WE'RE RESOLUTE ABOUT LOUSY RESOLUTIONS

[Scott]

It all started with a comment by Xenith in the Charmed Cafe:

Seriously, and it wasn't just even season finales. Half their post S3 story arcs ended crappily, heck there were even plenty of endings which pretty much sucked. It's like they realized it was time to end an episode, so they just did no matter how contrived or pathetic the wrap-up was...Haaate!

Vandergraafk could not resist and replied as follows:


Well, Xenith, I'm not sure I'm willing to buy into that extreme view - not without proof certainly. However, there is a point to what you are saying. For example, in Hyde School Reunion, the resolution of the drama should have emerged from the situation and the strengths of the characters. Instead, we have a deus ex machina resolution (which causes all kinds of problems) - the Scaber demons show up just in time to vanquish Rick - whereas the simpler solution would have been to orb the shotgun away and deal with rescuing the hostage.

Resorting to deus ex machina resolutions are considered extremely weak in modern fiction. That's one reason why this episode lets down after a pretty interesting buildup. I don't know how many other episodes fall into this trap. That's probably why I am analyzing them one by one in charmedverse.

Unfortunately, the condemnation of weak writing serves not just as an analytical tool. Rather, it is used - at least reference to bad writing is used - to condemn a show that has fallen into disfavor for other reasons: a favorite character has been killed off, etc. Thus, I am loathe to accept condemnatory remarks without further analysis and support.


Off-hand these are some of the episodes that come to mind for unfullfilling resolutions to at least one major plot line...

The Lost Picture Show - A weak "Dad" and everyone is freed.

Charmageddon - Go away please.

Desperate Housewitches - Source's lamest vanquish ever.

The Barewitch Project - The butchering of a P3 spell to set things right.

Crimes & Witchdemeanors - The quick decision to strip Phoebe's powers even though nothing had been about that before

Repo Manor - Billie's lame spell that fixed everything with ease, and the most hate Phoebe & Piper scene ever.

Death Becomes Them - Blow up the zombies, with no visible emotions.

Jung & The Restless - The girl that was destined to die because of Paige to heal Paige.

Hulkus Pulkus - Foolish risk of death instead of a premonition

Something Wicca This Way Goes - Zankou's brain stops functioning

A Call to Arms - Barbas's death by POTION!!!

Forever Charmed - The Not-So-Ultimate Battle


There are probably plenty more, it's just I can no longer be bothered to remember the ends to a bunch of the other S7-S8 episodes at the moment... (There may have been a few more iffy S6 too)

This prompted vandergraafk to reply more precisely:

Well, an unsatisfying resolution is different from a weak resolution that uses extraordinary intervention - divine intervention - to resolve something that should have been resolved in the context of the story.

With the list you have provided, I am not certain whether the problem is with the structure of the plot or personal dissatisfaction at the vanquish of a particular demon or the mistakes a particular demon makes. I am certain we could pick apart equally wobbly storylines from Seasons 1 - 3. Besides, I'd rather get away from personal taste - a whimsical bit of opinion spewing - and move in the direction of more literary criticism, say, by examining the inherent structure of the plot and contradictions that arise therein or nonsensical plot developments.

[Scott]

Xenith replied as follows:

I guess some of my choices were sort of personal preference, although they are more of personal preference of a large population if not the majority of Charmed fans. I didn't include stuff like Centennial, which although I wasn't totally satisfied with how it ended, the ending still made sense. Nor did I include episodes where they kept repeating the same solution (The glamour swap to name one such abused fallback device).


A Call to Arms - BARBAS CAN NOT BE VANQUISHED BY A POTION! I'm pretty sure that's been stated before. Totally ignored in this ep. And the greatest desire overcoming greatest fear...seemed like another sort of left field thing. (And it's HOPE that is supposed to be the foil of FEAR as shown in Bad Bad Bad Bad World)

The Lost Picture Show - How can anyone say that Paige weakly saying the word Dad, and it releasing not only Sam but all the other people who were trapped in the painting was not a big contrivance pulled out of the writers butt.

Likewise with the Source's vanquish in DH.

The Barewitch had Duncan (who needed to die) by himself cast the Power of Three spell which Grams & Patty had been unable to cast in that 70's episode. Major continuity assassination & contrivance.

Something Wicca - I guess you could sort of call this a preference, although it's a widely shared one. Zankou was lightswitched in the last 5 minutes from an intelligent scheming demon to a moron who would attempt to take in the Nexus with the Charmed One's standing right there, and he already knew at best they would cast it right out of him making him double over in pain...

