Top Five Favorite Episodes of "CHARMED" - Season Four (2001-2002)

 

Below is a list of my top five (5) favorite episodes from Season Four (2001-2002) of "CHARMED". Developed for television by Constance Burge and produced by Brad Kern, the series starred Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs:

TOP FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "CHARMED" - SEASON FOUR (2001-2002)



1. (4.15) "The Fifth Halliwell" - In this slightly perverse episode, new half-sister Paige Matthews feels like a fifth wheel among her happily married sisters and their husbands, but becomes firmly convinced that one brother-in-law, the demonically possessed Cole Turner, is still evil and a demon. Meanwhile new (temporary) Source and The Seer secretly plot to impregnate Phoebe using Cole's possessed body.

2. (4.03) "Hell Hath No Fury" - Piper, who remains angry over the death of oldest sister Prue and Paige's recent actions, becomes a member of a supernatural band of vigilantes known as the Furies. Meanwhile, Paige takes the Book of Shadows into her work to cast spells, which help her co-workers.

3. (4.10) "A Paige From the Past" - With whitelighter brother-in-law Leo Wyatt as her guide, Paige goes back in time to her teen years, in an attempt to resolve her feelings about the accident that killed her adoptive parents. Meanwhile, ghosts have taken possession of Phoebe and Cole's bodies and Piper must prevent them from fulfilling a mission.

4. (4.07) "Brain Drain" - The Source sends Piper into a deep coma, where she perceives an alternate reality. Phoebe, Paige, Leo and Cole must find a way to return her to reality and save her from giving up her powers, while she is delusional.

5. (4.13) "Charmed and Dangerous" - The Source breaks an age-old agreement between good and evil by stealing an ancient grimoire called The Hollow, which he uses to absorb Piper and Paige's powers. Meanwhile, Phoebe must allow Cole to help them, despite her having a premonition that involves Cole sacrificing his life to save her from evil.

"CHARMED" RETROSPECT: (1.22) "Déjà Vu All Over Again"

"CHARMED" RETROSPECT: (1.22) "Déjà Vu All Over Again"

When I first saw (1.22) "Déjà Vu All Over Again", the Season One finale for "CHARMED", I promised myself that I would never watch another episode of the series again. Never. Yet four months later, I broke my promise and resumed watching the series for another three-and-a-half seasons. 

One would assume that I harbor some very negative feelings about "Déjà Vu All Over Again". And that person would be wrong. From an artistic point-of-view, the episode was first-rate. Not only do I consider "Déjà Vu All Over Again" to be one of the best Season One episodes, I believe it is one of the best episodes of the series. And yet . . . after watching it, I was ready to give up the series. The ending upset me very much.

Directed by Les Sheldon and written by Constance Burge and Brad Kern, "Déjà Vu All Over Again" began with Phoebe Halliwell experiencing a premonition of the most deadly kind. She saw a demonic attack result in the death of her oldest sister's former boyfriend, Andy Trudeau of the San Francisco Police Department. And the demon in question happened to be one Inspector Rodriguez, who was established as a member of the police department's Internal Affairs in previous episodes investigating Andy's connection to the Halliwell sisters. Determined to prevent Andy's death, Prue warns Andy that Rodriguez is a demon who has plans to kill her and her sisters - the Charmed Ones. As Rodriguez makes plans to kill the Charmed Ones, he receives a visit from a high-level demon named Tempus. The latter reveals he has the ability to turn back time and was sent by The Source to help Rodriguez kill the Halliwells. 

Mind you, "Déjà Vu All Over Again" had its flaws. In one conversation between Rodriguez and Tempus, the latter instructed the younger demon to make sure that all three Halliwells were gathered in the same place before killing them. Frankly, this sounds rather stupid to me. Surely, anyone with intelligence would know that the Halliwells were at their strongest when they were together. For me, it made better sense to kill the Halliwells one by one. After all, the sisters cannot stay in each other's company, 24/7, unless they want to forgo a life. And why did Rodriguez even bother to appear at the Halliwells' front door in the first place? He could have simply teleported inside the manor and kill the sisters a lot faster. According to(1.03) "Thank You For Not Morphing, Piper was born three years before Phoebe. And according to (1.17) "That 70s Episode", Phoebe was born in late 1975, making Piper's birth year 1972. Phoebe remembered that Piper's old classmate, Joanne Hertz, had graduated from their high school in 1992, making her birth year at least 1974. Why would Piper recall someone who graduated two years after her?

