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CHARMED |
Piper Halliwell – Holly Marie Combs Phoebe Halliwell – Alyssa Milano Paige Matthews – Rose McGowan Leo Wyatt – Brian Krause 
OTHER CHARMED SEASONS Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 8 OTHER WITCH SHOWS Buffy The Vampire Slayer Eastwick Hex Switch 
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A Call To ArmsLeo takes time off from chasing the fear demon that helped in the attack on his son to attend a Hindu wedding with Piper. They are possessed by Hindu Gods whose consummation of their love would destroy the world. There is fallout to be dealt with from the last season and it takes Leo to a dark place before the end of the episode, but the main plot involving the possession by Hindu gods is a completely pointless gimmick. Yes, Piper gets two extra pairs of arms courtesy of some dodgy special effects work, but it does not tie into the main plot at all. There are hints of themes to come, the promise of a new threat more powerful than anything yet seen, but it is to be hoped that it will be better integrated than this messy storyline. TopThe Bare Witch ProjectPaige wants to save the Magic School from being closed down, but her case is harmed when one of the students summons up Lady Godiva and a demon that feeds on oppression. Can the Charmed Ones return them both to their time without distorting history? This episode has a really great and clever title, but that's more or less where it ends. Only two episodes into the new season and the show serves up an alternate reality. It's a sign that maybe the ideas are getting a little stale in the writers' camp. And adding in the breastfeeding in public theme is on a par with bludgeoning the audience over the head with a big brick. TopCheaper By The CovenThe sisters summon their grandmother from the afterlife for a ceremony and she casts a spell that she used to use on the girls to stop them fighting. It backfires and turns them into teenagers again. Oh dear, we've been here and done this before and if this rehashing of an old, overused idea is the best that the new season is going to be able to come up with then maybe it's time for the sisters to break up the coven. TopCharrrmedAn undead pirate tries to force the Halliwells to bring him the chalice that will activate the Fountain of Youth. Pirates? Really? Well, if you're going to have pirates in the show then they should at least be entertaining over the top pirates and not the dull and boring pirates that these turn out to be. The theme of old age and youth and vanity is overdone and clumsy as well. TopStyx Feet UnderA human who wants to be full demon is killing off his relatives, so Paige casts a protection spell. Unfortunately, it stops all death and the Angel of Death shows up and demands that Piper help him out by collecting the missing souls off his list. Phoebe is at the very top. Piper gets to be Death herself and learn something about the nature of the universe and the grand design. Unfortunately, she doesn't do it in a way that is in any manner fun. This episode clearly thinks that it has something important to say and needs a suitably sombre mood. Wrong. TopOnce In A Blue MoonThere's a rare blue moon and it's turned the sisters into some kind of werewolves, causing them to attack their new whitelighter. Leo gets the blame, but how can the sisters clear his name without revealing themselves to be the culprits. There's a new FBI agent in town who knows a lot more than he's telling , and he's telling a lot. Apart from that, it's another tale of the sisters being possessed (this time by the moon) and the likening of this to PMS is very unsubtle to say the least. The CGI of the beasties isn't up to much either. TopSomeone To Witch Over MeLeo goes on a vision quest to find himself, but the greater power of the Avatars finds him first. Paige is on the tail of a demon who is stealing guardian angels. Assuming that they're telling the truth, the Avatars want to end the fight between good and evil and create a utopia. You just know that there's got to be more to it than that. They need Leo on their side and his family being slaughtered will achieve that. The whole guardian angel thing is a throwaway background to allow that to happen and thus not very watchable. TopCharmed NoirA magical book telling a story of prohibition gangsters swallows Paige and FBI agent Brody. In order to escape, they will have to play out the deadly story within its pages. Set in the the 30s, the gag of putting a powerless page and her agent into a black and white gangster story is a nice touch, but there isn't a story strong enough at the heart of the episode to do justice to it. TopThere's Something About LeoLeo can't deal with lying to Piper and keeping the fact that he is now an Avatar from her. They allow him to confess his secret, but the outcome is devastating. Since the rewinding of time as an Avatar power is shown right at the start of the episode it is obvious from the outset that the events taking place will all be completely reset at the end and so any tension created is completely undermined. This is a shame because there are some nice touches here as the lines between good and evil are further blurred and the truth about the Avatars is made even more unclear. TopWitchness ProtectionLeo saves a demon seer from a horde of demons that would kill her before she can betray them. She wants to become human and is willing to give information about the Avatars as her price. A powerful demon is released to get to her first. Paige learns a dark secret from Brody. Charisma Carpenter (she of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL) appears as the Seer, playing pretty much the same character as she did in those two shows. She's been around in the background for a while and now her purpose is revealed, but the plot arc continues to confound as sisters are being put against each other and exactly who is and isn't the big bad remains unclear, something that has upped the interest factor quite a lot. TopOrdinary WitchesPaige takes Agent Brody back in time to the point where the Avatars