The Charmed Life

Season One
Charming Homepage
Charming Trivia
Charming Mistakes
The Pilot
Season One
Season Two
Season Three
Season Four
Season Five
Season Six
Season Seven
Season Eight
Charming Books
Charming Spells

the first season...

1.1 Something Wicca This Way Comes (41' 43")

Phoebe returns to live with her older sisters, Prue and Piper, and finds a book of witchcraft in the attic. After reciting an incantation, they gain the supernatural powers they were destined to have.

My Review: An interesting partial remake of the unaired pilot, some scenes from it have been preserved quite intact, while others have been reshot and new scenes have been added entirely to bring the runtime up to 42 mins. The main diference plot-wise is the addition of a partner for Andy, cast wise the new Phoebe is just much more confident and sparkly than in the pilot and the new Andy is also a lot stronger and also relaxed, in the pilot it just felt forced and fake but here he's natural and relaxed. Alas lost is one of my fave lines from the pilot, when after discussing Grams and Mom not being witches, Phoebe then says to herself that she begs to differ about Grams. Still to make up for it there's an added scene with Piper and Phoebe talking about Jeremy and there's also another Roger in pain moment, this time Prue subconciously uses her powers to strangle him with his own tie! The CGI effects are a lot better for the finale, although the demonic haunting visions have alas been cut, and last time Prue was the last one to join in the Power of Three chant, this time she's the one who leads it. Oh and the Prue looking for asprin scene and Phoebe baiting her to make her use her powers is just hysterically funny to watch, it's just so utterly mean and totally sisterly at the same time.

 

1.2 I've Got You Under My Skin (42' 08")

Piper has trouble dealing with her power while Phoebe meets a photographer who is sucking the life out of young women to maintain his youth.

My Review: A very good 'the day after' story, here the repressed ones, I mean charmed ones, try to figure out how to get used ot having their powers in their ordinary everyday lives. Prue, the queen of denial, is like the anti-witch not even wanting to discuss things, and she's slept with Andy again, after just one date too, the slapper. It was funny to watch her use her powers to zap his alarm clock though.  Piper's hysteria over wether she's a good witch or not is priceless, as she's totally distraught by a well-meaning but slightly old fashioned priest. Phoebe meanwhile is just enjoying using her powers, first to get dates and then win the lottery, although she's also generous enough to share the winning numbers with a hard done by elderly couple, which shows how kind she really is. The plot about Javna the age stealing demon is almost an unnecessary add-on that kind of liks all the fun bits together, but is serves as a focus to get the charmed ones to realise that their powers are to help save the world, and not win the lottery as Phoebe finds out. Prue getting a new job is an extra bonus too as she has a terrible job interview and then her follow up is nearly sabotaged by the evil bitch monster of death in good shoes, called Hannah and she also agrees to start over with Andy and take things more slowly this time...

 

1.3 Thank You for Not Morphing (42' 54")

The sisters' estranged father returns, but he has teamed up with the new neighbors who are shape-shifters trying to steal the Book of Shadows.

My Review: An interesting tale about Victor suddenly popping back into the sister's lives after 20 odd years, Prue is hostile and dismissive, Piper is kind of interested but not so much as Phoebe who doesn't really know her dad at all and wants to get to know him. The new neighbours are obviously geeks and therefore in the world of tv must be evil if they're not the main cast. As it turns out they're really rubbish villains, I mean shape shifters as a convincing evil when they can barely manage human form, I mean why not a Velociraptor or a T-Rex? Prue's on/off relationship with Andy is really simmering down a notch, but the best moment is at the end when the new sexy handyman arrives, Leo Wyatt (drool, much) and then sadly the episode ends without extra yummy Leo-ness. Did I mention it's Leo's debut?

 

1.4 Dead Man Dating (43' 05")

Prue discovers a devastating betrayal. Piper falls for the ghost of a recently murdered man who needs her help. Phoebe works as a psychic to help others and make money for Prue's birthday present.