Jung and the Restless, besides the stupid paradox syndrome of how Paige's charge needed to die and heal Paige if Paige hadn't had her as a charge she wouldn't have need healed. Besides the fact that killing a drug addict before they have actually done done should mean they don't become a whitelighter...because why else try and kill future whitelighters? How would a brand new whitelighter even know how to heal? Contrivance fairy alert.

Charmageddon I guess is another pretty popular opinion of being a sucky ending. I mean the avatar plot was dragged out for sooooo long and then they just go away... When they could have easily frozen and grabbed the potion. If there had been any kind of actual development during the course of the 2-parter that had shown that they had any sort of morality or conscience. But they dusted Leo and countless civillians without hesitation...and yet they give up on utopia that easily?

Hulkus Crapus - Again most people expected Phoebe to get a premonition about the donor, or at least to attempt to. She didn't and I'm not sure anyone really liked that choice?

In Repo Manor Billie recites a slight variation of the power swapping spell which somehow manages to swap both body & souls, transfer the effects of the shrinking spell cast on the P's? Seems sort of like a contrived effect. And then there is the raging debate about the cold way Phoebe moves out... If you don't see that coming then, you haven't thought about your writing.

Crimes and Witchdemeanors the entire trial of the Charmed Ones is supposed to be about their ability to protect the secret of magic. Barbas upon being found out

Quote:BARBAS: You've seen, I've seen, we've all seen it time after time, and it doesn't even include what got them into this whole mess in the first place.

PHOEBE: Uh ... I think that would be you.

BARBAS: Ah, Phoebe, that would be you, with your ongoing zeal to force your premonitions, to short-circuit the process, take the easy way, and for what? Each and every time, it was for personal gain. I don't know, but it just seems to me like selfish behavior like that, there's got to be some consequences, or well ... what's the point?


First theirs the fact that in no way should Barbas even know about Phoebe forcing baby premonitions. Beyond that how exactly did Phoebe's forcing of a premonition almost expose magic and set Darryl up to be killed...Yeah, that's what I thought. Could this be coming from any further out of left field? The Tribunal's entire purpose was to make sure no one found out about magic. Phoebe's forced premonitions while power abuse were not so much of an exposure risk. Yet all it takes is two lines from Barbas, the demon who moments ago lied to him, and yet now they are taking only his word for something that either didn't know before or knew before and thought irrelevant... The Tribunal exchanges only a look...and Phoebe is stripped of her powers. That seems like a pretty forced ending to me. The writers knew the result they wanted, and they make no attempt to tie in Phoebe's punishment with the initial purpose or even to establish an solid case for it. Two lines and bam.
The trial was about the exposure of magic, that was the whole point of what the Tribunal is supposed to do. Barbas bringing this up is so far out of left field from that, and it's so sudden. And they take all of 10 seconds to look at each other and they strip her powers... Could they have not tried to relate the result at all the purpose? Should I then add in the fact that Phoebe is HAPPY to lose her powers? Had we at all scene times where her reliance on her powers was bad like she states, then we could buy it...but when was that? At best it just added more fire to the building Phoebe hate for some viewers. When an ending makes a bunch of people hate one of the main characters...that seems like it's a bad ending.

I'd also like to add Gone with the Witches to the crappy ending list. The magical creatures whom the Charmed Ones have saved countless times before believe that the Charmed Ones abandoned them during the latest attack (Though again there was no way for them to know whether anyone ever got the message to Piper & Phoebe), and that Blonde & Blonder were really good and saved them. Whatever that's all fine. That is until the Dynamic Dumbos proceed to create a massive Flaming Ball of Death and attempt to immolate the Charmed Ones...with the entire stupid magical community standing there. And they are still supposed to believe that the people trying to incinerate the Charmed Ones are good people...right, makes total sense.

[Scott]

Elder replied:

I have been accused of being an obsessed fan of the show, but I never thought to examine each second of every episode to find mistakes.
You guys think waaaay too much.
Starting next week, I will rewatch every episode of the series to see if all these errors are indeed justified or not. I am sure that most of them can be explained.

My first reaction to Duncan's spell to send back Lady Godiva would be...that is the only spell that can be used to send somebody back to their time in that specific situation.

Which prompted Xenith to respond as follows:

My first reaction to Duncan's spell to send back Lady Godiva would be...that is the only spell that can be used to send somebody back to their time in that specific situation.



It's not the spell that Duncan cast to bring Godiva from the future that I have a big problem with. And I wouldn't have had a problem had he used ANY other new spell to send her back.
I would have been fine if the "A time for everything spell" had sent her back IF it was used by the Charmed Ones.

