Well thank you very much Cap’n. It’s good to see a W/O, especially one which requires us to Challenge Ourselves make a return in 2005. I didn’t participate in the original – I was busy hosting my own similar W/O at the time – but considering my attraction to W/Os, I thought I’d give it a go

I’ve been watching "Charmed" for a few seasons now, but I haven’t seen a lot of episodes in the older seasons. I’ve seen a few here and there, but for the most part I’ll be focusing on what how the show has changed and evolved over the years and what it has become as a result.

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FACTS:

Cast:
Shannen Doherty - Prue Halliwell
Holly Marie Combs - Piper Halliwell
Alyssa Milano - Pheobe Halliwell
Rose McGowan - Paige Matthews
Brian Kruse - Leo Wyatt
Dorian Gregory - Darryl Morris
Julian McMahon - Cole Turner

Season One aired in 1998, and a season has aired every year since

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"BBP": The Basis and Beginning of the Plot
When season one began, Prue and Piper were two ordinary sisters living in San Francisco. Their younger sister Phoebe came to live with them, which Prue was against – they never really got on too well. This was heightened in the first episode when Phoebe wanted to explore the attic of the family manor where the sisters lived. Prue didn’t think going to the attic was a good idea, but Phoebe did it anyway. She discovered an old book of magical spells called "The Book Of Shadows", and said one of the spells. Although there was no immediate effect on the sisters, Phoebe eventually convinced them to hold hands, and when that happened they discovered a magical connection – they’re three powerful witches, known as "The Charmed Ones". Since then, they’ve been taking on all kinds of different demons, who are ultimately led by an all-powerful demon known only as "The Source".

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"All Power To Them": The Magical Powers
When the sisters became The Charmed Ones, they gained a uniting force called "The Power Of Three". This will only work when all three sisters are together, and is often necessary for certain spells to work. Along with The Power Of Three, each sister gained their own individual powers. Prue has the power to teleport items, Phoebe gets premonitions, and Piper can slow down molecules, causing things to freeze.

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"Come, join us": Other Regular Characters
The Charmed Ones can’t tell people they’re witches, otherwise word would spread to “the underground” (home of the demons), and the sisters would be even more hunted. They’ve got enough demons after them as it is – The Charmed Ones are the most powerful of all witches. However, a cop called Darryl discovers their secret, and becomes an ally. He helps them protect their identities and whenever a demon commits a crime, Darryl manages to cover up the fact the demonic criminal had to be destroyed by witches.

None of the sisters are very useful around the house, so they call on handyman Leo Wyatt to do all those odd jobs like plumbing, electrical, etc. One day, he’s caught floating in midair to change a lightbulb, rather than using a ladder. He reveals to the sisters that he’s actually their Whitelighter, a spiritual guardian similar to an angel, sent to watch over witches. He has the power to ‘orb’ (teleport), which comes in useful for getting The Charmed Ones away from sticky situations, but because Whitelighters are pacifists, Leo doesn’t have any powers that he could use to attack.

Elders are very rarely seen, but they’re mentioned in nearly every episode. They’re all-seeing, all-knowing creatures that are basically a class of angels higher than Whitelighters. They’re on the side of good, but Piper and Leo did mangae to cause some trouble with them by falling in love with each other. Piper and Leo’s marriage was eventually allowed by the Elders, and the two now have a baby son, Wyatt Halliwell, who is half-witch, half-whitelighter, and very powerful. He’s still very young, but is already showing some amazing powers.

Piper hasn’t been the only one to fall in love – whereas Piper fell for a Whitelighter, Phoebe fell for a demon. Cole Turner is half-human, half-demon. In his demon form, he’s known as Belthazor, The Source’s right-hand man. AS Cole, he’s good, and in used to be able to do some good as Belthazor as well, but eventually Belthazor grew too strong for Cole to control.

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"From Witch To Bitch": Inter-cast Relations
In the season three cliffhanger, Prue is thrown through a wall by a demon and killed. This left fans in shock, as killing off one of the sisters also killed the Power Of Three. However, rumours that arose soon after the show aired claimed that Shannen Doherty had decided to leave the show because she couldn’t stand working with Alyssa Milano any longer. It was later confirmed that the decision to leave had been Doherty’s, which seemed only to confirm the rumours.

