Charmed: Complete Fourth Season (6PC)/(Full Box)
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DVD: Region Code 1Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
DVD Reviews of Charmed: Complete Fourth Season (6PC)/(Full Box)
DVD Review: The One Where They Fulfill Their Destiny.
Summary: 5 Stars
It's fascinating that most of the reviews dwell on the exit of Shannen Doherty as if the show itself revolved around her. If that was the case then perhaps it was best that that particular buck stopped here in Season 4 - so that the show could continue - for better or for worse - as *the show* rather than be repeatedly (and unfairly) referred to as The House That Shannen Built (TM).
One of the things that wearies me about Charmed 'fans' and haters (often they seem to be one and the same) is their unwillingness to accept Charmed for what it is, and stop wishing it was something else, written some other way, by someone else, with different leading actresses. This constant censure is sad in a supposed 'fandom' but sadder still given that the show already receives little to no critical acknowledgement, despite, like Star Wars, appealing to children while not being exclusively for them, and often functions in an absurdist comedic vein, like Friends or Scrubs, and yet still managing to be a science fiction capable of stirring and often moving drama, like Star Trek or Doctor Who. It gets a hard time despite being one of the longest running female-lead shows of American TV history (at time of writing) - and none of the characters get labelled feminist icons despite, the eldest sister, Piper, being the head of the family, married with two children, a club-owner and one of three who save the world each week.
The hardest time Charmed gets, however, is from the 'fans'. Many of whom are too embarrassed to admit outright that they watch the show week after week - let alone enjoy doing so.
So let me be the first to commend, the people who - while insisting that they couldn't go on watching the show after S3 (because it sucked) - admit (confusingly) that they are still watching the show some four or five years afterward (and therefore know how much it sucked) - on their masochism; while I commend the writers on managing to get people-who-hate-the-show to tune in week after week (could *that* be magic?) And get on with the review.
To me, the strength of Charmed was/is all in the title which allows it to supersede any particular character or relation - even The Charmed Ones themselves (should the time come to pass that mantle on to another generation). For me it is/was never about a particular sister, or even three particular sisters but about family (the Warren line) that had a particular legacy and a very definite destiny. And it was always the one show that I've said, since back in Season 2, was most likely to survive the introduction of more siblings or more progeny (and this was before it was de rigeur to have one of your female characters produce a baby and/or a hitherto unknown relation).
For Charmed, Season 4 is *the* payoff of all the foreshadowing, fighting and ill-advised romantic entanglements that have gone on some three seasons previously. Season 4 is the one where The Charmed Ones' finally fulfill the destiny they were prophesied to. And in theory, Season 4 should be The End - but more of that later.
That the Charmed Ones' destiny seems written in stone is less wondrous and more ponderous at the beginning of the season, when they are burying their eldest, brightest and best - Prudence Halliwell.
As a viewer I felt that here the writers could have collapsed into the somewhat Jossian notion that dead characters only exist when they're making the existing characters suffer and otherwise don't rate a mention. So I expected to hear little to no mention of Prue three episodes after her dispatch.
That they - the writers - didn't stoop to either mitigating Prue's significance for either the audience, remaining cast, and remaining characters was a good sign for - me as a viewer - and an even better one for the dramatic integrity of the universe the writers were creating. And yes, I'm aware that Charmed sometimes slips in continuity (and to be honest I'm always surprised at how much remains intact considering the lore that is particular to each demon, spell, and alternate universe they introduce) but to me their heart remains in the right place - and just as importantly, I continue to be entertained.
And then there was Paige.
There were several critical points about the introduction of Paige:
(1) The relationship that produced her wasn't spun out of nowhere in the very season of her introduction (the fact of The Charmed Ones' mother's affair with her whitelighter was established canon at least two seasons *before* a new sister was necessary);
(2) She neatly foreshadowed the introduction of Piper and Leo's children who would also be half-witch, half-whitelighter - giving the audience time to not just adapt to the idea of the mix but also see it in action;
(3) Paige didn't replace Prue outright, she was the youngest sister, and she shifted the dynamic within the Power Of Three (something that was sorely needed) so that everyone now had a new relationship to each other - I also personally found it more balanced this way, as I saw sides of Piper and Phoebe that hadn't come to the fore while Prue was alive - and most critically they were able to grow more *and make more mistakes*. Sad as it may seem, Prue was beginning to become something of a paragon. She also instantly assessed the 'right and wrong' of each situation confronting her other siblings to the point that, if something was wrong, Prue would always root it out almost immediately - which may sound good until you realise that it eliminates potential difficulty early, so early in fact that there's almost zero drama. Zero drama is not good in something that's supposed to be a.... drama.
I miss Prue, I miss the fact that Shannen could come off as a pretty near psychotic when the occasion demanded it, I miss her emotional strength and her presence. I don't, however, miss the fact that these very things were starting to overpower and overshadow everything and everyone else;
(4) It allowed the show to simultaneously re-invent itself (something that I feel is critical in any show after it reaches the 3-year mark) and yet continue as it always had.