Aside from Tempus' suggestion that Rodriguez gather all three Halliwell sisters in one place before killing them, the flaws in "Déjà Vu All Over Again" seemed minor to me. In other words, the virtues outweighed the flaws. Burge and Kern nearly outdid themselves in an episode that served as the end of the first stage in the Halliwells' lives as the Charmed Ones. The episode also marked the end of what I consider to be the best romance featured in the entire series - that between Prue Halliwell and Andy Trudeau. Another interesting aspect about this episode is that it marked one of the rare occasions in which the sisters tragically failed to avert one of Phoebe's premonitions. Rodriguez made three attempts to kill the Charmed Ones, thanks to Tempus' time changing ability. If it had not been for Tempus, Rodriguez would have been dead after his first try. And so would Phoebe. After his second try, Rodriguez ended up dead again, thanks to Prue's telekinesis. But he ended up killing both Phoebe and Piper before his death. On his third try . . . Phoebe's premonition came true, when Rodriguez killed Andy. Is it any wonder that this episode depressed me? By this time, the sisters had figured out that someone was rewinding time and they cast a spell to break Tempus' time loop. Unfortunately, this act left Andy permanently dead. I supposed I should have foreseen this when I first saw "Déjà Vu All Over Again" all those years ago due to the scenes that featured Prue meeting Andy in a park to warn him about Rodriguez. Although their first meeting came off as slightly businesslike, their second and third scenes grew increasingly poignant and romantic. Both Shannen Doherty and T.W. King were excellent in these scenes.

Not only did this episode featured first-rate performances from Doherty and King, I was also impressed by the rest of the cast. All of them gave solid performances. Although I found him a tad over-the-top at times, 
Carlos Gomez was appropriately intimidating as the demonic assassin out to kill the Charmed Ones. But it was David Carradine who gave the best performance as the time manipulator, Tempus. He was witty, elegant and menacing. It seemed a pity that he never made a second or third appearance on the show. Even worse, his character was mentioned before being killed off-screen in the Season Three finale, (3.22) "All Hell Breaks Loose".

I am certain that my brief apathy toward "CHARMED" must have been figured out by now. This episode marked the last appearance of T.W. King as Andy Trudeau and it took me a long time to recover from this - over a year, to be exact. I had first became a fan of King, when I saw him in the short-lived series, "TIME COP". His portrayal of the sharp and no-nonsense Andy only solidify my admiration of him. Unlike Julian McMahon, of whom I also became a great fan, King's last episode proved to be first-rate and probably one of the best in the series. It seems a pity that it also proved to be one of the saddest for me.

"CHARMED" RETROSPECT: (6.11) "Witchstock"

"CHARMED" RETROSPECT: (6.11) "Witchstock"

During its eight season run, the fantasy-drama "CHARMED" has occasionally featured an episode dealing with the topic of time travel. These time travel episodes usually prove to be well-written or exceptional. However, there comes a time when the series produced a time travel episode that end up being a dud. The series' Season Six episode, (6.11) "Witchstock" proved to be the latter. 

Directed by James A. Contner and written by Daniel Cerone, "Witchstock" begins at least a month or two following the first-rate (6.10) "Chris-Crossed". At the end of the previous episode, oldest sister Piper Halliwell had suggested that younger sister Phoebe and even younger half-sister Paige Matthews leave the family's manor to pursue their romantic desires. Phoebe left San Francisco to live with her boyfriend, the very wealthy Jason Dean, in Hong Kong. And Paige left the manor to live with her own wealthy boyfriend, a male witch named Richard Montana. However, the sisters' separation proves to be a little problematic, since they have to deal with a magic-sucking slime found inside a local warehouse. Their new whitelighter from the future Chris Perry (in reality Halliwell) manages to bring Phoebe back from Hong Kong to vanquish the slime, but was not able to find Paige. Piper and Phoebe achieve their mission . . . somewhat. A piece of the slime manages to attach itself to Chris, and the latter inadvertently transport it back to the Manor.

