I posted this when I was still a guest poster and am now re-posting it as a full member.
Cole Deserves Proper Closure (written by me after Centennial Charmed aired)
A couple of months ago, I, like many other Charmed fans, sat down to watch the 100th episode, Centennial Charmed. I knew that this would be the last episode in which the character of Cole Turner appeared, and I was curious just how they would end his character. After the episode had finished, it left a very bad taste in my mouth, and I am not alone. Many other Charmed fans also felt very disappointed that things were allowed to end the way they did with Cole. I feel that Coles departure, and the events leading up to it, were very badly handled. Cole deserves much better than to be tossed aside like your average demon-of-the-week.
Why, you may ask?
The answer is that for more than two years, we watched as the character of Cole was developed and explored. Many fans invested emotionally when Cole and Phoebe first got together and hoped that their love would conquer all. For the next two seasons, their love had its ups and downs, yet many never lost hope that they would finally be together when all was said and done, Phoebe even once called Cole her soul mate. At the end of Season Four, when Cole returned from the Wasteland, he told Phoebe that he wasn't giving up on them, and then departed. We were left wondering just how Phoebe was going to react to this. She didn't seem too keen on getting back together with him again, but on the other hand, she didn't reject him out of hand either.
Then we come to Season Five, and all I can ask is: What the heck happened?
Granted, the actor that plays Cole, Julian McMahon, decided to leave the series to pursue other projects. He informed the producers of Charmed of this decision, so it was obvious they had to write Cole out of the series. However, they did NOT have to handle the character as badly as they did.
From almost the moment Cole reappeared in the Charmed Ones lives in the Season Five premier, he was greeted with revulsion, spat upon, and treated with utter contempt. Phoebe was the worst of all. When once they was warmth and love, all Cole now found in Phoebe was hatred and vial. She insulted him, refused to even listen to him, and towards the end, said she hated him. Was this the same Phoebe that once called Cole her soul mate? Apparently not.
Like many fans of the show, I found myself really hating Phoebe at this point because of her actions towards Cole. In fact, all three Charmed Ones had changed, becoming vindictive and selfish. It seems they had changed their mandate. Now it was THEY who would decided who was innocent and who was evil. Sadly, they lumped Cole into the latter category.
No matter what Cole did, or how hard he tried to prove he was good, the Charmed Ones never cut him a break. It was always: You are evil, Cole. You always will be evil. I felt so sorry for him at that point, the people he cared for, the people he had saved time and time again, had now completely turned their backs on him. Its no wonder he went crazy in the end.
Here are some examples:
1. At the end of the fairy tale episode, Cole saves Phoebe when she was turned into a pumpkin and returns her to the Manor. At the end, it seems he is willing to step aside and let Phoebe move on. However, does he get any compassion from the Halliwells in this episode. Nope, he is treated with suspicion and mistrust.
2. At the end of Witches In Tights, Cole is forced to kill an evil slum lord, because said slum lord had a tape of the Charmed Ones in action and had threatened to expose them to the world. Maybe Cole did go a little too far this time, however, he was only cleaning up a mess that Phoebe herself had made in her carelessness. It seems that if you are a Charmed One, you are allowed to screw up, but if you are Cole, God help you.
3. At the end of Sympathy For The Demon (what a misleading title, Cole got NO sympathy whatsoever in this episode), Cole willingly took back his powers from Barbas, because said powers had to so somewhere. Once again, Cole gets no thanks from the Halliwells, in fact, they look at him with fear and contempt once again. If it came down to a choice between Cole having the powers and Barbas having the powers, you would think the Halliwells would be grateful, but they weren't. At one point in that episode, Cole was referred to as an innocent by the Halliwells, but that didn't last. Cole was only innocent as long as it was convenient to the Halliwells.
From that point on, it was all downhill for Cole, as his sanity began to slip away. At one point, he is ready to commit suicide and end his suffering, but Phoebe tells him that she will kill him on her terms! Excuse me!? Who the heck appointed Phoebe as Master Of Creation? Cole was suffering, and she too wrapped up in herself to even grant an end to his pain.
Finally, Cole becomes the obsessed stalker we see in The Importance Of Being Phoebe and Centennial Charmed, where he meets his pointless end. What a waste of a good character.
Many Charmed Fans were angered and upset over the way Cole was treated in Season Five, and I know of a few who stopped watching the show for good because of this. I cant blame them, in fact I myself have been more than public with my criticism of Charmed this season. Why the character of Cole was treated like this in Season Five has been hotly debated by fans for months now. Was it the writers? Was it the producers? Was it a combination of both? The debate over this is likely to continue for some time to come.
