General Series questions

[Tim]

1. Favorite Five characters on the series?
2. Least Favorite characters on the series?
3. Favorite 10 episodes of the series and least favorite five episodes?
4. Favorite season of the series?
5. Least favorite season of the series?
6. Favorite romantic pairing on the series?
7. Favorite non-romantic paring on the series?
8. Favorite three scenes of the series?
9. The most overused/underused character on the series?
10. Grade the series out of five overall?

[Tim]

1. Favorite Five characters on the series?

The original Charmed Ones, and Rex and Hannah.

2. Least Favorite characters on the series?

Whiny Half-face, the Avatars, the Triad, the Magical Community, too many more to list.

3. Favorite 10 episodes of the series and least favorite five episodes?

1.  Wicca Envy

2.  The Witch Is Back

3.  The Truth Is Out There And It Hurts

4.  Wedding From Hell

5.  I've Got You Under My Skin

6.  Something Wicca This Way Comes

7.  That 70's Episode

8.  Mortality Bites

9.  P3H2O

10.  All Halliwell's Eve

4. Favorite season of the series?

Season One

5. Least favorite season of the series?

Season Five

6. Favorite romantic pairing on the series?

Paige and Henry.  They really had good chemistry together.  Too bad it happened so late in the series, so it could't have been developed more.

7. Favorite non-romantic paring on the series?

Phoebe and Kira.  Wish they could have been romantically paired, considering the chemistry they had with each other.

8. Favorite three scenes of the series?

Have to get back to you on this one.

9. The most overused/underused character on the series?

Cole stayed on longer than he should have.  He should have stayed gone after Long Live The Queen, and not reappeared until Seven Year Witch.

10. Grade the series out of five overall?

Since the first half of the series was good, I'm gonna give it a 3.

[Katie]

1. Favorite Five characters on the series?

Prue, Piper (S1-4), Phoebe (S1-2), Andy, The Seer

2. Least Favorite characters on the series?

Piper (S5-6), The Source (S4), the Avatars, Cole (S5), Phoebe (S6)

3. Favorite 10 episodes of the series and least favorite five episodes?


Favorite 10 episodes of the series:
1. Something Wicca This Way Comes
2. The Witch is Back
3. Wicca Envy
4. From Fear to Eternity
5. Is There a Woogy in the House?
6. That 70's Episode
7. Apocalypse Not
8. Mortality Bites 
9. All Halliwell's Eve 
10. Pre-Witched

Least favorite five episodes:
1. Lucky Charmed
2. Valhalley of the Dolls 
3. A Sword And the City
4. Hyde School Reunion
5. A Call to Arms


4. Favorite season of the series?


Season 1

5. Least favorite season of the series?


Season 6

6. Favorite romantic pairing on the series?

Paige/Henry
Phoebe/Drake
Prue/Andy
Piper/Mark

7. Favorite non-romantic paring on the series?


Prue/Phoebe (you did say non-romantic, and I loved this sisterly pairing)
Phoebe/Kyra

8. Favorite three scenes of the series?


Sorry, I had to do five. Three was too hard. 

1. Phoebe meets Patty in That Seventies Episode
2. The sisters answer Five strangers at P3 in Apocalypse, Not 
3. Phoebe telling Prue and Piper why they have to let her burn in Morality Bites
4. Piper dying in the hospital with Prue by her side in All Hell Breaks Loose
5. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe on the couch when Prue asked Piper to move into her room in Pre-Witched


9. The most overused/underused character on the series?


Overused was Cole and to a lesser extent Leo.
Underused Andy and Darryl

10. Grade the series out of five overall?

3/5

[Melinda Halliwell]

1. Favourite Five Characters in the series?

Drake, Zankou, Andy, Prue and Phoebe seasons 1&2 although I have more so was hard to whittle down then.

2. Least favourite characters in the series? As many as you want.

The Source, Leslie, Dex, The Magical Community, Avatars, Triad, and Piper and Favourite seasons 4-8.

3. Favourite 10 episodes of the series and least favourite five episodes?

1. Something Wicca This Way Comes
2. The Witch is Back or Dead Man Dating. Can't choose between either really.
3. Wicca Envy
4. De Ja Vu.
5. Is There a Woogy in the House?
6. That 70's Episode
7. Apocalypse Not
8. Mortality Bites
9. All Halliwell's Eve
10. Pre-Witched

4. Favourite season of the series?

Toss up between 1&2 both good seasons with stand-alone episodes, sisterly moments and character likability. And how the sisters were the Charmed Ones then obviously.