When Paige shows up, she explains that she tried to leave Richard's manor without teleporting, due to his addiction to magic. During this conversation, Piper finds a pair of red go-go boots that once belonged to their grandmother, Penelope Johnson Halliwell. She gives them to Paige, who tries them on. Seconds later, Paige finds herself transported back to January 1967, due to the spell her grandmother had put on the boots. She also discovers that both her grandmother and grandfather (Jack or Allen Halliwell) were peace-loving hippies on a crusade to rid the world of evil through the magical power of love. They had also transformed the manor into a "magical be-in", unaware that one of their guests is a warlock. Meanwhile, Piper and Phoebe summon the ghost of their now dead grandmother to explain what happened. Grams informs them about her past as a hippie and the tragic circumstances that led to her first husband's death at the hands of a warlock. Piper and Phoebe realize they have to travel back to 1967 and prevent Paige from inadvertently changing the past. Meanwhile, Grams helps Chris and Piper's ex, former whitelighter-turned-Elder Leo Wyatt deal with the demonic slime that threatens to take over the manor.

Sounds exciting, right? I wish I could say that "Witchstock" was exciting. In the end, the episode proved to be a piece of crap. First of all, screenwriter Daniel Cerone failed to make any real connection between the demonic slime first introduced in the pre-titled sequence and Paige's initial trip back to the Age of Aquarius. The main villains of the episode - two warlocks portrayed by Jake Busey and Kam Heskin - proved to be rather lame. The demonic sponge featured in the early 21st century scenes proved to be even more lame. In fact, the demonic sponge reminded me of the lame electrical demon that the sisters had vanquished in Season Four's (4.07) "A Knight to Remember". Talk about lack of originality. 

Cerone also failed to create any real emotional connection between the sisters - especially newbie Paige - and their grandparents. The sisters seemed flabbergasted by Penny Halliwell's hippie persona, which was a far cry from the militant demon hunter who raised Piper, Phoebe and the now dead Prue. The episode had a chance for Paige to really get to know her grandparents - especially her grandmother - and it failed on all counts. Piper turned out to be the only sister who witnessed their grandfather's death. Yet, she reacted with very little or hardly any emotion. I realize that she had never met her grandfather during her lifetime. But the man was blood. The family carried his surname. Holly Marie Combs could have expressed some emotion . . . some sadness over the passing of her character's flesh-and-blood. Unfortunately, that never happened. Cerone's script was too busy treating the hippie personas of Penny, husband Allen (or Jack), and whitelighter Leo as jokes. Watching 1967 Leo act high and hit on Paige was embarrassing to watch. I felt sorry for Brian Krause in these scenes. I also felt sorry for Dorian Gregory, who was forced to portray Black Panther Luther Morris, who not only found himself in the same jail cell as Piper and Phoebe in a very cringe worthy scene; but also turned out to be the father of the Halliwells' police detective friend, Darryl Morris. 

The worst aspect of "Witchstock" proved to be the mistakes that heavily tainted this episode. In one early scene; Phoebe, who had become fascinated with Chinese astrology, informed younger sister Paige that the latter was born in the year of the Ox. WRONG! Paige was born in early August 1977, which meant she was born in the year of the Snake. The screenwriter could have easily looked this up . . . or else he failed to remember that Paige was born in 1977, not 1973. Also, Grams should have been portrayed by an actress old enough to pass for a woman in her mid-30s. This episode was set in January 1967. Which meant that Grams should have been 35 or 36 at the time. After all, her daughter Patty was born in 1950. And the episode was set three to four years before the birth of the latter's oldest daughter, Prue. Actress Kara Zediker, who portrayed the younger Grams, barely looked 30 years old. And I find the idea of a mid-30s Grams and her slightly older husband as hippies. Perhaps there were hippies from their generation. But their fellow witches all seemed to be five to fifteen years younger. Worse, you can hear Rare Earth's version of "Get Ready" being played in the background in one of the earlier 1967 scenes. This should be difficult, considering that Rare Earth's version of the song was released in 1969 . . . over two years after the setting of this episode. The latter should have featured the Temptations' 1966 version . . . or another song from 1966/67.