My Review: Wow, really great episode, despite the sudden lack of Leo. The mix of eastern and western mythologies works really well too and it's nice to see Piper meet a nice guy for once, even if he's a ghost. Prue's love life is much more messed up as she meets the ex-wife that Andy didn't tell her about. Should she dump the lying sob or give him another chance? Personally I'd have gotten ratted and eaten an entire tub of ice cream but that's just me. Phoebe meanwhile has turned into a mix of I Dream of Jeannie and The Terminator as she tries to save an obnoxious jerk from a fate that is as worse as death, and she manages to do so, and charge the guy for her services too! In the end though the charmed ones sort their lives out, oh and they solve a gang related murder too, in their own special way of course.

 

1.5 Dream Sorcerer (41' 19")

Prue finds her sleep disturbed by strange visions in which she's taunted by a man. Meanwhile Phoebe and Piper cast a spell to attract men which goes awry.

My Review:  Hmmm, an unusual episode as Prue battles Freddie Kruger a murderer who invades her dreams and tries to intimidate her and drown her and crash her car and finally push her off of the top of a building. Luckily though she's added and abetted (by sheer luck) by Andy who is investingating the guy for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. Prue is able to turn the tables on the guy is such a cool manner and make him take the big drop instead. Meanwhile Piper and Phoebe manage to cook up a love spell to try and get some dates for themselves, but things go weird for Piper when half the men in LA try to get her attention and Phoebe's dream guy turns into a bit of a whack job as he cannot understand how he feels about Phoebe when she treats him so badly after getting bored with him and bailing. Luckily they manage to reverse the spell and the men can't remember a thing about it.

 

1.6 The Wedding from Hell (42' 17")

Piper is forced to cater a wedding that her boss had signed up for, before he disappeared. And to make things more interesting, the bride is Hecate, a powerful demon goddess. Hecate has forced a woman to give over her son for marriage, so that they can conceive a demon child. The sisters must find a way to stop the marriage and the demonic bridesmaids.

My Review: Piper learns that the wedding was supposed to be between different people and that somehow an evil shapeshifting demon chick called Hecate has usurped the original bride's place. Prue meanwhile is busy cataloging ancient artifacts, including fertility icons, and is holding a male one in an embarassing place when Andy walks into her office. He needs help as he has a big knife. The knife was used by a loony priest to try and kill Hecate earlier, but she killed him and threw him out of the window. Prue meets with Piper and Phoebe and they realise what is going on and that Phoebe doesn't need to kill Piper because she's not pregnant with a demon spawn. The charmed ones stop the wedding in style and save the day and reunite the real bride and groom so that the proper wedding can go ahead.

 

1.7 The Fourth Sister (41' 38")

A troubled teenage witch befriends Phoebe in hopes of joining the Halliwell coven. The teenager, Aviva, has actually been convinced by an evil sorceress named Kali to steal the Charmed Ones powers for herself.

My Review: A very interesting story that mixes teenage depression with dating blues and sibling rivalry and also Leo's butt I mean Leo's back. Aviva is a typical hollyweird take on what they think goths should be, and wether by accident or luck they do get closer than most shows & films get. Kali is an intersting deom preying on Aviva's lonliness to try and destroy the Halliwells, although they seem to be doing a good enough job themselves with Prue having one stalled date after another and Piper and Phoebe declaring all out war in an attempt to secure the attention of Leo, whom they both view as suitable boyfriend material. Aviva is given the power of heat, to encourance plants to grow and popcorn to, erm, pop and also bring death and destruction to rented video tapes. Youngest sister Phoebe learns to be a big sister for once and offer some of her kooky wisdom to Aviva and it kind of works as they do bond in a sisterly way, and which Leo takes a whole differnet way due to Piper trying to sabotage her sister's chances of getting a date with the hunk guy.

 

1.8 The Truth Is Out There... and It Hurts (42' 49")

The sisters race to stop a mysterious killer while Prue uses a truth spell on Andy.