The death of Prue therefore represents something significant within the show, and, I say this with respect to the characters: it's the year when the training wheels come off (in more ways than one). At the beginning of the season, the Halliwells are licking their wounds and things are tenuous at best. Piper, angry at the death of her sister is clearly at an axis as a witch - and this is brought to the fore in the ways she deals - or is allowed to deal with - her sister's death. This grieving period doesn't really end until the end of the Season when she discovers she is pregnant - and there's an awful lot of drama from one end of the season to the next. At best Piper's new role as the eldest is grudging, as is her acceptance of Paige, as is her acceptance that the newly erected family may not be as perfect as it seems.
Phoebe, is also struggling to come to terms with her new roles, as middle sister and (later wife and mother). Much as she always has, she internalises her feelings and looks outwards for distraction/action - which she naturally finds in her paramour Cole. Cole - who starts the season as half-demon, half-human - is also still struggling (notice the theme here?) with his own duality of good and evil and where he fits into the scheme of things now that he's betrayed The Source (of all Evil). Being that he's a demon with a price on his head there is, of course, no shortage of drama where he's concerned - and this eventually forms the centrepiece of the season where the destiny of Evil (his) ultimately collides with the destiny of Good (The Charmed Ones') to tragic and uncanny result.
Paige, has to struggle with going from a relatively normal upbringing as an only child to being drawn into a world of witchcraft and demons - as well as gaining an instant family. As the youngest - she's literally late to the Wicca party and likewise suffers from a lack of credibility (and I mean here that it takes some time for the *Halliwells* to take her seriously) with respect to her instincts and abilities.
Lastly, lest I leave him out, Leo is also struggling - and this is very subtle - but he's gradually becoming more and more involved with The Charmed Ones (particularly as Piper is his wife) and it's starting to pull him away from his impartiality as a whitelighter. This only becomes critical both when Wyatt is born, and Chris is introduced in later seasons. But it is interesting to note that the conflict with the Elders that starts in S3 and becomes so important latterly (S6 and S7) is continuing here.
Given that the show always uses metaphysical transformations to underline emotional turmoil it's no surprise to notice the fair number of transformations this season, with Cole clocking in the most: demon-human hybrid to human to Source-human hybrid to an unknown iteration at the end of the season. Piper, naturally, has one early in the season (Hell Has No Fury), as do Phoebe (We're Off To See The Wizard - Womb Raider) and Paige (Bite Me), later in the season.
The overall tone is dark, as it has to be: The Charmed Ones' destiny is to vanquish the Source Of All Evil (which they manage to do a record number of three times!) and this means encountering all manner of demonhood in between achieving this and burying Prue. What makes this demonfest different from the seasons that have gone before is the personal dimension that comes from the relationship between Phoebe and Cole. As said before, Cole's conflict with his demonic and human nature is meant to mirror Phoebe's conflict with her desire to do good and yet be powerful (there is a reason her active powers have never been aggressively so - like Piper's or Prue's). The fact that Cole is willing to do anything for Phoebe and that Phoebe will do anything to save/protect Cole is something that the agents of evil (The Seer) are quick to use to capitalise on - and it ultimately provides both with their very undoing.
I think this is the darkest season of Charmed, dealing as it has to with the upper hierarchy of the demon underworld. Some people prefer that darkness, and view as it denoting better storytelling simply because it presents a more 'serious' (read: acceptable) context than what comes later in S5 - though I'd like to point out two things: There are trolls, fairies, genies and mythical figures (Cupid) long before S5 starts or S3 ends. I know a lot of people deplored the magical creatures of S5 but to my mind it was necessary in the story being told. The Charmed Ones had just laid waste to most of the upper levels of the Underworld, and the writers needed to address some of the sources of magic that wasn't dark - particularly as the finale of that season then required these same sources of good magic. I for one have always found Charmed to have an absurdist if not plain goofy side, and it was clearly indulged in S5, seeing as I believe the writers thought, much like I did, five would be their lot. Fortunately for them (and me, seeing as I both like and enjoy the show no matter how slapstick it gets) it wasn't - but that's another review.
Curiously this season (4) ends in full awareness that it is now moving into unknown territory with Witch Way Now? The Angel of Destiny appears to The Charmed Ones with an offer they shouldn't refuse. Now that they've achieved their destinies, they can put aside all things witchy and have the normal life they've always wanted. It's an interesting way to end the season; more interesting still would have been how they would have written the same episode with Prue in tow. Clearly Paige's opinion as the new witch on the block holds for the audience who don't want the story to end. Given that the emphasis on demondom will now have to shift, where will the writers go now? And what of the star-crossed Leo and Piper, or Phoebe and Cole? What else could there be to do if there is no further literal purpose for The Charmed Ones' existence? The answer would be: see you in Season 5.
Charmed is a great show that's not afraid to venture into 'uncool' territory. I'd say it's pretty brave to do so. If I thought it wasn't I wouldn't still be watching. Season 4 happens to be my favourite season - and I'll be buying it. For me it's not a matter of which sister or season or even plotline or tone was better, it's a matter of seeing my favourite characters live (and survive) from week to week, watching them sometimes win and sometimes lose - but always it's the show I still love watching.
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