5. Least favourite season of the series?

Season 5. Hated most of the episodes except The Eyes Have It, A Witch In Time, Baby's First Demon, and Sense and Sensibility. The pathetic storylines and characters. Can I say Magical Community. And the way Cole was portrayed.

6. Favourite romantic pairing on the series?

Prue and Andy.
Piper and Leo seasons 1-3.
Phoebe with either season 2 Cupid or Drake.
Henry and Paige.

7. Favourite non-romantic paring on the series?

Piper and Andy season 1 friendship. Phoebe/Kyra. Darryl and the sisters. The original sisters early on.

8. Favourite three scenes of the series?

Hard to choose really so had to do six I'm sorry which are at the moment then.

Phoebe finding the book and saying the spell. Phoebe flying on the broomstick in All Halliwell's Eve. Piper grieving for Doctor Williamson. The vulnerability. The sisters seeing Phoebe burn Morality Bites and understanding why. Drake's exit and him saying, "Think Of Me When You Dance." Loved his character. And the sisters answering the 5 strangers or 1 sibling thing at the end of Apocalyspe Now at P3.

9. The most overused/underused character on the series?

Barbas. Good villain early on but not when he kept coming back later on.

10. Grade the series out of five overall?

The same as Tim.

Season One: 5 out of 5
Season Two: 4 out of 5
Season Three: Same as two.
Season Four: 3 out of 5
Season Five: 0 out of 5
Season Six: 4 out of 5
Season Seven: 3 out of 5
Season Eight: 1 out of 5

[Astral Echo]

1. Favorite Five characters on the series?

So I'm going take this question as best sister, best love interest, best male character, best female character and best antagonist. 

Out of the four sisters it has to be Phoebe. Narrowly mind you. My opinion has changed greatly over the years and I have a greater appreciation for Prue than I had back in the early days. Other than having the best power, I always found Prue to be too strict. Arguably, in the early days she was. And my love for Phoebe and the way in which Prue treated her most certainly would've clouded my judgement. But as I said, more recently Prue's actually a very close number two. Having not been ruined by Kern in the same way that Piper was, and to a degree Phoebe was, has helped Prue move up in my estimations. But out of the four, it's always been Phoebe.

Then I'm going to look at the men. I don't know whether this is an unpopular opinion or not but it has to be Cole. I felt he was untouchable in Season's 3 and 4 with Julian McMahon playing him absolutely perfectly. His chemistry with all of the sisters and the way he bounces off Leo really helps and no one gets close to that apart from Darryl, who sadly never really got his day in the sun. And as far as story, even though like many I was not a big fan of Season Five, Cole gets the best of it, he really does. The growth, the development, the depth. *chefs kiss*

I just mentioned Darryl and he has to come into this top five for me. His dynamic with Andy in Season 1 is almost unparalleled - the scene in the car outside Quake in I've Got You Under My Skin is possibly one of my favourite sisterless scenes of the series. The way he becomes a mainstay in the sisters lives and the relationships he develops with all of them, especially Prue. And his humour. Oh my, his humour. I think hands down the funniest character on the show. Dorian Gregory had such impeccable comic timing and I'm kind of shocked I've never seen him move into comedy.

Best female, who isn't a sister? Has to be Billie Jenkins.

Only joking. Did I make you spit your tea then? I hope so. Don't worry, she's not anywhere close to this list. This was a tough one though, they're so many characters who I could've considered. But in the end I came back to my gut reaction which was Grams. Jennifer Rhodes was so perfect in the role and I always enjoyed every episode she was in, even the ones in the later seasons that were a bit crap. Grams was a really interesting blend of all the three sisters who she raised. She was fierce and protective like Prue, quick witted yet nurturing like Piper with the fire and passion of Phoebe. Honestly, I'd very happily watch a spin-off about her adventures while the sisters were growing up! I can look past Jennifer's age!