My Review: A really weird episode as a three-are demony warlock guy is killing people with a blast from the old 3rd eye and Pheebs has a premonition of one of the next victims, a sandwich vendor. Prue is in uber-fret mode over her ''relationship'' with Andy and so she casts a truth spell to learn what his true feeling are, unfortunatley is has side effects, as it also works on her sisters, and also anyone who talks to any of them. On top of this Pheebs and Piper are both fighting over Leo (and who wouldn't?) but it turns out Pheebs only wants him because Piper does. This leaves the way open for Piper to put the moves on Leo and for him to respond likewise. There's an amusing confrontation between Prue and Hannah when Hannah reveals that she's Prue's sworn enemy, but it's just put down to her being in a bitchy bad mood, although as it turns out it's a lot closer ot the truth as Hannah starts to display magical powers. In the end Andy can't handle the truth and he bails, but due to the spell he forgets all of this and so Prue has to do the bailing instead. Piper also has some work issues but she manages to resolve them and get her own way in the end and they also save the last victim, who is pregnant, and the demony warlock guy reveals that he's from the future sent back on a mission to terminate key personel in the creation of a vaccine to eliminate/neuter Warlocks.

 

1.9 The Witch Is Back (41' 10")

A warlock from the past is released from his curse and tries to steal the sisters' powers, but the sisters resurrect their ancestor to combat him.

My Review: Hmm, very mysterious and trippy, as an old battle is brought back to the future and someone jumps out of Prue's office window (and survives). The idea of the power-stealing warlock is not new (it was in the pilot/first ep) but it's given a fresh twist in this story with a warlock who absorbs powers used against him (although how exactly a vision can be deemed as being used against someone is a bit dodgy). The lawyer killing scene was just pure naughty joy to watch, although the dead guy in the shop seemed to have been stolen from The Crow. Prue's bosses being naughty and demonic is made a lot more obvious and so is the fact that they're working for 'someone'. Prue and Andy have hit rock bottom as Andy tries to arrest Pru without having any proof and she uses her powers in a non-obvious way to escape. Things are definitley getting tense in the Halliwell house, although how badly damaged was the house to require Leo to be busy that long (not that I'm upset he's there, although not enough imo) maybe the charmed ones need to up their household insurance?

 

1.10 Wicca Envy (43' 05")

When Prue is framed by Rex for stealing from the auction house, it's up to Piper and Phoebe to save her and uncover the truth.

My Review: Wow, this episode is huge, Rex and Hannah finally make their move to steal the powers of charmed ones and they succeed too! It's been quite a nice little arc really building them up slowly in the background behind other more immediate threats. Leo the handyman suddenly reveals himself too, magically anyway. He's got the power to open suitcases and drawers and reverse the spell of disenchantment that Prue, Piper and Phoebe were forced to cast on themselves. In such a cool twist ending the baddies end up defeating themselves, although after this arc it'll be intersting to see what else the forces of evil will try next. Leo also seems to be leaving  but he promises to return  let's hope he returns quickly...

 

1.11 Feats of Clay (43' 05")

When Phoebe's ex-boyfriend comes to town he brings trouble in the forum of a stolen Egyptian urn which carries a mortal curse.

My Review:  A rather mundanne after the last episode's arcy goodness. Leo's gone  but an old flame of Phoebe's returns, with a favour to ask and a whole load of trouble in tow. We get some insight into Pheebs' life in New York before she returned home, it sounded so lonely at times, but she at least had someone to share it with some of the time. As for the monster of the week storyline, it's a cursed vase with a killer protector, but it'd have been so easy to break the curse by smashing the vase, makes you wonder how underfournished in the head department some of the writing staff are...

 

1.12 The Wendigo (43' 05")

When Piper is attacked by a vicious beast, Andy goes on a stakeout with an FBI agent who is hunting the creature.

My Review: Such a funny episode, as Piper is attacked and infected by a Wendigo and slowly she starts to become one. It's like a really great Hammer Horror story but with real characters and emotions. The b-story about Phoebe and Prue reuniting a mother and daughter is nice too as it shows the good that the charmed ones do. Andy does seem to be edging closer and closer to discovering the world of the mystical, as he actually does come to believe the Wendigo as it attacks him and tries to kill him. Piper going into Exorcist mode is just hilarious.