As for Cole, it was at this point that the fans took over. Many well written Fan Fictions have presented possibly theories on what happened to Cole after Centennial Charmed. Some present the idea that Cole is an Avatar now (Avatars are powerful beings, neither good nor evil, and they had approached Cole about joining their ranks. Cole did become an Avatar at the beginning of Centennial Charmed). If that is the case, he is experiencing a whole new plain of existence. Some have presented the idea that Cole did not really die at the end of Centennial Charmed, but is still lurking around somewhere. Some have even suggested that Cole is now a white lighter!
As for me, I think all the ideas in these Fan Fictions have merit, and I think that the shows writers should pursue one of them. Cole needs and deserves proper closure. A storyline needs to be written in which Cole makes peace with his past and the Halliwells and then leaves to find a new path. The character deserves that much.
Now I know that Julian McMahon has already landed a new series (Nip/Tuck), so getting him to come back to Charmed may be hard. However, other actors have managed to work on more than one show at the same time, so it is do-able. Besides, it wouldn't be a permanent thing, the Cole Departure storyline could be done in a three or four episode arc. With that, it would be a win-win situation for both sides. Julian McMahon would be able to move on to other projects, and Cole fans would see their favourite character exit Charmed in grace and dignity.
I don't think this is asking too much.
***UPDATE*** (added after Seven Year Witch aired in 2005)
In April of 2005, Cole fans finally got their wish. Julian McMahon returned and guest starred in the 150th episode, Seven Year Witch. This episode revealed that, following his vanquishment in Centennial Charmed, Cole ended up in a cosmic void between life and death for the sins of his evil past. The reason Cole appeared in this episode was to help Piper and Leo get back together (Leo having been taken away by the Elders and punished for becoming an Avatar). Cole also said that he wanted to help Phoebe not give up on love. Thankfully, Cole succeeded in both of these goals. While it was nice to see Cole again, this episode does raise some interesting question.
First of all, why did Cole end up here in this void, instead of the Demonic Wasteland (where he went after being vanquished as the Source)? I have a theory for this. Cole is part human, so it is entirely possible that the human part of Cole was the one who went into the cosmic void, while his Demonic half went to the Wasteland. When Piper asked Cole if he were a Demon, ghost, poltergeist, or nightmare, he replied that he was none of those beings, but did not specify further. It is possible that Cole could be a spiritual being of some kind now, but not a ghost, because he is unable to leave the void.
However, it is clear that Cole has not just been twiddling his thumbs in this void all this time. Somehow, he managed to accomplish the following:
1. He met Drake (Billy Zane) and learned of Drakes desire to be human.
2. He set up a meeting between Drake and the Demon that made Drake human (since Drake was human for one year, these events had to have happened sometime in Season Six).
3. He seemed to be up to speed on the events at Halliwell Manor, including the Piper/Leo situation (could Cole have popped in, unseen of course, from time to time, I wonder).
4. He arranged for Drake and Phoebe to meet.
5. He managed to send the thorn Demon at Piper, knowing that this would lead to bringing Leo back to help save her.
So this indicates that Cole has been up to a lot of stuff that we were just not told about. It is not clear just how much freedom Cole has in the void, but he still did quite a bit, considering that he told Piper he was trapped there for eternity.
From what I can tell, this episode has Cole fans divided. Some see this appearance as a welcome improvement over Centennial Charmed, while others say Julian McMahons talents were wasted in this episode. We have a is the glass half-full or half-empty situation here.
As for me, I prefer to see the glass as being half-full. Okay, they could have done more with Cole, but it still was nice to see him again. Considering the horrible way he was written off the show in Centennial Charmed, I'm just glad that this time he got a better send-off. Cole did a good deed and helped people he still cared about.
This episode showed what a good heart Cole has. Despite the horrible way Phoebe treated him in Season Five, he was still willing to help her find love again. Its clear that Cole still deeply loves Phoebe. Ironic that Cole, a former Demon, is shown to have a much bigger heart than Phoebe, a supposed good witch.
In conclusion let me say that I really enjoyed this episode. Julian McMahon brought Cole back with dignity and honour. If this is the last time we see Cole on the show, its fine with me. At least now the Cole fans can say that Cole got decent closure, which is what we've wanted all along. Too bad it took the writers over two years to realize this.
aside from Piper and Leo they were the best couple on Charmed, until their relationship went downhill that is!