Finally, it's Zankou. Again there were a couple of candidates here. I really liked The Seer and I felt Rex had so much untapped potential but for me, it had to be Zankou. Not the best story but Ohed Farr brought an unrivalled gravitas to the show and played the role with such a charming menace. He's the villain the series had been crying out for since Cole's vanquish in Season 4.

2. Least Favorite characters on the series?

Billie. Do you need me to elaborate? I'll be brief. She highlighted all the worst qualities in the sisters, she dominated what should have been Charmed's final hurrah and sadly, despite how much I love Kaley Cuoco, she was horrendously miscast.

3. Favorite 10 episodes of the series and least favorite five episodes?

In no particular order, just as they come to my mind...

Deja Vu All Over Again, That 70's Episode, Pardon My Past, Morality Bites, The Truth is Out...and it Hurts, Pre-Witched, All Hell Breaks Loose, Long Live the Queen, All Halliwell's Eve, Apocalypse Now.

Least favourite is my hard to quantify because you could take your pick from most of the last three seasons. So, I'll try and pick one from different seasons.

Animal Pragmatism, Lucky Charmed, Hyde School Reunion, Charrrmed, Desperate Housewitches.

4. Favorite season of the series?

Season Three. I feel this is where the show managed to strike the balance between episodical and a story arc. It's a really close call because as you can see from my favourite episodes, the first two seasons had some of the best individual episodes but they also failed to execute some really great premises and to almost completely forgo a story arc, each episode had to be absolutely spot on. Sadly they weren't. Plenty of missed potential in there.

While some of the decisions made in Season Three are divisive, it's those decisions that drive the plot and keep the characters interesting. I'm not sure the series would've been as successful without this transition away from the "innocent/demon of the week" stories. Unfortunately, by Season Five it goes too far the other way and the individual episodes really suffer from a lack of a clear episodic plot. Instead, the episodes are simply used to drive the wider plot making the episodes themselves quite forgettable.

5. Least favorite season of the series?

Either Season Five or Season Eight for me. I think I'm going to go with Season Five because by Season Eight, it's practically a lost cause. In Season Five the series really lost its way, as I alluded to above. So many of the episodes are unbearable and the sisters themselves, particularly Piper, start going down a road with no way back. The two main arcs also showcase how far away from the original premise the show became. It became completely about two men, Cole and Wyatt, not about the sisters. And the stories themselves were unforgivable. One ruined one of the show's best characters and the other created one of the show's worst.

6. Favorite romantic pairing on the series?

Despite what happened to them after the events of Long Live the Queen, I still think Phoebe/Cole were the best pairing. They were end game. If only Kern hadn't royally screwed it up. And I know, I know - lots of people aren't fans of the decisions that Phoebe made in Season 3 but I still believe she was justified in her actions. Prue and Piper didn't understand and neither would've made different choices if it had been them as seen with Bane, Tom and Leo. I think how it ended changed a lot of people's views on them but if it had worked out, more importantly had Prue lived and the three sisters truly got past their differences, I think more people would agree with me.

7. Favorite non-romantic paring on the series?

The Original P3. I don't think anything comes close. But as I mentioned earlier, an honorary mention goes to Andy/Darryl.

8. Favorite three scenes of the series?

If I'm going for emotion it has to be Phoebe telling Prue and Piper they have to let her burn in Morality Bites, Piper dying of Oraya fever in Awakened or Piper trying to bring Prue back in Charmed Again.

For action it has to be Prue fighting Vinceres in Primrose Empath, Phoebe against Malcolm in The Painted World or all three sisters in the court scene from The Honeymoon's Over.

As for the sweetest moments Prue and Piper meeting their younger selves in That 70's Episode, Piper and Leo kissing for the first time in The Truth Is Out There..and it Hurts or Patty surprising the sisters in Just Harried.

9. The most overused/underused character on the series?

Probably Leo. I kind of feel like they weren't really sure what to do with him half of the time and he ended up having some truly horrible storylines. And as a couple, he and Piper were so far removed from the couple we fell in love with during Season One. In a way, I feel he'd have been best out of Season Two and Three, not coming back until Season Four when Piper really needed him. That way she could've dated Dan without Leo hanging around like a bad smell and she could've learned for herself that Dan (and the normal life that comes along with him) wasn't what she truly wanted. And with him being out of the picture until Season Four, they would've had plenty of material left to explore with him and Piper as a couple before children even had to come into it. In that scenario, they possibly wouldn't have married until Season 5 with them having their first when Holly was pregnant during Season 6.