Was there anything about "Witchstock" that I liked? Well . . . thanks to Rose McGowan, I found Paige's initial reaction to the "Manor of Love" rather amusing and managed to chuckle at her handling of a womanizing Leo. Despite my dislike of the Penelope Halliwell character, Jennifer Rhodes injected a breath of fresh air into the episode. She also managed to create a nice chemistry with both Brian Krause and Drew Fuller; as Grams, Leo and Chris dealt with the demonic sponge. Although saddled with a lame character like the warlock Nicholas, I have to give credit to Jake Busey for attempting to infuse as much energy as possible into his performance. And Holly Marie Combs had a nice moment of personal angst for Piper, who silently lamented over her sisters' departure and her new-founded loneliness.  And Patrick Cassidy did the best he could with a thankless role as the Halliwell sisters' grandfather.


But despite these positive little moments, "Witchstock" was a disaster to me. Was it the worse "CHARMED" episode I have ever seen? Fortunately for director James A. Contner and screenwriter Daniel Cerone, my answer is no. I have seen worse from earlier seasons. And all I have to do is watch the series' Season Eight. There were plenty of horrors from that season to form a list of the series' worst episodes. But "Witchstock" was not a pleasure to watch. Not by a long shot.

Top Five Favorite Episodes of "CHARMED" Season Three (2000-2001)

Below is a list of my top five (5) favorite episodes from Season Three (2000-2001) of "CHARMED". Developed for television by Constance Burge, the series starred Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano:


TOP FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "CHARMED" Season Three (2000-2001) 



1. (3.06) "Primrose Empath" - As payback for the trap he had encountered in the last episode, "Sight Unseen", Cole Turner aka Belthazor leads Prue Halliwell to a shut-in that turns out to be a demon cursed with a strong empath ability. Stuck with the ability, Prue is unable to deal with the load of emotions from others.





2. (3.16) "Death Takes a Halliwell" - An encounter with the Angel of Death forces Prue to deal with the loss of her loves ones and others she was unable to save. Meanwhile, her sisters Piper and Phoebe help Cole deal with demonic bounty hunters.





3. (3.07) "Power Outage" - Cole finds a way to break the Power of Three, by utilizing Andras, a demon who creates petty anger within others, against the sisters.





4. (3.01) "The Honeymoon's Over" - In the Season 3 premiere, the sisters help police Inspector Darryl Morris deal with a series of demons known as guardians, who help mortal murderers go free in exchange for the souls of their victims. Meanwhile, they first become acquainted with ADA Cole Turner; and their whitelighter, Leo Wyatt, proposes marriage to middle sister Piper.





5. (3.18) "Sin Francisco" - This hilarious episode features the problems the Halliwells and Leo encounter when they are infected with the seven deadly sins by a demon, in order to release their personality flaws.

"LEO WYATT: Morality and Free Will"

"LEO WYATT: MORALITY AND FREE WILL"

In the Season Two episode - (2.21) "Apocalypse Not", Leo said a few things that either struck a "what the hell" note within me, or really pissed me off.

In that particular episode, a vanquishing spell goes awry when the Halliwells try to destroy the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Prue and one of the Horsemen become trapped in a vortex. Piper and Phoebe enlist the help of the three remaining Horsemen to free Prue and the fourth Horseman before the vortex closes - something that Leo argued against:

Phoebe: Wonderful. So where's the meeting?

