S1-1: SOMETHING WICCA THIS WAY COMES

[vandergraafk]

This is the fantastic series opener that contained numerous bloopers but introduced us to three powerful sisters, the Charmed Ones, who over the course of eight fabulous seasons would protect the Innocent. Call them "witches" if you will. But, they truly are three fascinating sisters. Watch them as the story unfolds. Comment on this episode in this thread.

[kat29]

I didn't notice any bloopers, can you elaborate please?

I love this episode, it was a great show opener. I think the relationship between Prue and Phoebe was done really well, it had realism, not all siblings get on all or even some of the time and this episode showed this.

[vandergraafk]

There are several glaring ones that came about largely due to re-shoots, i.e., replacing Lori Rom's character with Alyssa's. In the event, watch the tree along the sidewalk: first it has leaves, then it has none! (One was shot in the fall - with Lori - while the other was shot in the spring - with Alyssa.) Watch the Chinese takeaway box in the cab when Jeremy and Piper are sharing fortunes. Now the box is open. Then, it is closed. Magically, the fortune slip appears in her hand, then it doesn't. The umbrella at the beginning changes stripes and colors. Prue's newspaper at the end busts more moves than Michael Jackson!

As funny as these are, they really don't matter. Relationships and dialogue do, and that's what set Charmed above the rest. Not even Buffy and Angel could compete in this regard!

[kat29]

I will be looking for them now. I sometimes spot bloopers but I get so involved in the story in Charmed that I miss them all.

[Scott]

I ignore them too. But there are professionals out there who focus exclusively on these quirks of TV. A more or less complete recounting of them can be found in N.G. Genge's The Book of Shadows, which alas only covers the first two seasons.

[kat29]

I sometimes noticed things on Charmed but I usually get really caught up in the story.

I do think that Phoebe accepted being a witch too easily. Piper and Prue's reactions were much more realistic, I don't think the writers knew what to do with the Phoebe character at the beginning.

[Scott]

Yes, but Phoebe was depicted as a rebellious free spirit who fled San Francisco to find her dad and her way in New York. Later, her character was given more depth in Pre-witched. Still, I see Phoebe's attraction to the attic as first and foremost a way to piss off Prue, but only because she knew it would annoy the heck out of Prue. Second, it of course is in her nature to explore and test new boundaries. That's why she was so carefree about opening the book and reading the incantation. What did she have to lose? Not as if she would even have cared about the consequences. That was left to Piper (deeply affected) and Prue (reluctant initially, but enthusiastic later.

[Xenith]

It was also later established that Phoebe didn't just run away from home to NY, she went away to college to NY. Though she did not complete it successfully (She failed) and dropped out.

Seriously how big a consequence would you think there can there be for opening a locked door to your attic? I mean she certainly didn't know about magic or witchcraft or any of those possible consequences. She did however believe in ghosts/spirits and thought that her mothers spirit was trying to tell them to go to the attic. Would you ignore your dead mother's spirit? Would you think your mother would lead you into anything bad?

Although reading the spell was another story, it can't be excused in the same way not with her seeming understanding of inheriting powers? (Although unless that spell also infused its caster with the knowledge of the Warren line, then don't ask me how she knew all that when she just opened the book...)

[vandergraafk]

She was a speed reader? But, seriously, Charmed had a number of time compression issues during the seasons. Certainly, Phoebe caught on quick. Of course, I don't know why she had to stay up all night since she got the gist in a quick reading!

[vandergraafk]

One important analytical tool is omniscience: what do characters know, how do they know it, why should they know it, could they possibly know it, etc. Here, in the very first episode of Charmed, problems arise. Phoebe characterizes one of Melinda Warren's powers as the ability to freeze time. As we learn later, the power that Piper inherits - the power to freeze - does NOT freeze time. This power is better understood as the ability to decelerate particle motion, a power that Piper acquired initially, and its complement - the ability to accelerate particle motion, a power that led Piper to blow up things. Phoebe either gets it wrong or the writers change their minds later as the power becomes more clearly defined.

Certainly, in Season 1's That 70's Episode, we learn that Piper definitely cannot freeze time. Nicholas, a warlock bent on acquiring all of the Charmed Ones powers, allows himself to be frozen in order to determine whether the powers of the Charmed Ones have been unbound upon the death of Grams and the sisters' discovery of the Book of Shadows. Each year he presents a vase of flowers that he deliberately drops. As long as the vase shatters, Nicholas is confident that Grams is still alive. However, in this episode, the vase is rescued by a Piper tired of cleaning up after this klutz. Nicholas, meanwhile, counts the chimes. He hears only five, when twelve should have sounded. He concludes that the sisters have received their powers. For us, the important point is that this episode clearly demonstrates that Piper cannot freeze time! She can slow down or impede motion. But, time she cannot control!

[elder]

Apart from the sisters, what bugs me is Andy in his first scene.

Without even seeing the body of the victim he quickly assumes that she was killed with a knife. Yeah, it was a guess, but for Darryl to respond that she was killed with a knife is a bit far-fetched.
And how do they know it was a knife? It could have been scissors or really sharp fingernails...or Kit!

[Scott]

It seems obvious from the opening scene that Andy has already been tracking a serial witch killer for some time. He already knows enough about witchcraft to suspect that this woman, too, had been murdered in the same way. But, rather than just tell us, viewers new to a program about witchcraft, we see Darryl and Andy engage in this bit of back and forth. Had she not been killed by an athame, then Darryl would have told Andy that his hunch did not apply this time. Instead, Darryl confirms what Andy suspects, but gives us a different interpretation, one that does not involve athames and witches. I really don't have a problem with this.

[vandergraafk]

As with any new show, especially one that will depend on the fantastic, some of the kinks are not quite worked out. With Charmed, this is especially challenging in that the pilot has to introduce us to three lead characters and accurately describe their magical powers. Something Wiccan does not quite succeed with respect to the latter, but it does introduce us to three interesting characters, brilliantly portrayed by Shannen, Holly and Alyssa.

Ted King's character, Andy Trudeau, has a two-fold purpose in this episode. His character provides important background information with respect to a serial killer. He also suggests very strongly that witchcraft is at play. Though he cannot know that the Charmed Ones are witches, his instincts tell him that somehow they are involved. Kit the Kat points Andy inalterably towards this conclusion. Of course, he is also the long lost love interest of Prue Halliwell. Indeed, his relationship with Prue will develop over fits and starts as her secret, the fact that she is a witch, prevents her from coming clean with Andy and causes a rupture in a budding romance. Andy, on the other hand, already has his suspicions. Every curious twist in their relationship will be interpreted by Andy in accord with the suspicion he already harbors. The sisters have a secret, and Prue needs to come clean.

Phoebe drives the story with respect to the sisters. She ventures to the attic and unlocks the mystery of the Book of Shadows. She invokes the ancient powers to give the sisters their powers. She spends all night reading the initial version of the Book of Shadows in order to inform her sisters.

As the initial "expert" on the Book of Shadows, Phoebe describes the sisters' powers. Unfortunately, she can only narrate what she has read. She doesn't really understand all of the nuances. It will be left to subsequent episodes to sort all of this out. In many instances we will learn that Phoebe was not quite accurate in her description or she simply repeated inaccuracies that were found in the Book of Shadows.

For instance, Phoebe claims that Piper has the ability to freeze time. Yet, Piper doesn't have that ability and never demonstrates this, even during the second episode when she "freezes" the kitchen area when Prue and Phoebe are arguing.

[vandergraafk]

So, why do I just discover today that Charmed copped a title to label its pilot episode and first episode. I came across Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. Oh well!