But, Noooooooo... In that 70's show Grams & Patty (who may have also been channeling fetus Phoebe's power) were unable to use that spell to send the Charmed Ones 20 years back to their future time for more than 5 seconds. That spell was stated as being a POWER OF THREE spell, which means that only the Charmed Ones together or possibly an Ultimate Power should be able to cast that spell. Yet sniveling little Duncan managed to on his own use that same P3 spell to send Godiva back over 1000 years for good... That is an insult to the P's lineage and should not have happened.

Elder replied thusly:

I don't know if it has ever been discussed but have we ever figured out if a power of 3 spell can be used by somebody else?

My problem with that whole "power of 3 spell" baloney is...what makes a spell a power of 3 spell anyway?
If the power of 3 never existed until the sisters arrived, then how did other witches either manage to get rid of strong demonic forces or write spells that would work for the sisters to use?

Perhaps one of the sisters gave Duncan the spell to use and since it is a power of three spell, it worked no matter who used it.

[Scott]

Xenith went on:

I don't know if it has ever been discussed but have we ever figured out if a power of 3 spell can be used by somebody else?

My problem with that whole "power of 3 spell" baloney is...what makes a spell a power of 3 spell anyway?
If the power of 3 never existed until the sisters arrived, then how did other witches either manage to get rid of strong demonic forces or write spells that would work for the sisters to use?



Valid questions, although I think we have seen enough to answer some of them or at least guess some answers.

However before we can discuss the power of three spell i's best to have somewhat of an understanding of what the Power of Three itself is. Unfortunately we don't really seem to get a total explanation of that either. What we are told however is how it amplifies the powers of the Charmed Ones and any spells they cast with it to the level of 3x3x3. Simply put it would take 27 witches to equal the power that a spell cast by the Charmed Ones is capable of.

To me that's what makes a Power of Three spell a power of three spell, the great amount of power it takes to cast it for its full effect.

So can others cast a P3 spell? That 70's episode shows that yes they can. Like I said before Grams & Patty are able to say the time spell and send the Charmed Ones into the future. However they are not powerful enough for the spell to have its full effect so the Charmed Ones are sent a mere 5 seconds into the future.
Which is why I think that if you were to get 27 witches together they probably could cast a P3 level spell. It's also quite possible that the Rowe Brothers, Billie + Christy, or Wyatt may each have also been able to cast a P3 spell for full effect or at least somewhere near it since each of these was supposed to be near or greater than the power of three in terms of power.

So then how did witches deal with powerful demons before the Charmed Ones and why did they have P3 spells? Once again Charmed leaves us guessing...

My best guess as to the creation of a P3 spell was that most P3 spells were originally not created to be P3 spells. Let's stick with the time spell example. For the heck of it let's say Charlotte Warren wrote that spell to use for herself. As I said before a P3 spell can be cast by others but will have a minimal effect. When she cast it on herself maybe she glittered out only to reappear 1 second in the future. At this point she would know the spell worked since she DID travel through time, but only a single second. Now if she were to get another witch to help her cast she may find herself moving 5 seconds through time. Charlotte may realize that she has created a working spell, but that short of getting quite a few covens to say it, that it will not bee possible for her to cast to truly move her any distance through time.

As for demons I'd say that any demon that required the power of three to vanquish, that previous generations of witches probably were unable to vanquish. Once again the vanquishing spell from the Book of Shadows for these demons were likely attempted by their ancestors and the spell may have had some effect. Just as Phoebe alone was able to wound Shax enough to chase him off by saying the proper vanquishing spell, so too would the Charmed One's ancestors likely be able to see some kind of positive effect when a spell was used against a demon, but also to then realize that they would not have enough power to actually kill the demon. They may then believe that it would have to be Melinda Warren's prophesized Charmed Ones that would have to use the spell to kill the demon so they spells may then have been converted for their eventual use.


Quote:Perhaps one of the sisters gave Duncan the spell to use and since it is a power of three spell, it worked no matter who used it.



You can not just tap into another living persons magic at will and Paige handing him the spell (I can't remember if she did) should in no way enable him to tap into not only her power but that of the Charmed Ones. Had she held his hand like Wyatt did with the demonic Bree...then maybe I could have bought that. But he didn't and I'm pretty sure he wasn't even reading out of the Book of Shadows.

So seriously the only way that he could cast that spell is if Dunkin Dimwit was nearly as powerful as the Charmed Ones or at the very least more powerful than the combined magic of Grams, Patty, & Phoebe...which...NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! And furthermore...HAAAAAAATE!