 

1.13 From Fear to Eternity (42' 08")

The sisters' mother warns them about a demon from the underworld who comes around every 1300 years on Friday the 13th to literally scare witches to death and feed on their fear.

My Review: Wow, what a fantastic episode! Billy Drago as Barabas is just wonderfully evil and apparently he's going to be a recurring enemy in later seasons.  Here he's stalking witches and killing them with mortal fear. Prue and Phoebe get dragged into it when they put their names down on a mailing list to get an extra 10% off a good luck and Barabas steals all the names of real witches from it. Luckily Piper's name wasn't on the list but she has her own concerns when she sees a really hot guy and wonders how to get him to ask her out on a date, but not on friday 13th. Prue's greatest fear is revealed to be drowning and Barabas tries to use this twice to kill her, the first time he nearly succeeds too and she's saved by Andy and Morris. Phoebe thinks her greatest fear is elevators (which can't be that big as she's been using the ones at Bucklands with aplomb) but as it turns out her real greatest fear is to lose a sister, and Barabas intends to drown Prue in front of Pheebs to get both goals acomplished at once and get a double whammy hit of fear. However Prue is saved by a vision of her mother who calms her down and makes her face her fear and save herself. Prue then totally kicks demon butt and Barabas is denied, for now. Piper meanwhile doesn't get really hot guy as he thinks she's too kooky believing in superstitions, much to Piper's chargrin. I hope Leo comes back soon...

 

1.14 Secrets and Guys (42' 55")

Prue helps a young witch who has been kidnapped, and renews her own faith in having children. Phoebe finds out that Leo is really a guardian angel for good witches. Leo must break up with Piper.

My Review:  Leo's back. This time however he's outed as a magical being, a whitelighter, charged with the powers of good to protect good witches and lust over Piper. Ok maybe the last part is extra curricular. The focus of the story is a young male witch who can do funky stuff to alarm systems and it's up to Prue to save him from a psychotic bank robber and his dumb ass partner in crime. Tragically Leo has to leave again at the end of the story

 

1.15 Is There a Woogy in the House? (42' 14")

Phoebe's fear of the "Woogyman" amuses Prue and Piper, until an earthquake releases a shadow demon. Phoebe under the control of the Woogyman tries to kill Prue and Piper, who must find a way to rescue Phoebe and get rid of the Woogyman.

My Review: A very fun episode as something nasty is let loose in the basement and suddenly Pheebs gets a cool new power and a new attitude. Then there's convenient plot device woman and her boy wonder assistant as they mumble out the clues to solving the problem of the week. It's a good one too, a gaseous possessy demon who has taken control of Pheebs Exorcist style and has turned her into a warlock! However Pheebs is not all the way evil and manages to get enough slef control to say the spell to save the day and banish the evil shaowy gas demon thing back whence it came. Then the charmed ones write their very first spell down in the book.

 

1.16 Which Prue Is It, Anyway? (42' 51")

When Phoebe has a premonition of Prue being stabbed to death, it coincides with a warrior coming to town in order to kill the eldest sibling witch as he did to the sisters' great-great-great-aunt. Prue casts a spell to triple her powers but ends up making two clones of herself.

My Review: Another evil demon bad guy of the week, and this one has a perspex sword that sucks peoples souls/powers out with. He tries to get Prue's powers but she's too strong but not strong enough. To defeat the guy she boosts her stength but rather than becoming Super Witch she gets xeroxed a couple of times and now there's three Prue's! This is a nightmare for the hot water situation. The warlordy guy kills the preening bossy Prue first and then the sultry sexy Prue next. Then he tries to kill the real Prue but she's prepared for him and the power of three succeeds where 3 Prue's failed and the Charmed Ones kill the guy with his own sword. However Andy is now in ultra paranoia mode and he has been keeping a secret file on Prue and all the odd things that have been happening of late.

