Charmed recaptured a period in the 1ate 1990s when television's WB network was particularly keen on series about the supernatural and specially-powered characters. The original home of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and future launch pad for
Angel and
Smallville, the WB debuted
Charmed in 1998 with many of the same intriguing ironies that made those other shows click. Specifically, the greater a character's powers, the more vulnerable he or she becomes; the more superhuman, the more painfully obvious one's lonely, fragile humanity. The Halliwells, a trio of witch heroines and siblings at the center of
Charmed, are a case in point. Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) returns to her San Francisco family home after losing her job, and moves in with her older sisters Prue (Shannen Doherty) and Piper (Holly Marie Combs). On her first night back, Phoebe finds the Book of Shadows left for them by their late mother and recites a spell giving all three women unique powers they were always meant to have. Prue suddenly has the gift of telekinesis, Piper can make time stand still, and Phoebe can see into the future. All well and good, but along with those extraordinary abilities comes a new awareness of dark forces in the world from which mortals need protection. In some cases, those forces have been plotting a long time to steal the Halliwells magical legacy once they awakened to it--and now they will never let up. Indeed, the forces of the Underworld never do let up in
Charmed, giving the Halliwells a major headache for the next eight seasons. Yet the show became about so much more than that, blending (again, like
Buffy) the sisters personal lives with their responsibilities as protectors and stewards of magic. Jobs, lovers, marriage, and children were just as prominent in Prues, Phoebes, and Pipers thoughts and emotions as warlocks and leprechauns. In fact,
Charmed peaked creatively when the whole of season three concerned the fallout of Phoebes romance and marriage to a disguised demon (Julian McMahon). The series focus at that point was quite gripping, but it was inevitable that subsequent seasons would back off on such a singular perspective and develop a broader range of storylines. A major change in
Charmed accompanied the departure of Shannen Doherty from the show at the end of season three, replaced by Rose McGowan as a fourth sister, Paige, unknown to either Phoebe or Piper. While Paige had the same mother (herself a witch) as the other two surviving Halliwell girls, her father was a so-called Whitelighter, essentially an angel. That combination gave Paige unique gifts that made
Charmed even more fun (if slightly less compelling). But the loss of Doherty--the shows best actress, who gave at least one bravura performance per season--proved significant.
Charmed wasnt quite the same, but it carried on, continuing to make new fans and maintaining a breathless pace and intriguing mix of the arcane and ordinary.
--Tom Keogh
The Power of Three on DVD