Leo: You're gonna do it?

Phoebe: I'm sorry, Leo, did you show up to the party late? Of course we're gonna do it.

Leo: Phoebe, you can never get into bed with evil, you know that. It could be a trap.

This is rather a contradictory thing to say, considering that Leo had earlier informed Phoebe and Piper that the Elders had met with some evil leaders to deal with Prue and one of the Apocalypse horsemen’s disappearances. Leo and Phoebe's conversation continued with:

Phoebe: But we're not gonna go up against them, we're gonna work with them, right?

Leo: But they'll betray you. Alright, this is how evil works. This is why evil loves free will so much. Because humans use it to follow their heart. And evil takes advantage of that.


Evil loves free will? What in the hell?? What exactly is Leo saying here? That to have free will is a bad thing? Was he really too stupid and narrow-minded to consider that free will could also work against evil’s advantage? After all, look at Cole who had exercised his free will to turn against the Source when he fell in love with Phoebe. And there were Drake (Billy Zane) and the seer Kira (Charisma Carpenter), who both ended up exorcising their free wills to turn their backs against the demonic world in Season Seven.

Or is it possible that Leo was simply one of those types who prefer that everyone – witches especially – blindly follow the dictates of whitelighters? If so, then I find his attitude not only distasteful, but also hypocritcal. Especially when one considers that his own free will ended up being muted by the Elders over his desire to marry Piper in early Season Three.

Top Five Favorite Episodes of "CHARMED" Season Two (1999-2000)

Below is a list of my top five (5) favorite episodes from Season Two (1999-2000) of "CHARMED". Developed for television by Constance Burge, the series starred Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano: 


TOP FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "CHARMED" Season Two (1999-2000)



1. (2.12)"Awakened" - After purchasing illegal fruit from South America, Piper is infected with a deadly and rare disease called "Arroyo Fever". Prue and Phoebe use an "Awakening" spell to cure her, but the spell backfires with deadly results. 





2. (2.18) "Chick Flick" - After the Charmed Ones find the "Demon of Illusion", who cast spells on mortals to make them violent;Prue and Phoebe find the demon of illusion, who spreads violence to mortals by casting spells on them to make them angry and violent; he pulls Phoebe's long time movie hero (from a horror movie) into the real world. 





3. (2.02) "Morality Bites" - After using their powers for personal gain, the Halliwells are sent ten years into the future, where Phoebe is facing execution for murder and witches are being hunted or prosecuted by the law.





4. (2.21) "Apocalypse, Not" - The Charmed Ones go against the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who had been recruited by the Source to bring about the end of the world before the "real" millennium began.





5. (2.15) "Give Me a Sign" - A high-level demon orders his henchmen to kill Bane Jessup, the gangster whom Prue helped put behind bars after he tried to have the Halliwells killed in an earlier episode. Bane kidnaps Prue, hoping that she would help him. Also, Phoebe casts a spell that will give Piper a sign to help the latter choose her true love.

Top Five Favorite Episodes of "CHARMED" - Season One (1998-1999)

Below is a list of my top five (5) favorite episodes from Season One (1998-1999) of "CHARMED". Developed for television by Constance Burge, the series starred Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs and Alyssa Milano: 


TOP FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "CHARMED" - Season One (1998-1999)



1. (1.04) "Dead Man Dating" - In one of my favorite episodes of the series, the Charmed Ones help the ghost of a recently murdered young man, who needs their help to settle a score with the gangster that murdered him, before an ancient spirit can harvest his soul. 





2. (1.12) "The Wendigo" - While changing a flat tire, Piper is attacked by a werewolf-like beast called the Wendigo and the sisters are forced to hunt it down before she becomes a full-fledged one herself.





3. (1.10) "Wicca Envy" - The warlock Rex Buckland uses astral projection to trick Prue into stealing a tiara from the Buckland auction house, in order to blackmail the sisters into giving up their powers. Sadly, this episode marked the last for warlocks Rex Buckland and Hannah Webster. 





