even a good presence, and I feel like, by S3, she got better.  But, at least, Piper was somewhat likeable, even if she was more of a "behind the scenes" kind of character compared to the likes of Phoebe and/or Prue, in S1.  Plus, she opens up a club?  Don't get me wrong, I like P3 and everything, but I didn't think a club was really Piper's forte and much rather see Phoebe open up a club, instead.  S2 is (also) the start of the network "taking over" things by coercing P3 for the bands and more revealing clothing, onto our leading stars.

Whereas S1 had less of the network having a say but by S2, they realized how good the series was going and wanted to get their uncreative and unimaginative hands on the story which ultimately spiraled out of control and pushed out the likes of Constance, Shannen, Krista, etc.  S1 felt like the real deal, to me.

[lunchking]

Thought about voting S2 for a microsecond. LOL Nah S1 S1 S1 all day every day!

I love the mix of demons and warlocks in S1. I love the early sisterhood relationship. The mystery. Andy. Quake. I could go on.

Bit it's one of those seasons I can watch through and not roll my eyes like the others. Yes a couple not so good episodes. But I truly love them all.

[forbuss]

This is a very challenging question - season 1 is iconic for so many reasons, it was the first season and the reason we all fell in love with the show. I honestly couldn't decide because I dislike Jenny and am not huge on the Leo/Dan triangle.

However I went with season 2. There are just more episodes I love in season 2 - most of them have nothing to do with either of those aspects I mentioned which I don't generally like.

[Julian]

I do like both seasons but S1 narrowly won out. More episodes I like in S1.

[West]

That was easy. S1 for me. S2 is still good, but I just find S1 stronger overall.

[Sandra]

S1. The S2 love triangle brings down S2 for me.

[Aaeiyn]

I'm confident in S1 still having my vote, but I'll do the list, anyway, to show you.

S1E1 "Something Wicca This Way Comes"
S1E2 "I've Got You Under My Skin"/S2E2 "Morality Bites"
S2E3 "The Painted World"/S1E3 "Thank You For Not Morphing"
S1E4 "Dead Man Dating"/S2E4 "The Devil's Music"
S1E5 "Dream Sorcerer"/S2E5 "She's a Man, Baby, a Man!"
S2E6 "That Old Black Magic"/S1E6 "The Wedding from Hell"
S2E7 "They're Everywhere"/S1E7 "The Fourth Sister"
S1E8 "The Truth is Out There...and it Hurts"
S1E9 "The Witch is Back"/S2E9 "Ms. Hellfire"
S1E10 "Wicca Envy"
S1E11 "Feats of Clay"
S1E12 "The Wendigo"
S1E13 "From Fear to Eternity"/S2E13 "Animal Pragmatism"
S1E14 "Secrets & Guys"
S2E15 "Give Me a Sign"/S1E15 "Is There a Woogy, in the House?"
S1E16 "Which Prue is it, Anyway?"
S1E17 "That 70s Episode"/S2E17 "How to Make a Quilt Out of Americans"
S2E18 "Chick Flick"/S1E18 "When Bad Warlocks Go Good"
S1E19 "Out of Sight"/S2E19 "Ex Libris"
S1E20 "The Power of Two"
S2E21 "Apocalypse, Not"
S1E22 "Deja Vu, All Over, Again"/S2E22 "Be Careful What You Witch For"

Totals
S1 = 16/21
S2 = 6/14

Like I said, S1 wins!

[Aaeiyn]

Moving Keeper Of Melinda's Locket 's comment from the S3 vs S4 thread, over here, in the S1 vs S2 thread.

Jan 23, 2024 0:30:06 GMT -5 Keeper Of Melinda's Locket said:

Lol this was the easiest poll. I already had my mind made up with S3 just looking at the thread title.

Did you ever vote in this one? S1 vs S2?

[Keeper Of Melinda's Locket]

Unlike the other thread, my answer wasn't a certainty. Lol I did vote S1 though over S2 in the end.

[chromaticanmomdasia]

If Season 1 didn't hit me like it did I'd have never got into the show

It was a dark evening on channel 5 in the UK season 3 of Xena had finished and Buffy also on BBC two had finished it'd third season too Charmed made it's launch in that gap and my 8 year old brain thought it was a film and I LOVED that it was kinda Buffy meets The Craft type of vibe

My dad said it's the same people that made Charlie's angels so he compared it to Buffy meets Charlie's angels and I guess that's a good comparison too

It's a hybrid of all those things plus it had a tongue in cheek feel with it's gothic undertones the demons were so scary sometimes and plots were great whilst Piper annoyed me by being the pessimist all the time Phoebe and Prue stood out to me the most I loved their stories back then and loved it now too

So many instant classic episodes in the first season too and genuine sense of consequences too ... Whilst I love the show as a whole the fact season 5 onwards they got healed relentlessly makes me realise how unique the first season is in that they learn from each other and literally study the book if Shadows and through each threat warlock demon witch etc they face it helps them to expand and broaden understanding of their powers

Prue/Andy were like supernatural Mulder and scully in a way too ...honestly season 1 was perfection

Nothing against season 2 it just felt like a lighter tone follow up on a way like the entire season was set in the summer or something like season 1 felt autumn winter and season 2 is Spring summer vibe contrast but yhst season has xlassics too just feels like you coukd watch mist eoisodes in random.order in the middle

[Aaeiyn]

Oct 29, 2021 6:14:38 GMT -5 goldeneye049 said:

I choose the 2 because it's my favorite season. I find it fresh. I love the relationship of the three sisters without any conflict.

IK there was more to your love for S2 than just what I quoted, but I wanted to comment only on this.

I like it when the sisters have conflict that need working out. It's boring, to me, when there isn't any, and that they love each other all of the time, and they never fight, ever. No, I like S1 more because it displayed their conflicts more (but more healthily).

And why I like S3 a little bit more, in the sisterly department (though, S2 is stronger in story, but I digress) 'cause of more conflict which made it interesting.

Especially if the narrative is about three sisters who happen to be witches, I felt that dynamic more in S1 & S3, not so much S2.  Though, S1 still was fairly Prue centric, the sisterly aspects was just written better.

[zoeysmom]

My favorite is definitely Season 1, although I like Season 2 a lot, too.

[missjessica]

Although I like S2, S1 all the way.