During it’s three seasons, the show was a success for the network. They didn’t want the death of just one character to kill the show completely. The writers started working on a way to resurrect The Power Of Three, and created a new sister and a backstory to go with her. Paige Matthews is the daughter of The Charmed Ones’ mother and her Whitelighter, Sam. The affair between the two of them was severly frowned upon by the Elders. Sam was stripped of his powers, and Paige was adopted out. She grew up not knowing she was half-witch, half-whitelighter, and met Piper and Phoebe after being mysteriously drawn to Prue’s funeral.

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"Digging Under The Surface": What Charmed is Really About
Like Harry Potter, Charmed has come under a lot of criticism for promoting witchcraft and having demonic influences on children. In reality, Charmed is about three sisters sticking together. It’s about family, loyalty and promoting good over evil. The relationship between Phoebe and Cole, and Piper and Leo’s marriage is not about a witch and a demon, or defying those of authority (The Elders). They’re about love conquering all obstacles, and human feelings being more complicated than some people think, or for that matter, allow for.

The Charmed Ones are also respected citizens of society. Being a witch may be a full-time job, but they also find time for other pursuits. Piper owns a successful nightclub which is regularly visited by famous musicians such as Michelle Branch. Phoebe is San Francisco’s most popular "Dear Abby"-style newspaper columnist. Paige used to be a social worker, before leaving to concentrate on being a witch. Being half-whitelighter, she will eventually be given charges – witches of her own to watch over.

"Charmed" presents a very positive outlook on witches, and throws out the stereotypes. Although The Charmed Ones may use potions and a book of spells, there’s no black robes, pointy hats and large cauldrons here. It should also be pointed out that The Charmed Ones are very attractive. They’re not old with crooked backs, long noses and warts all over their bodies. These are simply three normal sisters with amazing powers.

While it may look like "Charmed" promotes magic, witchcraft, and demonic activity, that’s just what’s on the surface. Beauty is more than skin-deep. You have to look below the surface to see what the show’s really about. Just bashing a show because of what it looks like on the surface is nothing short of ignorant.

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"I’m ready for my close-up": The Acting
The acting in "Charmed" is excellent. Holly, Alyssa and Rose have all taken a character off paper and brought them to life. When you’re watching these three amazing actresses, you can see the way they each portray not only what the writers have made the characters, but also their own quirks they’ve added in. Holly and Alyssa have been playing these characters for a long time and have grown and changed with the characters over the last seven seasons. Even Rose, who only joined the cast a few years ago, has taken her character, Paige, and given her a personality. I never did like Prue that much, but that’s just because I didn’t like her personality. If anything, that’s a testament to how well Shannen did in the role. She put a lot of energy into the character and it paid off.

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"Come on Dean, give us your opinion!": My Final Thoughts
While "Charmed" is now one of my favourite shows, it wasn’t always that way. I started following it near the end of season three, and have been watching ever since.

I think the show does well as a drama, but it also adds a lot of other elements in. Piper and Paige both have a great sense of humour and help to add some comedy. All The Charmed Ones, Prue included, have had their fair share of romance, although things were changed when Paige came on. Now we’ve at least got one witch who isn’t exactly slutty, but doesn’t take every relationship too seriously. She’s just a couple of years younger than the others and wants to have a bit of fun.

The people who are going to get the most out of this show are teenagers, particularly girls. It does have some violent moments – not too much, but enough to be unsuitable for anyone under 13. I think teenagers will relate to it because it does deal with real issues. For example, the beginning of season four saw Piper and Phoebe struggling to come to terms with the death of their sister, and Paige trying be accepted.

Like TV shows such as Buffy, The Vampire Slayer and the now disbanded pop group The Spice Girls, there is a definite sense throughout the show of empowerment to women, which I think could be really helpful to a girl in her teenage years. However, Leo and Darryl are both positive male role models as well.

"Charmed" is a marvelous show that unfortunately suffered a ratings drop here in New Zealand last year and was temporarily removed halfway through the season. Of course, when you’re competing for viewers with the final season of Friends, you should know from the outset you’re going to lose.

A lot of people will try to tell you the "Charmed" is evil and demonic. Those people have only taken it for what it is on the surface, and have not looked any deeper. In fact, I’d hazard a guess they’ve never watched an entire show. "Charmed" is the kind of show you need to watch a few times to know what it’s really about, but it is certainly worth doing so.

Recommended: Yes

Type of Program: Drama
Program Quality: Thought-provoking, original material
Best Suited For: Other