4. (1.15) "Is There a Woogy in the House?" - Despite the slightly disappointing ending, I really enjoyed this entertaining episode about Phoebe being possessed by a demon called "the woogeyman", trapped beneath the manor's basement.





5. (1.17) "That 70s Episode" - In this poignant episode, the Halliwell sisters go back in time to 1975 in order to prevent their mother from making a pact with a powerful warlock - a pact that involved their mother's protection in exchange for their powers.

”CHARMED” RETROSPECT: (6.10) “Chris-Crossed”

Here is an article I had written about an episode of "CHARMED" called (6.10) "Chris-Crossed":


”CHARMED” RETROSPECT: (6.10) “Chris-Crossed”

For the past five or six years, I have never hesitated to express my scorn toward Seasons Five to Eight of ”CHARMED”. Granted, I would never consider the series’ first four seasons as examples of television excellence. Yet, in compare to the last four seasons, Seasons One to Four might as well be considered masterpieces. However, ”CHARMED” did managed to air a few noteworthy episodes during its latter seasons. And one of those episodes happened to be Season Six’s (6.10) “Chris-Crossed”.

Penned by Cameron Litvack and directed by Joel J. Feigenbaum, ”Chris-Crossed” features a story in which the Charmed Ones’ new whitelighter, Chris Perry aka Chris Halliwell (Drew Fuller) faces a love from the future who is determined to jeopardize his current mission – namely to prevent Wyatt (Wes Ramsey) from embarking upon a path of evil- in order to save his life. Chris’ mission nearly unravels when his fiancée from the future, a Phoenix witch/assassin named Bianca (Marisa Nichols) appears in order to bring Chris back to the future by whatever means necessary.

”Chris-Crossed” marked another example of how the series in its latter years managed to derive its energy from memorable supporting characters or guest stars. This episode bridled with energy, thanks to the on-screen dynamics between Drew Fuller and Marisa Nichols. Wes Ramsey made an impressive villain as the future, evil Wyatt Halliwell. And I have to say the same for Rebecca McFarland, who portrayed Bianca’s 2003 mother, Lynn. In fact, I have to give kudos to both Nichols and McFarland for portraying Bianca and Lynn as a complex and fascinating mother/daughter pair. The regular cast gave solid performances, as well. But I certainly did not find their performances as impressive as Fuller or the episode’s guest stars.

Litvack’s script did have its flaws. One, I could not conceive future Wyatt using his family’s home to be used as a museum in honor of his mother and aunts. Especially since Chris had made it clear that Wyatt murdered Phoebe, following Piper and Paige’s deaths. Two, the idea that Chris’ reason for traveling to the past seemed to contradict his original concerns from the Season Five finale, (5.22 & 5.23) “Oh My Goddesses!” - namely to prevent the Titans from destroying the Whitelighter Realm and killing Paige.

My final complaint centers around Wyatt’s Halliwell museum again. How on earth did Piper’s oldest son got hold of the mermaid fins that Phoebe wore in (5.01 & 5.02) “A Witch’s Tail? And how did he get his hands on the super heroine costumes that the Halliwell sisters wore in (5.05) “Witches in Tights”? The mermaid fins should have disappeared completely once Phoebe changed back to a mortal. And the super heroine costumes worn by the sisters had been a figment in the imagination of a young witch named Kevin, who possessed the ability of though projection. I also had problems with Piper and Paige’s visit to the home of Bianca’s mother, Lynn. How did they plan to deal with her, when they surreptiously (if you can call it that) let it known to Lynn that they knew she was a Phoenix witch? What were they planning to do? Kill her and leave five year-old Bianca as an orphan, after getting some information? Kill the five year-old Bianca, as well?

Thankfully, the episodes’ virtues outweighed the flaws. Litvack penned a first-rate script that gave the Halliwells the opportunity to discover that Chris might be more than what he seemed. He also provided a poignant romance between Chris and his loving witch/assassin Bianca. Viewers were even able to witness an interesting confrontation between Bianca and the Charmed Ones. Bianca proved in that scene that she could be just as formidable (or perhaps a little more) as the Power of Three, using her brains and skills. Most importantly, ”Chris-Crossed” gave viewers a detailed peek into one possible future for Piper’s two sons. A future filled with violence, chaos, secrecy, love and loss. A future that Chris is determined to alter via the fate of his older and more powerful brother.