 

1.17 That '70s Episode (42' 55")

The three sisters go back in time to the 1970s, when their mother was still alive, to try and prevent her from making a pact with a powerful warlock in which he spared her life in exchange for the girls' powers.

My Review: A riotously funny episode as the charmed ones are forced to flees back in time to avoid a rather nasty warlock and they end up back int he 70's when their mother and Grams are still alive and Phoebe hasn't even been bore yet! There's also a nice little scene with young Andy as young Piper keeps freezing him! Pheebs is overjoyed to actually get the chance to meet her mother and Grams is a total kick ass witch!

 

1.18 When Bad Warlocks Go Good (42' 36")

Prue attempts to help a young man who wants to become a priest in order to avoid fulfilling his destiny as a warlock of the Evil Charmed Ones.

My Review: An interesting monster of the week story, with romatic shenanigans for Piper and proof that Phoebe shoul never be left in charge of anything bigger than a pencil! It's all pretyy standard fantasy fare but with great casting and an interesting twist it rises above what it could have been. I want more Leo though, I miss him.

 

1.19 Out of Sight (42' 31")

When Prue witnesses a kidnapping in the park, a reporter sees her using her powers. Phoebe and Piper attempt to learn more about the demons who stole the child and stop the reporter from exposing Prue. Meanwhile, Andy finally learns about Prue's powers.

My Review: A really strong MotW story and a crucial turn around of things as Andy finally becomes aware of Prue's power (and later on Piper and Phoebe's). The Grimlocks are interesting demons, very creepy in a Quan Chi way. The annoying stalker journalist is also interesting, in a demented way, alas his fate seems a little extreme. I haven't seen a mandatory TV death sentance like this since Lex Luthor in Lois & Clarke...

 

1.20 The Power of Two (42' 31")

While taking a tour of Alcatraz, Phoebe sees the ghost of killer take possession of a guard's body so he can cross the waters surrounding the prison, and must stop him before it's too late.

My Review:  Piper goes on holiday for an episode (obviously Holly wanted to slack off for a week) The resultant friction between Prue and Phoebe is a joy to watch and the IA investigation of Andy is more than a little suspicious. The ghost guy was kind of boring to be honest, I blame the casting as he's just not convincing as a psycho slasher, he's just too nice and comes across more as the gloaty type who prefers to watch his victims slowly die. The weird demony woman seemed the most interesting character, she was after the soul of a witch but we never really found out much about her. Prue getting fired and rehired seemed quite a lot of nothing and little more than an excuse to feature Christine Rose as Claire.

 

1.21 Love Hurts (42' 51")

Leo is shot by the arrow of darklighter, and asks the sisters to help to protect a girl that is being targeted by the darklighter. Piper casts a spell to swap her powers with Leo's which mistakenly causes Prue and Phoebe's powers to swap also.

My Review:  Leo is back again! Hurray for Leo! This time however he's protecting a woman from her psycho ex boyfriend who turns out to be an evil Darklighter who can make crossbows appear at will! The DL shoots Leo too! Leo orbs to the Halliwell Manor where a shocked Piper discovers him. Leo is unable to save himself and so Piper is forced to steal his powers from him to save him herself! However she also switches Prue and Phoebe's powers over too and much hilarity ensues as Prue keeps annoying Pheebs to make her powers work by accident. However the DL finds Daisy (cruelly named by evil parents) and tries to get jiggy with her a couple of times but she resists and in the end Prue steals the DL's powers and uses them against him before getting Phoebe's powers back. Piper finally saves Leo's life (a few hours after he dies) and then they all swap powers back off screen. Andy tossing his badge in seems an interesting move, especially when it turns out one of the IA bods is actually an evil demony guy!

 

1.22 Deja Vu All Over Again (42' 13")

As a warlock makes plans for his attempt to kill the Charmed Ones, he receives a visit from Tempus, a demon who will turn back time until the warlock succeeds in killing all the sisters.