Though I do agree that Cole returning in Season Five was unnecessary considering the route they went down with his character. But in my mind, there was so much more that they could've done with him, that I don't necessarily think he was overused.

Underused could go to a whole host of characters. From the blink and you miss it friends like Brittany and Marianne, to the wasted potential love interests like Drake and Richard.

But ultimately, it has to go to Andy. I don't think killing him off was a completely awful idea but doing it so early in the series meant it wasn't quite as heartbreaking as it could have been. We also missed out on seeing how Andy could've worked with the sisters and while we got to see that with Darryl, it would've been nice to experienced it with both.

10. Grade the series out of five overall?

It's tough putting a numerical value on it so I'm probably going to have to work it out.

S1 = 4/5
S2 = 3/5
S3 = 5/5
S4 = 4/5
S5 = 1/5
S6 = 2/5
S7 = 3/5
S8 = 1/5

That gives us an average score of 3/5.

[Silas]

What an awesome write-up Astral Echo. I'm sure members here will love looking over it and comparing it to their own.

I might wait until I've seen more or all of the show before I do mine.

[Tim]

despite how much I love Kaley Cuoco, she was horrendously miscast.

Of course, she went on to bigger and better things.  Big Bang Theory stated just a little over a year after the end of Charmed.  Kaley was back in comedy, where she belonged.

[Astral Echo]

Feb 5, 2021 0:35:51 GMT -5 Tim said:

despite how much I love Kaley Cuoco, she was horrendously miscast.

Of course, she went on to bigger and better things.  Big Bang Theory stated just a little over a year after the end of Charmed.  Kaley was back in comedy, where she belonged.

Absolutely. She was fantastic in 8 Simples Rules too. It's worth remembering that she was only 19/20 when she did Charmed which is still very young.

The Flight Attendant is a return to drama for her and I'm interested to see what it's like. It's been a bit of a critical darling apparently so I look forward to checking it out. 

[BettyNewbie]

Great write-up, Astral Echo. Love reading your opinions.

I've started to feel like Season 3 and (especially) Season 4 suffered from the behind-the-scenes drama. Although Paige herself was never a bad character, her introduction really did screw up the dynamics of the show. Piper and Phoebe had to be awkwardly shoved into the Oldest/Middle roles (which completely messed up their characters), and the storylines they had already planned for Season 4 had to be either canceled or pushed back. The cast change also caused the show's ratings to collapse, which put a S5 renewal into question and forced the show to cram the entire Source storyline into the latter half of S4, screwing up the show's pacing. I really wish we had gotten the original S4, with no sisters dying and the Source arc going as planned.

Prue's death retroactively makes S3 less enjoyable to rewatch, especially as it became evident that Kernus was starting to push her character into the background because of his issues with Shannen. (Ever notice that Prue was the only sister without a major love interest or story arc that season?) I wouldn't be shocked if he had already made the decision to fire her by the time "Exit Strategy" was written and Piper was given her explosion power (so one of the other two would have a more powerful offensive power than Prue's telekinesis).

I can no longer watch the series past 3x18, especially now knowing what an awful person Kernus was behind the scenes. He took a show that was supposed to be all about girl power and made it all about the men, with the sisters getting increasingly sexualized and pushed to the sidelines. And, he created a workplace that was actively hostile to women.

[Tim]

And given what we now know about Kernus.   How he called Alyssa and Holly "bitches" and "psychos" behind their backs, how he called a pregnant staff member a "cow", and other things that MeToo exposed about this guy. 

Heck, Alyssa and Holly kept the show alive, because Kernus clearly didn't give a damn.

[Astral Echo]

I personally didn't pick up on any backstage tension on screen. I think all four actors were incredibly professional and I think the rift between Shannen and Alyssa was overblown by Kern and the media in order for him to create a scapegoat out of Shannen. There was certainly no change in dynamic between Prue and Phoebe, not for anything other than storyline reasons. And as I suggested above, I think story wise, Season's 3 and 4 were the show at its best. The addition of Paige wasn't ideal and would I have done it differently, most definitely, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Equally, would I have preferred to see Prue continue and for Season 4 to have played out like we've heard, you bet I do. But looking at what we got, in comparison to the other seasons, I still think Season's 3 and 4 got the balance right. And there were definitely some memorable episodes and moments in there.