As I had stated earlier, I have an extremely low opinion of Seasons Five to Eight of ”CHARMED”. Yet, due to some miracle, producer Brad Kern and one of his writers - Cameron Litvack – managed to create a “diamond in the rough”, namely ”Chris-Crossed”. Not only did the episode proved to be a rare gem in an otherwise dismal period in the series’ history, I believe that it might be considered – on my part – as one of the best episodes of ”CHARMED”.

"CHARMED": Demons and Humanity

"CHARMED": Demons and Humanity

You know, as much as I like the Season 2 episode, (2.21) "Apocalypse, Not", there was something about it that reminded me of an aspect of "CHARMED" I dislike. Read the following:


[Scene: Manor. Attic. Phoebe and Piper are there. Phoebe's flipping through the Book Of Shadows.]
Piper: Wait, stop right there.
Phoebe: The demon of cruelty.
Piper: Hardens the heart, corrodes the soul...
Phoebe: And is a woman.

and;

Phoebe: Okay, so no offense to the Whitelighter but we're going with the Demon of Anarchy, right?
Prue: Yes, the Demon of Anarchy.


Demons of anarchy and cruelty? "CHARMED" is the only supernatural show I know that blames non-humans or demons on human aggression. Humans are supposed to be naturally inclined to more positive traits, but when it comes to our negative traits, the show's writers managed to drag a demon, warlock or some other magical entity from the Book of Shadow and place the blame on his/her. According to the "Apocalypse, Not", the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were responsible for the Cuban Missile Crisis and other events that featured aggression. I supposed the writer forgot to mention that in Season 1's "Which Prue Is It Anyway?", human aggression was blamed on the Lords of War - human beings with supernatural abilities.

By Season 7 or 8, Leo admitted that humans are "neutral", but demons are automatically evil. Well, that's great. That means the Charmed Ones still have demons around to blame on human negative traits. What is it about this series that it rarely allowed human beings to accept responsibility for their own dark deeds? War is blamed on demons or some other supernatural beings. And so are other negative traits. I never saw this in shows like "BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER".

I am not saying that "CHARMED" never portrayed human evil or negativity. But it rarely acknowledged that humans could be just as evil or monstrous as the demonic adversaries that the Halliwells had faced. And my question is . . . why?

"CHARMED" RETROSPECT: (1.12) "The Wendigo"

"CHARMED" RETROSPECT: (1.12) "The Wendigo"

I really do not know what to say about the ”CHARMED” Season One episode, (1.12) “The Wendigo”. You know what? Of course I do. After all, it is one of my favorite episodes from that first season. In fact, it is one of my top twenty (20) ”CHARMED” episodes of all time.

”The Wendigo” began with one Piper Halliwell stranded at a local San Francisco park, thanks to a flat tire. The episode immediately kicked into high gear when a supernatural beast attacked her. The beast managed to inflict a deep scratch on her arm before a savior arrived in the form of a young man, who used a flare gun to scare off the beast. While being treated at the hospital for her scratch, Piper and her two sisters – Prue and Phoebe – learned that Prue’s old flame, Inspector Andy Trudeau of the San Francisco Police Department, had been in contact with an FBI agent named Ashley Fallon, due to previous attacks by the beast in the city. The three sisters also discovered that Piper’s savior, Billy Waters, had a previous encounter with the beast that left his fiancée dead, in Chicago. Ever since his fiancée’s death, Billy and FBI Agent Fallon have been tracking the beast. It was Piper who learned from the family’s Book of Shadows that the beast is called a Wendigo, a werewolf/Sasquatch hybrid that hunts victims during the three days of the full moon in order to eat their hearts. Because of her scratch, Piper ended up in danger of also becoming a Wendigo.