My Review: Groundhog Day in San Francisco! The trio go through repeated time loops (thanks to Grasshopper) and the demony cop guy from the last 2 stories finally makes his move, again and again and...um...again. However the charmed ones slowly figure things out and realise how to defeat Kung Fu Tempus but it means having to sacrifice Andy (who was already killed by the demon) by not resetting the time loop. The Charmed Ones win but at such a terrible cost...oh and Piper quits her job.

 

Character Review: Andy

Andy Trudeau grew up next-door to the Halliwell sisters in San Francisco. As a child he was close to them all, and, as a result, Grams had to frequently wipe Andy's mind of any intentional or unintentional magic he might have witnessed in the Halliwell household. In high school he dated Prue for a short period, and their favourite meeting spot was their special bench swing. After high school, they parted ways and he moved out of his childhood home to Washington, and later to Portland, but he still checks up on Prue. He married, and later divorced, sometime between his college years and before he returned to San Francisco, but he still remains on good terms with his ex-wife, Susan, who didn't drop his last name even after the divorce. Andy now works as an Inspector - the third generation in his family to do so - for the San Francisco Police Department and is coincidentally assigned to almost every police case that involved the Charmed sisters. He works with Darryl Morris as his partner, although he caused quite a bit of "grief" to Darryl by almost always being seemingly ahead of his partner.  When the Halliwell sisters reunite and move back into the Manor after their Grams' death, Prue bumps into him at a hospital. The two of them begin dating shortly thereafter. He is in love with Prue, but while the affection was obviously returned, they eventually break up because Prue can't tell Andy her secret, and because his answer under the influence of her truth spell wasn't the one she wished for. Eventually, Andy discovers that all three sisters are witches, and that they are responsible for saving many people's lives. He finally learns to accept their powers, just as they did before him, and also because he realizes that they only use their powers to save innocent people, and that was why he became a cop. Yet despite the wedge of magic between him and Prue (he can choose to not be included in the magical world, but she can't), their feelings only continued to grow, to the point where Andy could hear Prue's cry of warning while she was in spirit form, and that he could communicate with her for the precious few moments before his spirit disappeared after being killed - almost as if they were soul mates.  Shortly after Andy finds out the secret, the sisters come up against a demon named Rodriguez, who, as it happens, was one of the Internal Affairs officers at SFPD investigating Andy's "unsolved freaky cases". After Rodriguez finds out through "eavesdropping" on a conversation between Andy and Darryl about the identity of who Andy protects, which, when topped with Andy's unsolved cases, figures out that they were the Charmed Ones, the Source (although it is not revealed at that time) sends Tempus to help him destroy the sisters. Every time he is vanquished by the Charmed Ones, Tempus causes the day to restart, with only Rodriguez and Tempus having knowledge of time being reset, so Rodriguez will learn from his past mistakes and manage to kill all three sisters eventually. However, unknown to them, Phoebe is able to retain some memories of the previous days due to her ability to see events in the past.  When Rodriguez gets more and more riled by the pain his repeated death caused, he lost his temper. During the third time loop, he glared at Kit outside the manor with his red demon eyes, which was unfortunately witnessed by an instantly alarmed Andy, who was hiding out inside his car, watching over the Manor. He rushes to the Manor to help the sisters, but not before Rodriguez fires an energy ball aimed at Prue, who is tackled out of the way by Piper (which causes Prue to hit her head and fall unconscious) and barely avoided by Phoebe. The sisters barely have time to process the attack when Andy bursts into the house with a gun and attempts to kill Rodriguez. However, Rodriguez hits Andy with an energy ball, and sends him flying across the living room and into a glass display case, killing him. While unconscious, Andy comes to Prue and tells her that she must stop time from resetting so that his death will not be in vain. When she regains consciousness she casts a spell to stop the time loop, thus defeating Tempus, and then deflects Rodriguez's energy ball, killing Rodriguez. The three sisters later attend Andy's funeral with Darryl, and Andy's name was cleared of the crime Rodriguez framed him for.

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