Trust me, I'm no Kern fan. I've always accredited him for the shows downfall and I believe with him out of the picture, we'll likely have gotten a much better show. That and the women involved in the show would've had much more pleasant experience.

[BettyNewbie]

Feb 5, 2021 15:19:41 GMT -5 Astral Echo said:

I personally didn't pick up on any backstage tension on screen. I think all four actors were incredibly professional and I think the rift between Shannen and Alyssa was overblown by Kern and the media in order for him to create a scapegoat out of Shannen. There was certainly no change in dynamic between Prue and Phoebe, not for anything other than storyline reasons. And as I suggested above, I think story wise, Season's 3 and 4 were the show at its best. The addition of Paige wasn't ideal and would I have done it differently, most definitely, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Equally, would I have preferred to see Prue continue and for Season 4 to have played out like we've heard, you bet I do. But looking at what we got, in comparison to the other seasons, I still think Season's 3 and 4 got the balance right. And there were definitely some memorable episodes and moments in there.

Trust me, I'm no Kern fan. I've always accredited him for the shows downfall and I believe with him out of the picture, we'll likely have gotten a much better show. That and the women involved in the show would've had much more pleasant experience.

It's a shame P3Nathan dropped out of the Charmed community a few years ago, as he was doing a really great S4 rewrite that tried to continue the show as it might've gone had Shannen not been fired. I enjoyed his episodes way more than the original S4.

I think one of my problems with Paige in S4 is that the show threw her into so many storylines/episodes that were clearly written for Prue. Even something like "Enter the Demon," for example -- It was oh-so-obviously originally meant to be a Prue/Phoebe bodyswap, but after Shannen was fired, they awkwardly put Paige into Phoebe's role and Phoebe into Prue's, and both characters ended up coming off really OOC. Same goes for Paige's super-suspicious/"third wheel" role in the Dark Phoebe storyline. That was clearly intended to be Prue's role, and it would've built up nicely from how she was portrayed in S3. But, with Paige, it just felt sudden and forced. The fact that even at her best, Rose still never had Shannen's acting chops didn't help, either.

I don't hate Paige, and I agree with anyone who says that she was the most likeable sister in the later seasons. But, I also feel that she's a character who never should've existed, and I would handily trade all 5 of her seasons for 1 or 2 more with Prue.

[Astral Echo]

Feb 5, 2021 16:28:42 GMT -5 BettyNewbie said:

Feb 5, 2021 15:19:41 GMT -5 Astral Echo said:

I personally didn't pick up on any backstage tension on screen. I think all four actors were incredibly professional and I think the rift between Shannen and Alyssa was overblown by Kern and the media in order for him to create a scapegoat out of Shannen. There was certainly no change in dynamic between Prue and Phoebe, not for anything other than storyline reasons. And as I suggested above, I think story wise, Season's 3 and 4 were the show at its best. The addition of Paige wasn't ideal and would I have done it differently, most definitely, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Equally, would I have preferred to see Prue continue and for Season 4 to have played out like we've heard, you bet I do. But looking at what we got, in comparison to the other seasons, I still think Season's 3 and 4 got the balance right. And there were definitely some memorable episodes and moments in there.

Trust me, I'm no Kern fan. I've always accredited him for the shows downfall and I believe with him out of the picture, we'll likely have gotten a much better show. That and the women involved in the show would've had much more pleasant experience.

It's a shame P3Nathan dropped out of the Charmed community a few years ago, as he was doing a really great S4 rewrite that tried to continue the show as it might've gone had Shannen not been fired. I enjoyed his episodes way more than the original S4.

I think one of my problems with Paige in S4 is that the show threw her into so many storylines/episodes that were clearly written for Prue. Even something like "Enter the Demon," for example -- It was oh-so-obviously originally meant to be a Prue/Phoebe bodyswap, but after Shannen was fired, they awkwardly put Paige into Phoebe's role and Phoebe into Prue's, and both characters ended up coming off really OOC. Same goes for Paige's super-suspicious/"third wheel" role in the Dark Phoebe storyline. That was clearly intended to be Prue's role, and it would've built up nicely from how she was portrayed in S3. But, with Paige, it just felt sudden and forced. The fact that even at her best, Rose still never had Shannen's acting chops didn't help, either.