Written by Edithe Swensen and directed by James Conway, ”The Wendigo” had its flaws, despite my feelings about it. The majority of those flaws stemmed from moments of bad acting and a problem with the script. The only problem I had with the script centered on FBI Agent Fallon’s failure to work with agents from the local FBI office in San Francisco. I realize that the local law enforcement would have been drawn into the case, once the attacks in San Francisco began. But it never made sense to me that Fallon, an agent from another regional office, would be the only one from her agency working on the case in San Francisco and not an agent from the local FBI office.

"The Wendigo" also featured a subplot in which Phoebe manages to wangle a job at Bucklands as Prue's assistant. While handling a bracelet to be sold at auction, Phoebe has flashes of a car accident. She discovered that the car in her vision had belonged to a private detective who was conveying a five year-old girl that had been kidnapped by her father. The subplot ended with Phoebe and Prue delivering the now eleven or twelve year-old girl to her mother. The subplot struck me as short, emotional and yet somewhat meaningless. Mere fodder to pad the episode.

As for the acting, there are three moments I found . . . questionable. One involved Piper’s gradual transformation into the Wendigo. Perhaps Holly Marie Combs had been instructed by director James Conway to portray this as a comedy scene. Unfortunately, Combs did not come off as funny to me. Her timing seemed off. Nor did she seem ominous. Just awkward. Another moment featured Jocelyn Seagrave’s performance in a scene in which her Special Agent Fallon had described a past heartbreak over being rejected by a former love. No offense to Miss Seagrave, but she did come off as slightly theatrical. The last scene featured Prue and Phoebe confronting the original Wendigo and Piper, who had finally transformed into the beast. After Phoebe fired a flare gun at Wendigo Piper, the latter froze the flare and the original Wendigo. While Prue and Piper debated over who was the real Wendigo, the actor or actress (it could have been Holly Marie Combs) inside the Wendigo Piper suit stood in one spot with hands in attack position, stood in one spot and wore an idiotic expression that seemed to say ”what do I do next?”. It was a rather stupid moment.

But despite these minor quibbles, I genuinely enjoyed ”The Wendigo”. It was an entertaining monster-of-the-week episode that featured a first-rate performance by Holly Marie Combs as the anxiety-ridden Piper who feared she was turning into a monster. Although both Shannen Doherty and Alyssa Milano gave fine support, I was especially impressed by T.W. King, whose Andy Trudeau seemed suitably torn over his broken romance with Prue and his attraction to Special Agent Fallon. Despite my complaint over Jocelyn Seagrave’s reading over one particular scene, I must admit that she did a stand-out job of portraying a credible Federal agent and had a strong screen chemistry with King. I also have to commend actor Billy Jayne for giving a strong and charismatic performance as Piper’s savior, Billy Waters.

Thanks to director James L. Conway, ”The Wendigo” was not only entertaining, but well-paced. And despite the missing presence of local FBI agents in San Francisco and the subplot, I have to admit that Edithe Swensen wrote a lively and solid episode with plenty of horror and suspense. Swensen was also sensible enough not to reveal the human identity of the Wendigo, until two-thirds into the episode.

Watching ”The Wendigo” reminded me of how entertaining ”CHARMED” could be during its early seasons. Before the writing in the series began to decline at a serious rate. Before the dark times. With the entire series now on DVD and airing as reruns on TNT, fans have a constant reminder of its glory days . . . including episodes like ”The Wendigo”.

"CHARMED" RETROSPECT: (3.22) "All Hell Breaks Loose"

Over a year ago, I had written an ARTICLE about the circumstances surrounding the tragedy that struck the Halliwell household in the Season Three finale episode called (3.22) "All Hell Breaks Loose". Yesterday, marked the episode's 10th anniversary of when it first aired. It also marked the last appearance of Shannen Doherty as Prue Halliwell. Below are images from this landmark episode:


"CHARMED" RETROSPECT: (3.22) "All Hell Breaks Loose"