allegedly killed his parents to find out the truth. Phoebe tries to switch powers with Piper so that she can share the Avatars' vision of the future, but they end up losing the powers to innocent, and confused, bystanders. This smacks of filler material. The trip back into Brody's past where he gets to meet his parents again and learns the truth about what killed them is the heart of the story, but it's not enough to sustain a whole episode and so the nonsense about the powers being sent into strangers is tacked on to little effect. TopExtreme Makeover: World EditionAs the time approaches for the creation of Utopia, the sisters are infected with paranoia by Brody who still wants his revenge on the Avatars. There isn't much here that hasn’t been seen before on the show, although the deaths on either side come as a bit of a surprise. This is the kind of build up that usually comes at the end of a season rather than towards the middle. Utopia is created, but the apparent price is free will and Leo appears to be the only person left who can see that harm that has been done, pointing the way to future episodes. TopCharmaggedonUtopia now exists over all the world, but at a price. Anyone who causes too much conflict is summarily wiped out of existence. Leo tries to persuade the sisters that Utopia is bad, but sees death as the ultimate persuasion. Considering how much has gone into the creating of Utopia for the Avatars, the ease with which they are willing to give it up after just a small discussion is utterly bizarre and bonkers. "Oops we made a mistake" and everything's put back? Too easy by far. The preamble to this is too pretentious and condescending in turns to be of any real interest and this is a thoroughly disappointing conclusion to the Avatar story. TopCarpe DemonOne of the applicants for a job at the Magic School is an ex-demon who has been made human and has a flair for the flamboyant. When he is accidentally turned into Robin Hood, he throws himself into the role fully. Billy Zane joins the cast for this episode and shows a flair for the comedic, though the part is too broad to be taken as anything other than comedy problem of the week. It's needed since the fallout from the Avatar storyline casts a pall over the rest of this episode, so a bit of lightening up was needed. TopShow GhoulsA friend of Daryl's is possessed by a spirit of a bartender who died in a fire. Trapped by a demonic deal to relive the event over and over, the ghost needs help from the sisters. The story here is thin to say the least and full of holes as the ghost keeps popping in and out of the future with knowledge of the past that he hasn't yet lived ... or something like that. The destruction of the nightclub is pretty impressive, though, possibly because more could be spent on it since it was going to be replayed a few times. TopThe Seven Year WitchLeo has his memory wiped as a test that will bring him back to either his family or the elders. As the sisters search for him, Piper is hit by a demon thorn and falls into a deadly coma. Julian McMahon is back as Cole Turner, showing up as a shade able to coach Piper in how to win Leo back. Why is he doing this? Because he doesn't want Phoebe to give up on love. This is the most sickening motivation that the show has come up with yet and he can't quite overcome the sickliness of it all. TopScry HardLeo is mortal and vulnerable and so Wyatt turns him and Piper into tiny people safe in a dolls' house. This is not good timing since demons invade the house wanting to take over the Nexus that gives ultimate power. Leo's predicament forms the backdrop to this story and makes it a little deeper than it might have been because otherwise it makes very little sense at all, falling apart badly at several points. The miniaturisation effects vary from the pretty good to the bloody awful. TopLittle Box Of HorrorsA demon is trying to loose the sorrows contained in Pandora's Box on the world and Paige is suffering the first drawbacks of her whitelighter heritage. There's no surprise that Pandora's Box should show up in CHARMED, but it is a shame that it does so in such an uninspired effort as this. The story is dull and Paige's subplot about trying to take charge of her first mission as a whitelighter is even worse. TopFreaky PhoebePhoebe has her body taken over by a powerful sorceress. Whilst she tries to stay alive in the underworld only Paige's reluctant charge will be able to save her. One of the sisters is possessed and starts acting strangely? Will the others notice? Been there and done that already. CHARMED is really starting to show how tired it has become. There is nothing new or original here. TopImaginary FriendsWyatt is being attacked by demons that Piper thinks he is creating himself. She casts a spell to communicate with him, but ends up with an evil Wyatt from the future. This is the most fun the show has been for a while and that's because of the presence of the evil Wyatt from the future. The cursed teddy bear is a good one and makes use of the mythology built up concerning Wyatt's past and future, but it eventually fizzles out with a poor climax. TopDeath Becomes ThemPhoebe is targeted by a demon who kills her friends and then raises them from the dead to haunt her. This is a harder-edged idea that works pretty well, making it a more subtle and interesting attack on the sisters. There is more emotional depth in the return of the innocents that they couldn't save than in most of the recent storylines. TopSomething Wicca That Way GoesAn evil demon now has the power to steal the source of the Charmed Ones' magic and the forces of human security are also moving in. The sisters have a plan, but they might have to die to make it work. With a title like this, the end of the series could be right here. The sisters' cover is blown, they face death to stop the forces of evil and have to call in all the good creatures that they have helped to aid them. It's a big ending and brings a satisfying conclusion to the show whilst leaving it open for a possible continuation. Top |
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