I don't hate Paige, and I agree with anyone who says that she was the most likeable sister in the later seasons. But, I also feel that she's a character who never should've existed, and I would handily trade all 5 of her seasons for 1 or 2 more with Prue.

I can definitely see your point there. They make Paige the defacto antagonist for Cole and it didn't come off as natural as it did with Prue. Prue's issues with Cole stemmed from her overprotective nature while Paige's seemingly came out of Kern's warped morality regarding good and evil.

Completely agree with you regarding Rose McGowan too. Sadly, she was an incredibly limited actress, particularly in comparison to Shannen Doherty. I too would love to have seen what Doherty could have done with that material.

[adzpower]

Yeah I feel similarly to Betty. A few years ago I started a fanfic project where the goal was to rewrite seaons 4 and 5 but with Prue, and wrap the story up how I believe it should have been with the original P3 intact (not that I hated Paige or anything, she was about the only thing in the show still watchable by season 8 imo).

And once all the stuff came out about how badly they were treated by Kern it basically killed any motivation I had to continue, I still have love for the show and the memories I have of it growing up, but I struggle to watch it now knowing what they had to face. A shame too because I had most of it planned out, in fact most of was written and ready to go, I had already posted about a season and a half and had gotten some really nice reviews from other fans....but I just couldn't continue.

But regardless that was a great write-up, and it did in fact, make me spit my tea out

As for the acting talents of the ladies I don't think we can even dispute that Shannen was the pinnacle, her acting blew me away all the time, like when she was grieving Andy or when she thought Piper had been shot to death, truly an artist.

Holly and Alyssa were good too I guess but never at Shannen's level.

As for Rose, its hard to say because once we get past season 4, there really isn't much in the way of complex emotional scenes in the show, it gets very lighthearted. I will say the only time she truly impressed me was when she described to Piper and Phoebe how her parents died, that was her peak and she never got back to that.

[Astral Echo]

Feb 5, 2021 16:40:41 GMT -5 adzpower said:

Yeah I feel similarly to Betty. A few years ago I started a fanfic project where the goal was to rewrite seaons 4 and 5 but with Prue, and wrap the story up how I believe it should have been with the original P3 intact (not that I hated Paige or anything, she was about the only thing in the show still watchable by season 8 imo).

And once all the stuff came out about how badly they were treated by Kern it basically killed any motivation I had to continue, I still have love for the show and the memories I have of it growing up, but I struggle to watch it now knowing what they had to face. A shame too because I had most of it planned out, in fact most of was written and ready to go, I had already posted about a season and a half and had gotten some really nice reviews from other fans....but I just couldn't continue.

But regardless that was a great write-up, and it did in fact, make me spit my tea out

As for the acting talents of the ladies I don't think we can even dispute that Shannen was the pinnacle, her acting blew me away all the time, like when she was grieving Andy or when she thought Piper had been shot to death, truly an artist.

Holly and Alyssa were good too I guess but never at Shannen's level.

As for Rose, its hard to say because once we get past season 4, there really isn't much in the way of complex emotional scenes in the show, it gets very lighthearted. I will say the only time she truly impressed me was when she described to Piper and Phoebe how her parents died, that was her peak and she never got back to that.

I try to separate the man from the art as much as possible. Particularly in this case because so my work went into the show from so many talented people and I can attribute to the good stuff to others and the bad stuff I can just blame on Kern. It went down hill in Season 5, of course it did, but I still try to enjoy the series when I can.


Interestingly, I've just started a rewrite myself. Obviously I did the Season 4 angle with CRR and while we had some great ideas there, I'd have done it very differently now. This time around, I've taken myself back to Season 1 and started again so I can have greater control over the lore of the show. There were so many fantastic ideas in Charmed and there was so much potential to do some really interesting things with the mythos of the show but in my opinion, they kind of screwed it up before they even started. While Connie was right to focus on the sisters, ignoring the wider universe it self caused the series to blindly walking into so many inconsistencies, inaccurate representations of mythology and poorly developed concepts. Now, looking back, it does leave a slightly bitter taste in my mouth because I can only wonder what could have been.