ANDY TRUDEAU: WEAKNESS FOR WITCHES?

[Scott]

Andy is a somewhat jaded police officer, especially in the eyes of his partner, Darryl Morris. Inspector Trudeau searches for clues in occult shops. He correctly grasps the significance of a crime scene where an athame has been used to murder a sole practitioner. And, he has his suspicions, suspicions that ultimately lead him to build his own case file on the Halliwell sisters, and especially one Prue Halliwell, neighborhood playmate, high school sweetheart, and recently renewed love interest.

Andy is willing to believe in the existence of self-proclaimed witches, but he doesn't believe that they have special powers, although he probably believes that they believe that they have special powers. What's difficult for Andy to accept is that there are a lot of strange occurrences in his open cases that probably can only be explained by supernatural powers and these all seem to involve Prue. To conclude that the woman you love has unnatural powers would surely frighten any mortal man.

[vandergraafk]

Andy's case is rather interesting. On the one hand, he certainly is open to the idea of witchcraft. On the other hand, he initially is disinclined to believe that there are any thing like "witchy" powers. As the series progresses, of course, he is forced to revise this initial skepticism. By the time Prue comes clean, Andy is not really that surprised.

Can he handle it? Maracev indicates no, but doesn't really elaborate. Andy can "accept" that Prue is a witch who has supernatural powers. What he can't handle, I believe, is the change in relationship that this entails. As a police inspector following in his father's footsteps, his whole masculinity is wrapped up in the notion of being the protector. Though he knows that Prue has great power, Andy has difficulty adjusting his image of the proper role a male should take vis-a-vis a woman. Ultimately, this leads to his downfall in Deja Vu when he cannot bear to stay away, charges in to effect a rescue and dies at the hands of a demon.

So, how come Henry is able to pull this off? Although Henry is involved in police work, he is a parole officer. His self-image is tied up in helping others, his parolees. Whether that involves tough love or persistent acts of kindness depends, I suppose, on the parolee. Still, his prime concern is to help others, not to protect others from villains.

That Paige's self-image is thoroughly wrapped up in this self-same notion, helping others, is the initial point of attraction. Still, shouldn't magic somehow get in the way? Not really, since Paige employs her magic to help Henry's charges, if you will. More importantly, Henry is not the macho male who has to protect every damsel in distress. True, he will get bloodied in battle (especially against pansy whitelighter/witches from England), but he is not going to view his actions as a macho failure to perform. He is willing to accept help, even if it comes from witch/whitelighter he is deeply smitten for.